Continued Excellence...

marmacost

marmacost

USAFA Class of 2014
10-Year Member
5-Year Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
14
Ok, I have somewhat of a situation that I'm a little worried about and I was hoping someone could possibly provide some insight into what would be best for me to do.

I have already recieved my appointment to USAFA but I am worried about the status of one of the classes I am currently taking. The class is at our local community college and, due to a misunderstanding between myself and my teacher, I ended up getting a very small amount of partial credit for our major research paper. The paper is a large portion of our grade and because of the fact I recieved very little credit for it, I am in danger of getting a D in the class. My ALO advised me to definitely avoid getting any D's in accordance with the "Continued Excellence" condition stated in the appointment letter. If however I was to get a D in the class, it would still show up as a 70 on my high school transcript. Friday is the last day to drop the class and if I did so I could take a test through my school, giving me credit for the class.

So, my question is, since it is a class taken for dual credit at community college and it would show up as a 70 on my HS transcript, would getting a D in the class put me in danger of losing my appointment? If I did end up dropping the class and getting credit by exam would that be looked upon negatively by the Academy?
 
I am not sure you would lose your appointment, but if I were your mother, I would probably advise you drop the class, and test out of it if you can. No sense begging for trouble.

If you decide to stay on, would you be able to do extra credit, an additional paper, etc. to at least get a C? If the problem is truly a misunderstanding with the instructor, can you smooth things over? Can you go to the department head?

Good luck!
 
I spoke with my teacher and asked her for any sort of extra credit assignment I could do, but she insisted she could give me no such opportunity. From what I have gathered, it is still possible for me to make a C, but it would basicly require me getting perfect grades from here on out. I believe I am up to the challenge, but I am honestly not sure if that is the case as she has been somewhat unclear with the info she's given me. I would definitely prefer to drop the class and take the test to validate the course (it would be through Texas Tech), but I'm afraid if the Academy sees that I dropped the class they could look negatively upon it.
 
Dropping the class also won't affect your appointment at all. As long as you don't fail the course, you should be good either way. Don't stress over it, it's not a huge deal, as long as you avoid an F any way you can.
 
futurepilot22 said:
And you know that how? This is coming from another appointee who is in a similar situation.
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I know that because i've been around these forums for 4 years and am a rising 2* whos heard many stories similar.
 
So, definitely if I drop the class and take the test for credit through my high school I should be ok? Just making sure.... it is a class I need to graduate by the way (in case it makes any difference).
 
Yes, you should be okay. I dropped one class senior year (in order for the school to allow me to take a class somewhere else) and it had no bearing on my appointment.
 
That's good to hear! Thank you all for your help! :smile:
 
I got really bad senioritis last year (combined with knowing i'd have to take Calc again anyways) and ended up getting an F in my Calc class. I'm definitely not proud of it and I don't advise blowing off your time and your instructor's time like I did, but it didn't have any impact on my appointment. If you're getting the class for free, consider sticking it out just for the pre-exposure to the material even if you won't get enough credit to validate. Knowing some of the material before-hand is always useful and helps you stay engaged with the class.
 
Hi, I just joined this forum and I had a question about my grades this year.
I've already recieved and accepted my appointment, but my grades haven't been the greatest and I wanted to make sure I wouldn't have my appointment taken away. I've done pretty good in all of my high school classes with all A's and a B, but I haven't done so good in community college classes. I knew that they didnt factor into my high school GPA, even though I know I still should have worked harder in them, and dropped the ball. I ended up with three C's and it looks like a D in those. It's recently been brought to my attention that this may be a problem when I send in my community college transcripts. Is there a possibility this could affect my appointment?
 
I'm an appointee too but if you guys look in the instructions to appointees booklet it says if you receive a FAILING grade in a class please contact the admissions office. I'm pretty sure they understand how hard we've worked over the years and that we're just like normal students....we get senioritis. Also, think about it, you've already completed forms and such and returned them to USAFA and have purchased your boots during orientation(if you went) and they are starting to make out nametapes and tags. As long as you graduate and don't get an F you'll be fine and even if you get an F if you dont need it in order to graduate I don't believe it would affect an appointment either.

I have senioritis bad, I don't think I've done homework for atleast a month and I have 3 AP classes. Just doing enough to be able to relax and just get by. I'll be fine though =) and you guys will as well!
 
Here's an easy lesson (from the parental standpoint): Don't blow off your work 2nd semester senior year, and then you won't have this stress. :) I'm sure your own parents have given you this kind advice. :)
 
futureafacadet said:
Just doing enough to be able to relax and just get by. I'll be fine though =) and you guys will as well!
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I really can't tell if you're being serious right now - this can't be the attitude that you're coming in to the Academy with...and purchasing boots and making nameplates has nothing to do with the admissions or the Academy wanting you as a cadet. Even if a Firstie with a week until commissioning can be dis-enrolled if he/she cannot uphold Academy standards.
 
futureairforce cadet may want to change his ways of thinking...It's good practice to PUSH yourself to the limit, no matter what the situation whether it be at the beginning of the semester or the end of the semester. I'm not real sure USAFA is appreciative of slackers.

They will be weeded out very quickly...!
 
I would like to think that the academy picked us for a reason. Yes, people are going to slack off their senior year and most people do, but I doubt any of us got into the academy with a bunch of C's or F's. I will be the first to admit that I slacked off this semester, but I put in a bunch of extra work and pulled my grades back up. Lets go in without regretting that F we got our senior year in high school. Yes, there are people at the academy now who didn't do well and the academy probably won't pull your appointment, but why take the chance. Finish strong, so that we can all start stronger together.

Later,

Brian
 
PDub said:
I really can't tell if you're being serious right now - this can't be the attitude that you're coming in to the Academy with...even if a Firstie with a week until commissioning can be dis-enrolled if he/she cannot uphold Academy standards.
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You're getting good advice here...from the point of view of the Academy, and I am sure the cadet wing, you haven't earned anything, other than the opportunity show up on June 24th. If they are willing to dis-enroll a Firstie weeks before graduation, you may be over estimating your margin of error. How many minutes do you think it would take to replace you?
 
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