LEAD Program Questions and Advice

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VanGoose

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Hello, I'll be enlisting some time within the next two months, and ultimately have an ambition to attend the Air Force Academy through the LEAD Program.
I have some general questions, but would also GLADLY take any advice from anyone with knowledge and experience with the program.

-Air Force intramural sports: Will playing on a base's Softball (I want to play baseball, but I don't see that as one of the options) intramural team help my LEAD packet? I only played junior varsity football in high school and I think more sports experience will help, but I'd like your opinions.

-Academics: I had a BAD high school GPA (2.7) and an even worse GPA in my first semester of community college (2.2). How deep of a rut am I in as far as LEAD admissions go? I'm going to work to get Distinguished Graduate in tech school, competitive SAT/ACT scores, and take college courses after I get to my first base. Would this be enough to make up somewhat for those bad GPAs?

And again, just any general advice you would have would be MUCH appreciated.
 
At tech school most bases have softball during the fall, and afterwords on base sports are definitely a possibility, with the sports available dependent on the base ( mine has basketball and soccer right now). You will have the opportunity to Clep classes so you can raise your gpa while you're in and show that you're capable of taking classes, but I would not expect to be able to take classes until done with cdc's (how long those are depends on your afsc). Do you already have a ship date for basic or are you just estimating it? If you have any question about enlisting or being enlisted, and working on your application while enlisted please feel free to pm me.

~Current enlisted Airman
 
Jestia said:
At tech school most bases have softball during the fall, and afterwords on base sports are definitely a possibility, with the sports available dependent on the base ( mine has basketball and soccer right now). You will have the opportunity to Clep classes so you can raise your gpa while you're in and show that you're capable of taking classes, but I would not expect to be able to take classes until done with cdc's (how long those are depends on your afsc). Do you already have a ship date for basic or are you just estimating it? If you have any question about enlisting or being enlisted, and working on your application while enlisted please feel free to pm me.

~Current enlisted Airman
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I'm going to set a MEPS date for early June tomorrow with my recruiter, and he mentioned most likely I will be off to BMT some time around late August/September.
I'm really interested in Aircrew positions (loadmaster/aerial gunner/Airborne Mission Systems) but I don't really know how long it would take to do the cdcs.

How many times can one apply for the LEAD program? If I were to be denied my first time, could I reapply next year?
 
YES, you can apply every year until you don't meet the qualifications, I imagine with those jobs they'd be longer cdc's, but idk, I'm a maintainer, just remember the fewer jobs you hold out for the longer it takes. Good luck getting in though, I know some people it took up to a year and some people got in within a few months.
 
Jestia said:
YES, you can apply every year until you don't meet the qualifications, I imagine with those jobs they'd be longer cdc's, but idk, I'm a maintainer, just remember the fewer jobs you hold out for the longer it takes. Good luck getting in though, I know some people it took up to a year and some people got in within a few months.
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Thank you, that makes me feel a lot less stressed out!
And good luck to you!
 
Glad so, good luck joining, if you have any question feel free to shoot me a pm
 
Usually any sort of community activity/outreach is going to look good, but no one here is able to give hard and fast answers about how such activities factor objectively into the whole candidate score and ultimately an appointment.

The AF generally likes to grab prior-Es in order to diversify the student body at USAFA. They seek to broaden the perspectives of the cadets as much as possible. So they probably aren't as much concerned with GPA for an enlisted applicant as they might be for an applicant straight out of high school. That being said, if you had trouble in HS then it is probably more likely for you to be offered a USAFA Prep slot to spin you up on academics.

My advice would be to get through BMT and tech school. When you get to your first duty station start talking to your first line supervisor about your plans. Keep your chain of command informed regarding your intentions. Visit the education office to learn more about the LEAD process. Good luck.
 
VanGoose said:
Hello, I'll be enlisting some time within the next two months, and ultimately have an ambition to attend the Air Force Academy through the LEAD Program.
I have some general questions, but would also GLADLY take any advice from anyone with knowledge and experience with the program.

-Air Force intramural sports: Will playing on a base's Softball (I want to play baseball, but I don't see that as one of the options) intramural team help my LEAD packet? I only played junior varsity football in high school and I think more sports experience will help, but I'd like your opinions.

-Academics: I had a BAD high school GPA (2.7) and an even worse GPA in my first semester of community college (2.2). How deep of a rut am I in as far as LEAD admissions go? I'm going to work to get Distinguished Graduate in tech school, competitive SAT/ACT scores, and take college courses after I get to my first base. Would this be enough to make up somewhat for those bad GPAs?

And again, just any general advice you would have would be MUCH appreciated.
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First off how old are you? Keep in mind that you have until you are 22 basically to get a shot at USAFA since you can't be 23 before July 1st of the entry year. Second my advice to you is to focus on tech school and CDC's, but that doesn't mean you can't still be prepping for USAFA. Look up the USAFA fitness test and train to do as best as you can on that. Also start studying/taking the SAT or ACT as much as you can. This was my last year that I could have applied and I didn't get selected. Part of me thinks it was because of my ACT scores and I was a little higher on my run time. Don't mess up either while you are in the Air Force. Keep your nose clean because you NEED commander approval to apply, and if you don't get that then you are SOL. Also awards look great on any package, so try to do great things so that you can get these awards. Don't wait until the last minute to do all these things. I decided to apply around October/November timeframe and so I was only able to take the ACT once and although I met the requirements for the scores, it wasn't what I needed to be competitive. Remember you only really compete against other enlisted members so your chances are way higher and if you have some of the best scores on the ACT/SAT and your pt test with a good commander recommendation you should get in.
 
levicious said:
First off how old are you? Keep in mind that you have until you are 22 basically to get a shot at USAFA since you can't be 23 before July 1st of the entry year. Second my advice to you is to focus on tech school and CDC's, but that doesn't mean you can't still be prepping for USAFA. Look up the USAFA fitness test and train to do as best as you can on that. Also start studying/taking the SAT or ACT as much as you can. This was my last year that I could have applied and I didn't get selected. Part of me thinks it was because of my ACT scores and I was a little higher on my run time. Don't mess up either while you are in the Air Force. Keep your nose clean because you NEED commander approval to apply, and if you don't get that then you are SOL. Also awards look great on any package, so try to do great things so that you can get these awards. Don't wait until the last minute to do all these things. I decided to apply around October/November timeframe and so I was only able to take the ACT once and although I met the requirements for the scores, it wasn't what I needed to be competitive. Remember you only really compete against other enlisted members so your chances are way higher and if you have some of the best scores on the ACT/SAT and your pt test with a good commander recommendation you should get in.
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Are you enlisted? What's your GPA? Why do you think you got rejected? What was your ACT score? I plan on applying through LEAD next year and am worried about not being competitive.
 
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