Hoping to attend USAFA...check out my resume?

Hello, I am hoping to attend the United States Air Force Academy.
Below I am posting my resume, SAT scores, etc. Any insight, comments, recommendations, or constructive criticism is appreciated! Thank You!

Experience:
Tutor of the National Honor Society (11-12)
Tutor of the Kitty Hawk Society (11-12)

Achievements:
Athletic Achievements:
Track and Field Mid-Distance Runner (9)
Cross Country Runner (12)

Academic Achievements:
Member of the California Scholarship Federation (10-12)
Member of the National Honor Society (10-12)
Member of the Kitty Hawk Society (11-12)

Other Achievements:
Member of the Calvary Chapel Hot Springs Church and Youth Group (9-12)
Member of the Interact Club (10-12)
Member of Club Mainstream (11-12)
Cadet of Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (11-12)
Member of the Murrieta Temecula Republican Assembly Team (11-12)
Attended Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (Leadership Camp during Spring Break)
Nominated for Cadet of the Quarter

Leadership Positions:
Student Venture President (12)
Cadet 2nd Lieutenant Operations Officer of Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (12)
Interact Club’s Ambassador of Student Relations (11)
California Scholarship Federation’s Liaison Officer (11)
Medical Club Secretary (11)
Student Venture Leadership (10-12)
Young Republican Leadership (11-12)
Medical Club President (10)
Renaissance Leadership (10)

Other Information:
Weighted G.P.A. as of June 2011: 4.17
Unweighted G.P.A. as of June 2011: 3.94
Class Rank: 18th out of 798
SAT score: 1760

SATs
Math: 540
Crit. Reading: 590
Writing: 620
Right now I don't qualify for a candidate because of my SAT scores. Any advice and tips for raising my SAT scores would be appreciated

I don't know if this makes any difference, but I also wanted to include that I am female and I am half Vietnamese half European.

Nice resume, but yes your SAT score is low. The average is 30-31 on the ACT which is about a 1350 on the SAT. USAFA doesn't count the writing section.

Take both the SAT and ACT as many times as you can since they superstore taking the best scores from each section. If you haven't taken the ACT, I strongly suggest you try it. Students often score differently on the two tests. USAFA will accept scores from either test and will use the highest score for your WCS.

Blackbird said:

Nice resume, but yes your SAT score is low. The average is 30-31 on the ACT which is about a 1350 on the SAT. USAFA doesn't count the writing section.

Take both the SAT and ACT as many times as you can since they superstore taking the best scores from each section. If you haven't taken the ACT, I strongly suggest you try it. Students often score differently on the two tests. USAFA will accept scores from either test and will use the highest score for your WCS.

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Thank You Blackbird! I will definitely look into taking the ACT as soon as possible.

You've probably already done this, but I picked up a study guide. It helped me increase my scores across the board.

A1CGood said:

You've probably already done this, but I picked up a study guide. It helped me increase my scores across the board.

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Thanks! I have picked up a study guide. I really need to study it. What were your scores? (if you dont mind telling)

A couple of comments-

Your involvement in sports is minimal--just 1 year of track and 1 year of CC. What happened in between? Physical fitness is a huge part of the academy. Are you involved in anything outside of school? City league soccer, softball, etc.? List that if you have other sports--they don't all have to be school related.

I also would format your resume differently when you submit it to the academy or your MOC's. List an activity with bullet points underneath it showing all the achievements/positions held in that activity. Its easier to follow your involvement and growth in it through leadership positions etc. than showing what you did year by year in high school. For example, you could list Medical Club, and then underneath as bullet points show President in 10th grade and Secretary in 11th. You may also want to give a very brief description what some of these activities are (for example Medical Club) since they aren't as common as something like National Honor Society or AFJROTC. You seem to have a lot of activities, which is OK as long as you can show true involvement and aren't just listing them to pad your resume. The academy likes quality over quantity (meaning its better to have 4+ years experience with 2 or 3 groups including multiple officer positions than having 1 year of involvement each in 10 different activities where all you did was show up for a meeting once a month.) All of the things you list on your resume will be discussed in your interview with your ALO (assuming you are designated a potential candidate) so just be sure you can highlight all your accomplishments, details of leadership positions held, etc.

howacupcake said:

Thanks! I have picked up a study guide. I really need to study it. What were your scores? (if you dont mind telling)

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720 Critical Reading
600 Math
630 Writing

Below the average, but being prior enlisted made up for that I suppose.

My recommendation for improving scores is to just do practice tests over and over. After finishing them go through and find out what you did wrong, learn how to do it right, then take the same test again. Repeat with as many practice tests as you can get your hands on. This is what I did and I raised my score from 640 to 760 in math and 650 to 750 in critical reading.

For me this was an effective method because when I took the real test, I was able to recognize question types, so I didn't waste any time figuring out what the question was asking and could use all the time to figure out the answer

AFAYahoo said:

A couple of comments-

Your involvement in sports is minimal--just 1 year of track and 1 year of CC. What happened in between? Physical fitness is a huge part of the academy. Are you involved in anything outside of school? City league soccer, softball, etc.? List that if you have other sports--they don't all have to be school related.

I also would format your resume differently when you submit it to the academy or your MOC's. List an activity with bullet points underneath it showing all the achievements/positions held in that activity. Its easier to follow your involvement and growth in it through leadership positions etc. than showing what you did year by year in high school. For example, you could list Medical Club, and then underneath as bullet points show President in 10th grade and Secretary in 11th. You may also want to give a very brief description what some of these activities are (for example Medical Club) since they aren't as common as something like National Honor Society or AFJROTC. You seem to have a lot of activities, which is OK as long as you can show true involvement and aren't just listing them to pad your resume. The academy likes quality over quantity (meaning its better to have 4+ years experience with 2 or 3 groups including multiple officer positions than having 1 year of involvement each in 10 different activities where all you did was show up for a meeting once a month.) All of the things you list on your resume will be discussed in your interview with your ALO (assuming you are designated a potential candidate) so just be sure you can highlight all your accomplishments, details of leadership positions held, etc.

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Thank You! I appreciate the time you spent offering advice. I will definitely spend a couple hours revising my resume and thinking about all that I have learned (leadership wise) from those clubs, activities.

Sadly, I haven't been involved in sports much. My parents couldn't take me to practice during sophomore and junior year because they work full time. I kinda grew up on the computer most of my life so playing in the outdoors wasn't common. I've tried to make up for it by pushing my physical limits this year in Cross Country... but all I can do is keep trying.

USAFA10s said:

My recommendation for improving scores is to just do practice tests over and over. After finishing them go through and find out what you did wrong, learn how to do it right, then take the same test again. Repeat with as many practice tests as you can get your hands on. This is what I did and I raised my score from 640 to 760 in math and 650 to 750 in critical reading.

For me this was an effective method because when I took the real test, I was able to recognize question types, so I didn't waste any time figuring out what the question was asking and could use all the time to figure out the answer

Click to expand...

Wow ! Those scores are great! Good job! and thanks I will definitely do a lot of practice tests