Failing CFA scores??

catlover2

catlover2

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Apr 23, 2015
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Hello all. Today I did my CFA In an attempt to finish up my application. I felt very ready and awesome. I just started cross country so I am in great running shape and all. But when I actually did my test, my scores werent nearly as good as I thought they'd be. Here they are:(I'm a female)
Bball throw: 47ft
Pull-ups : 0
Push-ups: 20
Sit-ups: 66
Shuttle run: 9.4s
Mile run: 7:52
I am actually really disappointed because I have been training really hard these past few weeks, especially in weights class. Should I submit these scores then redo it or just do it over another time and only submit my best? I'm really nervous for my push-ups and pull-ups and I'm pretty sure they are both failing!? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Hi! First off, don't be discouraged! Physical fitness is not everyone's forte, but you'd be surprised at how quickly you can improve with some hard work! I will preface my advice with the fact that I'm a cadet at USAFA, not a mid, however, I assume that they have very similar PT standards.
My first piece of advice to you would be to hold off on submitting your scores, because to my recollection, you only get one shot. I know how much you want to just get that application over with (I was there last year!) but you want to submit the best application possible!
Your basketball throw and runs look great, so you mainly need to improve in pushups, sit ups, and pull ups. During my Basic, I failed my fitness test, so I was put in a program that helped me improve rapidly. One thing we would do is we would go through a set of workouts that focused on abs and upper body for about 45 minutes to an hour, and then we would run through a PFT circuit (in your case, you'd obviously do a CFA circuit). We did this three days a week and then would run the other two. I was in the program for less than a month, and it improved my performance dramatically!
As far as pullups go, I would recommend getting a pullup bar and putting it in a doorway in your house. Every time you pass it, do as much of a pullup as you possibly can. Every now and then, try some negatives with a sibling or parent assisting as little as possible.
I know it can be discouraging to not get as high of a score as you wanted, but I promise that if you put in an hour and a half or so of work each day, you'll get there fast!
Best of luck!
 
The CFA can be submitted multiple times. However, the catch is that ONLY the most recent CFA counts and NOT the best one...therefore if you do "worse" on the next attempt, that is what counts. Obviously, if you do better than your CFA scores improves.
 
I assume then for the USNA the scores are automatically submitted if you take the CFA test? If not, then they could take it as many times as they want and just submit if it is better....
 
Bailey has given you excellent advice. Especially for situps and pushups, practice practice practice... you will improve just by doing them (and running isn't going to help those). Pull ups for gals, a little more dicey, but there are ways to learn to do a correct and effective pull up, even on Youtube. (If this old mother can find it, so can you!)
 
Rocko said:
I assume then for the USNA the scores are automatically submitted if you take the CFA test? If not, then they could take it as many times as they want and just submit if it is better....
Click to expand...
No, they are not automatically submitted. I retook the CFA and I had to contact my admissions counselor to get it on my file. If I hadn't done well on it I could have simply not told my admissions counselor about it, though I'm not sure how ethical that would have been.
 
Bailey is spot on. If you do reps throughout the day, you will definitely see results, and quickly. I would suggest adopting this strategy for all the events you are trying to improve on--situps, pushups, and pullups. Do max sets 3 times a day or so, and you will actually surprise yourself with the endurance you develop. (Be very careful not to over-train, though. When I was preparing for USAFA, I wasn't too concerned about this, and ended up with a pulled calf muscle a week before I-Day. I learned my lesson.)

frenzymando, with all due respect, I don't think not submitting your scores has anything to do with honor. When I took my CFA , nothing in the instructions said I had to submit it the very first time I took it. I have read advice by multiple knowledgeable individuals who strongly encouraged applicants to make sure their scores are as high as possible before submitting. IMPO, it's just like the SAT or ACT--you can take the CFA multiple times and submit your best score.
 
While it is better as a female to have 1 pull up over doing the flexed arm hang, I would not submit a score with 0 pullups. It would be better to have a flexed arm hang score in there.
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
While it is better as a female to have 1 pull up over doing the flexed arm hang, I would not submit a score with 0 pullups. It would be better to have a flexed arm hang score in there.
Click to expand...
I asked if since I couldn't do a pull-up if I could try the flexed arm hang but my evaluator said that I couldn't after I already attempted the pullup
 
baileydb said:
Hi! First off, don't be discouraged! Physical fitness is not everyone's forte, but you'd be surprised at how quickly you can improve with some hard work! I will preface my advice with the fact that I'm a cadet at USAFA, not a mid, however, I assume that they have very similar PT standards.
My first piece of advice to you would be to hold off on submitting your scores, because to my recollection, you only get one shot. I know how much you want to just get that application over with (I was there last year!) but you want to submit the best application possible!
Your basketball throw and runs look great, so you mainly need to improve in pushups, sit ups, and pull ups. During my Basic, I failed my fitness test, so I was put in a program that helped me improve rapidly. One thing we would do is we would go through a set of workouts that focused on abs and upper body for about 45 minutes to an hour, and then we would run through a PFT circuit (in your case, you'd obviously do a CFA circuit). We did this three days a week and then would run the other two. I was in the program for less than a month, and it improved my performance dramatically!
As far as pullups go, I would recommend getting a pullup bar and putting it in a doorway in your house. Every time you pass it, do as much of a pullup as you possibly can. Every now and then, try some negatives with a sibling or parent assisting as little as possible.
I know it can be discouraging to not get as high of a score as you wanted, but I promise that if you put in an hour and a half or so of work each day, you'll get there fast!
Best of luck!
Click to expand...
Thank you this is great advice. Starting Monday I'm going to try and doing a lot of reps of push-ups and sit-ups each day and some circuits. It was just really discouraging for me when I realized I could only do 20 push-ups. But at least I have time to fix it
 
fencersmother said:
Bailey has given you excellent advice. Especially for situps and pushups, practice practice practice... you will improve just by doing them (and running isn't going to help those). Pull ups for gals, a little more dicey, but there are ways to learn to do a correct and effective pull up, even on Youtube. (If this old mother can find it, so can you!)
Click to expand...
I had to learn running doesn't necessarily mean upper body strength the hard way haha
 
Smithrm0368 said:
USMAROTCFamily said:
While it is better as a female to have 1 pull up over doing the flexed arm hang, I would not submit a score with 0 pullups. It would be better to have a flexed arm hang score in there.
Click to expand...
I asked if since I couldn't do a pull-up if I could try the flexed arm hang but my evaluator said that I couldn't after I already attempted the pullup
Click to expand...
If you did 0 pull-ups and you didn't do the flexed arm hang, definitely do not submit that CFA.
 
USNA stresses the situps, pushups, and the mile run more so than other portions of the CFA. If you are not doing better than the USNA PRT standards (available on the USNA website), you definitely need to look at improving your scores (which means you need to convert your mile time to 1.5 miles) and if you are barely making it, you should also look to improve. With that being said, there is SOME wiggle room for the mile run since it is last event and most candidates are really fatigued by that point. Bad CFA scores can have an impact at the Admissions Board, even if a candidate is qualified (for example, does extremely poorly on situps, but does really well in the run/pushups and other events).

This also needs to be balanced if you are applying to USAFA and/or USMA, as they stress different portions -- in which case, you probably just want to perfect the entire assessment.

For the OP, your pushups and situps need a bit more improvement (you are pretty much sitting at the PRT minimums for those (D-); your 1.5 mile conversion isn't bad, but I would try to get down to ~7:30 (~ B on the run portion of PRT)).
 
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Smithrm0368 said:
baileydb said:
Hi! First off, don't be discouraged! Physical fitness is not everyone's forte, but you'd be surprised at how quickly you can improve with some hard work! I will preface my advice with the fact that I'm a cadet at USAFA, not a mid, however, I assume that they have very similar PT standards.
My first piece of advice to you would be to hold off on submitting your scores, because to my recollection, you only get one shot. I know how much you want to just get that application over with (I was there last year!) but you want to submit the best application possible!
Your basketball throw and runs look great, so you mainly need to improve in pushups, sit ups, and pull ups. During my Basic, I failed my fitness test, so I was put in a program that helped me improve rapidly. One thing we would do is we would go through a set of workouts that focused on abs and upper body for about 45 minutes to an hour, and then we would run through a PFT circuit (in your case, you'd obviously do a CFA circuit). We did this three days a week and then would run the other two. I was in the program for less than a month, and it improved my performance dramatically!
As far as pullups go, I would recommend getting a pullup bar and putting it in a doorway in your house. Every time you pass it, do as much of a pullup as you possibly can. Every now and then, try some negatives with a sibling or parent assisting as little as possible.
I know it can be discouraging to not get as high of a score as you wanted, but I promise that if you put in an hour and a half or so of work each day, you'll get there fast!
Best of luck!
Click to expand...
Thank you this is great advice. Starting Monday I'm going to try and doing a lot of reps of push-ups and sit-ups each day and some circuits. It was just really discouraging for me when I realized I could only do 20 push-ups. But at least I have time to fix it
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be too worried. My ability to do pushups has always fluctuated and on my first PFT here, I did only 22. On the most recent, I was up to 46. Hard work goes a long ways! You can do this!!!
 
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