<p>I was just wondering if any IU students on here have/are taking Air Force ROTC, and what their experience was. I'm planning to join Freshman year and hopefully secure a scholarship for the next three years. My main question is did the program drastically interfere with rigorous classes time-wise or grade-wise.</p>
<p>Congrats on your choice for AFROTC. My son will be in Army ROTC (4yr scholarship) at IU beginning his Freshman year this fall. Sorry I can't help you with these questions, but have you met with the officers at the ROTC office? They are all very accomodating and informative and would probably be able to connect you with some cadets that are in the program. Since the AROTC expects 3.0 and above and the battalion keeps growing, I'm sure the program is manageable. Good Luck!</p>
<p>I would join up, "if I knew I would be offered a pilot slot."</p>
<p>Singaporemom, thanks for the info, and congrats on your son receiving a scholarship from AROTC. No, I haven't had a chance to actually meet with the officers, being I live so far away from Indiana, but I have been in email contact, and they are very accommodating. Thank You.</p>
<p>Hahahaha, DaNDHSIrishGuy, wouldn't we all. I too, have thought of aviation, and the good news I can offer is that pilots, both civilian and military, are at an all time low. I personally would enjoy the Air Force as long as I was put into a position that used my skills and currently selected major (Journalism).</p>
<p>stevieray- If you attend the freshman orientation this summer, definitely make an appointment to meet with them. We met with AFROTC and AROTC when we visited last summer. Easy, since they are in the same building.
Get ahead of the game and start collecting your medical records for DODMERB, if you haven't already started. Any chance you can secure a scholarship for this year, or did you want to try it out first? Sounds like you will be out-of-state tuition like my son.</p>
<p>One of my son's best friends is in the AFROTC program at Embry-Riddle in Prescott, Arizona and has already received a very large scholarship (like almost full tuition for all 4 years) contingent upon him flying jets for the Air Force for 6 years following his graduation.</p>
<p>Apparently, if you can get accepted into the flight programs (does Indiana have one of these--I know Purdue does?) then the scholarships can be extremely generous.</p>
<p>Airlines are so bad right now; I can't imagine anyone wanting to be a pilot, especially a regional pilot. 18K a year is not worth spending 100k in flight training. Most pilots never even make it to the airlines; I'd say around 25% of civilian pilots do... Now for the military, it's so hard to get a pilot slot, ESPECIALLY the Air Force, with the Navy and the Marines a bit easier. You have to get a waiver for everything, if you ever have been diagnosed with any minor disorders, sickness, or have had a bad injury; you can't fly! I wouldnt ever be able to fly, for I was diagnosed with minor depression at the age of 12. Anyway, this is what turned me away from aviation... With gas prices, etc. the way they are, major airlines pilots will never have lucrative careers as they once did...</p>
<p>I have to disagree. The USAF has many more pilot slots than the Navy. Marine fixed-wing is also fairly small. Military medical qualifications are all pretty strict for flight status. AFROTC gets about 500 pilot slots per year.</p>
<p>Singaporemom-</p>
<p>Yes, I am coming from Out of State, which is one of the main reasons I'm looking at AFROTC. With the tuition being so high at IU these days, it seems like a good option. So, yes, I am hoping to receive a scholarship by the spring semester Freshman year, or the fall semester Sophomore year but for the moment, I will just be on for a trial basis. </p>
<p>And I will definitely try to secure an appointment to meet with them at Freshman orientation. Thanks!</p>
<p>Hate to burst your bubble but the reality is AFROTC keeps you pretty busy. My for lack of a better word boy toy is starting his second year and he is constantly busy with it or school work. If you have the time and inclination though go for it. If you really want to fly your best chance is the AF Academy they have tons of slots that never go used the slots for ROTC are a lot harder to get a hold of. I learned all the pilot info when I was applying for the academy.</p>
<p>The Academy's slots are usually filled. (But that is still more than half the graduating class!)</p>
<p>Sorry about the wrong info then. When i went to summer seminar ( 2 summers ago) the info we were getting was that only about half the slots got filled and ROTC slots were much more competitive.</p>
<p>The academy usually fills its slots, but it only recieves 40-50% of the total slots Air Force wide. ROTC slots are usually more competative (they have about the same number of slots, but more people).</p>