Question/Confused??

Hello.
I'm so confused so I thought I would ask my questions here and I apologize in advance if some of these have been answered already. I just get a bit confused while reading some of these, however they are VERY informative!!!
Here we go:
DS receives a letter on March 30,2010 state Congratulation's ect.. " Overall record is not competitive, but we think with some efforts you could be competitive for an appointment.
1.) DODMerb= qualified
2.) ACT/SAT: DS took both several times
3.) CFA: Passed
4.)ALO: Done
5.)Congressional Nomination. Received on December 11, 2010.

Yesterday, My DS gets a postcard from the Academy that states:
" WE HAVE RECEIVED A NOMINATION FOR YOU FROM THE FOLLOWING PERSON/CATEGORY"
REP Christopher Lee
" YOU ARE NOW AN OFFICIAL CANDIDATE"

Question: Does DS have a good chance of getting in now??? I'm so confused by all of this as he didn't get a LOA.... Thanks rangermom

Simply put, he now has to WIN the nomination. To win it he must have the highest WCS (Whole Candidate Score) on the slate compared to anyone else. DodMerb is not a part of the WCS.

PAR (gpa, class rank, school profile, SAT/ACT)
EC's (CFA goes into this group, along with BSA, Sports, Community Service, etc)
RECS

All make up the WCS. PAR has the highest weight of 60%.

FWIW the median SAT score is @680 M and 660 V. I believe the ACT is 31 Composite. 490 V or 24 V will make the candidate deemed non-competitive.


If he does not win the nom, but is still deemed competitive, he will than move onto the NWL (National Wait List) is essence, he than has to win there with the WCS like before.

No apptmt will be given out for the nom slate (except LOA or Principal) until all candidates on the slate have completed their packet and been given a WCS. If Candidate Jones does not submit their CFA until Feb. 15th, than Rep. Smith's slate has yet to be charged.

LOA's need a nom, but they are not necessarily charged to the nom source.

LOA' are very very rare for the AFA. Also, remember the MASS MAILING is in MARCH. Just because you see people getting appointments now, they are still in the minority. I believe the AFA one time stated, that only about 1/4 of the appointments go out prior to March.

Good luck.

LOAs are given to the top candidates who turn in everything before getting a nomination. Not getting one is not a big deal.

As long as all application items are on file at USAFA, he just has to wait until admissions decides whom to accept.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Pima and Raimius!!!!
This process can be so confusing sometimes and I just do not not know how to explain it all to my Ds.
I really appreciate all of the help from you
rangermom

This is a Mom POV right now.

I get a little concern with comments like:

This process can be so confusing sometimes and I just do not not know how to explain it all to my Ds.

Click to expand...

A comment like that makes me feel he is not "into it". Getting into the AFA is the easy part, staying is the hard. He needs to be the instigator to find out the system.

I may have read that comment wrong, but if I didn't, please sit down with him and have a frank conversation about what the AFA life will be come July.

We as parents want to assist our children in reaching their goals, but sometimes we mis-read their goals.

I am a parent who openly admits I was like you 3 yrs ago. It took a poster like me to wake me up when it came to our DS.

Our DS had every nom (Pres. VP and 3 MOCS). That poster told Bullet and I to remove our emotions and talk to him. They suggested to me that we ask these questions:

1. Why the AFA?

~~~Pilot opportunity is not good enough. It has to be the lifestyle.

2. What if he could get his career goal out of either source (AFA or ROTC) which would he choose?

3. Have you looked at the curriculum?

~~~The AFA requires every cadet to take a lot of Math and Science even as a military history major.

4. If money is the issue in the family for the price of education and that issue was removed would they still have the AFA as number 1.

Honestly, I am not trying to offend or insult. I am just saying we as parents get wrapped up in assisting them when it comes to their goals, and unfortunately sometimes we lose sight on what they really want.

FWIW, our DS after that conversation pulled his name from the AFA and within days accepted his AFROTC scholarship to the college he is attending. He had stated that for him he wants to serve, but after 18 yrs of being an AF kid, he just wanted to be a kid for 4 yrs and enjoy college.

Again, not saying that is your child, just saying that if you are the driving factor you may want to address the reason why you are.

Good luck, and thank you and him for stepping up to the plate to protect and serve our country.

Pima......great advice!

We sat our son down and had a very serious talk with him about this decision just like you said. It was the best thing that we could have done!
He is a highly recruited athlete and has other options.
I think the best thing that happened was that we did not talk to him during his official visit at the AFA. He experienced it on his own under the guidance of the hosting cadets and coach. Air Force asked to be his last official college visit. That was great because he had already experienced "college life" at 4 other colleges by the time he went to the AFA. He saw the differences and made his decision with a clear head and without outside or parental influences.

The most important thing is that your son or daughter wants this for themselves and not that they want it because someone else wants it for them or because of money concerns.
The best advice that I received during my son's recruiting process was "butt out"! It is time that he take charge of this entire thing for himself and not have anyone doing his research for him. We, as parents, have one main job and that is to make our kids independent adults. It's time to let them fly. (no pun intended)
I am certainly NOT saying that Mom POV is making any mistakes or that anyone specific needs this advice, I am just sharing some very good advice that was given to me that I am thankful for and hoping that it will help someone else as much as it helped us.

Thank you for the advice from a " POV". I can see where you would think that I'm the " driving force" for DS and the AFA. I can asure I am not. We have had many, many conversations with him regarding this very issue.
Let me start over. DS has been onboard with applying to the AFA since about the 7th grade. He has and is still the driving force in all of the. All that said, I will try to explain.
We are not a " Military" family. My husband did serve in the Army for 8 years and was involved in "Operation Desert Storm" and served during that time. We knew nothing and I mean nothing about The AFA. DS did ALL of the research ect. and informed us that he was interested and going to apply.

When his ALO tried several times to get him to change his mind about The AFA he pressed on, All on his own. He too has several " back up plans" to some pretty great schools in the country. He is being realistic. His " Dream school" is the AFA but will go to another school if he doesn't get in to AFA.
To address the financial, well we can handle that and is not the driving force behind DS wanting to attend the AFA. He just wants to serve his country.
Again, it was just a question. Just a parent here. We are just simple people trying to take all of this in.
Thanks again for all of the feedback. rangermom

It sounds like you have quite a bit more figured out than you give yourself credit for, rangermom.

I am very much like you in that we are not a military family. There is so much to learn and I feel very confused about the AFA. I know that there is a wonderful parent support group that I will become a part of if my DS attends the AFA and I am looking forward to that support and knowledge.

I wish your DS great success. I'm sure that he will do well no matter where he goes.

divermom