WHAT?

katamonk

USAFA 2015 Appointee
5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
78
Okay, so I logged on to my admissions portal today and it says that I have to take a second fitness exam. Does anyone have any clue why that would be? I was told that my CFE results met at least the minimum requirements the first time I took them.
 
It is because they see you as competitive, but the CFA scores are not competitive enough to win an apptmt when the WCS is tallied.

The AF does not publish mins. they only publish maxes.

Believe it or not it is a good sign, not everyone is given this opportunity. Back in the fall I was someone who warned everyone not to submit unless they got as close to the max as they could because historically this happens.

The AFA is very concerned about the CFA due to the altitude that they are located in. They know it takes time to adjust to that alt., but there really isn't time once your feet hit the grounds since within days your physical strength would be pushed passed the limits that you thought you had to a whole new level you never knew you had in you.

Take your time and work out, max it this time.

In case you don't know the max's here is what I vaguely recall them to be

BBall 100
Pull ups 18
Sit ups 85
Push ups 75
Run 5:30 (?)
Shuttle 7 something (?)
 
Believe it or not it is a good sign, not everyone is given this opportunity.
I would agree. Unlike some other SAs you can't just continue to retake the USAFA CFE until you get the scores you want. With the USAFA it is usually "one and done" so many (most?) candidates wait until they have their best possible score (within the time deadline for submitting their CFA) before turning in their CFA results. The fact that the USAFA is willing to let you retake the CFA means IMHO that they are interested in you and you are very close to meeting their (WCS) cutoff for an appointment. No guarantees but definitely a positive sign...IMHO.
Good Luck!:thumb:
 
My daughter also received a request to re-take the CFA for the AFA...She has worked so hard during this whole process. Her first reaction was complete disappointment...she then regrouped, and the following day we found her a personal trainer. She did well on every part of the CFA, except for the pull-up. She is a soccer player, so has great strength in her core and legs, not so much in the upper body. She plans on re-taking it the last week of Jan. We both agreed that they very well could have rejected her, but there is a strong reason that they are giving her a second chance.
 
Well, I am glad to hear that it is not awful to be given a chance to improve. My only problem is that I haven't been to the gym in a month because my membership expired at the YMCA and I was planning on waiting until I heard back from a SA before renewing it. So, now I have to renew it and try and meet the max standards in about a month. I guess I'll be going to the YMCA everyday for the next month. I'm glad that it can be submitted electronically because then I don't have to worry about the time it takes to be received by snail mail.
 
The big lesson for you is that even if you had not gotten the apptmt until Mar., do not stop exercising because you need to be as fit as humanly possible for BCT.

Once you get apptd don't stop working out!
 
I totally agree Pima. I found out today that I am a principal nom. So, all I need to do is get my physical fitness level really high and I'm in. Does anyone have any good improvement tips? I could use them!
 
With my CFA my goal was to hit all the max's and I did that except for the mile! (Wrestling is a short burst sport!):wink: With that being said... I ate as healthy as possible so my body could handle the work out twice a day, I ran a mile and a half before school, then after school I went to the gym and swam, then I just did exactly what I'd be asked to do on the CFA, exact breaks and everything. I did it everyday and it worked! So good luck and I hope we see each other there!

Best of Luck,

Falcon.
 
Okay, so I logged on to my admissions portal today and it says that I have to take a second fitness exam. Does anyone have any clue why that would be? I was told that my CFE results met at least the minimum requirements the first time I took them.

What did it say previously to receiving your nom in the "Your Status" section? Did it say you were a "Candidate" under Your Status? What does it say now under the Your Status section?

It seems strange to me that they would have classified you as a "Candidate" then asked you to retake the CFA since their definition of Candidate before the nom would have implied that they felt all your criterea was competitve including the CFA score.
 
What did it say previously to receiving your nom in the "Your Status" section? Did it say you were a "Candidate" under Your Status? What does it say now under the Your Status section?

It said that I was a Candidate and that my file was Complete. I logged back on today to find out that everything had changed and now my file is Incomplete.
 
Might consider a trainer

You need maximum improvement in a short period of time. That is a tall order and you run a risk of injuring yourself in your quest to improve too quickly. Do you have any connections with a trainer? (ask your high school coaches, local health club, etc.) You can improve all your scores within a month with hard, but careful work. You can also improve on your techniques, running style, strategy etc to max your score. I'm just concerned that trying to max something too fast can result in a strain, which can derail the process. So, be very careful. Be methodical. Map out a month long training plan (include rest between max attempts.) I could say more, but you need to talk to a local expert in physical training. Good luck
 
It said that I was a Candidate and that my file was Complete. I logged back on today to find out that everything had changed and now my file is Incomplete.

Well, I'm shocked but like others I think it's great they are giving you another chance to take them. Were your scores well below the average the first time around or were you confident at the time they were good enough? What was the deadline they gave you to have them redone?
 
What did it say previously to receiving your nom in the "Your Status" section? Did it say you were a "Candidate" under Your Status? What does it say now under the Your Status section?

It seems strange to me that they would have classified you as a "Candidate" then asked you to retake the CFA since their definition of Candidate before the nom would have implied that they felt all your criterea was competitve including the CFA score.

I don't think that being a "Candidate" necessarily means that you are competitive, as DS has that on his portal but also received a letter stating that his ACT score was not (actually worded as may not be) competitive for an appointment.
 
I was asked to retake the CFA two years ago. Just take this month to work on whatever you were deficient with. You don't necessarily have to max the CFA (not likely in a month), but you do need to show improvement. Do work.
 
I am a personal trainer. if you do obtain a trainer make sure you use one who is certified and has alot of experience preferrablly with athletes. you can improve your scores - i dont know if you can get to the max's but you should be able to hit the median. i would take the test initially to see where you currently are and what you need to work on. warm up and use the actual test as your workout several times a week. do it with out rest between the components so that when you actually do it the 1 or 2 minute rest will seem to be a boon. what areas are you weak in? thats what you need to concentrate on the other days of the week. hang a pull up bar in your bedroom door and do pullups everytime you walk in the door. do pushups/crunches in the am before school dividing up number you need to hit into 3 or 4 sets. with regard to the run - use a treadmill to help you figure out the right pace. run a mile on the treadmill or as long as you can at that pace. make sure you take 1 or 2 days of rest depending on how you feel by the end of the week. when you start week 2 do the test again and you should find you improved. there are older threads on this forum that give advice on how to improve the basketball throw. make sure you warm up first prior to doing the test and stretch after your workouts. if something starts to bother you ICE it immediately. also make sure you are using newer running shoes. good luck
 
I don't think that being a "Candidate" necessarily means that you are competitive, as DS has that on his portal but also received a letter stating that his ACT score was not (actually worded as may not be) competitive for an appointment.

What can I say, this is direct from there USAFA portal:

*When you submit your application you become a "Prospect." When USAFA processes your application you become an "Applicant." Should USAFA deem you competitive and/or you receive a nomination, you will become a "Candidate." Note that you may receive a nomination and still not be deemed competitive by USAFA.

So my take on it up to this point was that if they thought your CFA score was not good enough they should have not deemed you a "Candidate" prior to getting a nomination to begin with. But it's their game and their rules so....The new lesson for me is to train hard whether you have a principal nom or not until you get that BFE.
 
What a "request you retake the CFA" means

Hi all!

Okay...here's what this means.

The CFA is normally a "one shot" evaluation. You take the test, each event has a score, and they are totaled and the score is recorded in your file and is added into your WCS (weighted composite score).

Now...if you have a really good package; one that the USAFA/RRS folks (they're the admissions people) think is good enough to go head-to-head for appointment, then they look to see if anything is missing.

A LOW CFA can be a killer. Yes, I said LOW. It may be a passing score, but it may be "low" compared to the rest of the overall package. They review EVERYTHING, including what the ALO said on their evaluation.

And then, to SOME folks, they offer "another attempt" at the CFA.

THIS IS A GIFT!!! TAKE IT!!!

What they're saying is "We really like what we see, we think you have a fair shot at making the cut, BUT with this CFA score, it will NOT happen...so please go try again and give us a GOOD effort!"

As I said, this is a GIFT!!! Smile broadly, review how you did, and in short order, bust your "you know what" to better your score.

It's a second chance that VERY few receive.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
A LOW CFA can be a killer. Yes, I said LOW. It may be a passing score, but it may be "low" compared to the rest of the overall package.

But as the OP is a Principal Nominee, the CFA was probably in the "failed" range because if the score was qualified then the appointment was certain, right?

I'll take a wild guess - the OP wasn't getting an appointment with the package they submitted, thus the previous listing as "Complete" meant the USAFA accepted the score, but was not going to offer an appointment with a failed (but complete) CFA.

Now that the OP has been given a Principal Nomination, the USAFA needs the CFA to be passed in order to offer that guaranteed appointment.

YMMV.

:cool:
 
A second chance is awesome. I'm currently working out a lot waiting to submit my first CFA still. I'm running everyday, also doing pullups all the time on my doorframe or real bars. Word on the street is that pullups give the most bang for the buck, or the big score increases with every pullup. If your max pullup is under five though, start with doing assisted pullups and pulldowns so you can get around 10 reps and actually feel some burn in your arms. Also, if your upperbody is not your strongest half, then practice the basketball throw everyday too.

That's how I'm practicing. I added about 5 feet to my basketball throw after just a week of practicing that, and went from 2 pullups to 6 in about 3 weeks.
 
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