Appointment Acceptance Portal Update

Christcorp

15-Year Member
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May 21, 2008
Messages
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Just a reminder to those fortunate to receive a "Congratulations" message on your portal. It tells you to look at the congratulations letter attached. In the letter, it specifically states that you must accept no later than April 15th. That's basically 2 weeks. If you do not officially ACCEPT by that date, admissions will put you down as "DECLINED". Part of this is to determine how many additional slots from the National Pool they need to fill from. The timeline wasn't this tight in the past. But it is this year.

Simply a reminder for those who may be sitting on another academy or university and waiting on certain things to pan out. You only have 2 weeks to make your decision. If you know you want this, I suggest you accept it immediately. Congratulations and best of luck to you. Mike....
 
Good advice Mike.

People need to understand that silence is not golden in this scenario.

Every yr there is someone who posts a thread of "HELP, I missed the date". Don't be that person, especially this yr!

From here on out, you are the master of your destiny!

I know many are questioning how fair this is to demand a response so quickly. Sorry, but I don't "feel" for them. You applied, knew for months this was going to be an option, if you do a gut check you know where you want to go.

Yes, it would be great to have more time to decide, but that is not going to happen.

Welcome to the AF...'HURRY UP and wait!
 
Just a reminder to those fortunate to receive a "Congratulations" message on your portal. It tells you to look at the congratulations letter attached. In the letter, it specifically states that you must accept no later than April 15th. That's basically 2 weeks. If you do not officially ACCEPT by that date, admissions will put you down as "DECLINED". Part of this is to determine how many additional slots from the National Pool they need to fill from. The timeline wasn't this tight in the past. But it is this year.

Simply a reminder for those who may be sitting on another academy or university and waiting on certain things to pan out. You only have 2 weeks to make your decision. If you know you want this, I suggest you accept it immediately. Congratulations and best of luck to you. Mike....
Hi Mike

Would you recommend that those accepting should expedite the method of delivery or rely on the postage paid envelope that the BFE provides. Some posters have not even received their BFEs an April 15 is approaching fast.
 
Hi Mike

Would you recommend that those accepting should expedite the method of delivery or rely on the postage paid envelope that the BFE provides. Some posters have not even received their BFEs an April 15 is approaching fast.

If you are notified in the online portal that you have been offered an appointment; it tells you to VIEW the attached document. It's a congratulations letter. In the letter it tells you to go to a specific WEBSITE ONLINE to accept/deny you appointment. It then says that if you ACCEPT the appointment, they will then send you an "Appointee Kit". Don't accept online...... No receive package.....

I'm sure that future appointees from the national pool, etc... will have a similar process with a different accept/decline date.
 
If you are notified in the online portal that you have been offered an appointment; it tells you to VIEW the attached document. It's a congratulations letter. In the letter it tells you to go to a specific WEBSITE ONLINE to accept/deny you appointment. It then says that if you ACCEPT the appointment, they will then send you an "Appointee Kit". Don't accept online...... No receive package.....

I'm sure that future appointees from the national pool, etc... will have a similar process with a different accept/decline date.
Thanks, Mike. DS received appointment in Feb, so his portal was not configured that way. See you at Thudgate.
 
Interesting way to run things. My son didn't make the cut, although a member of his Scout Troop did. Both worthy in my opinion (as Scoutmaster, not father), but there are only so many slots. We know the other young man will be going to the academy (his sister is there) so he is pushing forward with plan A2, NROTC (scholarship accepted) at UW.

As a Washington alum, I've pretty much brainwashed my son since birth to be a Husky and I couldn't be prouder of the young man he's become.

My thanks to this forum for being a great source of information (and anxiety. :)).
 
Interesting way to run things.....

Actually, it's not too different than the past. Just the time frame. PRE-2009 (Class of 2013), we had an economy and military posture that was very "predictable". The academy could "Offer" 1700 appointments, knowing with 100% certainty, that approximately 400 would turn the appointment down. (Believe it or not, military academies are NOT ALWAYS someone's first choice for college. Many apply as an alternative form of a "Full Ride Scholarship".)

Of the remaining 1300, the academy knew that approximately 80+/- would drop out or get kicked out during BCT. Another 70+/- would drop out after the first 2 semesters. Another 100+/- would drop out prior to commitment. (Beginning of their 3rd "Junior" year). And a miscellaneous 50+/- would be kicked out for a number of reasons. This presented a graduating class of 1000 or under. Right where they wanted to be. Unfortunately, because of the economy and unemployment and cost of college, LESS turned down the appointments, more "put up" with the academy and didn't quit, and more kept their nose clean. I believe this year's graduating class is still over 1100 students.

Well, the academy can't take those chances any more with HOPING that some will turn it down. So, they decide on a MAXIMUM number of appointments. This year, approximately 1057. They put our a few LOA's to athletes in the beginning. Then, the majority went out yesterday for MOC nominees. WAIT for them to say yes or no, then know how many you need to fill from those that turned it down to reach the magic 1057 number.

So it's not really that interesting or complicated. It actually makes sense, and should be the norm. It takes more time this way, but the numbers are better. In the past, if one year had too many accept, they could adjust accordingly over the next 3 years. But the last 3 years have made that impossible. Every year was getting too many people staying in. And believe it or not, the academy isn't heartless. They don't want to accept appointees and simply kick them out for burping. In a perfect world, they'd only give out 4000 appointments to the number of people they know 100% will make it through all 4 years and graduate and become commissioned. But that's not reality. Reality is: The academy isn't what most people think it is when they get there, and many will change their mind once they get there, or they won't be able to adapt to the military way of life. And because of the economy, many will stay; graduate; then do their 5 mandatory years and get out; because their employment and educational options aren't that good right now in the civilian market.
 
And because of the economy, many will stay; graduate; then do their 5 mandatory years and get out; because their employment and educational options aren't that good right now in the civilian market.

You are right - sad statistics as to how many will get out after their 5 years, especially since my DS has already decided this is his "career" choice - just like his Dad, a 20+ year career in the AF is what he wants.
 
15 Apr Deadline

The USAFA appointment accept/decline deadline of Apr 15 is a bit strong-handed, especially since it was only announced in the appointment letter.

Every other civilian college and other service academies has the standard 1 May deadline. USAFA was the only service academy to announce the bulk of the appointments so late, but then has the shortest suspense.

There are candidates still waiting to hear from other schools, including other service academies. Some candidates may only have a few days to make such an important decision. Granted, one could argue that candidates should already be thinking about the “what if” scenarios, but that’s easier said than done, especially for a teenager.
 
Time out for a second Nav84.

I want to make sure I am understanding your post correctly.

Your child started this process @ 9 months ago, jumped through hoops to get an MOC nom., lived through the pain of waiting, and your position is "AFA ISN'T GIVING HIM 2 MORE WEEKS?" If they did SLS or submitted the PCQ in March it is 1 YR!

I am sorry, but with my 3rd child just ending this process regarding college, I don't bite off on "they are just teenagers" and need time, especially for the military because the minute they turned 18, they became adults.

I know and expect to be flamed for my opinion, but I will not change it, so flame on.

If your child is waiting for a college decision to make the choice, than I have to ask how badly do they want the AFA?
 
Time out for a second Nav84.

I want to make sure I am understanding your post correctly.

Your child started this process @ 9 months ago, jumped through hoops to get an MOC nom., lived through the pain of waiting, and your position is "AFA ISN'T GIVING HIM 2 MORE WEEKS?" If they did SLS or submitted the PCQ in March it is 1 YR!

I am sorry, but with my 3rd child just ending this process regarding college, I don't bite off on "they are just teenagers" and need time, especially for the military because the minute they turned 18, they became adults.

I know and expect to be flamed for my opinion, but I will not change it, so flame on.

If your child is waiting for a college decision to make the choice, than I have to ask how badly do they want the AFA?

My DS started the PCQ over 1 year ago. If given the opportunity to accept the AFA's offer, it would take him less that 1 minute. He's waiting to hear from them before he accepts offers from the civilian colleges he's applied to.

One minute, that's all it would take him to make up his mind. It was made up LONG ago.
 
Time out for a second Nav84.

I want to make sure I am understanding your post correctly.

Your child started this process @ 9 months ago, jumped through hoops to get an MOC nom., lived through the pain of waiting, and your position is "AFA ISN'T GIVING HIM 2 MORE WEEKS?" If they did SLS or submitted the PCQ in March it is 1 YR!

I am sorry, but with my 3rd child just ending this process regarding college, I don't bite off on "they are just teenagers" and need time, especially for the military because the minute they turned 18, they became adults.

I know and expect to be flamed for my opinion, but I will not change it, so flame on.

If your child is waiting for a college decision to make the choice, than I have to ask how badly do they want the AFA?
Pima, I am not going to flame you. We are both expressing our thoughts and I respect your views.
 
Time out for a second Nav84.

I want to make sure I am understanding your post correctly.

Your child started this process @ 9 months ago, jumped through hoops to get an MOC nom., lived through the pain of waiting, and your position is "AFA ISN'T GIVING HIM 2 MORE WEEKS?" If they did SLS or submitted the PCQ in March it is 1 YR!

I am sorry, but with my 3rd child just ending this process regarding college, I don't bite off on "they are just teenagers" and need time, especially for the military because the minute they turned 18, they became adults.

I know and expect to be flamed for my opinion, but I will not change it, so flame on.

If your child is waiting for a college decision to make the choice, than I have to ask how badly do they want the AFA?
There are kids that AFA is not their first choice of academies. At least one of those other academies will still be issueing appointments between now and April 15. The AFA will do what they want but they are being a bit heavy handed. The May 1 deadline is part of a universal agreement all colleges agreed to.
 
If your child is waiting for a college decision to make the choice, than I have to ask how badly do they want the AFA?

AMEN!!!!

My DS started the PCQ over 1 year ago. If given the opportunity to accept the AFA's offer, it would take him less that 1 minute. He's waiting to hear from them before he accepts offers from the civilian colleges he's applied to.

One minute, that's all it would take him to make up his mind. It was made up LONG ago.

Same here! My DS is actually excited about Plan C (so much so, that I had to ask him if he'd still take an AFA appt or prep - he wholeheartedly said YES!)- so he'd drop Plan C in a heartbeat if he got a AFA appointment.

Plan A - USAFA, Plan A2 - USAFA Prep, Plan B USNA, Plan B2 USNA NAPS, Plan C AFROTC Scholarship type 1. I am thankful we no longer have to go down the list, since we did have a Plan D, E, & F.
 
You are right - sad statistics as to how many will get out after their 5 years, especially since my DS has already decided this is his "career" choice - just like his Dad, a 20+ year career in the AF is what he wants.

Crystal; please allow me to make a personal comment, based on a lot of observation and experience, and please don't feel I am being harsh.

Your son might "BELIEVE" that this is his career choice..... He might "BELIEVE" that because his dad did a 20+ year career, that he knows what he wants and what he's getting into..... But the truth is: He has no idea what he's getting into, until he get's there.

Yes, military brats like your son, my son, Pima/Bullet's son, etc... have a "Better Idea" than most, but they still aren't positive of what they are getting into or if it's what they will want. I can't tell you how many cadets I, Flieger, and others have seen leave the academy or do "5 and Dive" who were 100% positive in the beginning that this is what they wanted to do as a career.

Now; there is nothing wrong with a lot of O-3 (Captains) getting out after 5 years. You can't have 1000 Academy grads and potentially thousands of ROTC graduates getting commissioned each year and staying for 20 years. You can't have as many chiefs as you do indians. Same with enlisted. They don't want every enlisted to come in and stay 20 years. Every airman from E-1 through O-10 has a duty and job in the military. The military doesn't want or need 100% retention. They want voluntary separations after fulfilling their commitment.

So while I hope that your son has indeed found his dream career in the air force, there shouldn't be any hard feelings towards those who do the proverbial "5 and Dive". We need their contributions just as much as those who do choose to stay 20+ years.

My point was that the traditional numbers and percentages have been skewed because of the economy, unemployment rate, military involvement world-wide, etc... Basically, too many people coming into the military and not wanting to leave. There's nothing wrong with only serving for 5 years. The academy shouldn't be just for "Career Officers".
 
15 Apr deadline

The purpose of the universal 1 May deadline is so candidates can appropriately choose from the rank order of their college plans (A being first choice). The 15 Apr deadline is not a problem for those whose plan A is USAFA. But what if USAFA is plan B and the candidate is still waiting for USNA plan A? A universal deadline of 1 May avoids this predicament.
 
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My point was that the traditional numbers and percentages have been skewed because of the economy, unemployment rate, military involvement world-wide, etc... Basically, too many people coming into the military and not wanting to leave. There's nothing wrong with only serving for 5 years. The academy shouldn't be just for "Career Officers".

No offense taken - and you are right - with the RIFs they are involuntarily separating people too (at both Capt and Maj level) - so yes, in fact they do need a certain attrition rate, if you don't do it for them, they will do it for you.

My apologies.
 
I have the "WOW" running in my mind because of the AFA "Plan B" issue.

Is it the AFA's problem that USNA or any other SA has a later date than they do?

No, the AFA exists for the AF and their manpower needs, not the Navy, nor CG, nor the Army or any Ivy/Top Tier college.


Keep a spade a spade.

You want to be in the AF, want an SA education than the answer is pretty simple.

You want an SA education, but not an AF career than I get where you are coming from.

Just saying that is how I perceive it.


I could not give a rat's behind who is or is not appointed. What I do care about is the person that will cover my DS's 6 in the AD world. Some of these posts worry me regarding motivation.

There are kids that AFA is not their first choice of academies.
I read Plan B. Gee thanks!

The 15 Apr deadline is not a problem for those whose plan A is USAFA. But what if USAFA is plan B and the candidate is still waiting for plan USNA plan A?
Again, I don't get warm and fuzzy feelings.

Again, our DS will be commissioned O1 on May 26th, I have no bone in the fight. Those two posts just said to candidates who only want AFA that they don't want AF, that want Navy, but because the Navy didn't get back in time they will settle for the AF. Imagine how it feels to the TWE candidate to read that when all they ever wanted was AF and Navy was never an option reading those posts?
 
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