Class of 2020 Admission Portals Open?

[FalconsRock]

Just trying to understand how this tweaking impacts the finesse from the appointment aspect. Are they still going to wait until the end of Feb. before they close the candidates package?

Pima,
Maybe this will clarify things a bit. Below is copy and pasted from the letter sent to my DD via her portal on July 10th:

The Directorate of Admissions has moved to a new method of promoting applicants to candidate status and
setting deadlines for the completion of the candidate kit. Applicants will be promoted in the order they applied and
most deadlines to complete the candidate kit will occur from the 1st of November to the 31st of January. Your
specific deadline is posted on your portal. Please be aware of the deadline since failure to complete the required
items by the deadline will disqualify your application. We will send periodic reminders to you when you are two
months, one month, two weeks, and one week from the deadline.
We expect that most applicants that meet our candidate guidelines and that applied before the 1st of July will be
promoted to candidate status by the end of July. Applicants promoted to candidate status between the 1st of July
and the 30th of September will have at least four months to complete their required items. Applicants promoted to
candidate status on or after the 1st of October will typically have a deadline of the 31st of January to complete these
tasks.
The Directorate of Admissions has moved away from standard deadlines in order to provide better service to our
candidates. Recent budget cuts, reductions in staff, and an increasing number of applications which are completed
on or near the 31st of January have caused surges in our workload and degradation in our ability to respond to our
candidates' inquires. We hope that this change will realign some of the workload to lower peak periods so that we
can better serve you.
Sincerely,
PHILLIP DREW PROSSEDA, Ph.D.
Chief, Selections Division

In order to be considered for an appointment, you must complete the following forms and/or take the approriate actions by November 10, 2015.

• USAFA Form 146 - Air Force Academy Candidate Personal Data Record
• USAFA Form 147 - Air Force Academy Candidate Activities Record
• AF Form 2030 - USAF Drug and Alcohol Abuse Statement
• USAFA Form 0-501 - Drug and Alcohol Use Circumstances (will only appear if required)
• USAFA Form O-878 - USAF Academy Candidate Writing Sample
• USAF Academy Candidate Fitness Assessment

You will find these forms at the bottom of this page. If you fail to complete all these forms by the deadline above your candidate kit will be locked and you will not be considered for admission to USAFA. Additionally, once you complete three of the forms above we will forward your name to DoDMERB so that you can be sent information on how to schedule your medical exam. Do not call DoDMERB before you have done this. Ensure you have completed (or at least scheduled) your DoDMERB medical and your Admissions Liaison Officer interview by the deadline.

It looks like to me, all the above must be completed by her deadline date. Her medical, MOC and ALO interviews may very well not be done by that date, but have to be scheduled and in the works. They will be able to process those six items for each candidate in a staggered manner, so as not to have an influx at the end of January. There are other things that have to be completed as well such as teacher evaluations, additional three LORs, submission of SAT/ACT and official transcripts.

Hope that clears things up.

 

[MombaBomba]

One other reminder. Do not wait for a portal update to contact your MOCs regarding nomination applications. Some of them have an application due date as early as mid September. These applications can be quite involved and each MOC may have different questions/paperwork/etc. and can require several essays each. These essays can be unique for each MOC. Some MOCs have a link on their website for the application, and others you have to phone their office and ask. Be sure to stay on top of these because often times their nomination close date is far earlier than the USAFA application close date. Good luck!

 

[Mom_CHgn]

-Note that you will only be promoted to candidate status if you meet the basic guidelines to be eligible for one of the Academy's programs--Prep, Falcon, or Direct entry. If you don't meet guidelines you should have already received a letter letting you know something needs improvement. In most cases you need to retest (ACT or SAT) and then submit your new scores.

If you need to improve and will not be promoted to candidate status at this time, your letter will have the following verbiage:

"We have received your online application and are pleased by your desire to pursue a career as an Air Force Officer. As you probably know, the competition to receive an Air Force Academy appointment is keen and right now your overall academic record is not competitive. Please refer to your Instructions to Precandidate booklet or our catalog for an explanation of admissions factors and average scores. Don't be discouraged by this initial review of your record. We encourage you to provide us with updated SAT and/or ACT scores along with a high school (and college, if applicable) transcript and profile. You should pursue your nomination regardless of your present status. Nomination deadlines vary. Some congressional deadlines are as early as the 1st of October.

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we will only contact you when you become competitive in all the areas we use to evaluate applications. Should you have additional admissions questions, please consult our catalog which is available on the internet at http://www.academyadmissions.com or call your counselor, Zzz Zzzzz, Telephone: 1-800-443-9266. You can check your status online at: https://admissions.usafa.edu/gateway/gateway.aspx."

If you are going to be promoted to candidate status, then your letter has the following verbiage:

"Congratulations! Your application to the Air Force Academy indicates you have the potential for admission. We'll be sending you additional instructions in July. In the meantime, here are some things to do to make yourself as competitive as possible....."

Be patient if you received this letter, you will be promoted.

Our DD applied May 21....And just received the "Congratulations!....Potentially Competitive" letter, this morning. Better late than never.lol

 

[Mom_CHgn]

So our DD would like to know (and DM) what does her Potentially Competitive mean? She only took her SATs (once), and did not do so well, super ill and not at all prepared. Everything else she is exceptional in. Will she be needing to resubmit her ACTs (That's the next test in September) before they will open her portal?