As both a participant and a moderator I'm in a difficult position with this thread. I think this is a valuable topic to discuss, when it's kept accurate and non-personal, but I fear it's coming close to veering off-track due to some personal frustrations with the system.
BUT...as a participant and as an ALO, I need to step in and make a couple comments regarding some statements made here.
Gotoplay2...I normally won't "pick" at any comments if I can avoid it, but in this case, I can't. Your facts are simply wrong. I will cut/paste a quote from you:
Current applicants should know that it's not just about "working your !!! off" - don't think for a minute that you have a good chance of getting in. As of this year... If there's only one spot open w/your MOC and you're in a state that only gives one nom - you may be competing with a prep school candidate who is guaranteed that one spot. If you don't get an LOA early on - (DS had a pulled muscle and couldn't take the CFA until Nov.) you have virtually no chance of being offered an appointment. I think those getting their hopes up should know that this is the way things are now. Even with a class of 1050 - The Academy must keep their diversity situation in check and the recruited athletes will get their appointments.
Okay...where do I begin?
First...there were only approximately 10% of appointments given out by LOA according to USAFA/RRS. That's the selections division of the office of the Director of Admissions. So the statement "
...if you dn't get an LOA early on you have virtually no chance of being offered an appointment..." is wrong.
Second...your comment about the MOC and numbers of appointments/nominations, etc., really isn't accurate. A MOC is afforded 10 nominations per opening at each SA. By law an MOC may only have 5 "charged" appointees at any SA at any time. If your MOC has 1 opening, then they will be allowed to nominate 10 candidates. One of those candidates will be selected (unless in the extremely rare case, none of the candidates meet the legal requirements for admission) and will be "charged" to that MOC. The other 9 candidates will, as CC stated, go into the "qualified alternates" pool. USAFA, pretty much like all the other SA's (can't speak for USCGA) draw almost half of their incoming class from this pool. Perfect example: Senator Jon Kyl of AZ nominated 20 students @ 2004 to fill his 2 openings. At the end of the admissions process, his 2 charged appointments were filled HOWEVER 12 other candidates of his 18 remaining were offered appointments to USAFA! He had 14 appointments out of 20 nominee's! (We AZ ALO's received a very nice letter of appreciation from Sen Kyl).
Third...I can fully appreciate your frustration in your DS not receiving an appointment. Trust me, having been the recipient myself of a "QNV" letter, I know exactly what that feels like and how crushing it can be. But let me say a couple things after that. First...it's not the end of the world. I chose to attend a prep school after HS and I was able to raise my SAT's to rather lofty levels and that was the "tip over the edge" in my case. I was accepted to USAFA my second try. Second...your DS is NOT ALONE this year. While it won't make him or you feel any better, there are quite a few candidates that scored higher than your DS that didn't receive an appointment...we didn't get him or them into USAFA, and that's our loss.
FYI...I had 11 candidates this cycle; 5 would be mirror images of your DS (yes, I'm serious, including one valedictorian of a school class of 900 students) I was CERTAIN that all 5 would be offered appointments.
WRONG.
As of tonight...only one (1) has an appointment (not the valedictorian). In my 17 years as an ALO, this cycle was the most brutal for the candidates that I have ever seen. Because we made offers to (my numbers, I haven't seen USAFA/RRS' official results yet) approximately 18% fewer candidates, the competition was beyond brutal, it was...well, I'm not sure I have a word that fits it.
Fourth (and last)...you commented "
...The Academy must keep their diversity situation in check and the recruited athletes will get their appointments." Yes, this is true but...and this is a biggie, the total number of recruited athletes receiving appointments isn't overwhelming and realize that those that go directly to USAFA had to meet the entrance requirements. I'm not going to blow smoke at you and say they also had to "beat" the other candidates...that'd be untrue. HIGHLY recruited athletes...what can I say? I'm one of those rare AF types that thinks the academy shouldn't focus that much on athletics (IC type) and instead should focus on turning out the finest AF officers...but that's a different soapbox.
Bottom line re: athletic recruiting? It is what it is...its not going to change anytime soon.
Diversity you also mentioned. Please understand that USAFA's definition of Diversity isn't what most folks think. It's not a "can't be a white anglo saxon male" issue. It's about the individuals situation in life; all encompassing. It may be a minority member, or not, that's not the key issue; their "situation" is. The eldest child in a single parent household with siblings who works after school at a job to help keep a roof over the family's heads, helping with their siblings while that single parent works 2 jobs, etc...THAT is a diversity candidate that we want to meet and if they meet the criteria, they are the ones that we want to bring to the MILITARY, not just USAFA. We want to give them the opportunity to achieve...but their situation in life may not afford them the opportunity to try.
I could go on and on on this topic but...
I feel your pain and frustration, I truly do. The fact I've been there, all the more so. But...realize that your facts just aren't completely accurate. And that's what we need to make sure we give to all the members here: facts as accurate as we can so they can make good decisions. And next year...it's going to be as hard or even more so as the incoming class will probably be only on the order of 1050.
Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83