JDB
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2016
- Messages
- 56
Hello Everyone:
I'm the father of a rising junior, he announced to me a few months ago that he wanted to seriously look into attending The Air Force Academy. As he researched the USAFA, he also became very interested in West Point and The Naval Academy. All three have outstanding engineering schools, which really started my son's interest in the Air Force Academy.
As a bit of a back story, DS has wanted to attend Texas A&M since middle school, and he decided that he wanted to earn a Petroleum Engineering Degree when he was a freshman in high school. To that end, he has taken a STEM curriculum path at his High School. He has taken all the Pre-AP classes (AP are not allowed until JR year) that his high school offers, and he will start taking AP and Dual Credit this coming year. He has maintained a 3.92 unweighted GPA and ranks in the top 15 out of about 300 in his class. He will graduate having taken all the courses recommended/required by the service academies, plus 4 years of Spanish and 4 years of engineering.
He also lettered in two sports as a sophomore and should do at least that in his JR and SR years. Where he is currently worried is on demonstrated leadership roles, ACT/SAT, and the CFA. His only club membership is the National Honors Society. He has volunteer hours, but needs to gain more and diversify where he volunteers. To address those concerns, he will try join some additional clubs this year and run for office in them; he has also begun taking SAT practice courses and will take his first test in October; additionally, he has started training for the CFA.
DS has located contact information for the Air Force and West Point liaison officers assigned to our district. He is worried about making contact before he is comfortable that he can answer questions that might be posed. We have discussed the fact that the Service Academies do not exist to train engineers; their main purpose is to train leaders of men who will then become military officers. He has begun to wrap his head around that concept and, I think, has come to relish it.
We also know that our congressional district, located in North Texas, is a perennially extremely competitive district. DS will have to put together an exceptionally impressive application file to get through the nomination process.
I will welcome and appreciate any thoughts, recommendations, or critiques. It is our hope that two years from now we can say that DS is starting his military career because of the help provided by members of this forum.
Thanks again for your insight,
JDB
I'm the father of a rising junior, he announced to me a few months ago that he wanted to seriously look into attending The Air Force Academy. As he researched the USAFA, he also became very interested in West Point and The Naval Academy. All three have outstanding engineering schools, which really started my son's interest in the Air Force Academy.
As a bit of a back story, DS has wanted to attend Texas A&M since middle school, and he decided that he wanted to earn a Petroleum Engineering Degree when he was a freshman in high school. To that end, he has taken a STEM curriculum path at his High School. He has taken all the Pre-AP classes (AP are not allowed until JR year) that his high school offers, and he will start taking AP and Dual Credit this coming year. He has maintained a 3.92 unweighted GPA and ranks in the top 15 out of about 300 in his class. He will graduate having taken all the courses recommended/required by the service academies, plus 4 years of Spanish and 4 years of engineering.
He also lettered in two sports as a sophomore and should do at least that in his JR and SR years. Where he is currently worried is on demonstrated leadership roles, ACT/SAT, and the CFA. His only club membership is the National Honors Society. He has volunteer hours, but needs to gain more and diversify where he volunteers. To address those concerns, he will try join some additional clubs this year and run for office in them; he has also begun taking SAT practice courses and will take his first test in October; additionally, he has started training for the CFA.
DS has located contact information for the Air Force and West Point liaison officers assigned to our district. He is worried about making contact before he is comfortable that he can answer questions that might be posed. We have discussed the fact that the Service Academies do not exist to train engineers; their main purpose is to train leaders of men who will then become military officers. He has begun to wrap his head around that concept and, I think, has come to relish it.
We also know that our congressional district, located in North Texas, is a perennially extremely competitive district. DS will have to put together an exceptionally impressive application file to get through the nomination process.
I will welcome and appreciate any thoughts, recommendations, or critiques. It is our hope that two years from now we can say that DS is starting his military career because of the help provided by members of this forum.
Thanks again for your insight,
JDB