The Prep'15 Q&A

Greetings Alumni, Cadets, Appointees, Candidates, and Parents,

I am a current Prep School "Cadet Candidate" on my last semester at the P. I'm in the first of the three squadrons. I am a prior enlisted student who have received an appointment to the P by means of the LEAD (Leaders Encouraging Airman Development) Program.

It's almost that time of year for candidates to receive their appointments. If you have any questions about the P, please ask. I will not make any assumptions and give straight answers, although I will not answer any questions that I believe to cause harm to my classmates and I or faculty. I can tell you everything I know so far about the year, how things have gone so far, and what is rumored to come next year. I will let you know what is a fact, a rumor, a myth, and a guess of mine.

I will check in every week until my graduation from the P in May to answer questions.

-AC

Hello- Can you share your GPA and SAT scores when you first applied? Just trying to determine if my son will be turned down for an appointment and if he could be offered a prep spot!!!

Thanks for any help!!!

Any specific advice for females entering the prep school?

Momof4 said:

Hello- Can you share your GPA and SAT scores when you first applied? Just trying to determine if my son will be turned down for an appointment and if he could be offered a prep spot!!!

Thanks for any help!!!

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Momof4,

Unless your son is an enlisted Airman seeking an appointment, it is unlikely that dorado's GPA/SAT score will be an accurate representation of the academic caliber of applicants accepted to the prep school. Prior-Enlisted applicants are often judged on a slightly different academic scale than direct out of high school applicants.

If 2000 high schoolers are qualified for direct entry and the first 1000 are appointed, 1001-1100 are not automatically guaranteed prep school slots. Prep school appointments are hand picked by the admissions office based on their whole package. Historically, the Prep School has been a place to prepare enlisted and recruited athletes for the Academy. Only a small percentage of Prep School appointees will be non-enlisted/non-recruited athletes.

I'm also a prior-preppie, but a couple years removed. I can field some questions depending on their specificity.

Carolina, sorry I wouldn't be able to give a good answer!

I have heard that the prep was once for recruited athletes, but I did not realize that it was also for enlisted applicants as well. I guess what I'm wondering mostly is, what is the average prep candidates GPA and or SAT scores ? I know each situation is different, I'm just curious as to where my dear son stands. Thanks for any help!

Momof4 said:

I have heard that the prep was once for recruited athletes, but I did not realize that it was also for enlisted applicants as well. I guess what I'm wondering mostly is, what is the average prep candidates GPA and or SAT scores ? I know each situation is different, I'm just curious as to where my dear son stands. Thanks for any help!

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My DD is not an enlisted applicant and she's also not a recruited athlete. Her GPA is 3.52. Her SAT scores 570 English, 640 Math. She was involved in many volunteer activities. Also while her GPA isn't as great as some you will see in these forums, she had extreme high grades in STEM and not so great in English bringing her GPA down. She was given an LOA to the Prep back in November, which she accepted immediately.

When people say that it's more than just numbers, they are very right. If you go by numbers alone, DD shouldn't have made it and yet she did. DD also said that all of the LOA that were given when she was visiting the school were given to women. I don't know if this is part of the USAFA plan to obtain more diversity or if it was a fluke that weekend.

My GPA was 3.08 from high school and my SAT Scores are:
CRIT. REA. 520
MATH 590
WRIT 480
I took them once my junior year in high school, never bothered to retake it after.
I went to college before enlisting, I had a 3.6 GPA there.

As the prep school concludes, I had received nominations from all 3 of the congresswomen of NH on account of my performance as an enlisted member and at the prep school. I can assure you my high school transcripts was not that impressive.

For me, it was a lot easier to enter into the academy as an enlisted person than as a civilian. I think that may be true for many other people who were not that motivated in high school that had went the enlisted route first.

For girls entering the prep... well, be prepared to go through a 2 week BMT period where you'll learn to tie your hair up, march and memorize knowledge from a little blue book, which you will carry up to your face, elbows at a 90 degree angle for long periods of time. Be prepared to do at least 1 pull up.. I knew many girls who couldn't do one at the beginning.. just be prepared physically, and come motivated. DO NOT bring more than one set of civilian clothes, they will give you your ABUs as soon as you get here. I mean, thats what they did this year anyways. Just bring the essentials and any important paperwork.

The prep school had about 50 prior enlisted personnel out of 240 cadet candidates, i think we are down to maybe 45.. I don't know the exact numbers, but some did not make the cut. MOST applicants are athletic recruits, many of which did not make the cut either. There were some direct civilian cadet candidates, but they have some connection to the academy one way or another or had great application packages. One of the directs has a brother at the academy, who was also a preppie.. I don't know if that affected selection.

I am also enlisted. Who were your recomendations from?

I submitted my app without recommendations so I could meet the deadline. I would advise against this. If you're not far removed from high school maybe try to get something from a past coach or teacher. If you work a second job while in the National Guard, maybe I recommendation from them. Also, your first or second line supervisor might be a good idea.

Airmen, or enlisted air force personnel that are under the age of 23 can apply for the academy. You need... If I recall well, I believe its called a form 1786, a recommendation from your immediate commander (mine was a Lt Col), a recommendation from any other officer (I got mine from my tech school commander, also a Lt Col) and the recommendation of your first sergeant (I got mine from my work center superintendent, a SMSgt because the first shirt retired a couple days prior). It will say on your application who you should get a recommendation from. If applying as a civilian, then coaches, teachers, and counselors are good points of contact..

Do you have any awards in the military?

personally, I applied during tech school winter 2013 and finished the application in mid Jan 2014. I was offered an appointment to the prep school about 3 months after I completed tech school. I had not received any awards in this short amount of time. Mind you, my tech school was 7 months long. The only thing I was in tech school was a black rope (drill team).

Do you know if being an honor grad from basic training would help at all?

I believe it does help somewhat. I do not have the honor grad ribbon, but a majority (either about half or more than half) of the prior enlisted students here do. The ribbon is a symbol of excellence in a time of great stress. Unfortunately for me, I had a 341 pulled, and I got a high 80 on the EOC test during enlisted basic training, but persistence comes a long way. That's why I was chosen to come here. Just FYI, if an enlisted person does not have a honor grad ribbon, it does not make them inferior to those who do. I'm pretty sure I am doing a lot better at the prep then many of the honor grad recipients. I just received recognition for academic excellence and awarded the silver rope.

Any suggestions on workouts to help prepare for the physical aspect of prep school?

For workouts its best if I told you about the PFT (Physical Fitness Test). Luckily for preppies, the PFT is the only physical fitness test they'll have to worry about. The AFT (Aerobic Fitness Test) is an additional test conducted at the Academy, not the prep. I will name off the testable fitness maneuvers and will recommend some exercises to help you prepare for that maneuver. All the maneuvers are in the order that they conduct them.

PFT

1. Pull Ups - I would recommend doing the actual pull ups and towel pull ups to get better at it.

2. Standing Long Jump - I would recommend Box Jumps, High Knees, Butt Kickers, Squats and actual Standing Long Jumps (leg exercises).

3. Sit Ups - I would recommend Mountain Climbers, Flutter Kicks, Scissor Kicks, Crunches, Captains Chair, Russian Twist, V-Ups, Toe Touchers, Windmill... there's a lot and you can tell that this is my favorite workout.

4. Push Ups - I would recommend chest workouts such as Flies (w/ weights), Wide Push Ups, Tricep Push Ups, Spiderman Push Ups, Stagger Push Ups (Both sides), and the ultimate Pyramid Push Ups. If your new to this, I would recommend starting of with push up sets such as 3 sets that gradually increase in reps by the week like start off with 3 sets of 10 reps everyday 3-5 times a day, then increase by 5 reps every week, until you can do 3 sets of 30 reps no problem.

5. 600 Meter Sprint - I am the worst at this.. but the best possible training that I have heard fast people recommend me is high intensity interval training of large timed sprints and with small timed breaks in between. Increase the amount of time that one remains in a sprint every week until you can sprint (about 75%-100% of ones own max speed) a whole lap and a half 37/100 of a mile no problem. Also take 15 minute jog's before and after and stretch for a while at the end. Regulate breathing always. This should help.

Also, I don't bid you good luck. I bid you good preparation. I hope this was helpful.

Thank you dorado.solado! That was extremely helpful!