sports/cfa question

robinhood17

USMA Cadet
5-Year Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Messages
210
So, my application is complete, and looks "on par" with 2015 stats- minus sports participation. I am a senior this year, and understand the competition.

Problem: no high school sports because of full time job/marching band 9/10th grade years.

Solution: coach little league baseball/soccer, joined High schools cross country team, plan on track in spring time, full time lifeguard.

New cfa scores (I passed the first time, but chose to retake for higher scores)
Mile: 7:05
pushups: 50
situps:85
pullups:3
bb throw: 45
shuttle:9.7

I am a female.

Does my solution help satisfy the sports requirement? If not, what else can I do? I understand a whole rounded candidate is better, and this is what I am striving for.

Thank you.
 
I didn't want to make a new thread, so I'd post in yours.

I'm wondering if my scores are competitive enough?

Basketball Throw – 50 feet, 60 feet, 48 feet

Pull-Ups – 11

Shuttle Run – 8.5 seconds, 8.5 seconds

Modified Sit-Ups – 72

Push-Ups – 62

One Mile Run – 6:48

I am a male.
 
So, my application is complete, and looks "on par" with 2015 stats- minus sports participation. I am a senior this year, and understand the competition.

Problem: no high school sports because of full time job/marching band 9/10th grade years.

Solution: coach little league baseball/soccer, joined High schools cross country team, plan on track in spring time, full time lifeguard.

New cfa scores (I passed the first time, but chose to retake for higher scores)
Mile: 7:05
pushups: 50
situps:85
pullups:3
bb throw: 45
shuttle:9.7

I am a female.

Does my solution help satisfy the sports requirement? If not, what else can I do? I understand a whole rounded candidate is better, and this is what I am striving for.

Thank you.

There is only 1 girl in my school (that I know of) who can do more than 1 pull and runs faster than me :p (Props)

I think having cross-country is great, and joining track and field in the spring is great as well. I would say those plus the other life guard thing you are doing is enough to "satisfy". I can definately see that you have potential in running saying this is your 1st year in cross-country with a 7:05 mile? If you could make varsity on your team this year that would be a great plus but would require hard effot. I think the averages for varsity time in girls is around 6:30 mile (Minimum) but can vary by school.

I didn't want to make a new thread, so I'd post in yours.

I'm wondering if my scores are competitive enough?

Basketball Throw – 50 feet, 60 feet, 48 feet

Pull-Ups – 11

Shuttle Run – 8.5 seconds, 8.5 seconds

Modified Sit-Ups – 72

Push-Ups – 62

One Mile Run – 6:48

I am a male.

I'm not really accurate on everything and my wisdom may not help you (haha) but this is what I can offer...

Averages I think are:

Bball - Like 60+
Pullups - 12+
Shuttle - Around 8+ seconds
Situps - Around 70+
Pushups - Around 50+
Mile Run - Around 6:40+

I would say you are a bit above average on everything.

What I think you can definitely improve on EASILY is the shuttle run. One, use the track for this (Great traction). If you have to use the gym, use shoes with a nice gripping sole and pick a spot with traction. But if you can use a track, wear track shoes with spikes and I can guarantee a 1 second drop (7-8 seconds). If you have really nice technique (Fast pivots after touching the line/dropping the cone, then your time will greatly improve). (high 6 to 7 seconds)

If you can't do any of that, I would work on you pivoting, thats the point where I get a fast time or slow time.

For other improvements, pullups could be improved but I can't help you improve that since it takes a while to do, and I don't know how much time you have. For the BBall throw, try to practice a bit more to have consistent 60s. (Practice everyday)

For the mile run, if you have the money and you are not using some already, I suggest actually buying or getting some track/XC shoes for the mile run. That can easily take off seconds to minutes in the mile run depending on the shoes you use for running already. Like I use sneaks for regular training weighing about 20 ounces which is almost 2 pounds. My XC shoes is about 4 ounces and so that is 16 ounces difference which is 1 pound. A mile is about 5000 feet. So, the main difference is that essentially if you were wearing regular sneaks, you would be carrying that 1 extra pound for like 5000 steps which can really add up stress to your feet and slow down times.

When I used to run cross country meets I would get my first mile time in about 6:50. However, after buying some XC shoes, my mile time was 6:17 (30 second difference, and I was saving my energy for the other 2 miles, and the terrain for cross-country meets are usually dirt or grass which is bad). The improvement can really depend on the person though. If you run alot, there WILL be improvement, but if you don't run alot there wont be much improvement. Since your mile time is already 6:48 I can assume you run a bit and getting XC shoes/track shoes will be a great choice for bringing your mile time to possibly a 6:00 minute to a sub 6:30 mile. (If your using some already, ignore everything I just said :p)

Its just a small bonus for the mile. It could really help improve your times or it could not help at all. Remember, this scholarship is like 450,000k dollars and $20-$30 is a small price to pay for improving your chances during a make or break.
 
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There is only 1 girl in my school (that I know of) who can do more than 1 pull and runs faster than me :p (Props)

I think having cross-country is great, and joining track and field in the spring is great as well. I would say those plus the other life guard thing you are doing is enough to "satisfy". I can definately see that you have potential in running saying this is your 1st year in cross-country with a 7:05 mile? If you could make varsity on your team this year that would be a great plus but would require hard effot. I think the averages for varsity time in girls is around 6:30 mile (Minimum) but can vary by school.



I'm not really accurate on everything and my wisdom may not help you (haha) but this is what I can offer...

Averages I think are:

Bball - Like 60+
Pullups - 12+
Shuttle - Around 8+ seconds
Situps - Around 70+
Pushups - Around 50+
Mile Run - Around 6:40+

I would say you are a bit above average on everything.

What I think you can definitely improve on EASILY is the shuttle run. One, use the track for this (Great traction). If you have to use the gym, use shoes with a nice gripping sole and pick a spot with traction. But if you can use a track, wear track shoes with spikes and I can guarantee a 1 second drop (7-8 seconds). If you have really nice technique (Fast pivots after touching the line/dropping the cone, then your time will greatly improve). (high 6 to 7 seconds)

If you can't do any of that, I would work on you pivoting, thats the point where I get a fast time or slow time.

For other improvements, pullups could be improved but I can't help you improve that since it takes a while to do, and I don't know how much time you have. For the BBall throw, try to practice a bit more to have consistent 60s. (Practice everyday)

For the mile run, if you have the money and you are not using some already, I suggest actually buying or getting some track/XC shoes for the mile run. That can easily take off seconds to minutes in the mile run depending on the shoes you use for running already. Like I use sneaks for regular training weighing about 20 ounces which is almost 2 pounds. My XC shoes is about 4 ounces and so that is 16 ounces difference which is 1 pound. A mile is about 5000 feet. So, the main difference is that essentially if you were wearing regular sneaks, you would be carrying that 1 extra pound for like 5000 steps which can really add up stress to your feet and slow down times.

When I used to run cross country meets I would get my first mile time in about 6:50. However, after buying some XC shoes, my mile time was 6:17 (30 second difference, and I was saving my energy for the other 2 miles, and the terrain for cross-country meets are usually dirt or grass which is bad). The improvement can really depend on the person though. If you run alot, there WILL be improvement, but if you don't run alot there wont be much improvement. Since your mile time is already 6:48 I can assume you run a bit and getting XC shoes/track shoes will be a great choice for bringing your mile time to possibly a 6:00 minute to a sub 6:30 mile. (If your using some already, ignore everything I just said :p)

Its just a small bonus for the mile. It could really help improve your times or it could not help at all. Remember, this scholarship is like 450,000k dollars and $20-$30 is a small price to pay for improving your chances during a make or break.

Thanks for the advice. Yesterday I was pacing a friend who wanted me to run with him for the 1.5 mile portion of AF PT. We hit 2:40 after the first half mile. After seeing that, I definitely will retake before submitting my scores.

I was wearing Vibram Five Fingers. They're much lighter in weight that the standard running shoe, so I do attribute my speed to VFFs.
 
So, just a little info that might add to your conversation.
CFA Averages (USAFA Admissions): https://admissions.usafa.edu/RRS/OnLine_CFA.pdf

If you're below the average in 1 event (mine was the BB throw), you can try and make up for it by excellence in others (I ran a 5:40 mile on mine at 4k ft.). Honestly, equipment is nice and all, but I ran mine in clunky trail shoes on a cross country course in the mountains when I took it. A good time on the mile is almost entirely dependent on training and attitude. Work at it (run your intervals and take the test on a track) and you should have no problem getting a good score.

With regards to sports, the Academy likes varsity lettermen a lot. Almost everyone I know here was a varsity athlete in high school, many team captains or co-captains. Have a good season, get good times, and stand out to your coaches. Maybe have one write a recommendation if you haven't turned them in already. Remember, the Academy looks for well-rounded candidates, so as long as you aren't deficient in other areas, you don't have to be perfect in any of them.

Good luck!
 
One of our posters: "Mongo" printed a copy of athletic attributes that the NCAA posted on athletes, and what they bring to colleges and to society as a whole. When you read the attributes, you'll see most, if not all, of them are things the military would also be impressed with.

Now this isn't to say that non-athletes can't have many/all of these attributes; just that athletes, especially those who excel in their sport, inherently have these attributes in order to succeed as well as they do. Those, varsity letters, all state, all conference, and similar accolades are a way for the academy to validate an individual with the attributes they're looking for.

Attention to detail , Awareness of diversity, Challenging yourself , Commitment,Communication, Competition , Confidence , Cooperation , Coordination , Decision making , Dedication, Determination , Diligence, Discipline, Endurance, Fitness, Flexibility, Focus ,Following plans/directions, Give/take feedback and criticism ,Goal-directed ,Improvement , Integrity,Individual/group effort, Keeping records, Leadership, Learning from failure ,Management, Multi-tasking , Organization ,Overcome obstacles , Pain/fatigue management, Patience,Performance, Persistence , Positive attitude, Prioritizing , Problem solving,Punctuality , Pursuit of excellence , Respect , Responsibility, Scheduling, Self-directed ,Self-esteem, Set goals , Strategies , Stress management, Supervision ,Tactics (offense/defense), Teaching , Teamwork , Thinking on your feet, Time management, Training motivation, Work ethic .
 
Thank you all for your help. I am holding off on submitting my scores to USAFA as my mile time is decreasing rapidly the further I get into cross country season...I just hope to get the best scores possible.

Very interesting about the shoes...I had never put much thought into weight before. (I run in a pair of Asics 1250s from an NEX) but that is definitely interesting.

Thank you again for the support :thumb:
 
Thank you all for your help. I am holding off on submitting my scores to USAFA as my mile time is decreasing rapidly the further I get into cross country season...I just hope to get the best scores possible.

Very interesting about the shoes...I had never put much thought into weight before. (I run in a pair of Asics 1250s from an NEX) but that is definitely interesting.

Thank you again for the support :thumb:

I am a C3C so my pool of applicants and the number admitted was much better than 2015's was or 2016's will be so keep this in mind, but I didn't submit and finish my package until January because I was waiting for football season to end until I did my CFA because I didn't want to lose any weight for football. I was already a small enough lineman as it was ha
 
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