Administer CFA

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Feb 16, 2017
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DS is 2022 applicant and his school doesn't offer gym, so no PE teacher. There are coaches, an athletic director, and a trainer. He is attending NASS so I know he can take it there. Few questions: 1) assuming he does well/passes, will his NASS CFA qualify for the other SAs? 2) Can he redo or submit again to improve his scores (thought I read a post about submitting improved scores or you can submit a total of 2 CFA scores if before deadline)? If he does redo or can submit improved scores, who can DS have admin CFA bc USMA says PE teachers, no coaches and goes on to list ROTC, liasons, etc. USAFA does list coaches as ok. USNA lists "anyone with a physical education degree". Can we use "another"PE teacher? Or does it have to be a staff member of DS school or can we ask gym teacher from his former middle school? We have read through these 3 SAs websites several times, but want to make sure we have a clear understanding. Ideally, if he does well at NASS and all 3 SAs accept those CFA scores then great, but he'd like to know what options he may have if he's not happy with his scores.

Another, random question: DS rec'd USMA email today that was "part#1" and "part#2" regarding the start of 2022 application process (Wow!...lots of info to digest). It mentions that all documentation & updates from school need to be signed by "counselor" before submitted/uploaded/emailed...does that mean guidance counselor or college counselor? To be honest, I'm a little scared at how little either one knows about applying to SAs (based on some of the conversations & email exchanges DS has shared with me at this point...ugh!)

I've been following many of you as you report from CPR "island". I keep crossing my fingers & saying prayers that your DD/DS hard work leads them their "happy place". Many thanks for any feedback and guidance!
 
This is a question that should be referred to your regional commander at West Point. From what I have heard there may be a requirement to video certain events of the CFA for the Class of 2022. Until these new rules are clarified I would hesitate to take any advice from this board.
 
This is a question that should be referred to your regional commander at West Point. From what I have heard there may be a requirement to video certain events of the CFA for the Class of 2022. Until these new rules are clarified I would hesitate to take any advice from this board.
We were told last week on a day visit from the RC on duty that videos will have to be sent for pull ups and push ups for the class of 2022.
 
DS is 2022 applicant and his school doesn't offer gym, so no PE teacher. There are coaches, an athletic director, and a trainer. He is attending NASS so I know he can take it there. Few questions: 1) assuming he does well/passes, will his NASS CFA qualify for the other SAs? 2) Can he redo or submit again to improve his scores (thought I read a post about submitting improved scores or you can submit a total of 2 CFA scores if before deadline)? If he does redo or can submit improved scores, who can DS have admin CFA bc USMA says PE teachers, no coaches and goes on to list ROTC, liasons, etc. USAFA does list coaches as ok. USNA lists "anyone with a physical education degree". Can we use "another"PE teacher? Or does it have to be a staff member of DS school or can we ask gym teacher from his former middle school? We have read through these 3 SAs websites several times, but want to make sure we have a clear understanding. Ideally, if he does well at NASS and all 3 SAs accept those CFA scores then great, but he'd like to know what options he may have if he's not happy with his scores.

Another, random question: DS rec'd USMA email today that was "part#1" and "part#2" regarding the start of 2022 application process (Wow!...lots of info to digest). It mentions that all documentation & updates from school need to be signed by "counselor" before submitted/uploaded/emailed...does that mean guidance counselor or college counselor? To be honest, I'm a little scared at how little either one knows about applying to SAs (based on some of the conversations & email exchanges DS has shared with me at this point...ugh!)

I've been following many of you as you report from CPR "island". I keep crossing my fingers & saying prayers that your DD/DS hard work leads them their "happy place". Many thanks for any feedback and guidance!

As for the first question, yes, the NASS CFA counts for all academies. He can redo and submit again if I'm not mistaken, not sure about the limit of the number of times though.

As for the third question, as davejean90 said, that's really a question for your regional commander or your Field Force Rep (I'd start with Field Force first).

For me, it's the guidance counselor, but it all has to do with what your school names people. Basically, whoever has access to your transcripts and plans your schedules out and could write a counselor recommendation (for civilian colleges), that'd be the one. And yes, they know a lot less than I'd hope, it's like pulling teeth to get my counselor to do pretty much anything, ha.
 
West Point asked for video to confirm push-ups and sit-ups for some candidates who used NASS for the CFA, so if you go to NASS you may want to see if a buddy can video your CFA.
 
Your regional admission officer in the Field Force can also administer the CFA. This is not the same person as the RC at West Point.
 
Our DS went to NASS and did it there. It was not a great CFA for him and he was pretty slow on the run (I think high 7, almost 8 minutes!), but evidently was enough to meet minimum standards. He had every intention of working out more while he participated in his fall sport and doing it again so that he would submit the new score to USNA and to USMA. However, as he went to a small school that did not have a track, pull up bars, etc. and trying to find another facility he could use and then get the qualified scorer there became a logistics nightmare. He kept waiting to submit his official statement on the application, thinking he would redo. That never happened, so he finally just got USNA to send the score that he had to USMA, too. He had what I would consider a really solid application for everything else. He ended up getting a LOA to USNA and appointments to both. If he had to do it all over again, he said he would have worked out more before going to NASS to insure he could do his best effort there.
 
ServiceaboveAll, welcome to the "club." There are several credible resources to help applicants and their parents navigate through the Service Academy application, nomination application and ROTC scholarship application(s) maze.

DS2 and I found the following resources extremely helpful for West Point and Army ROTC. There are similar resources available for Air Force and Navy (not sure about Coast Guard and Merchant Marine):

The West Point Candidate Book: How to Prepare, How to Get In, How to Survive: Sue Ross, Randy Lee: 9780979794322: Amazon.com: Books

https://www.amazon.com/West-Point-Candidate-Book-Prepare/dp/0979794323

The Insider's Guide to the Army ROTC Scholarship for High School Students and their parents: 2016-2017 Application Year Edition

https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Sch...s&ie=UTF8&qid=1491663678&sr=1-2&keywords=ROTC

Stu Smith, Service Academy Fitness - Prepare for the CFA:

http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/serviceacademycfa.htm

Your DS should take the ACT or SAT as many times as he can stand to and you can afford. Work on his weaknesses. Practice the essays for the writing portion of the ACT, if he takes the ACT.

Always, always have plans a,b,c,d,e . . ., which means do not forget about the Senior Military Colleges (VMI, The Citadel, Norwich, Texas A&M, North Georgia and Virginia Tech). DS1 is a graduate of The Citadel and is serving active duty Army. He is stationed internationally and has not been home in more than two years.

Best of luck to you and your son.
 
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