Ok folks; I know it's hard, but take a deep breath. Those of you that have been here a while know me. I don't B.S. you. I am usually cordial, motivated, uplifting, and a number of other things; but I won't blow sunshine up the old keester. This is not to "rationalize" anything with you. It's to explain for those who don't understand why. It's to give hope for "possibilities". And to give encouragement in the hopes that if you don't make it this year, that you persevere and apply again in another 3-4 months. Let's begin.
You have to realize that there are almost 10,000 applicants per year. When all is said and done, approximately 1700 offers of appointment will be given out; of which 1300-1400 will accept them. Of those 1300-1400, some will be those on, as PackerMatt7 calls it, the wait list. Possibly some of you.
If you weren't qualified to be a cadet, you wouldn't even had made it to where you are now. So first off; BE VERY PROUD OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!! So why are you on a "Wait list" instead of getting the 'Big Package"? Well, that is the million dollar question. Let's start by looking at the MAXIMUM QUALIFIED of that 10,000 initial applicants. Remember reading how each congressman can have a slate of 10 people. Well, all the states; all the districts; equals 435 representative. Add on 2 senators from each state. That's a total of 535 congressmen. A slate of 10 each means a MAXIMUM of 5350 "Qualified" applicants getting a nomination. That's JUST FROM CONGRESS. I say maximum because many of those congressmen won't put in all 10. Also; there will be many duplicates where the same name is on a senator's and representative's list. But the hardest part is that a district like that in the Virginia Beach area of Virginia could have 100 or more applicants. But the representative can only have 10 names. And as for the senators, you are then competing against the Whole State. A state like Wyoming only has 1 representative. So everyone in the state is competing to be on 1 list of 10 names. And one of the Senators.
But that's not really the end of it. Even if you are one of the 10 names on the slate from your congressman and has the "Nomination", the LAW states that a congressman can only have so many cadets in an academy at one time maximum. The number, through combination, comes out to be 5. So; some representatives could actually have 2 or more available slots while another representative may already have 5 cadets currently at the academy and therefor can't really nominate another one. So, while you've heard of "Primary Nominees"; that accounts for roughly the 435 out of the eventual 1300-1400 that will attend that academy. That leaves about 900-1000 to go. Then there's 100 presidential nominees given out that will actually attend. That leaves approximately 800+/- left. Then there's miscellaneous nominations from other sources. So,that's where you're at now and competing. So roughly 800 slots left for approximately 4500 qualified applicants.
I generalized a lot of the procedure here, but it's intended not to discourage you, but to uplift you to realize that it's not that you did anything wrong or weren't good enough. On the contrary. You are totally good enough. It's just that there are only 1700 slots offered; knowing that many will choose a traditional college or such and the number will be 1300-1400 when all is said and done. That's an acceptance rate of approximately 17% with a walk in percentage of approximately 14%. If you look at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Brown, MIT, etc... you will see similar numbers.
So, what is the "Bad Luck" part of this that got you the thin envelope instead of the thick package. Basically; the district/state that you live in and the total number of applicants where you live. But this is just the luck of the dice. Some heavily populated states/districts are easier to get that principle nomination or LOA. Some lower populated state/districts are easier.
So; what's next? The first think is to realize that depending on your TOTAL SCORE; you are no competing nationally as some of those 1700 turn down the appointments. If you are good enough to get into the Air Force Academy; you are probably good enough to get into the Ivy leagues; prestigious schools; big name privates; etc... And many of those who received an appointment also got accepted to many of those schools. Just like many of you who received the thin envelope has probably been accepted to a number of other schools. Hopefully, the academy wasn't the only school you applied to. Anyway; as approximately 25% of the appointments will TURN THEM DOWN; you could very possibly be on the list to be offered an appointment. The other option is if you re-apply for the academy in June/July. Knowing the system/process now; you have the ability to kick out that application 100% complete by 31 July 2009. Get you high school teachers lined up BEFORE YOU GRADUATE. You know what you need. Retake the ACT/SAT IMMEDIATELY (Unless you kicked it's butt already). Then; if you get the application completed by 31 July 2009, you will have an EXCELLENT chance for an LOA. As such; it won't matter WHERE on that slate of 10 you are. Get on the list and you are GUARANTEED the appointment. The academy looks VERY FAVORABLY on those who RE-APPLY. The congressmen look favorably also. They will remember you from this year. They will see your determination. If you truly are worthy, you will be at the top of their list. Or at least MUCH HIGHER.
If you don't get the appointment this year; go to that school that you got accepted to. Take math and science classes. Do well. Get into ROTC so you can verify and validate that the Air Force really is what you want. Plus; your ROTC detachment also has the ability to nominate. You know the system, use that to your advantage to WIN. There are many posts on this forum and others from those who received an appointment either on the wait list or the 2nd year trying. You are in great company. You aren't any LESS QUALIFIED than those with the big package and appointment. The academy simply can't take all the qualified cadets. I/They wish they could. (We could really use having our military strength built up). But the law states how many can be at the academy/graduated/commissioned. (Simplified). So hang in there. Don't lose hope. And if necessary, use this to your advantage to be a BETTER, STRONGER, and more DETERMINED candidate for the next cycle. Best of luck to you all. Later.... Mike.....