The Academy Appointment manual?

HueyNation

HueyNation

USAFA '16
10-Year Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
160
I just came across this 'manual' promo on getting into the Academy... :confused1:

http://www.airforceacademyappointment.com/

No other manual or admissions information material that is commercially or publicly available has the depth or the scope of the interviews that you will find in Zoomie to Be. In fact, no other publication has complete interviews with Appointees at all.
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Want to know what the "bare minimum" scores are that you should be shooting for in order to make yourself competitive for an Appointment? Even the admissions office at the Air Force Academy won't tell you this one!
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Want to get your hands on a copy of the Cadet Knowledge book, Contrails, long before you enter the Air Force Academy? By getting acquainted with and networking with this "hidden" resource, it's absolutely possible!
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Would there by anything noteworthy that'll be in it, or is it just another total scam targetting anxious parents into getting their DS/DD into the Academy?
 
The title of the "book" "Zoomie to Be: How to Win an Appointment to the Air Force Academy!" tells you right off that this is probably a waste of your money. You do not "win" an appointment, you earn it, on your personal core values, perserverance, and commitment to achieving your goal. The author of this document did not graduate from the Air Force Academy. There are no reviews that can be found except for the website that is hosting this product. I would not waste anytime on this item. Just my opinion.
 
1. A LOT of grammatical/spelling errors in the website alone. That should tell you that it's about as professional as a hooker winning Miss America.
2. Notice how she says she's a "Former Air Force Academy Appointee". Not a former "Cadet". Not a former "Graduate". Not a former "Officer". "Bull-Shiite".
3. Notice how she says she beat out close to 60,000 people to get her appointment? Well, this past year, because of the economy, was one of the largest application cycles ever. And guess what? There was no where near 60,000 applicants. To be more accurate, there were a little over 12,000 initially. With only about half of them making it to the "Candidate" stage.

Do I need to go on? The fact that you have found this Forum and others possibly like it, has already increased your odds of an appointment. There is more knowledge here than this person conning you can ever get. Including all the "Connections" she's tapped at the academy. "Again; Bull-Shiite".

The reason many on the forums seem to get appointments, is because they've been lurking, learning, and preparing for a number of years. They aren't the upcoming senior in high school who doesn't know what they want to do after graduating, so they figure they'll apply to the academy because it's a great "Scholarship". The senior who was never on a sports team. Wasn't a leader in a club or activity. etc... The hardest thing to answer on the forum is when a new applicant decides to apply; never thought seriously about it in the past; doesn't do sports; doesn't have leadership; has good grades; and wants to know what they can do to apply. Deep down inside, I want to tell them to not waste theirs or anyone else's time, and apply to a traditional college instead. But I'm not insensitive and I can't say that.

Buying this manual is not going to "Win" you an appointment. I GUARANTEE you that. But people are totally free to buy whatever they want. I spend money on some of the stupidest thing. Best of luck to you.
 
Yeah, it kinda does look a little sketchy... However during parents weekend last year I did buy the official handbook (don't remember the name) at the visitor center. I do have to say it helped me with a lot of things I was unsure about!:thumb:
 
The official academy brochure, that many ALO's give to their candidates, is also available online in PDF form. Matter of fact, it's the link in my signature block. This brochure will tell you just about everything you wanted to know about the air force academy. The different types of nominations; how many they can have; how you are scored against your competition; the average class profile with the type of background the cadets had; e.g. scouts, sports, class officer, etc...; average/mean ACT/SAT scores; average/mean CFA scores; etc... Everything you wanted to know about what it takes to compete for an appointment. Plus the rest of the brochure is all about academy life. Even about the prep school.

Does this brochure answer all questions? No. I can say that probably half of all the questions a new applicant or their parent asks can be found in it. But there are a lot of other questions that some have. Forums like this one is a great place to get those answered. There will be absolutely NOTHING in the advertised paid pamphlet being discussed that will help an individual receive an appointment that this forum or the "OFFICIAL" United States Air Force Academy Catalog.

But we are ON the forum, and it is FORUM POSTERS discussing this. You have the edge. For the non forum member who simply applies (THE MAJORITY OF APPLICANTS), a pamphlet like that being offered probably has information in it that they don't know about. It's a Catch-22. Most of the information is available already for the asking. As an ALO, we provide a lot of information to our schools. But for obvious financial and budgetary reasons, we don't simply mail a brochure or information to every student at our schools. So for most people interested in the academies, by the time they are serious about applying; (Their senior year); any information is a little late. Other than information on the process. But deciding which classes to take, CFA, SAT/ACT, etc... it's a little late. Hard to change you grades or all of a sudden be a varsity athlete with significance starting your junior year. Even those in their junior year are a little late trying to play catch-up.

But in the end, it works out. The cadet the academy generally gets, are the ones who's application wasn't a bunch of blocks that they filled in to look good in their academy application. Most kids are NATURAL FITS. They've always had the good grades. Always had good test scores. Always been involved in athletics. Always was involved in leadership. Always involved in volunteering, clubs, etc... They aren't fake. They aren't trying to fill squares on an application.

I bring this up so that ALL of you who are currently applicants/appointees/cadets will spread the word about forums like this one. If you know of young people interested in the academies or parents of current applicants, this is where they can get most of their questions and concerns answered. And if the 14-15 year old is exposed to the information here, and they truly are interested, then they can be prepared to be a formidable applicant. Basically; if you don't already have the background, academics, social and leadership skills, and physical qualifies that the academies are looking for when you're 15-16 years old; then an upcoming senior is not going to get any "Edge" to receiving an appointment by paying for and reading some POS pamphlet that the original article is trying to sell you.
 
Thanks to Christcorp

I have to say a SPECIAL thanks to Christcorp and his continual and amazing help throughout my months of reading this forum. If we need a book, it should be written by him and Luigi and others who have dedicated so much of their valuable time towards helping all of us who rely on the information on a daily basis. I cannot begin to say THANK YOU enough to Mike and all of the others from moderators, to former officers, to candidates, and to the parents, who (like me) so much want to see our sons and daughters fulfill their life-long dream. We are the honored parents of the chosen few. Our amazing sons and daughters want to truly honor and serve our nation, and are willing to do all of the hard work, and commit to the untold sacrifices in the years to come to make that happen. I suggest we derive our most valuable information from the people like Christcorp who have "been there" for it is the information that will prove to be the most valuable and helpful for our dear sons and dear daughters.
 
batmom said:
I have to say a SPECIAL thanks to Christcorp and his continual and amazing help throughout my months of reading this forum. If we need a book, it should be written by him and Luigi and others who have dedicated so much of their valuable time towards helping all of us who rely on the information on a daily basis. I cannot begin to say THANK YOU enough to Mike and all of the others from moderators, to former officers, to candidates, and to the parents, who (like me) so much want to see our sons and daughters fulfill their life-long dream. We are the honored parents of the chosen few. Our amazing sons and daughters want to truly honor and serve our nation, and are willing to do all of the hard work, and commit to the untold sacrifices in the years to come to make that happen. I suggest we derive our most valuable information from the people like Christcorp who have "been there" for it is the information that will prove to be the most valuable and helpful for our dear sons and dear daughters.
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Very well said.........couldn't agree more.:shake:
 
My DS found that although it was a bit dated, The Air Force Academy Candidate Book by William L. Smallwood and Sue Ross was a good read. It is available at the AOG website as well as on Amazon. I found it helpful in keeping my hands off in my DS's journey to USAFA.
 
Dad said:
My DS found that although it was a bit dated, The Air Force Academy Candidate Book by William L. Smallwood and Sue Ross was a good read. It is available at the AOG website as well as on Amazon. I found it helpful in keeping my hands off in my DS's journey to USAFA.
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Yes! That was the book I was referring to! I enjoyed it as it gave me a better insight about the academy!
 
I read the Air Force Academy Candidate Book by William L. Smallwood and it has been very helpful through admissions process. I also recently purchased the newest edition of the book by Sue Ross for a more updated approach which I know will help me a ton as well. They are excellent books. You should read these instead of some "Zoomie to Be" book.
 
Dad said:
My DS found that although it was a bit dated, The Air Force Academy Candidate Book by William L. Smallwood and Sue Ross was a good read. It is available at the AOG website as well as on Amazon. I found it helpful in keeping my hands off in my DS's journey to USAFA.
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Was unpacking my daughter's bag after we got home from dropping her at USAFA on June 27 and found this book:) She had it since her sophomore year and I thought it was cute that she was reading it up until I-Day. If I remember correctly we purchased it for her at the Visitor's Center when we visited USAFA in 2009.
 
Suggest you save the $37 the original question this thread asks about and put it to a better use. No one person has any secret 'inside' information that will give you advantage in getting an appointment. There is a lot of hype in what is written on their webpage, which is mostly an ad for selling a book.

The most recent stats I could easily find online shows that about 10,000 individuals started the application process for the class of 2013 that just graduated. No idea where the 60,000 came from assuming that website is 3-5 yrs old, that seems excessively high no matter how you count it.

https://admissions.usafa.edu/RRC/Class_of_2013_profile.pdf
 
time2 said:
Suggest you save the $37 the original question this thread asks about and put it to a better use. No one person has any secret 'inside' information that will give you advantage in getting an appointment. There is a lot of hype in what is written on their webpage, which is mostly an ad for selling a book.

The most recent stats I could easily find online shows that about 10,000 individuals started the application process for the class of 2013 that just graduated. No idea where the 60,000 came from assuming that website is 3-5 yrs old, that seems excessively high no matter how you count it.

https://admissions.usafa.edu/RRC/Class_of_2013_profile.pdf
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+1000
 
that website creation Date: 08-feb-2005

I concur with the folks above...but talk to your ALO...I only got to do a couple of mentoring sessions...mostly I did interviews and occasional follow up talks.
 
Instructions to Candidates

The "Instructions to Candidates" which will be posted on your portal, have everything you need to know to apply. Download them and read them throughly.
 
The application process is not rocket science. It's pretty well explained online in the portal. The only complaint many have had, is that it sometimes takes a while for updates to show up.

But for the applicant who is somewhat organized and planned for this, the application process is not hard and it's not even that time consuming. I know plenty of applcants who were able to COMPLETE their entire application in 45 days or less. We're talking complete. Online-Complete; DODMRB-Complete, CFA-Complete, teacher's rec-Complete, All School transcripts/profile/etc.-Complete, Nomination Apps-complete. I'm talking the entire process completed.

Honestly, unless you're a border line academically questionable applicant, who needs to max out the CFA to squeeze out that extra point or two; I never could understand why applicants who claim they've wanted the academy "Their Whole Lives", can procrastinate and hold out finishing their application until December/January.

Any changes like improved GPA, Class Rank, SAT/ACT scores, etc. can all be added later to the application. So there's absolutely no reason in the world to wai on finishing up your application. There are so many positives that come from completing your application PRIOR to the beginning of your senior year of high school. The 3 main reasons are:

1) The perception by your MOC when you interview/process your MOC nomination; when you can show how you are so motivated to go to the academy, that you had your application completed in August-September
2) It frees you up to apply to all your other schools. Whether it's your primary schools or backups to the academy in case you don't get that. You can't just apply to the academy. And if you have the grades and resume to get accepted to the academy, then you have the grades and resume to be applying to the BEST SCHOOLS in the country. If you're not applying for scholarships and admittance to the best schools in the country, then you are misguided.
3) Finally; this is your SENIOR YEAR!!! You should be enjoying your time at school. You should be enjoying time with your friends. You should be concentrating on athletics, grades, friends, and being the big dog in school. If you're spending weekends, some nights, etc... doing your application for the academy and trying to get your CFA and Medical done, then you aren't having fun

The process is open. You can have the entire application completed prior to 15 September. If you do, you'll be so much happier. If you procrastinate, then you will be stressing over it. Like I said, I know many who lined up their teachers, counselors, and school admin PRIOR to the end of their junior year. (Like around May). So when the application process started for them in June/July, they were completely done in less than a month. Everything online in their portal was updated and 100% in less than 45 days. Their senior year was so enjoyable. They applied to and received acceptance and numerous scholarships to some of the best schools in the country.

This is what I recommend.
 
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