Chances for Fighters (ANG)

[Wasp]

Hey guys please let me know how my numbers look! Just got scores back today.

AGE: 19

AFOQT:   Pilot-99 / Nav-73 / AA-85 / V-47 / Q-98 / ABM-99 / CSO-73

PCSM: 92 with 105 hours (95 with 201+ hours)

PPL: Have it

College: 1 year from graduation. 3.93 cumulative GPA in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Aerospace Engineering (Deans list every semester)

LOR: Lt Col in Air Force, retired Lt Col in Army, and retired Navy F-18 pilot/now FedEx pilot

Work: Two part time jobs through college while also full time student and summer employment as lineman at local FBO

 

[brabus]

GPA is awesome, PCSM is great, AFOQT is pretty good...any sports, volunteering, etc?  Especially in fighters, most want to see a person who's more than just really good at school, though that part certainly helps your app get a closer look.  You're young, so you have plenty of time, which is a great thing.  Honestly you'll probably be beat out by guys a few years older who have a more "well rounded" app and maybe a couple years of post-college work experience, but I think that will only hold true for a short while as you mature, get some post-college work experience, etc.  Don't be discouraged by this, just expect to not make it on the first try, but keep at it, as I think you have a good shot at getting interviews in the next couple years.

[Wasp]

 

1 hour ago, brabus said:

GPA is awesome, PCSM is great, AFOQT is pretty good...any sports, volunteering, etc?  Especially in fighters, most want to see a person who's more than just really good at school, though that part certainly helps your app get a closer look.  You're young, so you have plenty of time, which is a great thing.  Honestly you'll probably be beat out by guys a few years older who have a more "well rounded" app and maybe a couple years of post-college work experience, but I think that will only hold true for a short while as you mature, get some post-college work experience, etc.  Don't be discouraged by this, just expect to not make it on the first try, but keep at it, as I think you have a good shot at getting interviews in the next couple years.

Thanks for the feedback! Do you have any ideas of what I can do to make myself more "well rounded"?

In terms of sports and volunteering this is the highlights of what I have done:

-Varsity soccer captain in high school and ran varsity long distance track as well in high school.

-In terms of volunteer work I am a certified hunter and bow hunter education instructor 

[brabus]

Those are great things, make sure they're are on your app.  Bottom line, things like that display you are physically competitive, have experience competing as part of a team, and care about the success of others and not just your own (the volunteer hunter education part helps demonstrate that).  Have a plan to find work in a civilian career field post-college, but keep up the Guard job hunt.  We also want to know you have an ability to support yourself on the civilian side if/when full time orders aren't available.

[EvilEagle]

Be ready to answer why your verbal score is so low.  That'd be the first thing I'd ask if you were rushing my squadron. 

[CPE1704TKS]

49 minutes ago, EvilEagle said:

Be ready to answer why your verbal score is so low.  That'd be the first thing I'd ask if you were rushing my squadron. 

Out of genuine curiosity, why would you ask this, and what would be a "good," reason for this dude to give you? 

He's absolutely crushing it in every other aspect, at age 19 nonetheless. 

I submit that the AFOQT verbal score is potentially the weakest possible metric to predict success at UPT and general officership. For the record, my verbal score was 27 and I  DG'd UPT. 

[Mighty Mighty]

Last fighter interview I went to told me they got something like 160 application's. Everything is fair game at that point don't you think?

 

[ayz33]

2 hours ago, CPE1704TKS said:

Out of genuine curiosity, why would you ask this, and what would be a "good," reason for this dude to give you? 

He's absolutely crushing it in every other aspect, at age 19 nonetheless. 

I submit that the AFOQT verbal score is potentially the weakest possible metric to predict success at UPT and general officership. For the record, my verbal score was 27 and I  DG'd UPT. 

This is true, but when you have so many dudes with those scores and good experience, I can assume it may be because they are looking for every possible way to find the best guy even if that is a weak metric

[brabus]

Keep in mind it is not a one-size-fits-all game.  Every unit will be different in how they weight certain aspects of a candidate, and for that matter, the same unit will differ between boards based on who's on the board that particular year.  Hundreds of people apply for many fighter boards, so every point counts and it behooves everyone to max effort tests, but in the end some boards will care more/less than others on specific scores.

[EvilEagle]

On ‎4‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 1:25 PM, CPE1704TKS said:

Out of genuine curiosity, why would you ask this, and what would be a "good," reason for this dude to give you? 

He's absolutely crushing it in every other aspect, at age 19 nonetheless. 

I submit that the AFOQT verbal score is potentially the weakest possible metric to predict success at UPT and general officership. For the record, my verbal score was 27 and I  DG'd UPT. 

I'm not going to fully answer that because this guy might be interviewing at my unit one day and I don't want to hear my answer thrown back at me. 

 

However if you think about it logically you'll find two things:

1)  All his other scores are great - why the one low one?  It's not a little lower, it's a LOT lower.  Why is that?

2)  Why even have verbal on the test?  Maybe because (especially for fighters) you spend your entire career giving and receiving briefs, internalizing that information immediately and formulating a plan for what's going to happen when $h!t hits the fan.  Airborne you have to know and comprehend quickly a vast amount of info that is only given verbally. 

To me it seems obvious why a fighter pilot would need a high verbal score. 

 

DG'd at UPT - congrats.  If you are on the way to a fighter you'll soon figure out that UPT was bush-league and likely the easiest 12 months of your next 10 years.  It gets harder, not easier. 

[Wasp]

13 minutes ago, EvilEagle said:

I'm not going to fully answer that because this guy might be interviewing at my unit one day and I don't want to hear my answer thrown back at me. 

 

However if you think about it logically you'll find two things:

1)  All his other scores are great - why the one low one?  It's not a little lower, it's a LOT lower.  Why is that?

2)  Why even have verbal on the test?  Maybe because (especially for fighters) you spend your entire career giving and receiving briefs, internalizing that information immediately and formulating a plan for what's going to happen when $h!t hits the fan.  Airborne you have to know and comprehend quickly a vast amount of info that is only given verbally. 

To me it seems obvious why a fighter pilot would need a high verbal score. 

 

DG'd at UPT - congrats.  If you are on the way to a fighter you'll soon figure out that UPT was bush-league and likely the easiest 12 months of your next 10 years.  It gets harder, not easier. 

I appreciate the feedback! I definitely understand the importance of communication as an officer in the military. Although I scored poorly on this portion of the test I don't feel as its a good representation of my ability to communicate with others. I have proven my communication and/or verbal skills in other ways such as leadership positions from 12 years of 4-H, winning state and competing in DECA nationals, competing in speech and debate in high school,  or receiving an appointment to USAFA. And this is what I'd explain in an interview. In addition, although no excuse, in a STEM major I don't exactly get a lot of exposure to tests similar to the verbal portions whereas the other portions of the AFOQT seemed second nature.