Hello am I on the right track?

Am I on the right track to going to the Air force academy? I will post some information below about me. Right now I'm a junior, and I know I can still raise some things but am I on the right track?

3.6 GPA
Taking AFJROTC for 3 years now
Track and field - Sprints
Taking some Pre-AP classes
Community Service hours, I have about 100 hours over my 3 years of HS
Working at Pizzahut ATM
In some 1 other club and have like 3 awards for honor roll, perfect attendance, and good conduct.
And I am kinda fit (7 minute mile, 30 pushups, and 3 pullups)

What can I improve on?

List what classes you have taken
What are your extra curriculars
What do you mean by "kinda fit"?

As far as GPA goes, what is it in comparison to your student body?
For AFJROTC, what position do you hold?

JohnUSAFA said:

List what classes you have taken
What are your extra curriculars
What do you mean by "kinda fit"?

As far as GPA goes, what is it in comparison to your student body?
For AFJROTC, what position do you hold?

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O haha thanks John for all that stuff.

Well I got for extra curriculars, Im in my school law enforcement club, just a member. Im 5'5 and I weight 110 pounds. I also have taken Pre-AP Physics, and Pre-AP Pre Cal. I also am ranked 125 out of 509

In AFJROTC, I have been element leader like once or twice.


And good luck to you at the AFA!

Are you a boy or a girl, if you're a boy you need to gain some weight. Start working out and maybe begin a protien diet. Furthermore, your classes are decent so far, what are you signed up for next year?

Are you earning varsity letters? Are you achieving leadership positions? And maybe join another club and start trying to find a honor society. Lastly, bump up your GPA so your class rank goes up. And you haven't shared your test scores, are those on par?

Thank you

Any who, you definitely need to get more involved with your ECs, even if it's only a few, USAFA will definitely want to see involvement. Become an officer in whatever clubs you can, take whatever dedication you have to AFJROTC and double it. Show that you can be a leader.

For classes, it should be time for class selections for senior year, try and get a heavy (but doable) schedule with good math and science.

For fitness, definitely keep working, look at the mean scores of previous years to get a good idea and shoot for maximums. You have plenty of time to get in shape, use it wisely.

What are your act/sat scores?

Have you applied for the Summer Seminar?

Start getting in contact with your congressperson and senators, even though you can get a nom through jrotc, it's always good to have backups.

USAFA_Falcon_15 said:

Are you a boy or a girl, if you're a boy you need to gain some weight. Start working out and maybe begin a protien diet. Furthermore, your classes are decent so far, what are you signed up for next year?

Are you earning varsity letters? Are you achieving leadership positions? And maybe join another club and start trying to find a honor society. Lastly, bump up your GPA so your class rank goes up. And you haven't shared your test scores, are those on par?

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Oh yes I'm a boy, and I can consider the protien stuff. I have seen other people taking it, but I am afraid if I stop working out, it will harm my body. For my classes I plan to take next year around 1 AP class, and for the rest I will take regular.

And I don't know what a varsity letter means

I have ran track before and I have been Junior Varsity though. My leadership positions you can say could be element leader, but I have barely been it though.

And for my scores, I have a 590 on math, and 440 for the rest. But, I do plan on taking the SAT again. It was my first time taking it, and I tried on the Math part, and left nothing blank, but I got tired after that.

Hey man, thanks again. Ill try to do a bit more next year

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Also, I am new to the Academy stuff, I have found out all about this myself since the beginning of the year. I do know what a nomination is, like when a professional person nominates you to go to the academy, or in other words, they support you going to the academy. I'm not to clear on that stuff though.

I have applied for the summer seminar and I got in.

Those scores will not get you in, start cracking the review books and study, the average is around 680 for both subject last time I checked.

A nomination is not just from a professional, it legally has to be from a congressperson or senator from your state/district. In some cases you can get a nomination for other things (such as jrotc, parents in the military, ROTC etc.), but definitely go for the senatorial and congressional nominations.

The three years in JROTC is good, aim for the highest promotion you can get and become a leader, the military is looking for leaders, not just participants.

1 AP class probably won't be enough, which one were you considering and what are the other classes you are going to take.

In short, there's almost always something(s) that can be improved.

A varsity letter is what a varsity athlete earns. It's an actual letter (or two). lol Going to track meets, you'll probably see varsity jackets. The letters are what are stitched on one side of the front breast of the jacket. As for earning it, school's/sports usually award them for people who compete at a varsity level. On my team, we earn them indoors for competing at individual counties and individual sectionals. Outdoors are on a point based system. This represents the "top cut" of competitors from a school. However, it varies from school to school and other factors play in. The USAFA pamphlet I'm looking at cites about 82% of a typical cadet class will be a letter winner. It'll vary slightly from year to year.

I forgot what the averages were for the CFA (idk if USAFA doesn't publish them. I think USMA does.) But I'm sure you can find those with a little searching. The general advice that is passed around is to at least make it slightly above the average. However, if you do bad at one part, but excell at another, that equals out a bit. For me, I did pretty horrible on pullups, but nearly maxed out the mile.

The mid 50% range #'s that I'm looking at from the pamphlet for SAT's are 590-660 on the verbal part and 630-690 on the math part. I advise you to look into getting some review books and attending some classes if you can. It could help. Try taking the ACT's if you can too. I know some people do better on it than the SAT's. It's worth a shot.

Give everything you got now! Push yourself at track! If you do XC in the fall, and your coach likes what you do this spring, maybe you'll get a captains position. Push yourself to get those scores up!

The most common nomination is a congressional nomination. The "professional" you speak of has to be a senator or your representative for your congressional district. You can also obtain one from the Vice President. The application for those will open up in time. The nomination process is discussed all over this forum so you should be able to figure out the specifics with a little searching.

Whey protein is fine for you. There won't be any bad side effects if you just take regular whey. The ones mixed with other chemicals are the sketchy ones. I've never heard of whey protein harming anybody. If you stop using it, whatever muscle you have will just slowly turn into fat...same as if you didn't use it. However, it could be beneficial for you to take it after working out. Protein is what your body uses to rebuild muscles after using them. Whey protein supplements are to make sure that your body is getting enough. I use Optimum Nutrition from time to time.

Good luck and keep working hard!

matt123456 said:

Oh yes I'm a boy, and I can consider the protien stuff. I have seen other people taking it, but I am afraid if I stop working out, it will harm my body. For my classes I plan to take next year around 1 AP class, and for the rest I will take regular.

And I don't know what a varsity letter means

I have ran track before and I have been Junior Varsity though. My leadership positions you can say could be element leader, but I have barely been it though.

And for my scores, I have a 590 on math, and 440 for the rest. But, I do plan on taking the SAT again. It was my first time taking it, and I tried on the Math part, and left nothing blank, but I got tired after that.

Hey man, thanks again. Ill try to do a bit more next year

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Also, I am new to the Academy stuff, I have found out all about this myself since the beginning of the year. I do know what a nomination is, like when a professional person nominates you to go to the academy, or in other words, they support you going to the academy. I'm not to clear on that stuff though.

I have applied for the summer seminar and I got in.

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Protein won't harm you in any way even if you don't work out; you are thinking of creatine, which can lead to injury if you take to much. A varsity letter basically means you made the varsity team then participated to a certain extent, like you played in X many games or scored X many points (ask your coach, he will tell you what the standard is at your school). You need to shoot for 650 all around SAT because scores are REALLY important to the Academy. Take an SAT prep class, they help. Good luck, and GO TO THE SUMMER SEMINAR.

1) Protien will not hurt your body, and a high protein diet will cause you tk gain weight faster. Once you strt getting into things like creatine that's where your body can start taking injury if not used properly. I know it sounds scary, but any coach at your school can help, and with wrestling, believe me making weight is something I can do! It will also help your performance in the weight room.

2) John is correct your senior schedule should be rigorous, but don't sink yourself in work. Math and sciences should be your priority, and you should be at or around the level of calc. When I say science I mean physics or chem, AP. avoid ecology or something like that. Don't do the "easy A" courses, te academy will find out what classes were made available and score you from there. And again involve yourself in your school and community, but take pride and become a leader.

3) Begin hitting the books like John said, test scores are vital! An take it from someone who took the ACT several times, study and do your best the first time. Bringing me to the point of, if you're not so good at the SAT, try your luck with the ACT.

4) Be the best you can be in all you can, and start setting your ducks in a row, the next year is gonna be hectic. Make a checklist and get it all done quickly, but again the best you can do!

Good luck!

Derrick said:

If you stop using it, whatever muscle you have will just slowly turn into fat...same as if you didn't use it.

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Common Misconception. If you stop working out you slowly catabolize your excess/unused muscle and you will put on fat if you continue to eat like you're lifting (assuming you were eating heftily for lifting). Aka, if you're eating 4K Cal a day and burning it up, becoming sedentary (burning ~3K Cal) while still eating will put on fat quickly. Rule of thumb is 1600 Cal to a pound.

USAFA_Falcon_15 said:

your senior schedule should be rigorous

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Quite honestly, your Junior schedule should be rigorous too. Those are the last classes with final grades that are reviewed by admissions, and pulling out high grades on tough classes is the right idea.

The point that stood out to me was academics. Your physical stuff is decent (better than when I was a junior) but that's easy to improve on. But taking one AP class and then regular classes just doesn't seem like your academics are at the level to perform well at the Academy. This is all generalization since I don't know your school's profile. But generally, going from regular classes to classes on par with ivy leagues sounds like it would a struggle for that student. That doesn't mean push yourself beyond your capabilities, but challenge yourself still. Find a happy medium between challenging classes and a good high school GPA. Maybe academics just isn't your strong point, and that's okay, because there are good programs like the Prep School and some Falcon-Scholar-something that could help to get you to the right academic level before going to the Academy. To ensure you get into one of those though, you'll need to be strong in the physical and leadership aspects.

You also didn't mention any outstanding leadership experience, which is something you'll want to put some focus on. School clubs, honor societies, and student governments generally start elections for next year's leadership around this time. You can look for local leadership trainings, start a club for next year, bring up interest to be a leader in JROTC. Find a way to be a leader. Academics and Fitness is important, but the ultimate goal of the Academy is to make great officers. There's a reason a lot of Eagle Scouts and class presidents get appointments

RyWalk said:

Quite honestly, your Junior schedule should be rigorous too. Those are the last classes with final grades that are reviewed by admissions, and pulling out high grades on tough classes is the right idea.

The point that stood out to me was academics. Your physical stuff is decent (better than when I was a junior) but that's easy to improve on. But taking one AP class and then regular classes just doesn't seem like your academics are at the level to perform well at the Academy. This is all generalization since I don't know your school's profile. But generally, going from regular classes to classes on par with ivy leagues sounds like it would a struggle for that student. That doesn't mean push yourself beyond your capabilities, but challenge yourself still. Find a happy medium between challenging classes and a good high school GPA. Maybe academics just isn't your strong point, and that's okay, because there are good programs like the Prep School and some Falcon-Scholar-something that could help to get you to the right academic level before going to the Academy. To ensure you get into one of those though, you'll need to be strong in the physical and leadership aspects.

You also didn't mention any outstanding leadership experience, which is something you'll want to put some focus on. School clubs, honor societies, and student governments generally start elections for next year's leadership around this time. You can look for local leadership trainings, start a club for next year, bring up interest to be a leader in JROTC. Find a way to be a leader. Academics and Fitness is important, but the ultimate goal of the Academy is to make great officers. There's a reason a lot of Eagle Scouts and class presidents get appointments

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I understand what is being said, but I never took an AP class before senior year, and my junior year schedule was very heavy.

USAFA_Falcon_15 said:

I understand what is being said, but I never took an AP class before senior year, and my junior year schedule was very heavy.

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Yeah, it's different with different schools and what is offered. My point is not so much that you need AP classes, but to challenge yourself with the classes available to you. Then to get good grades in whatever you do end up taking. Some schools' regular classes are at the same level as my school's honors classes. The academy will keep all this in mind (somehow) when comparing applicants.

matt123456 said:

And I am kinda fit (7 minute mile, 30 pushups, and 3 pullups)

What can I improve on?

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Your pullups and push ups are weak, and your mile is worse than average. You are still a junior so you have time to bring that up. Get working on it.

Academics: I don't know what your school offers, but you should probably take more than one AP, preferably in maths and sciences. If you can't take more than one AP (I know some schools limit that kind of stuff) you should take Honors instead of Regular courses. Like, my senior schedule is AP English, AP Chem, Honors Philosophy, AP Calc AB, and AP Spanish, and I'm still nervous about my academic performance. I have the same unweighted GPA as you but I've never not taken an Honors or AP course, and I'm in the top 15 of my class, so I don't know how that translates. The Academy can also re-rank and re-weight you if they think it's necessary (they did for me!).

Tests: If you're going to stick with the SAT, you honestly need to work hard and raise those scores. Someone mentioned before that your scores wouldn't be competitive and they're correct (check the website). And take the ACT if you can. I'm miserable at the SAT but strong at the ACT.

Physical: I can't really give you advice because it's not my strong suit either.

ECs: From everything I've heard, AFJROTC is a huge benefit, as long as you take on leadership positions, which it sounds like you do. Keep up the track and field and make Varsity. I would add another club, but only if you were going to take on a leadership position. For instance, I'm a leader in one club and then co-founded another. It looks better than just being members in five different clubs. It's not so much quantity (mark me if I'm wrong guys) but quality.

At the end of the day, though, none of us actually knows what the Academy is looking for at any given time. Work hard, study hard, and DON'T get in trouble. And have fun. If I could do this all over again, with USAFA still as my number one, I would relax a little more.

hornetguy said:

Common Misconception. If you stop working out you slowly catabolize your excess/unused muscle and you will put on fat if you continue to eat like you're lifting (assuming you were eating heftily for lifting). Aka, if you're eating 4K Cal a day and burning it up, becoming sedentary (burning ~3K Cal) while still eating will put on fat quickly. Rule of thumb is 1600 Cal to a pound.

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I had assumed he meant just stop taking protein, but keep working out will still mess him up. lol my mistake for not being clear. I guess a better way of saying what I meant would have been, "The muscle you make will be the same whether or not you're taking whey protein supplements. Therefore it'll attrition the same without use (exercise)."

Okay thank you everyone for the great responses. I will work on everything, like try to do a bit more in AFJROTC, and try to raise my SAT scores.

Thank you

Be Careful with the protein supplements. if you are going to gain weight consult a professional - nutritionist; pediatrician. You want your gain to be mostly muscle not fat. There are negative consequences of too much protein. In the very least consult an excercise specialist.

supergirl said:

Be Careful with the protein supplements. if you are going to gain weight consult a professional - nutritionist; pediatrician. You want your gain to be mostly muscle not fat. There are negative consequences of too much protein. In the very least consult an excercise specialist.

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As long as its not way overdone with protein supplements he’ll be fine. I personally don’t like them at all and refuse to take them but thats just me.