When are most appointments sent from USAFA?

Hi I'm a complete Candidate, and my "complete" status was verified in a postcard I received form USAFA on January 6th. I attened the Diversity Visitation Program (DVP) in October and I wanted to know when are alot of the appointments mailed out. I figure the Admissions department is swamped right now with apps and processing, but I want to know ASAP. I haven't gotten a call from my congressperson and my status on my online app is still "Complete." When will I most likely receive, if anything, an appointment? Thanks.

My DD is in the same boat.. From all the other posts it will be early, mid or late March and into April for the majority of folks.. Good luck..

From what I've gathered, the majority of appointments are in March. My personal cutoff date is April 9-if I don't get a letter by then, I'm going to my #2 which already accepted me.

March 1st - April 30th. If you're asking for a day/date where they will be bulk delivered; that day/date doesn't exist. Maybe they send 5 out on the 1st of march. Maybe 50 or 100. Then; maybe they go 3 days and don't send ANY. Then they do 100 more the next day; and none for a week. There is no day/date. Approximately 10-15% of all appointments have been done from the end of last October, until now. These were a combination of early appointments using NON-MOC nominations; LOA's, which turned into appointments after receiving various MOC and Non-MOC nominations; and some principal appointees, etc... But the other 85%+ will come out between March 1st - April 30th.

And because they are cutting back, it would not be uncommon for them to send out a few hundred; wait a week to see how many accepted it; figure out how many more they need; send out another bunch of a few hundred; wait for those responses; and continue on. (Not everyone who receives an appointment will accept it). NORMALLY: In a decent economy and such; approximately 15-20% won't accept an appointment. I.e. They'll offer 1700 appointments, and 1300-1350 will accept them. But with today's economy, it's possibly that more will accept them. Therefor, they may send out appointments in batches, and see how many are being turned down. They DON'T want to offer more appointments than they want, and have too many say yes. best of luck. Mike....

Yeah, I'd say March 1-April 30.
I found out the other day that as of now, they're accepting some people, but for the most part, the board won't start reviewing their files until March 1, to see if they get accepted.

Germanican Kid said:

Yeah, I'd say March 1-April 30.
I found out the other day that as of now, they're accepting some people, but for the most part, the board won't start reviewing their files until March 1, to see if they get accepted.

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The only correction is: The board has reviewed file starting last October. The minute you application is 100%, it is put in for review. How do you think they offered appointments and LOA's last fall? They had to review applications. But they won't review any, unless they are 100% complete. And in the beginning, the applications are reviewed once a week. "Mondays". As the cycle moves on, the review board determines how often they need to review applications. You need to realize. MOST applications were completed last month and before. Yes; there were those who waited on their CFA until the last minute. But most didn't. The main reason for waiting until March-April to give out appointments; is because congress (Your MOC's), have until the end of January to get the academy their slate of nominees. Then, the academy has to "Compare" your scores that they gave you on your application, with the other 9 people on the slate, and their scores. Then; after filling those slots, they have to take the other 9 people who didn't get the initial appointment with the MOC's nomination, and put those people into the national pool. Then they do the same thing again, but instead of comparing you and your score against 9 others, they are comparing against about 2000+ others.

The first 10-15% of appointments given out in the fall, (And subsequent LOA's), were easy. Based on 50+ years of experience with giving out appointments, there are certain applications that the academy knows will receive an appointment, no matter what state, category, district, nomination etc... they were competing in. They are just that high. Those with non-MOC nominations will get an appointment. The others in the "No Brainers Club" will get an LOA. But the other 85-90% are really close. But they have to wait to see if a person that might look good, has a nomination. That isn't known for many congressmen, until the end of January.

I understand that, but from what my USAFA admissions counselor said, the board meets to see if you're competitive, if you are, you're in the pool, and from then on, they meet in march-april to figure out if you're good enough for an appointment. Which in that case, still makes sense, because of the applications submitted in the fall, they could hand out the "no brainers" the appointments, while they are trying to see who's competitive or not.

Christcorp said:

The main reason for waiting until March-April to give out appointments; is because congress (Your MOC's), have until the end of January to get the academy their slate of nominees. Then, the academy has to "Compare" your scores that they gave you on your application, with the other 9 people on the slate, and their scores. Then; after filling those slots, they have to take the other 9 people who didn't get the initial appointment with the MOC's nomination, and put those people into the national pool. Then they do the same thing again, but instead of comparing you and your score against 9 others, they are comparing against about 2000+ others.

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Thank you for explaining this process, what happens to the people who received a principal nomination? Is this process different for them?

Thanks!

Christcorp, what do you think the percentage is of people that go to any academy after applying. A lot of people apply to multiple academies so the acceptance rate for each school will look lower than it really is because someone might go to USAMA or Navy instead of USAFA.

Jase said:

Thank you for explaining this process, what happens to the people who received a principal nomination? Is this process different for them?

Thanks!

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There is no "Process" for them. For the few that receive a Principal Nomination (Very few MOC's do the principal method); those people are are guaranteed an appointment if they are otherwise qualified. Principal nominations are automatic.

AZstudent: I can't give you a percentage based on individuals. But I will say that in the past, the air force academy accepted and gave appointments to around 13-14% of all applicants. Roughly 10-11,000 applying, and between 1300-1400 receiving appointments. However; with the cutbacks; I wouldn't be surprised to see the percentage lower. Especially with more applying. So, with 12,000 applying; which it looks about right; I would estimate around 1150-1200 given appointments. That's closer to the 10% acceptance level.

This has all been very informative and I think all of you for helping those of us who are experiencing this for the first time. I have a question....you indicate that very few MOC do the principal method but ours did. The principal choice was not accepted last year, attended a state university where he particpated in ROTC and then this year was the principle nominee. Does that put the other 9 noninees at a disadvantage compared to the way the other MOC's handle their appointments? thanks

You can't compare how any MOC does it to another MOC. No matter how your MOC does it, you are only allowed to compete with the people in your district or state. Which means; all 10 people on that MOC's slate, are all playing by the exact same rules. Just like the 9 who do not get accepted for the principal; or competitive if the MOC does it that way; all go into the National Pool. There; there are no principal nominees. All 2500+ or whatever leftover nominees, will be competing against each other; head to head; for the remaining 500+/- slots.

The only people who will think there is a disadvantage or something unfair about the Principal method of stating nominees, is the person who didn't receive the principal nomination. I personally like the principal method. I believe that it is congress' responsibility (Your MOC), and be held accountable, with who they want attending the military academies, and representing them and their state. I personally think it's chicken shiite to put the responsibility onto the academy. The academy is already responsible for about 2/3 of all appointments. They are the ones that have to make the tough choice as to who gets in and who doesn't. I think that if each district and state in the country is to be equally represented; "That's the reason each MOC is allowed automatically, up to 5 cadets at the big-3 academies at any one time slotted against them"; that the MOC should at least have the balls to be responsible and held accountable for their one guaranteed slot.

But I digress. There is no disadvantage for the slate of a MOC who does the Principal method, instead of allowing the academy to do the choosing. All 10 on that slate are all playing by the same rules. And the principal is only for the 1 slot. The other 9 will still be looked at by the academy, and still possibly chosen for one of the remaining 500+/- slots.

thank you so much for all of this information- do you think my attending the Diversity Visitation Program at USAFA has any effect on my application to the Academy? I have heard and read several accounts that around 80% of participants who attended DVP "accepted" their appointment. Any info on that? thanks!

GiuseppeVerde said:

thank you so much for all of this information- do you think my attending the Diversity Visitation Program at USAFA has any effect on my application to the Academy? I have heard and read several accounts that around 80% of participants who attended DVP "accepted" their appointment. Any info on that? thanks!

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All that is saying is: People who VISIT the academy, have a better understanding of the academy, and have liked it enough to accept the appointment. That doesn't mean that just because you attend DVP that you automatically receive an appointment. Nor does it mean that 80% of people who attend DVP receive an appointment. The fact that you fall into a category of diversity will be what helps in your application towards possibly receiving an appointment. In other words; it's not going to the DVP that helps get you an appointment. It's being in a diversity group that helps get you an appointment. Going to the diversity visit is irrelevant either way.

When you say 12,000 people applying, that's including people that applied and did not get a Congressional Nomination. Right? If so, how many people out of that 12,000 actually have Congressional Nominations?

late march early april.

First Round

Has anyone heard if a first round of March appointments have been given out yet? This is getting nerve-wracking.

If you look at the 2015 appointments thread, you can see a small appointment kick the first week of March. We're not too sure how that translates to a national level.
Word on the street is that the remainder of appointments will go out the first week of April this year, their regular admission I guess.

About how many candidates decline appointments? And one more question- what should I be expecting, a phone call from my congressperson or the BFE, first?

GiuseppeVerde said:

About how many candidates decline appointments? And one more question- what should I be expecting, a phone call from my congressperson or the BFE, first?

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From what I understand most MOCs want to contact the appointee. But it seems the academy gives them a week to do it and then sends out the notice anyway.

So others have said they've gotten the call first, others the letter first and others the website updated first.