How competitive is Missouri 6th District?

erin

5-Year Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
6
Hi All,
I am learning so much from lurking on this forum. My son is a junior and is hoping for an appointment to join the class of 2018. How can I find out how competitive our district (Missouri-6th) is for nominations?
Thanks!
Erin
 
Hi All,
I am learning so much from lurking on this forum. My son is a junior and is hoping for an appointment to join the class of 2018. How can I find out how competitive our district (Missouri-6th) is for nominations?
Thanks!
Erin

I would have your son (DS - dear son) contact your Representative and Senators's Offices and ask how many applicants they had last year for USAFA. The websites http://house.gov/ and http://www.senate.gov/ will give him the contact information. He can click on 'Constituent Services' and look for 'Service Academy Nominations' or something like it. He could also check out the application requirements and deadlines so he can prepare himself for the process next year.

FWIW, I believe CA, VA, TX, FL are the most competitive. That is due to population and military presence. If there is an Air Force/Army/Navy base near the 6th district it may be more competitive. MO does not strike me as exceptionally competitive, but it truely depends on the quality of others applying the same year as you. Your competition might be the 4 time varsity QB/PG/SS letterman with 12 varsity letters, captain of all 3 teams, class valedictorian with 36 ACT and 1600 SAT, class president, and Service Club President with 2000 hours of community service. That would be tough to get a principal nomination. On the other hand, your DS could be the best applicant they have. It changes year to year.

Welcome to the forums and best wishes to you and your DS. :thumb:
 
I know when I first started down this road of information gathering I had similar questions. What is difficult and took me a little bit to learn is that it doesn't matter how difficult a district is for any given SA. The applicants have no control of how competitive their region is.

Tell your DS/DD to concentrate on the things they can control such as grades, test scores, CFA, EC, Sports, etc. and at the end of the day they did the best they could. Tell them to stand tall with everything they have accomplished whether the SA sends a BFE or TWE.

An SA is just one of the vehicles to get you to your destination.
Will

P.S. I'd add CO to that list of states :biggrin:
 
Snooping around?

Being a parent who has been in your shoes, I can understand how overwhelming this can be. You stated your DS is interested in attending AFA. There is a transitional point where your DS needs to take responsibilities for his own destiny and you to point the way.

1. If he is a junior.
Starting taking prep classes for the ACT and SAT. Compare his scores to the class profile

2. Apply for Summer Leader Programs that will soon be available to attend at AFA
3. Apply for Boys State
4. Look into Falcon Scholarships
5. Look into Prep schools
6. Encourage him to seek leadership positions in high school sports


Push Hard, Press Forward
 
I know when I first started down this road of information gathering I had similar questions. What is difficult and took me a little bit to learn is that it doesn't matter how difficult a district is for any given SA. The applicants have no control of how competitive their region is.
Sure they do. Her son is only a junior. Plenty of time to move to a less competitive area!
 
Competitive..

I wouldn't worry about how much competition is in you district. What is more important is preparing to be competition or the "bar" all must better. There is no real way to find out, unless your district interview manager lets you know or your liaison officer has access on line to reveal who has completed their application. They only interview those who have their act together. They don't have too much time for pep talks. The applicants show how much they want it.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Being a parent who has been in your shoes, I can understand how overwhelming this can be. You stated your DS is interested in attending AFA. There is a transitional point where your DS needs to take responsibilities for his own destiny and you to point the way.

1. If he is a junior.
Starting taking prep classes for the ACT and SAT. Compare his scores to the class profile

2. Apply for Summer Leader Programs that will soon be available to attend at AFA
3. Apply for Boys State
4. Look into Falcon Scholarships
5. Look into Prep schools
6. Encourage him to seek leadership positions in high school sports


Push Hard, Press Forward

Excellent advice. +1
 
Thank you everyone for the advice and words of encouragement!

He has been preparing intently since our visit to the Academy in September and I know has visited the websites of our MOC (although we had to wait until last night to be certain whom it would be). I also knew that some states (like Texas, Florida, and Colorado) are considered more competitive than others.

He is doing great academically (35 cum on ACT) and on his leadership and volunteer activities. He is not an athlete by nature but has been running and working on the other CFA requirements diligently. He is planning on applying (and hopefully attending) Summer Session and Boys' State. We are standing back and letting him take the lead on this (as it should be), but my Type A nature wants to at least collect all the info I can in case he asks for it. :)

Thanks again to everyone, I look forward to learning more from all of you in the coming year!
Erin
 
Erin, you mention your son is "not an athlete by nature". Does he participate in any sports? If not he may want to try and find a sport. Track and field may provide him an opportunity. It is late in his high school career but it may help. The class profiles indicate very few non-athletes make up the class. Good luck.
 
Thanks, Packer.
He is a first degree black belt in Hapkido but has not participated in any school sports. Both myself and his JrROTC commander have recommended track for him this spring but I am waiting for him to make the commitment himself. As I much as I want this to work out for him, I think it needs to come from him rather than from me.
 
In my opinion, he is on his way and with a good start.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Hi All,
I am learning so much from lurking on this forum. My son is a junior and is hoping for an appointment to join the class of 2018. How can I find out how competitive our district (Missouri-6th) is for nominations?
Thanks!
Erin

The best source for this information is Sam Graves office. The Air Force Academy is the most competitive, but there aren't that many applicants overall.

When my son applied four years ago, I called and asked them how many applications they typically received. I don't remember the exact number, but it wasn't that many. I believe every applicant desiring an appointment to the Naval Academy received a nomination that year since only a handful applied.
 
Thanks, Zackwheat, that is exactly the info I was hoping to hear!
I will have him give Rep. Graves office a call next month (when the election stuff has calmed down)
Erin
 
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