CFA Administration

P

Packer

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Messages
1,866
The academies all use the same CFA so an applicant should only have to take it once even if they are applying to all of the academies (I believe USCGA uses a different exam). The person that can administer the CFA for each academy is listed below. Note that the qualified administer list is not consistent among the academies. A PE teacher is the only qualified administrator that is common to all of the academies. Does this mean that if your AF ALO administers your test but you would also like to apply to USNA and USMA you will have to take the CFA again with a different administrator?
Hoping that somebody will have some experience with this.


From USAFA:
Your examination may be administered by any
physical education teacher, Service Academy Liaison
Officer or JROTC Instructor.
Click to expand...
From USNA:
The CFA MUST be administered by a high school/prep school physical education teacher, team coach, commissioned officer (for military candidates), or the candidate's Blue and Gold Officer.
Click to expand...

From USMA:
Physical Education Teacher
Military Academy Liaison Officers
Military Officers or Noncommissioned Officers
Professors of Military Science
J/ROTC Instructors
Click to expand...
From USMMA:
Your examination may be administered by your Academy Liaison Officer (ALO), by any commissioned officer other than a parent or any teacher holding a physical education degree.
Click to expand...
 
I think on a whole, most candidates use their PE instructor since many ALO's also have full time jobs (9-5). The same is true for BGOs and MALO's.

PM flieger. He would be the one to really ask. Him or USNA because both are Liaisons with their respective branches.
 
The same question comes up with regards to using say a JROTC instructor. A PE teacher is the obvious safe choice if it can be arranged.
 
We had no problem. Most teachers are required to stay between 30-45 minutes after the school day ends. Just have him ask, and they will do it. The only problem may be they are also coaches, but any PE teacher can do it, and invariably not every PE teacher is a coach all yr long. I think DS asked on Monday, took it Weds.

Right now, the importance is not who will be administering it, but training to max the scores.

The CFA can be that 1 point difference from winning the nom with the WCS and being placed on the NWL.

Too many times I have seen at this time of the yr., candidates just want to get it in, without realizing no board is going to meet until October, and still even at that point you need a nom to get an apptmt.

They land up submitting lower scores because they believe expediency is what wins. 50 on the BBall is going to hurt when 100 is the max. 3 pull ups is going to ding you because the max is 18.

ONCE SUBMITTED, only the AFA can re-open the CFA portal. You can do as many trials as you want, but you must enter the score on the AFA portal with the belief that this is my 1 and only submission. IT IS NOT THE SAT/ACT where they superscore.

Take this time to practice, practice, practice. Contact the PE teacher now to say come Jul/Aug/Sept can you do me this favor. It will take 30 mins. Get their email address.

Run in every type of weather, if it is 99 degrees outside run. If it is raining, run! Again, I can't tell you how many times a yr you will read, it was really hot, it was really cold, it was spitting rain, etc., etc. etc. will they take that into consideration? Yes, they ask for the weather, but don't bank on it as a way to gain an edge.

OBTW, don't buy brand new sneaks for that day thinking it will have better tread and you will do better, you actually might do worse because you can get blisters.

Additionally, if your child is applying for an AFROTC scholarship the CFA and PFA are different, so you need to prepare for that one too. No BBall for PFA, and if I remember correctly the run is longer for AFROTC, I want to say it is 2 miles (1000 whaps with a wet spaghetti noodle if I am wrong, DS did it back 3 yrs ago).
 
Pima said:
I think on a whole, most candidates use their PE instructor since many ALO's also have full time jobs (9-5). The same is true for BGOs and MALO's.

PM flieger. He would be the one to really ask. Him or USNA because both are Liaisons with their respective branches.
Click to expand...

PIMA is correct; sometimes it is a bit tough to schedule an ALO to administer the CFA...once upon a time we did them every year on set weekends but now...it's harder.

That being said, do NOT be afraid to ask! I enjoy giving them. It's an opportunity to see just how hard someone will push themselves for a goal..good stuff for the ALO evaluation!!!!

But...most of the candidates I know..they have their PE instructor do it for them...or they'll call the counselor, ask if a coach can administer it, and if told "yes" then they'll have a coach do it.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
If we have a military dependent who is applying to the academy; e.g. my son; the ALO would do the CFA scheduling. But we would go to the Base Gym and have one of the gym staff actually conduct the CFA testing. We go simply for moral support. Or to help the gym staff if needed.

The rest of our candidates/applicants usually get their CFA done by their high school P.E. teacher.
 
DS was/is having trouble finding a PE teacher that can do it in the time period he would like to do it. He could get JROTC instructor and possibly ALO but it sounds like he should just figure out how to make it work with a PE teacher.
 
You are way early in the system for the CFA. I understand wanting to get it done, but again, unless you are 100% sure they are going to do incredibly well don't push it. Take the summer to train.

Schools start up in Aug/Sept. The ALO's are not going to get the list of those who are moving on from the PCQ until July 1st. Time is there.

This is NOT a SPRINT! The majority of applicants, 85-90% out of candidates do not get an LOA or early BFEs. LOA's are not candy from the AFA's pov. They are carrots. The AFA is the stingiest when it comes to the LOA compared to the other SAs.

EVERY POINT COUNTS. EVERY POINT MATTERS. The CFA is a small %, but it still matters, especially since no board will meet until Oct. to give out a nom. That is the other biggie. No nom = NO APPT!

If you have downloaded the CFA and practiced it, in all weather climates, using their form and down times, PLUS know he is maxing it, do it now. If even one part is near the min., DON'T do it. You bust one part, you bust the test. Get 18 on pull ups and 8 min mile Rut Ro Reorge!

I can't stress enough enough once submitted it is a done deal.

Too many people think early completion of their application will get them the golden ticket (LOA), trust me it won't. This board is littered with TWE's from candidates that believed this was the approach. AFA does rolling, but not the way traditional colleges do.

No principal, No LOA, get ready to say March/April Madness. In other words welcome to up to 12 months of the roller coaster ride! The majority of MOC's do rack and stack, principal is minority. Again, do the homework, if he is not a shining star, and your MOC spreads the wealth, or doesn't do principal, it may be best to TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN so they can win the WCS.

CFA is a small part of the equation, don't be busy jumping over the nickels to pick up the pennies.
 
Maybe not as far ahead as you think. He is trying to make arrangements to take it at the end of the summer right before school starts back up. He wants to maximize his training time but get it done before he gets busy with senior year and applying to plan B colleges. Plan B isn't much good if you don't put in enough effort to get in. He is trying to look at everything he has to do and plan it out.
 
That's pretty much what DS did last year. At a small school like ours, PE teachers often are coaches too. He wanted to schedule his before they got too busy with their teams. He didn't do real well on a couple things but entered the values, tried to save it to talk over with his ALO and clicked on SUBMIT instead. Still, he's getting on a plane for COS in 3 weeks.
 
I'm trying to do the exact same thing you described and I am running into the same problem. My Navy JROTC instructor has already said he can administer the CFA sometime in August before school starts. He's obviously the best and easiest choice for me... So should I just go ahead and use him for my AFA CFA and then report the CFA results to the other academies as well?
 
According to the instructions only USAFA and USMA allow a JROTC instructor to administer the CFA. USNA and USMMA do not list JROTC instructors as possible administrators.
 
For USMMA, a coach may administer the CFA also. I know it does not say that, but I called and asked and they said you could.
 
While you're thinking about the CFA, remember something if you're going to Summer Seminar.

Air Force does NOT COUNT the CFA "Practice" that you do at summer seminar.

Army DOES COUNT the CFA that you do at their summer seminar.

So; if you happen to go to one of the summer seminars, and do the CFA there, call directly to the admissions office at the appropriate academy and ask them if they will accept those scores. "Assuming you want to use them". Don't ask here. Don't ask your ALO. You are only allowed to input the scores for the CFA 1"ONE" TIME. Don't screw up by submitted scores that don't count. Contact admissions directly.
 
For kids who don't have a PE instructor (e.g. homeschoolers), the ALOs were more than willing to schedule and conduct their CFAs. My sons had them different days, with different ALOs, in different locations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top