Questions, Chatter, Congrats for the 2026 USAFA Appointment Thread

Wild_Blue_Yonder said:
According to AFrpaso’s chart, historically it looks like only about 15% of appointees actually report their appointment on this forum. So, about 50 out of over 300 so far have reported.
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Capt MJ said:
The rough historic 15% reflects the number out of a class at the end of the cycle - not right this minute. We can’t know who else has an appointment in hand. Only Admissions does.

There is no way of knowing if what we are seeing today correlates to 15%, with a predictable unreported number of posts out there, as if this minute.

It’s a tiny data sliver, with a trend factor built of jello. We have also speculated here many times about the bias in the poster pool, as the people here tend to go out researching and lean forward in the process, which may or may not correlate to a higher appointment rate.
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I should be including a canned statement every time I post that chart. @Capt MJ is correct that we really cannot make any reliable estimate of the total number of appointments offered at a specific point in the admissions cycle. Really any possible statistical conclusions go out the window once we start dealing with self-reported data. There are two primary sources of uncertainty, the uncertainty in the admissions process and the uncertainty in the self-reporting and we have no real way to disentangle them.
 
Skyhawk said:
Hey is legacy a big deal? Didn’t think it was but I’m legacy! Also I sent something to admissions and they never responded, candidate booklet says you can’t update, are you team silver?
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I am a legacy as well but I do not think it changes much. I have heard it only really helps when you and another candidate are neck and neck for that appointment when it may give you the leg up.
 
AFrpaso said:
I should be including a canned statement every time I post that chart. @Capt MJ is correct that we really cannot make any reliable estimate of the total number of appointments offered at a specific point in the admissions cycle. Really any possible statistical conclusions go out the window once we start dealing with self-reported data. There are two primary sources of uncertainty, the uncertainty in the admissions process and the uncertainty in the self-reporting and we have no real way to disentangle them.
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But the chart is still fun to look at, and appreciated! People just need to know there is a yawning chasm of statistical uncertainty lurking beneath any projections of actual appointments offered to date.
 
Capt MJ said:
But the chart is still fun to look at, and appreciated! People just need to know there is a yawning chasm of statistical uncertainty lurking beneath any projections of actual appointments offered to date.
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Thanks! I've thinking about setting up a dashboard website with more fun and interactive charts but it's been hard to find the time.
 
tall_man22 said:
I am a legacy as well but I do not think it changes much. I have heard it only really helps when you and another candidate are neck and neck for that appointment when it may give you the leg up.
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As someone who was neck and neck. Put a * by that. I was the one without anyone having gone to a service academy, but I was 4th generation. A legacy means your parents most likely held you to a higher standard because if you don't look good they really don't look good. It's rule for all military brats but especially the top of top leaders. Also you have bit more experience with military life so more likely to want join knowing what could happen.

However this can also be a double edged sword. If your parents were amazing and you're just better than most you aren't given the credit due. It's even worse if you can live up to the standards. In the neck and neck situation I "won" the other guy didn't pass CFA even though he had everything else on paper. I was also better at interviewing. That was kinda my job in JROTC. To convince cadets in recruiting, to reach out to other organizations and convince them and to talk with cadets about problems soooo I was good. He was accepted at USNA but only after a rejection by our 1#.

You should be judged on your skill. No one else's. The process does a pretty good job especially with the interviewers picked, but remember you didn't get here alone and that does mean parents history plays a part. Not being legacy doesn't discount you either. Again my father went in at 30 through OTS ( which my evaluator knew somehow??). Yet he didn't make his rank without skill. And he sure as heck didn't raise this daughter to settle because the starting line "wasn't as good" as others.
 
New to this forum… our DD received a Presidential, MOC & AFJROTC Nom. All green checks on her portal, but we are curious about the mentioned interviews, in some of the posts. She did an interview with MOC, but is she also supposed have an interview with an AFA rep? DD is also a successful graduate of last summer‘s USAF Flight Academy
 
Trek2026 said:
New to this forum… our DD received a Presidential, MOC & AFJROTC Nom. All green checks on her portal, but we are curious about the mentioned interviews, in some of the posts. She did an interview with MOC, but is she also supposed have an interview with an AFA rep? DD is also a successful graduate of last summer‘s USAF Flight Academy
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One of the items on my DS's checklist is ALO interview. He did it over Zoom with his Evaluator ALO.
 
99Gold said:
One of the items on my DS's checklist is ALO interview. He did it over Zoom with his Evaluator ALO.
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DD said she also had an interview with her ALO over zoom. We thought it would be more formal like her in person sit down with MOC. An “old timer” advised her last year to prepare for the AFA sit down interview. Good, interview part is done. She is just in a holding pattern waiting instructions.
 
Skyhawk said:
Hey is legacy a big deal? Didn’t think it was but I’m legacy! Also I sent something to admissions and they never responded, candidate booklet says you can’t update, are you team silver?
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I think you're right that Legacy is not a "big deal" in terms of LOTS of extra points being added onto the weighted candidate score. However, does anyone really know for sure, though, if Legacy or even something like ethnicity/minority status adds maybe a few points to the WCS, or some other beneficial advantage that can tip the application in a favorable direction?? I've heard that some candidates get appointments because they edged out other candidates by mere fractions of a point.

Meanwhile, you can indeed submit some types of updates and changes to your kit after it's been completed. On page 12 of the candidate booklet it says in Section C for College Admissions Tests that you can submit ACT/SAT scores up through Jan 31st. Moreover, on page 35 of the candidate booklet under section #22 Updating Your Admissions File, it states the following: "It is your responsibility to inform USAFA of any changes in information even after you have submitted all required forms. This includes any honors and awards, misconduct, changes in academic status, etc."

We are with Team Silver and our kit was due Nov 1st, and as mentioned in our previous post, we submitted supplemental info on leadership and other achievements in early January. Team Silver acknowledged the receipt of same and said "thank you" for providing the updates. Good luck to you and to the OP. Hope everything works out for you.
 
For those wondering, I received this today after I emailed some additional awards to Team Silver that I received after my application was submitted.

"We are currently in the regular selections review cycle and cannot accept any more modifications past your deadline. But this info will go into the unofficial section of your file."
 
Dragonslayr13 said:
For those wondering, I received this today after I emailed some additional awards to Team Silver that I received after my application was submitted.

"We are currently in the regular selections review cycle and cannot accept any more modifications past your deadline. But this info will go into the unofficial section of your file."
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Thank you for sharing this info. Perhaps supplemental candidate information is accepted only up to the point before Regular Selections begins, whenever admissions decides that date will be from year to year?

I can only speculate-- which isn't worth anything more than anyone else's speculations-- that maybe January 31st is the soft deadline for supplemental info, considering it does state in the Candidate Booklet (Class of 2026) that the 31st is the last day to accept ACT/SAT score updates. Hmmm.
 
Dragonslayr13 said:
For those wondering, I received this today after I emailed some additional awards to Team Silver that I received after my application was submitted.

"We are currently in the regular selections review cycle and cannot accept any more modifications past your deadline. But this info will go into the unofficial section of your file."
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Hopefully Team Blue will do the same for my information as well, considering I just sent them an email with an updated transcript and some new awards. I was under the impression that candidates are supposed to send in updates to their file even after submitting it, I could be wrong, however. I was simply just following the instructions outlined in the Instructions to Candidates document.

"22. Updating Your Admissions File: It is your responsibility to inform USAFA of any changes in information even after you have submitted all required forms. This includes any honors and awards, misconduct, changes in academic status, etc. Failure to provide complete information may result in withdrawal of an offer of appointment or subsequent dismissal from USAFA."
 
I also sent Team Silver some of my updated information, but they replied saying that it was too late to update any of my information at this point (no mention of an unofficial section, or anything else)
 
When I sent my updated info to Team Silver in Early February they responded by saying “Thank you for the updates below. I have added them to your application materials.”. They must have made a cut-off around March, my candidate kit deadline was 1 Nov.
 
My deadline was also 1 Nov. Not much I can really do about it, just sucks that spring sports/accomplishments (especially becoming team captain) are at a disadvantage compared to other sports/activities
 
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