Expert: Marc Eichler - 7/19/2009

Question
Hi I am 17 years old and am about to become a senior in high school. I am a student at a very good academic school, but my gpa is not the greatest (2.75 cumulative). My ACT as of February of this year is a 25 but i expect to raise it at least one or two points. I was wondering if ROTC was the best choice, and if I were to enter the ROTC program, what special classes/training would I have to do in the summers? Also, would it be a good chance for me to be able to fly at all, and ditto with a fighter?

Answer
I do not know the GPA standards for ROTC, so I can't help you there.  

As for ROTC being your best option, I would suggest that you get in touch with an ROTC unit or an Air Force recruiter.  They can best help you there.  I was not able to do ROTC, so I do not know about special classes or training.  I would assume that part of your summer would be spent learning about the Air Force in the field - such as a boot camp, field training exercise, etc.

In terms of flying, from the way I understand it, each unit is allocated a certain number of flying slots.  The higher you score on various tests, the more likely you are to get into one of the slots.  Know that even if you get a flying slot, there is no guarantee that you will be a pilot.  There are still tests to take before you set foot in a training aircraft.

I hope this information was of some assistance.

Thanks for using allexperts.

Marc