What Happens Next?

Insider, CC, Flieger or Pima;

I’m hoping that one or more of you can take a shot at answering the following questions:

1. How does the size of the USAFA qualified candidate population this year compare to past years (2,400, 2,500, etc)? Is it larger, smaller or about the same size?

2. Once initial appointment offers have gone out to “first choice” candidates selected from the Congressional, Presidential, Active Duty AF, AF Reserve and other nominating categories, approximately how many of the expected 1,200 appointments to the Class of 2017 will still remain to be filled?

3. Will there be any additional Selection Board/Academy Board meetings between now (March 27) and April 15?

4. Given the projected 16% appointment rejection rate, will USAFA be estimating and offering additional appointments needed to cover rejections between now and April 15?

5. After the number of remaining open slots, rejections, etc. have been determined, will there be another large “wave” of appointment offers between now and April 15, or will the remaining offers come out by ones and twos as needed to fill up the class?

6. Is the “National Pool” (that some others have referred to) the same thing as the group of “Qualified Alternates” referred to in the USAFA Catalog?

7. If a Congressional nominee is passed over for a first round appointment offer, but eventually receives an appointment as a “Qualified Alternate,” must that appointment be “charged” to that state’s Congressional Delegation or can it be charged to a different nominating source?

8. Can appointments made by the Superintendent or by the Secretary of the Air Force go to candidates from any of the various nominating categories or are they limited to specific categories?

9. Will there be a “wait list” for qualified candidates in case someone who has accepted an appointment decides to reject it at the last minute (or is injured or otherwise disqualified from entry) between April 15 and I-Day in June?

I realize these are a lot of questions to take in one bite, but there are probably quite a few people that are wondering about many of the same things. Thanks for taking the time to respond and good luck to all the candidates who are still hoping to enter USAFA in June.

Western US said:

Insider, CC, Flieger or Pima;

I’m hoping that one or more of you can take a shot at answering the following questions:

1. How does the size of the USAFA qualified candidate population this year compare to past years (2,400, 2,500, etc)? Is it larger, smaller or about the same size? Last year there were approximately 2331 qualified candidates. We won't know this year's until around August. But with the economy the way it is, I'd say there will be MORE overall applicants, and thus, more qualified candidates. Probably around 2500. But that's a guess based on the past

2. Once initial appointment offers have gone out to “first choice” candidates selected from the Congressional, Presidential, Active Duty AF, AF Reserve and other nominating categories, approximately how many of the expected 1,200 appointments to the Class of 2017 will still remain to be filled? With ALL the slates you mentioned, there will probably be around 300 from the national pool left. And FWIW: I don't anticipate 1200 appointments. Closer to 1050-1100.

3. Will there be any additional Selection Board/Academy Board meetings between now (March 27) and April 15? Depends what you mean by selection board meetings. The board meetings to SCORE your application is over with. The board still meets, but it's usually to review acceptance/declinations of appointments and to formulate further decisions. But they aren't meeting like they did up through February scoring people's applications. Your applications were scored a while ago.

4. Given the projected 16% appointment rejection rate, will USAFA be estimating and offering additional appointments needed to cover rejections between now and April 15? Yes and no. In years past, they offered around 1600-1700 appointments; knew about 300-400 would turn it down; and they'd take the rest. With the academy having TOO MANY cadets and commissioning too many officers, the intent is to get the class down to as close to an exact number as possible. They will offer SOME appointments; wait for people to accept/decline by a deadline; offer some more; review accept/declines again, and offer more as needed. They will continue this until they get the number they want.

5. After the number of remaining open slots, rejections, etc. have been determined, will there be another large “wave” of appointment offers between now and April 15, or will the remaining offers come out by ones and twos as needed to fill up the class? See #4. There's no need for LARGE WAVES of offers. Individuals will be offered an appointment and given a cutoff day to accept it. If they don't accept by that date, it's rescinded and they lose the appointment. The academy will then offer another batch with another accept NLT date.

6. Is the “National Pool” (that some others have referred to) the same thing as the group of “Qualified Alternates” referred to in the USAFA Catalog? Yes, but it's not just the national pool. The Qualified Alternates CAN COME from the National Pool, but that's not the only place. It depends on the alternate they are looking for. For instance. Applicant Joe Bob, could be #450 on the National Pool "Qualified Alternates" Ranking. However; he could be the #2 RANKED person on his MOC's RANKED Slate. if the #1 Principal nominee, who is GUARANTEED an appointment, is disqualified, the academy must choose #2 which is Joe Bob. Even though, on the National Pool, "Qualified Alternates" he is #450. On the other hand, if the #1 Principal turns Down the appointment, the academy may choose to NOT fill that MOC's slot, if s/he has a lot of cadets currently at the academy, and may give the MOC 2 slots for the next year. It depends on the MOC, the slate, acceptance, qualified, TIME FRAME, etc... So yes, the "Qualified Alternates" is the national pool. But whether they receive an appointment or not, depends on WHO turns it down. It's not ALWAYS up to the academy.

7. If a Congressional nominee is passed over for a first round appointment offer, but eventually receives an appointment as a “Qualified Alternate,” must that appointment be “charged” to that state’s Congressional Delegation or can it be charged to a different nominating source? Forget the whole "Qualified Alternate" in this question. Put it simply like this. If ANY INDIVIDUAL received their appointment FROM A NOMINATION SLATE, then they will be charged to that nomination. if they receive their appointment FROM THE NATIONAL POOL, "Qualified Alternates", they are NOT CHARGED TO ANY SLATE. Everyone in the national pool basically has a MOC nomination. But if they receive an appointment, they aren't charged to the MOC. Using YOUR description of "FIRST ROUND" appointments, meaning the MOC's SLATE, those are the ONLY appointments charged to a slate. Those and the other slates of course. All appointments from the national pool "Qualified Alternates" are simply, by law, what the academy is allowed to appoint in order to fill the class. NO ONE IS CHARGED FOR THOSE.

8. Can appointments made by the Superintendent or by the Secretary of the Air Force go to candidates from any of the various nominating categories or are they limited to specific categories? Technically, it can be an appointment to anyone with a nomination. But realize, the overwhelming majority of nominations are from MOC's.

9. Will there be a “wait list” for qualified candidates in case someone who has accepted an appointment decides to reject it at the last minute (or is injured or otherwise disqualified from entry) between April 15 and I-Day in June? Yes, but this is part of your #6. It depends on WHO turned it down or got hurt and WHEN. The academy may simply choose to NOT fill that slot.

I realize these are a lot of questions to take in one bite, but there are probably quite a few people that are wondering about many of the same things. Thanks for taking the time to respond and good luck to all the candidates who are still hoping to enter USAFA in June.

Click to expand...

See above in RED.

CC beat me to it.

And he's DEAD ON ACCURATE!!!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83

How many spots left?

You mentioned they accept about 1600-1700. Have all of those been notified now through the portals? When will TWE's go out? And when will the Prep School and Falcon scholarships be awarded?

Lois said:

You mentioned they accept about 1600-1700. Have all of those been notified now through the portals? When will TWE's go out? And when will the Prep School and Falcon scholarships be awarded?

Click to expand...

You obviously didn't read the entire response.

Readers Digest Version:

1. In years past: PRIOR to the class of 2014; the air force academy appointment process was much simpler. Based on over 50 years of experience, the academy basically sent out a total of around 1700 appointments. (I didn't elaborate in the first post); but approximately 100-150 of these were EARLY appointments and Letters of Assurance in the October/November time frame. Then, through til February, another 100-150 appointments would be offered. Then by March, the majority of the 1700+/- will have been offered. BUT, based on history, 400+ Would Turn Down the appointment. In the end, there would be 1200-1300 actual appointees come I-Day.

2. Since the economy has gone bad since around 2008, LESS APPOINTEES turned down the appointments. And LESS people were QUITTING or dropping out like in the past. This caused another problem. Federal Law limits the number of cadets that can be commissioned as officers. That number became TOO MANY.

3. So now; the academy doesn't do this method any longer. Instead, they decide up front how many appointments to give out. Lets say it's 1050 this year. They give out a percentage of those appointments with a cut off date for the individual to accept it or not. Once that date comes, they reassess and offer another percentage of appointments with a cut off date to accept. The reassess at that time and continue this process until they reach the 1050 number they set. That's the end of it.

4. After this is over, they will then decide how many various prep school slots they want and who should get it. That's a totally different criteria. I.e. If you're a 3.86gpa, 28 ACT, etc... but just weren't good enough for an appointment, it's very unlikely you'll get a prep school slot.

5. Then finally, they will give out all the rejection letters. Realize however, it's not uncommon for some people to get the TWE very early. Just like it was obvious certain people were definitely going to get an appointment, and they were offered in January or February; it's also obvious certain people have basically no chance of an appointment. Some of these get a TWE much earlier than others.

Hope this clarifies it. There is no way in the Life of Brian" that the academy is going to offer 1700 appointments. Based on the last couple of years, they will offer approximately 1250 appointments and approximately 1050 will actually walk through the doors on I-Day. This will include new cadets; medical turnbacks from last year, and international students.