Appointment Insider Info - Read at your own emotional risk!

hornetguy

15-Year Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
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I just chatted with a friend who is visiting me this week. She is working in admissions at USAFA right now before her next assignment. Some insights for many of you.

Warning: if you're still waiting, this might not sound pleasant.

She said they have sent ALL of their appointments out already. Now, here's the part I didn't know and I'm not sure if anyone else knew the actual process. I think we always assumed that if they were targeting, say, a class of 1300 people to enter, then they would send something like 1500 based on past decline rates. This is kind of true.

They only send out more appointments as people deny. So, now they've sent the 1200 or so initial appointments, as those are declined they will send the next batches out.

For those still stalking the mail box, keep your hopes up, but realize that if you don't have it already, then you are waiting for someone else to decline! For those still holding their appointments in hand, but are waiting to decide, I would urge you to make a decision soon (esp this year since admittance is declined so much). If you end up declining, but wait months to do so, you are keeping someone by their mail box.

Good luck to all of you in 2015 hoping!
 
I thought they were supposed to come in March? I mean, it's only the 6th! Does this mean that the appointments have already been made, and that they are just being processed and sent out in waves as they get the material together? I mean, why would they do things differently this year?
 
I just chatted with a friend who is visiting me this week. She is working in admissions at USAFA right now before her next assignment. Some insights for many of you.

Warning: if you're still waiting, this might not sound pleasant.

She said they have sent ALL of their appointments out already. Now, here's the part I didn't know and I'm not sure if anyone else knew the actual process. I think we always assumed that if they were targeting, say, a class of 1300 people to enter, then they would send something like 1500 based on past decline rates. This is kind of true.

They only send out more appointments as people deny. So, now they've sent the 1200 or so initial appointments, as those are declined they will send the next batches out.

For those still stalking the mail box, keep your hopes up, but realize that if you don't have it already, then you are waiting for someone else to decline! For those still holding their appointments in hand, but are waiting to decide, I would urge you to make a decision soon (esp this year since admittance is declined so much). If you end up declining, but wait months to do so, you are keeping someone by their mail box.

Good luck to all of you in 2015 hoping!
Thanks for the G2. But I'm not sure what to make of this since no one in our area has had an appointment yet. i.e. I happen to know the entire slate of nominees from our congressional district and to the best of my knowledge, none of them have an appointment yet.
 
Thanks for the G2. But I'm not sure what to make of this since no one in our area has had an appointment yet. i.e. I happen to know the entire slate of nominees from our congressional district and to the best of my knowledge, none of them have an appointment yet.

this is random AND off-topic a bit......when we wen to our MOC nomination breakfast in December, it was surprising to me that each one of the PM's for each of the SA's were college freshmen. I was surprised. Where does that leave those of us who are on the NWL?
 
Either that means all the bulk appointments are currently in the mail or ?.

Just passing on the message!
 
Either that means all the bulk appointments are currently in the mail or ?.

Just passing on the message!
I think the only thing to do is ply your source with wine until we can get some more definitive answers. :D

Again, I am not sure what to make of this. The appointment process is such a black science.
 
Wait, are you saying that they have filled up all 1200 appointments and sent them out?

Or are you saying that all the appointment decisions they have made so far have been sent out? (So let's say that last week they decided to give 100 appointments out to people, and they have already notified those 100, but still have to find out who to appoint for the other 1200 slots...)
 
That doesn't make sense to me.....if all of the appointments have been sent out, why does the "2015 Appointment" thread only have about 50 names on it? and why are they only LOA's, principal and prep school appointments? Granted, not all the appointees read this forum, but I think the number would be a lot more than 50 if they all have been sent out already. Also, where then are all of the competitive slate appointees? :confused::confused::confused:
 
That doesn't make sense to me.....if all of the appointments have been sent out, why does the "2015 Appointment" thread only have about 50 names on it? and why are they only LOA's, principal and prep school appointments? Granted, not all the appointees read this forum, but I think the number would be a lot more than 50 if they all have been sent out already. Also, where then are all of the competitive slate appointees?

Exactly! Why are there NO competitive slate appointments on this forum?! Maybe they're all still in the mail??? That seems unlikely - so please Hornetguy - get some details for us.
 
They all have a really good point, it's very hard to believe the 1200 or so appointments have all been sent out. People on these forums are saying that they will start being sent out in April, some in March, and now this. I guess all we can do is wait and see!!
 
I talked to my ALO three days ago and he said that not my particular district has slate has not even been decided, and that the appointment process has been delayed. I highly doubt they were able to finish it all in three days.
 
I'll pry some more when I talk to her again later this week.

To clarify some of what i said:
Based on what she said and I understood, they have sent out (maybe just decided?) on their initial 1180. Once those are sent, more appointments will be decided as people decline among those 1180. So, if 50 send back notices that they decline the appointments, then the boards send out another 50 appointments.

Now, for those of you who are befuzzled at the rates on SAF and the numbers. I've been on these from the beginning and the College Confidential predecessor to this since 2004 or 2005. I think we've seen less than 10 or so percent, at best, of all appointments reported here. In fact, I just looked at the archive for 2012 and 2013 and the reports on here were 25 people from each class, that's less than 5% of their classes. So yes, you aren't going to see hundreds of reports here!!!

Furthermore, I have to sound like a pessimist (or worse from stressful people!), but not everyone here is going to get appointments. Chances are higher based on just the nature of those that seek this place out, but there are no guarantees.

I remember, back before electronic apps (my class was the last paper application I believe), we received notice mid-March. With smaller class sizes and other budget cuts (they are feeling them, that was obvious in my phone call), there are cuts all around. It's probably not a stretch that 1200 might be in the mail now (she also used the word rolling admissions for the appointments sent before that).

I say this, at risk of making some more people unhappy. I understand the mailbox stalking and the high hopes. But, this year is a change. Appointments have been MAJORLY cut. The admissions people have a much different mission and decision schedule because of that. I also understand what it's like waiting; I was a March appointment back in 2006. It really sucked watching tons of LOAs show up here and waiting until that mass mailing.

Keep your hopes up, but know that this year is different, so be patient.
 
Screw it, I'm so confused. At this point, I either make it, or I go to BYU and round out my resume' for the class of 2016 application.
 
Screw it, I'm so confused. At this point, I either make it, or I go to BYU and round out my resume' for the class of 2016 application.
Otter, no one here should ever take for granted that they can get an appointment. As carefully as the AFA tries to look at candidates, we are still just a folder in front of them, one of thousands.

My experience tells me that information often gets mashed up in some manner when it is relayed from one person to another. Amplify any gaps or misunderstandings from source to source and what you have at the end is information that is radically different than it was intended to be. I'm sure that Hornet is trying to accurately reflect what he was told, but I am waiting to hear from more sources before I accept this information as fact. (As a former special ops guy, I cannot say how many times I was briefed by intelligent, competent people about an operations area only to find out that the information was completely incorrect). Perhaps folks should talk to their ALO's or call the admissions councelors at the AFA and see if there is any substanciating information. Then come back to this thread and we can all hash out what we have heard.
 
I have no doubt that the class is pretty much built.

However, I doubt that the appointment letters have all been mailed. We attended a nominee dinner hosted by our MOC Friday night. He said that he had not been notifed by any of the academies yet regarding appointments and would personally notify the appointees as soon as he heard something.

Don't give up yet.
 
I also have a hard time believing that all letters have been mailed.

On Monday I received a letter informing me that I would have to retake my CFA. This is actually the third time I've had to take it (my first time was bad, and my second time was as good as I could get it in the short time I had before the deadline). I retook my test on Friday and faxed the results in. My ALO told me that they could be holding a spot for me or there could still be open spots. I find it hard to believe that they would have me retake my CFA for the third time if there wasn't some room left in the class. But, that's just my opinion.
 
Flieger, can you weigh in on this? I have a son with a principle nom, great SATs, GPA, etc. and still no appointment. This is scary to have on the forum with so many anxious parents and fully qualified candidates.
 
Hornetguy - Thanks for the heads up. My DS and I knew he was on the edge for an appointment. He has a plan B that includes the end result of becoming an officer in the world's greatest air force. If the BFE comes, great. If not, DS is ready to move forward with his goals in sight. Best wishes to all.
 
Actually I can see and understand what hornet is saying.

My bet is the class has been built for the original 1180, however, not every BFE has gone out.

1. Use katamonk as an example, if memory serves me correctly they have a principal, but for some reason they have not qual'd on the CFA. That means if Kat was on falcon or usna's slate, their ALO is 100% correct no apptmt has gone out.

AFA can't give out that apptmt because they are tied to Kat, who now is seen as having an incomplete file, yet they have a principal.

CAVEAT: Kat I may be confusing you with another candidate, but you all get the jist. I.E. remove Kat's name in and fill it in with Cadet Magoo.

2. As hornet has stated, the apptmt thread is never going to show hundreds, I think last yr they hit 125 or so. Last yr they also had a bigger apptmt class with 1600 being offered. If only 1200 are offered this yr, you would see a 25% decrease on that thread...or about 80 when it is all said and done.

Additionally, this is a forum, this yr you may have less candidates who found this site compared to last yr. The pool changes every yr.


3. Don't shoot the messenger...fastest way to lose a great fountain of info is to not listen to what they have heard.

Trust what he heard. Honestly, he did this out of kindness because he risked his friendship.

I bet there is now at least a few lurkers or posters who just got on the phone to an ALO or the AFA and said I heard that they all went out. How did you hear that, well on SAF, this poster said their friend who on casual status that works in admissions told him...how many AFA grads on casual status do you think there are that work in the admissions and is on leave?

If one of you does that scenario, that friend of hornet's will be standing at attention come 8 am the morning they return to work.

He risked it for all of you to give some insight because this process is so cloaked in darkness.

4. He made a great point. For those of you who are holding onto an appointment you are impacting someone else's life.

Sooner or later you have to make a decision. The clock is ticking down. There is one thing if you are awaiting a result from another SA or ROTC, another if you still can't make the decision while holding all of the cards and say I have to X date and I am going to wait.

The military's motto is service before self. You take care of each other before you care for yourself. That is how you become a great officer like Gen. Gould or Powell.

5. MOC's not being notified. Not every MOC calls the appointee, and additionally the staff in charge may not be in their DC office.

For ex: For our DS the paperwork didn't go through the DC office, but their state office. They than would forward it to the DC office, which went through the MOC's CoS.

6. Historically, the 1st week of March is the bulk.

Boards meet every Monday or Tuesday. By the end of Feb 95% of the candidates have been scored with a WCS, it is now only stragglers.

Once they have the scores, the AFA admissions go into over time building the best class using all of the WCS's. They have been working for months building the class because as I stated by Feb., they probably only have 5-10% without a WCS.

Take for example:
Candidate Smith has the WCS to win all three noms, plus a Pres. They have been looking at the score board and trying to decide do they charge him to Sen A or Pres or even VP. The reason why is they see #2 on all of Candidate Smiths noms slates only have 1 or 2 noms. Thus, they are now looking at how to work in as many number 2's as they can from a WCS perspective.

Anyone who has ever been in the AF will tell you rumors usually have a foundation in truth.

I am not saying all of the BFE's are out, takes more than a few days to print up, sign and mail 1000 letters. I am saying that I bet the decision has been made. That the bulk will be this week, and as declinations come in, the second batch will go out.

Here's my logic:

The person that Hornet said told them, would never be allowed leave at this time if it was spin up time. They would need all hands on deck. For the AFA it would be like allowing someone to go on vacation when they were having a military exercise. It doesn't happen that way in the AD world. Nobody is granted vacation time when they have to meet a time constraint...you get to go on leave once the exercise is over.
 
Flieger, can you weigh in on this? My son is a principle nom, two other noms, good SATs and GPA, 3 Q'd and still no BFE. Something like this on the forum makes anxious parents and qualfiied candidates nervous.
 
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