HS freshman planning to apply to USAFA.

[Airwoman'28]

Hi there everyone,
I am a high school freshman living in Central Indiana. In June, I started looking into Air Force careers and realized my interest in the military. I was not familiar with Service Academies before then, but once I learned more about them, I decided that I want to continue down the path to attending an SA (primarily USAFA) and eventually become an officer. I know that I've listed quite a bit of information about my credentials down below, so please feel free to just skim through. I understand that it's hard to gauge the "chances" of being admitted to a SA - I'm just trying to reach out to people more experienced with the admissions process so that I can determine the best route forward for myself. I've already learned a lot about USAFA itself (through academyadmissions, the USAFA website, and virtual Zoom "tours"), but I'd like more indication on whether I personally am meeting the Academy's standards.

Also, quick question: Is it recomended that I reach out to my Congresswoman/Senators early to put myself "on their radars"? (Such as an letter explaining my interest in USAFA?) I clearly wouldn't be applying yet, but this way they would be familiar with me once I do apply.

Academics:

• 9th: HonEng9, HonFren2, APWH, HonBio, HonAlg2
• 10th (Projected): HonEng10, HonFren3, APUSH, HonChem, HonPreCalc, IB Global Politics, AP Gov
• 11th (Projected): IB Eng HL, IB Fren HL, IB Psych SL, IB Physics SL, IB Math SL, IB Chem SL, AP Micro
• 12th (Projected): IB Eng HL, IB Fren HL, IB Psych HL, IB Physics SL, IB Math SL, AP EnvSci, AP Macro

General Scores:

• Unweighted 4.0, Weighted 4.2
  • I'm not currently looking at my GPA too heavily as a factor in my admissions process as I have yet to take a series of higher level classes.
• ACT: 28
  • I took the ACT the February of my 7th grade year because it was a requirement for a summer class I attended. I am going to be taking the ACT again as well as the SAT over the next couple of years.

Extracurriculars/Leadership:

• Soccer
  • 6 years playing Rec+
  • 1 year HS JV soccer
  • 1 year playing travel soccer
    • Surpassed 40+ players trying out to make this higher-level team
    • I don't see myself playing in a travel league again next year, as the team culture isn't great and the league coaches aren't good examples of character. I'll likely go back to playing Rec+ but still try out for my HS team sophomore year.
• Key Club
  • 1st year, Secretary/Treasurer
  • To those familiar with Kiwanis, I plan to reach out to my school district's elementary schools in order to establish K-Kids at schools willing to participate.
• Model UN
  • 1st year
  • Our group hasn't been able to meet in-person or participate in meets.
• Best Buddies
  • 2nd year
  • I'm not deeply committed to applying for leadership within this club, but it's a great atmosphere that I plan to be a part of my entire high school career.
• Extracurriculars I plan to become involved in:
  • Student Council
    • I will run as one of three class officers next year as a sophomore, and I hope to continue this role throughout the rest of high school or move up as Vice-President.
    • I was active in my middle school's Student Council in which I enjoyed my role.
  • NHS
    • Member of NJHS in 7th-8th grade
  • Planning to apply for Girls State
  • Soccer Referee
    • I plan on taking classes to work as a soccer ref. If this doesn't end up happening, I'll get another job that I can hold throughout the summer and the school year.
  • Military Affiliated Youth Organizations
    • My HS does not offer ROTC, but there is a CAP detachment near my community. Would anyone recomend that I look further into this group, especially since my family is non-military? I'd like to meet men and women that have dedicated their lives to the Air Force and be around people my age who have similar ambitions for their future as I do.

Thank you so much to those that spent time looking through this post - it is greatly appreciated!

 

[USAFA10s]

Looks good to me - a couple things that stand out:

Definitely plan to play high school soccer and make it a goal to get a varsity letter. Athletics are very important to USAFA and with the experience you already have, if you enjoy it, continue and work to get a leadership role there if you can.

Your classes look good - just be sure to take the hardest classes offered, cover all the "recommended" courses on USAFA's website, and do well in them.

Nice early ACT score! I also took it in 7th grade - part of a similar program I suspect. With a score like that in 7th grade you can expect to do well, and your plan to take it multiple times will definitely help. I recommend taking both (SAT and ACT) and then choosing whichever you found easier/did better on to focus your study going forward. They are somewhat different and there is no need to study hard for both.

Definitely look into CAP! I am also from a completely non-military family and didn't discover USAFA until the summer before my Junior year. I joined CAP that summer and even that late, had some great opportunities. At your age, you'll have plenty of time to promote quickly and take on some leadership roles. CAP is also nice in that you can adjust the amount of time you put into it easily. I was VERY busy in high school and CAP was a great activity that fit my schedule. It also gave me some nice exposure to the uniform, drill and ceremonies and a basic like environment (encampment and a basic cadet school weekend) that were all helpful when I got to USAFA, not to mention convinced me further that the Air Force was the right path, even though my family and community generally disapproved of my plan to go to USAFA at the time.

 

[lotsofbooks]

Also Sea Cadets has a really nice curriculum of activities. Sea Cadets is through the Navy League . There is also a Sea Scouts that is through Scouting. We have both in our community and I didn't realize the difference at one time but I think Sea Cadets are terrific. My younger daughter was the first female Petty Officer in the unit's 50 yr history and the only female of about 50 kids at the time. Now I heard the unit is close to 25% female. She isn't in the military like her sister but works in tech so the ratio of females is similar. I know the Sea Cadets gave her great experiences and leadership skills. Her older AF sister keeps telling her she needs to seek out leadership opportunities at her (cloud)work. I think private industry makes it hard to develop leadership qualities so anything you can get at any age will help you in the future! My AF daughter works of course with mainly US citizens, my daughter in tech works with few US citizens. Its a totally different work environment and not always female friendly.. My AF daughter is very happy with her work and is always applying for different programs and opportunities. She gets a lot of different scores and gets measured compared to other officers. She loves the challenge of being a highly ranked officer. . The one in tech not as happy. The leadership people on the cloud aren't that great, there is a shortage and people keep getting better jobs and leaving. She's showed me some texts from her bosses and they aren't very appropriate but accepted as that's how its done..

My AF daughter said you have about 15 minutes to impress someone with your speaking and command of English.. . She said a lot of well educated people around her have limited vocabulary .. and its noticable.. Maybe a bit of vocab study might come in handy? GL!

 

[BuckeyeDad20]

You are on a great trajectory. Don't do anything stupid that would impinge your character and you should be sitting in a good place. Listen to the advice above.

Something to consider is Air Camp. It is a week long sleepover camp of aviation orientation and STEM hosted by Wright State in coordination with WPAFB. Since you are in Indiana, it may not be a far drive. My Doolie son did it as a rising Freshman then again as a rising Sophomore. It includes a 30 minute flight lesson. It does two things, gives you more exposure to aviation science and may help confirm your interest and two, it demonstrates your interest on a resume.

Then between Sophomore and Junior year, try to go to USNA Summer STEM. It will give you a taste for SA and can help affirm your desire or perhaps indicate that it isn't want you want. Then of course try to to Summer seminar at USAFA or USNA if possible.

With those kind of grades and trajectory, you will have a few options when you are graduating so I suggest you spend to gaining exposure to SA life and the military via programs like these to help form your view.

GL!