Am I on the Right Track? I messed up already?

[Proud mom 2016]

Pima,
I didn't think your posts were negative when I posted my cheerleading one...I just wanted to add the encouragement that it is possible. You all offered the great advice on how to to get there and overcome....I was just hoping to dangle the carrot so to speak. I'm sorry if my post made you feel yours was negative.

Originally Posted by Pima

OP,

I don't think AFAYahoo or I on saying give up because Math is a weakness, at least I am not. I am saying acknowledge it and do something now to make it into a strength. I believe AFAYahoo is saying the same thing by suggesting a tutor.

Think of school as a house. When a home is built the integrity strength of the foundation will impact the structure of the home. If the foundation has weak spots, it will be difficult to build the 1st floor, from there the second floor will be in trouble and by the time the roof is placed it is really apparent. Now you can fix the exterior, but the same problems start surface when you get inside the home to place the plumbing, electricity and walls. You will always come back to the same original problem...the foundation!

You right now as a rising sophomore are in the foundation stage, you can correct it now, but once you become a jr you are the 1st floor. Sr yr hs applying for SA's and colleges you are working on the 2nd floor. Graduation from HS is the roof.

You can manage to correct everything possible without dealing with the foundation; however, once at an SA or college you are dealing with the plumbing, walls, and electricity which brings you back to the foundation issue. It will always be an issue you will have to deal with until your reinforce it to the proper standards.

The house is a shell when you enter the AFA the 4 yrs there or at college is when you work on the interior. It is not a home you can live in until you raise your right hand and take the commissioning oath, and honestly it isn't done than either...instead you move onto landscaping and the exterior.

Sorry for the analogy, but to me if at 15 you know Math is a weakness, and there will be 7 yrs in front of me with tons of math I would use this time to get on top of it. Your sophomore yr will be unique compared to 11th and 12th because it will be the yr your classes are less Math oriented, and it may place you in a false lull. Next yr when advanced Math (Alg II/Trig) starts up with Chemistry (element weights and equations) will be a night and day difference. Your sr yr with Calc or Stats and Physics will also be tons of Math.

If there was one class I would drop without a doubt it would be Fun of Arts. Take Psychology, Sociology, another foreign language; better yet maybe Econ, or construction where Math will be part of the academic curriculum. Fun of Arts from a transcript perspective sounds like my favorite elective class in HS Film Study. I want to say that as an AF wife/Mom with 3 kids that attended 3 different HS's in 2 different states I know states may require an elective arts class in HS, but I also know they could take classes like architectural design or drafting for the arts side.

I would keep going forward and I hope you don't think my post was negative, it was meant to give you the opportunity to strengthen your weaknesses and why it was important to do it now.

[AnotherLeadMom]

Fun of Arts may in fact be a graduation requirement that is school-specific. If he is in a STEM school this may be their way of covering a comprehensive education.

My son who is headed to the Prep school enrolled in more than the minimum number of classes while in HS because those pesky 'graduation requirement classes" took up periods!

Start talking with your HS school counselor now about your plans.


Some say that the PSAT (used to be given in 10th grade) is a predictor of how you'll do on the SAT (add a 0 to your PSAT scores.)

The important advice has already been stated: get help now, stay focused, and develop plans B and C!

[Kensy]

Fun of arts is a graduation requirement and also I will be able to take Math Analysis Calculus Honors in Senior. I want to major in the social sciences section.

[Kensy]

Also we do not have a specific ranking. You have to apply to get in top 10. Our school they look at your extra curricular and classes, GPA then they grade you. Also I do not even want to think of other colleges just Air force academy in my first priority.

[AFAYahoo]

Originally Posted by Kensy

Also we do not have a specific ranking. You have to apply to get in top 10. Our school they look at your extra curricular and classes, GPA then they grade you. Also I do not even want to think of other colleges just Air force academy in my first priority.

Its understandable that your goal is the AFA, but realistically, realize that there are plenty of very well-qualified candidates that do not get in to the Academy. Its a very competitive school, just like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, the other service academies, etc. I would venture a guess that 99.999% of the new appointees for the Class of 2016 had a backup plan B, C and probably D just in case. Since you are a rising sophomore, you don't have to have a defined backup plan YET, but you will need to be thinking along those lines by the time you are a junior so you can get info, make visits, etc. The Academy isn't the only way into the Air Force--many officers come from the ROTC ranks from colleges around the country. Your ultimate goal should be commissioning in the Air Force--and sometimes the route there is something other than the Academy. Nothing wrong with that. Shoot for the academy, but be prepared if it doesn't work the way you hope.

Concerning classes, Fun. of Arts may be required, but you only list 5 classes for next year. Is that considered a full schedule? I would think 6 or 7 classes per semeseter would be more typical. That would give you the opportunity to take a social studies class, which you say is the direction you want to go with your major. The AFA will want to see you can handle a rigorous schedule (and get great grades), be involved in leadership positions in extracurriculars and sports, and be physically fit and participating in sports.

Good luck to you!

_________________
Proud mom of a C3C

[Dad]

Originally Posted by Kensy

Also we do not have a specific ranking. You have to apply to get in top 10. Our school they look at your extra curricular and classes, GPA then they grade you. Also I do not even want to think of other colleges just Air force academy in my first priority.

I agree with AFAYahoo 100%. Don't sweat the ranking. AFA has been selecting for years and accounts for the wide variety of high schools and how they rank. Just do your best, actively participate in ECs, lead where you can, and get decent grades. Best wishes.

[AnotherLeadMom]

Check into a class in statistics at some point. Some HS offer AP Stats.
Good luck to you!

[Kensy]

So my schedule is planned like this. There is no Geometry Honors. I am not weak in math it is just that I messed up in middle school.

Geometry
Business Math or integrated Lab Science or any kind of STEM courses if I can
Biology Honors
Korean 2 Honors
English 2 Honors
Cross Country/ Track

[Pima]

Kensy I think you still missing one class which would be a history class. Also I was thinking originally track was your sport, are you running track competitively or is this your PE class? Two different things.

You have to apply to get in top 10.

Just curious on how that works, because theoretically than someone actually might not really be in the top 10, granted I know everyone would apply, but I am just not following why a school would make a student apply.

I agree with AFAYahoo and every other poster regarding applying to other colleges. I know you are only a sophomore right now, but next spring you should start thinking about plan B. You will read over and over again for the next 2 yrs to have a plan B in place when you apply for any and all SA's. Nobody is trying to quash a dream, instead we are trying to insure the real dream, which as it has been said is to be an AF officer. The AFA or college will only be 4 yrs of your life, if you go for UPT it will be a total of 11 more on top of those 4 yrs. as an officer.

OBTW one of the biggest reasons to have that Plan B college in place is due to the fact that even if you get an appointment something might happen to you physically (injury) that will not allow you to report for BCT. Plan B allows you to move on with your life for that one year as a medical turnback. About 3 yrs ago on this site there was an appointee that at I-Day twisted their knee walking off the bus, he was immediately sent back home. He went to his plan B college for a yr. He returned the next summer and the AFA medically said it was still a no go for a second time. His Plan B became Plan A.

Keep doing what you are doing, you will be fine. You are in a much better place than any of your peers right now, many will not ever find this site, and many will not even think about after HS plans until their spring sophomore/fall jr yr. which can place them behind the 8 ball.

Good luck

[Christcorp]

Originally Posted by Kensy

Also we do not have a specific ranking. You have to apply to get in top 10. Our school they look at your extra curricular and classes, GPA then they grade you. Also I do not even want to think of other colleges just Air force academy in my first priority.

I would like to piggyback and emphasize what Yahoo said. There's nothing wrong with having a particular school as your first priority, but you can't think only about one school. And you definitely can't WAIT until you find out if you get the academy before you start looking at other schools. If you do, it will be too late to apply to those other schools. You won't find out about the academy normally until about march-april of your senior year.

Now; if you're satisfied with attending a local community college or your state university has no real application process and residents are automatically accepted, and you're happy with that, then I guess you could not think of any other school. But let me say with conviction, that if you truly believe you are the type of student/person that can get into the academies, then you are the type of student/person who can get accepted to most of the best schools in the country. The academies are at the level of the Ivy League type schools. They are in line with the Stanfords, Purdues, W&M, or any other top school. So if you or anyone else thinks that the normal backup plan to the academies is the local state university of community college, then you are doing yourself a big disservice. Not to say that there aren't plenty of very good state universities; just that if you aren't applying to the top end schools too, then something is wrong. Put it this way: "If you don't think you're good enough to be applying to harvard, yale, princeton, brown, stanford, cornell, georgetown, michigan state, USC, etc... then you aren't good enough to be applying to the academies". I'm talking about quality, not desire. If you don't like Gerogetown, you shouldn't be applying there. But if you aren't applying because you don't think you are good enough, then you aren't good enough for the academies. They are academically in the same class.

And remember; as good as you think you might be, LESS than 10% of initial applicants or interested individuals will receive an appointment to the academies. The air force had OVER 12,000 interested and only about 1070 received appointments. Believe it or not, there are 4.0gpa students who DON'T receive appointments. So when you start the application process for the academy, you need to start the application process for AT LEAST 4-5 other schools. Of those, at least 3 should be equal in quality of the academies and the other 2 can be "Safety Schools". And don't believe for a second that you can't afford a particular school and therefor won't apply to it. Apply first and get accepted; the money will work itself out if you get accepted. But definitely apply to other schools; including top notch universities.