CFA Troubles

Wyocen

5-Year Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
4
Hello,
Unfortunately I began the admissions process fairly late and I didnt have as much time as I would have liked to prepare for the CFA, not to mention that with sports, school, ECs, and homework all got in the way of exercising more. I hope that this doesnt sound like an excuse, but I had been sick for about a week prior to taking it. Therefore my scores were not that good. There are as follows: Basketball throw: 57 ft, Shuttle Run: 10.4, Pullups: 9, Situps: 70, Pushups: 51, Mile: 8:53 (yikes). I would like to retake it but at this late in the process I would rather have one in on time than a good one in too late. What would you recommend doing?
Thanks in advance!
 
Hello,
Unfortunately I began the admissions process fairly late and I didnt have as much time as I would have liked to prepare for the CFA, not to mention that with sports, school, ECs, and homework all got in the way of exercising more. I hope that this doesnt sound like an excuse, but I had been sick for about a week prior to taking it. Therefore my scores were not that good. There are as follows: Basketball throw: 57 ft, Shuttle Run: 10.4, Pullups: 9, Situps: 70, Pushups: 51, Mile: 8:53 (yikes). I would like to retake it but at this late in the process I would rather have one in on time than a good one in too late. What would you recommend doing?
Thanks in advance!

If you submitted those scores, it is a moot point. You can not update the CFA results without USAFA telling you to do so.

If you have not submitted those scores, you have a small amount of time (20 days) to improve them. Getting a testing supervisor for a second time may also be difficult. The means are published in the Instructions booklet, so you know where you stand. If you are a male, you are below average in all events with a possible fail (they don't publish minimums) in the mile run. If you are female, your scores are not too bad with some above and some below average. If you can recover from being sick, find someone to administer the CFA, and retake the CFA, then I would definitely do so. 3 weeks is not an adequate amount of time to significantly improve your individual event scores with the exception of the B-Ball throw. Search these forums for suggestions on how to improve your throwing technique. Work out as much as you can and give it your best.

Best wishes. :thumb:
 
it would help to know your gender. regardless i would say you need to really focus and work hard towards improving your mile time (which should help your shuttle run also), practice your basketball throw, and work on maxing the sit ups out since that is one of the easier ones to do. you could also try to squeeze out a couple of more push ups too.

i am a runner and didn't start out with much upper body strength at all and it took me about a solid month of only doing back exercises, pull ups and push ups to achieve above the average or at least the average in all of the different events of the cfa. just get on it and work for these next two and a half weeks or so. good luck.
 
Wyocen, For running focus on sprints. Don't try running the mile, only do sprints as fast as you can run and as many as you can handle. Go out on a track and sprint. If you don't have access to a track, sprint from a tree to the end of the street or another tree. Every couple weeks you can time your 1 mile run to see how far your time dropped.

For the basketball throw, its mostly technique. Do a search for a good way to practice and improve it.
 
Hello,
Unfortunately I began the admissions process fairly late and I didnt have as much time as I would have liked to prepare for the CFA, not to mention that with sports, school, ECs, and homework all got in the way of exercising more. I hope that this doesnt sound like an excuse, but I had been sick for about a week prior to taking it. Therefore my scores were not that good. There are as follows: Basketball throw: 57 ft, Shuttle Run: 10.4, Pullups: 9, Situps: 70, Pushups: 51, Mile: 8:53 (yikes). I would like to retake it but at this late in the process I would rather have one in on time than a good one in too late. What would you recommend doing?
Thanks in advance!
You may be aware that the SA's take applications until you're 24 years old. It's unfortunate that you started the application process late into the class of 2017 cycle but if lack of preparation for CFA is all that would keep you from being granted an appointment to a SA, you may still have a chance to be given a prep school slot. If not, then you obviously have next year's cycle to prepare for if-to attend a SA and to serve is truly what you want.
Good luck.
 
I also forgot to mention that due to weather conditions I had to run on and indoor track in an underground gym. Seventeen laps around a small track kills your time with all the turning. My JROTC instructor mentioned that in the comments section of the paperwork as it being a poor area to run in. My best mile time recently was 6:48 which isn't the best but is certainly better than almost 9 minutes. So I know that I am capable of something at least in the 7 minute range. And if in the event that I do not receive an appointment or prep school appointment, I would like to reapply for the next year. I am a male and am rescheduled to do it again sometime next week. Thanks for the responses.
 
You may be aware that the SA's take applications until you're 24 years old. It's unfortunate that you started the application process late into the class of 2017 cycle but if lack of preparation for CFA is all that would keep you from being granted an appointment to a SA, you may still have a chance to be given a prep school slot. If not, then you obviously have next year's cycle to prepare for if-to attend a SA and to serve is truly what you want.
Good luck.

Slight correction. 24 years old is TOO Old. The actual deadline for applying to the academy is:

"not have passed your 23rd birthday on July 1 of the year you enter the Academy"

In other words, if you are, or turn 23 on June 30th OR BEFORE, in the year you would start the academy; then you are not eligible to apply. And no, this is not waiverable.
 
Thanks for the correction.
There are plenty of C4Cs that are prior enlisted and are at the 22-23 year old range. I have also met a number of graduates that did not get in on their first try but eventually did. There's also different routes that lead to being an officer in the service. ROTC and OTS to name a few.
 
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