Relevance of ASVAB scores

[pants3204]

Hello, I am currently a senior in high school and scored a 93 on my ASVAB. As the financial outlook of my family slowly declines, the chances that I will be able to attend the engineering school at the university of my choice (University of Arizona) appear to be dwindling without incurring debt.

In light of these circumstances, my desire to serve our country has drawn to me investigate the opportunities offered by the USAF. I examined the "careers" section of the airforce.com website, and it seems any aspect of aircraft maintenance and intelligence match my interests and ASVAB scores. I am also interested in piloting.

Here's the jist of my query today: Will an ASVAB score of 93 help me when applying for various maintenance and intelligence jobs right out of high school? Is immediate enlistment advisable? Is AFROTC in college a secure means of financial aid in college (I've personally heard testimony from UA students about kids being dropped from the program because of an overstaffed USAF)?

Some other factors, perhaps not within the scope of this thread but it couldn't hurt to know:

Age: 17 years old
Unweighted GPA: ~3.4 (steadily rising after regrettable freshman and sophomore years)
ACT score: 32 (second attempt)
SAT math + reading: 1100 (first attempt my junior year, taking again early december)
Excellent vision (20-15, as estimated by physician. Slight deformity of right retina may pose problem later but all good for now)
~5'8 125lbs. Underweight I know, have tried everything, unable to see any gains in weight, even after several months of rigorous weight and speed training.
Less than reasonably athletic, I try to exercise when I can.
A plethora of extracurriculars, although with a severe lack of volunteer hours.



Thank you

[structuresguy]

You stated your ASVAB is 93; I'm going to assume that your AFQT score. The AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification test) lumps you into one large category of, "am I smart enough to be here and how smart am I". There are 4 total scores for an ASVAB (Admin, Electrical, General, and Mechanical) that they let you see that determine more specifically where you could be placed.

To answer the biggest question of them all, what should you do for college? Well that really is how determined you are. I can tell you after almost 16 years AD enlisted that going E and trying to go to college is exactly the same as it would be on the outside hold down a demanding full time job and go to school. It can be done BUT, life in general makes it allot more challenging. Some jobs make it easier than others but it is still challenging. You do get tuition assistance and the GI bill though so there are benefits that help. If you can find a program to help you pay for it like ROTC than even if something were to happen, your still farther than if you hadn't. I've been a tech training instructor for the last 3 years and allot of my students in the fall are 1 and 2 year college students that got there, partied or general lost focus due to immaturity and now go E to finish college. No matter what route taken you HAVE TO STAY FOCUSED.

[durahawk]

My recommendation is to apply as soon as possible for an Air Force ROTC scholarship, pursuing an engineering degree will give you a definite leg up. Applying to the AF academy might be an option too, but you probably would need to bump those SAT scores up a bit.

Air Force ROTC also gives out in college scholarships for cadets, mainly for technical degrees. Getting above say a 3.5 your freshmen year of college while enrolled in the ROTC program will put you in good standing to get one. I myself received an in college scholarship, which even backpaid for the second semester of my freshman year. My scholarship eventually got upgraded to a type 8 scholarship that, when combined with an academic scholarship from my school, paid for my college education in full.

If you have hopes of flying I would advise you shy away from the active duty enlisted route. Attending college will be more difficult with the time constraints, and you may risk butting up against UPT age requirements by the time all is said and done. It is also a significantly easier (less competitive) to get a slot through ROTC vs. OTS. Godspeed.

[pants3204]

You stated your ASVAB is 93; I'm going to assume that your AFQT score. The AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification test) lumps you into one large category of, "am I smart enough to be here and how smart am I". There are 4 total scores for an ASVAB (Admin, Electrical, General, and Mechanical) that they let you see that determine more specifically where you could be placed.

Yes that is correct, my AFQT is 93. I couldn't locate the 4 criteria you mentioned but under the "ASVAB Tests" header here are the scores I received under "12th Grade Students" and "12th Grade Standard Scores":

(Category: Percentile - Score)
General Science: 95 - 66
Arithmetic Reasoning: 98 - 67
Word Knowledge: 90 - 62
Paragraph Comprehension: 85 - 60
Mathematics Knowledge: 96 - 65
Electronics Informations: 99 - 76
Auto and Shop Information: 97 - 72
Mechanical Comprehension: 99 - 78

To answer the biggest question of them all, what should you do for college? Well that really is how determined you are. I can tell you after almost 16 years AD enlisted that going E and trying to go to college is exactly the same as it would be on the outside hold down a demanding full time job and go to school. It can be done BUT, life in general makes it allot more challenging. Some jobs make it easier than others but it is still challenging. You do get tuition assistance and the GI bill though so there are benefits that help. If you can find a program to help you pay for it like ROTC than even if something were to happen, your still farther than if you hadn't. I've been a tech training instructor for the last 3 years and allot of my students in the fall are 1 and 2 year college students that got there, partied or general lost focus due to immaturity and now go E to finish college. No matter what route taken you HAVE TO STAY FOCUSED.

And I'm afraid determination is a quality I'm in short supply of when it comes to school, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to enlistment. The discipline learned in the services was very attractive to me due to this. As of now ROTC seems the most reasonable course of action, as I still attend university and receive financial assistance. Thank you for your guidance.

My recommendation is to apply as soon as possible for an Air Force ROTC scholarship, pursuing an engineering degree will give you a definite leg up. Applying to the AF academy might be an option too, but you probably would need to bump those SAT scores up a bit.

Air Force ROTC also gives out in college scholarships for cadets, mainly for technical degrees. Getting above say a 3.5 your freshmen year of college while enrolled in the ROTC program will put you in good standing to get one. I myself received an in college scholarship, which even backpaid for the second semester of my freshman year. My scholarship eventually got upgraded to a type 8 scholarship that, when combined with an academic scholarship from my school, paid for my college education in full.

If you have hopes of flying I would advise you shy away from the active duty enlisted route. Attending college will be more difficult with the time constraints, and you may risk butting up against UPT age requirements by the time all is said and done. It is also a significantly easier (less competitive) to get a slot through ROTC vs. OTS. Godspeed.

I wasn't aware ROTC offered scholarships, thank you very much for mentioning those. I am definitely looking out for those now.

Again thank you.

Also, a bit off topic, is there any educational sustenance to be obtained by flight simulators like the Falcon series? I figure it would be easier to justify spending hours on a mission if I'm learning something.

[discofishing]

Which is more attractive to the USAF a kid with an engineering degree with a 2.7 to 3.1 GPA or someone with a generic degree in business or psychology having a 3.5 for higher? A lot of scholarships are based on grades and that is something hard to keep up in engineering school. If the university you're going to is well known for research, don't expect many professors to give a sh*t about teaching well. Students will be an afterthought seeing as how research money makes the their world go around. Joining the reserves or guard sounds like a good bet, but don't count on your chain of command caring one ounce about the Differential Equations test you have Monday morning at 8am. As stated earlier, Godspeed!