AF - New and confused

[kokobean]

Hi i'm new to this side of the boards.. so i was completely confused when I started seeing acronyms like HPSP and HSCP. what does all this mean?
i'm entering NYU dental this fall and I'm guessing it's too late to apply for the four year program. I'm planning to apply next year for the three year. How competitive is it? I went to the airforce website and filled out some forms so they could send me more information.

I have no idea how the process works at all. Please help!

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[MaxAnn]

For my two cents, I would start immediately. The process can be long in the tooth at times. The government is big on paperwork, which takes time. A 3yr scholarship is better than no scholarship at all. All the best.

HPSP is Health Professions Scholarship Program (AF, Army, Navy)

HSCP is Health Services Collegiate Program (Navy only).

If all else fails, you could contact a recruiter or do a search on this website or google.

 

[Deep Impact]

I'm curious myself. How competitive is it these days? When I applied in 2000, the 3 year HPSP was the most difficult to get. We had a couple of guys in the class rejected that year... subsequently, they all got in a year later.

 

[MaxAnn]

I am curious now too. I didn't know that the 3yr hpsp was especially difficult.

 

[SNOZBERRIES]

I applied for the AF 3 year in 2001 and no one from Ohio (OSU or Case) got a scholarship. There were five from OSU who applied and I think three from Case. I heard from my recuriter that the AF "lost" our applications. Maybe that was just his way of being nice and not saying we were all a bunch of unqualified tooth mechanic wantabes. Three of us did take a two year scholarship out of OSU.

Side note. I looked into the the Navy HSCP program and I found the AF does offer something like that. We call it the bootstrap program.

 

[KOM]

I was put on the waiting list this year for the 4-year HPSP AF scholarship. From what I recall, I was #12 out of something like 36 at the time. Eventually they picked up a few more and I moved to the #7 spot and that's when they decided they had fulfilled their needs.

As for the 3-year. I've been told now twice that the 4-year applicants that were put on the waiting list will automatically be granted the 3 year scholarship without needing to reapply. If this is the case, I'd imagine that alone would make the 3-year scholarship quite a bit more competitive for those who didn't apply the year before and are now trying to get the 3-year.