Where do I stand?/Will applying later hurt my chances?

[Tquinn]

My dad was a KC-135 nav and I've always dreamed of flying. I've fluctuated in seriousness but now that I'm a year away from graduating,(Dec 2017) I've decided to go all in for it. I've gotten in contact with a recruiter. I want to apply 17 January (I really should have started sooner. More on that later.)

Age: 23

Education: Associate's in Automotive Maintenance. Currently pursuing a BS in Computer Science.

Cumulative GPA: 3.56, likely to be a 3.60 or higher at the end of this semester, if I don't bomb any finals I'll have all A's this semester.

No criminal record. I had some problems in school as a kid, but since high school I've been fine.

No flight experience, but I'd say I have a good general knowledge of aircraft and aviation for someone with no flight experience.

Leadership experience: This is where I feel I'm weakest. I am in a fraternity on my college's campus and have recently been elected as Community Service Chair. My term begins next semester, though, so I don't have much other than the title. I have volunteered here and there, I graduated a "Leadership Academy" for my fraternity as well. I don't think that means very much to the outside world, but it's something.

I was in ROTC for a brief time, but dropped several weeks in for time management reasons. It was a stretch with all the credits I was taking that semester, plus I didn't think I would be able to make good grades while doing well in ROTC, and the Det was 30 miles away from my school, in the middle of St. Louis.

My biggest concerns are the following:

• I'm working to apply in January, the first deadline for rated positions in FY2017. I think I could do it, but would feel more comfortable with more prep time. Will I be hurting my chances at all if I wait until the next Rated application date in June?
• AFOQT. I'm a good test taker, but I'm rusty on some of the subjects. I just began studying the other day, have bought a book and am ordering another. So far, I feel confident in some sections but in others, I have work to do to in order to be confident I'll get a good score. I'm a natural studier, but I'm wondering if I would do better with several months rather than a few weeks to prepare. I'm wanting to shoot for all 99's, obviously, but have no clue how I'm going to score.
• LOR's. I have a friend's dad who's known me for a few years who was an E9 in the Army, is a Vietnam vet, is a great writer, and has an impressive record with the Army and the DoD. The recruiter told me they can't be written by family members, so my dad, and my two uncles who retired as high-ranking officers in the navy, are ineligible. My dad knows some military/retired people as does my friend's dad, and they're going to see what they can do. I'm going to try to get one from a former boss who thought/thinks highly of me, and a former automotive instructor (who saw me work hard in an intense program to graduate with a 4.0), both of whom could speak for my work ethic and taking initiative, but I'm still wishing I knew more officer veterans. 
• I don't have much going for me in terms of actual leadership examples. Sure, I've led teams in work and school, and I've taken initiative in making sure things got done, but wasn't an Eagle Scout or anything like that.

If I missed anything or you want to know something else let me know, and thank you if you read all this.

[viper154]

Need to take your TBAS and AFOQT to get a PCSM score.

Also, go guard. 

[Tquinn]

2 hours ago, viper154 said:

Need to take your TBAS and AFOQT to get a PCSM score.

Also, go guard. 

I am aware I need to take the TBAS as well. I'm wondering if I can get it all done before mid-January.

Please elaborate? I chose the Air Force because, among other reasons, I want to travel and am familiar with the lifestyle. If ANG would better suit me in your opinion, could you explain please?

Edited November 27, 2016 by Tquinn

[mb1685]

You're definitely not going to have your application ready to go by the January deadline. You're going to have to do a lot of paperwork, get your letters of recommendation ready, possibly have to get some aspects of your application approved by Recruiting HQ (which will probably take weeks), get scheduled for the AFOQT (which will probably take weeks), get scheduled for the TBAS (which will probably take weeks), get scheduled for your MEPS physical (which will probably take weeks), get your MEPS physical results approved (which will probably take weeks), and interview with the commander of your recruiter's squadron. That would already be practically impossible to do in a little over a month, plus December is generally the month with the most downtime.

Not trying to be a downer, but it's a long process. Luckily you've got tons of time since you're only 23. Make contact with a recruiter ASAP (a lot of the process is just waiting for the next steps since recruiters deal with tons of applicants every single day), start studying for the AFOQT (there is a goldmine of resources on this site and around the web if you do some searching), and spend a bit of money here and there on some flight time to make sure you don't hate it and to boost your PCSM score a bit. It wouldn't hurt to also do some volunteer work and try to work your way into some more leadership roles. You're off to a good start, keep it up.

If you can, I would highly recommend trying to get a letter of recommendation from someone in your ROTC detachment's cadre. It could absolve a potentially negative part of your application, and possibly turn it into a positive.

Edited November 27, 2016 by mb1685

[Tquinn]

17 hours ago, mb1685 said:

You're definitely not going to have your application ready to go by the January deadline. You're going to have to do a lot of paperwork, get your letters of recommendation ready, possibly have to get some aspects of your application approved by Recruiting HQ (which will probably take weeks), get scheduled for the AFOQT (which will probably take weeks), get scheduled for the TBAS (which will probably take weeks), get scheduled for your MEPS physical (which will probably take weeks), get your MEPS physical results approved (which will probably take weeks), and interview with the commander of your recruiter's squadron. That would already be practically impossible to do in a little over a month, plus December is generally the month with the most downtime.

Not trying to be a downer, but it's a long process. Luckily you've got tons of time since you're only 23. Make contact with a recruiter ASAP (a lot of the process is just waiting for the next steps since recruiters deal with tons of applicants every single day), start studying for the AFOQT (there is a goldmine of resources on this site and around the web if you do some searching), and spend a bit of money here and there on some flight time to make sure you don't hate it and to boost your PCSM score a bit. It wouldn't hurt to also do some volunteer work and try to work your way into some more leadership roles. You're off to a good start, keep it up.

If you can, I would highly recommend trying to get a letter of recommendation from someone in your ROTC detachment's cadre. It could absolve a potentially negative part of your application, and possibly turn it into a positive.

Thank you for your input! 

The more I look at my situation, the more I realize it's going to take a miracle to get everything ready by January 17. If I apply in June I'll have a semester of leadership experience in my position, which isn't much, but is more than I have now. 

I just did a quick Google search. My det's cadre has completely changed since I was there. My det's commander/my teacher while I was there is now an Operations Research Analyst at the Office of the Secretary of Defense. I'll see about contacting him. He's a super cool guy, and I tried my hardest the short time I was there, but I was only in for a few weeks and I'm not sure what he can/would do.

I'll try to find flight classes, or at the very least, read everything I can possibly get my hands on about aviation.

[viper154]

21 hours ago, Tquinn said:

I am aware I need to take the TBAS as well. I'm wondering if I can get it all done before mid-January.

Please elaborate? I chose the Air Force because, among other reasons, I want to travel and am familiar with the lifestyle. If ANG would better suit me in your opinion, could you explain please?

It would better suit just about anyone. Much less bs, better qol, and you will have plenty of opportunities to travel especially if you go to heavy unit. I joined because I love to fly, travel and I wanted to serve my country. I now sit in a room and I sometimes "control" a computer screen that is 10,000 miles away.  You will have much more control over your life. Consider it.