Another CFA question!

If she hasn’t already, watch the videos on cfa sit-ups. They are different than the normal sit up and you can bust through them much faster than a normal one.

Also have her reach out to the cross country coach at her school to get her some training to drop her mile time. If she’s run a 7:30 before she should be able to drop time quickly with 30 days training.
 
flieger83 said:
I followed the above conversation...I saw the comparison of scores.

From the ALO's perspective.

1. I have had TOO many candidates use the online "scorer" and say "I'm gonna do great" only to have them fail. I do not trust online scoring sites; not one of them.
2. The comparison of scores...
BBtoss: 36 ft USAFA AVG: 42 ft
Pull ups: 4 USAFA AVG: 2 (She WINS here)
Shuttle: 10.6 USAFA AVG: 9.4 (a full second...this is low)
Sit-ups :48 USAFA AVG: 78 (IMHO, this is fatal)
Pushups: 36 USAFA AVG: 41 (close enough if the other scores are near average)
Mile 9:10 USAFA AVG: 7:30 (Again, IMHO this is fatal)

What I've seen over the years is this: if the scores are "fairly close" to the averages, no problem. If one is up, one is down, or two and two...depending upon HOW different...they may be fine. However, when there's a LOW score on a strength test and then the run...it's usually not a good result.

Did the testing official remark about the weather: extreme temperature, any wind/wind chill? That's something that should be shared with the results.

She's got a tough challenge...however, if she's a JROTC Raider...she has the inner "stuff" to press ahead!!

Best of luck to her!!!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
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Thank you for this! Great info. (She is following along with all of this advice as well and is very appreciative.) The testing official did note the weather (21 degrees and windy) so maybe that gave her the option to retake? However, the results e-mail/retake notification came very fast, like 10 min after they were entered. So, we are guessing it was automated?

She has also reached out to her ALO of course to see if we can get some similar advice that you gave. I am not sure if they will do it, but it would be great to get some idea as to where the biggest improvement needs to be and/or some target result. She really wants to do the test again quickly as she really messed up the pacing on the mile, started out way to slow. I don't think she can make up the gap on the sit ups, but she has proven me wrong before.

If she keeps progressing like she has in the last 20 months, I have no doubt she can reach above the averages. She just had a lower starting point than most, and needs about 6 more months.... Very proud of her either way... onward to 3 more weeks of intense training! Thanks again everyone.
 
To echo others here, it it definitely the sit-ups and 1000% the high mile time
 
USAFA10s said:
I would bet money it’s that mile time that caused a fail. Maybe sit-ups, but I think the mile is further off from acceptable. Keeping an eye on this site over the years, I haven’t seen many (maybe any?) pass with times much greater than about 8:30. The rest are fairly decent and I would bet that the 4 pull-ups really helps offset the slightly below average 36 push-ups.
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I passed with a low BB, shuttle, and 8:32 mile, so there is a bit of wiggle room on the mile. On the contrary, I had the avg. on sit-ups, 47 push-ups, and 4 pull-ups, so there was something in there that balanced my mile.
 
UPDATE!

We took all of your advice and worked on technique and run strategy for the past week. She did a test this morning with her Admin with the intent on it being a 'practice'. Then would retake for the final time at the very end of her 30 day retake window. Her results were way better IMHO. She did finally get to talk to her ALO (who doesn't respond very often). He didn't offer much advice, but did emphasize how rare and fortunate she is to be allowed to take it again.

Here are the new numbers:
BBtoss: 39ft
Pullups: 5
Shuttle: 10.3
Sit-ups: 53
Push-ups: 50
Mile: 8:25
Weather was cold again, 20 degrees and slight wind.

We are hoping to talk to the ALO today and see if he can say 'yes! enter those' or 'no, keep training and take it again in two weeks'

Thoughts?
 
AJ5555 said:
UPDATE!

We took all of your advice and worked on technique and run strategy for the past week. She did a test this morning with her Admin with the intent on it being a 'practice'. Then would retake for the final time at the very end of her 30 day retake window. Her results were way better IMHO. She did finally get to talk to her ALO (who doesn't respond very often). He didn't offer much advice, but did emphasize how rare and fortunate she is to be allowed to take it again.

Here are the new numbers:
BBtoss: 39ft
Pullups: 5
Shuttle: 10.3
Sit-ups: 53
Push-ups: 50
Mile: 8:25
Weather was cold again, 20 degrees and slight wind.

We are hoping to talk to the ALO today and see if he can say 'yes! enter those' or 'no, keep training and take it again in two weeks'

Thoughts?
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If USAFA gave 30 days, I would have her train for 26 days, rest for two and then look for the best weather for days 29 or 30. Great job on improvement, but there is still time to finesse a couple more situps or shave a few seconds off the run.
 
AJ5555 said:
UPDATE!

We took all of your advice and worked on technique and run strategy for the past week. She did a test this morning with her Admin with the intent on it being a 'practice'. Then would retake for the final time at the very end of her 30 day retake window. Her results were way better IMHO. She did finally get to talk to her ALO (who doesn't respond very often). He didn't offer much advice, but did emphasize how rare and fortunate she is to be allowed to take it again.

Here are the new numbers:
BBtoss: 39ft
Pullups: 5
Shuttle: 10.3
Sit-ups: 53
Push-ups: 50
Mile: 8:25
Weather was cold again, 20 degrees and slight wind.

We are hoping to talk to the ALO today and see if he can say 'yes! enter those' or 'no, keep training and take it again in two weeks'

Thoughts?
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I don't think there is any reason to enter those at this point. She has them. If for some reason her next one in a few weeks isn't better, then they can still enter these. The mile time is better and likely passing but the shuttle/sit ups are likely still borderline. I wouldn't risk it. Keep training, do another test in a couple weeks and have the administrator enter the better of the two tests. If you have the ability to get her into an agility coach or personal trainer, they could probably help with the shuttle run. So much of that is just the technique on when to start the turn/touch and change direction.
 
NavyHopefulMom2027 said:
I don't think there is any reason to enter those at this point. She has them. If for some reason her next one in a few weeks isn't better, then they can still enter these. The mile time is better and likely passing but the shuttle/sit ups are likely still borderline. I wouldn't risk it. Keep training, do another test in a couple weeks and have the administrator enter the better of the two tests. If you have the ability to get her into an agility coach or personal trainer, they could probably help with the shuttle run. So much of that is just the technique on when to start the turn/touch and change direction.
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I think you are supposed to enter the results within 48 hours of taking the exam. You should check the candidate booklet on the CFA section and submission rules. If this is the case, she wouldn't be able to submit these scores later.
 
HKane said:
I think you are supposed to enter the results within 48 hours of taking the exam. You should check the candidate booklet on the CFA section and submission rules. If this is the case, she wouldn't be able to submit these scores later.
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Ohhhhh, that might be the case. I didn't really have anything to do with my DS's test so I don't remember that part. Sorry for bad advice @AJ5555 if that is the case. (But I would still give it a little more training and one more shot!)
 
Finale update for everyone. Thanks again for all the advice! She used the full time allowed and passed!

Got her mile down to 8min flat (on a snow covered track), got the shuttle down to 9.5 sec, and sit-ups up to 60. Everything else was about the same.

Her JROTC Nomination came in as well, so now we wait.
 
Bumping this CFA question up from 2022 to give an update. Hoping this gives others some insight into how thin the line is between getting an appointment and not.


My DD failed the CFA the first time she took it, thought the journey was over, but was miraculously asked to take it again, and barely passed the 2nd time 30 days later.

She applied to every nominating source but did not receive a MOC nomination. Again, she thought the journey was over. She did some research and found out that her JROTC regiment was eligible to give a Nomination. The JROTC leadership was not aware of this, so she showed them how to do it, spearheaded the entire process and got a nomination.

The long process of waiting for an appointment ended with a denial/non-selection. No prep school offer, no Falcon Foundation offer, there was just an option to get put on the Falcon Scholar ‘wait list’. Once again, we mourned the loss of her dream and began to move on to plan B.

Plan B was full go, we already put down a deposit, and she was in the process of selecting a class schedule. Mentally she was already at the new school. Then the FF offer came in. No call, no e-mail, it just showed up in the portal. She looked at the prep schools and there was only one spot left at just one school. She was given 2 days to accept or decline.

She accepted as likely the very last spot of the last chance to get in.

She did great at the prep school, is one of the top leaders in the program and I am happy to report that today she received her appointment!

Don’t give up!
 
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AJ5555 said:
Bumping this CFA question up from 2022 to give an update. Hoping this gives others some insight into how thin the line is between getting an appointment and not.


My DD failed the CFA the first time she took it, thought the journey was over, but was miraculously asked to take it again, and barely passed the 2nd time 30 days later.

She applied to every nominating source but did not receive a MOC nomination. Again, she thought the journey was over. She did some research and found out that her JROTC regiment was eligible to give a Nomination. The JROTC leadership was not aware of this, so she showed them how to do it, spearheaded the entire process and got a nomination.

The long process of waiting for an appointment ended with a denial/non-selection. No prep school offer, no Falcon Foundation offer, there was just an option to get put on the Falcon Scholar ‘wait list’. Once again, we mourned the loss of her dream and began to move on to plan B.

Plan B was full go, we already put down a deposit, and she was in the process of selecting a class schedule. Mentally she was already at the new school. Then the FF offer came in. No call, no e-mail, it just showed up in the portal. She looked at the prep schools and there was only one spot left at just one school. She was given 2 days to accept or decline.

She accepted as likely the very last spot of the last chance to get in.

She did great at the prep school, is one of the top leaders in the program and I am happy to report that today she received her appointment!

Don’t give up!
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What a ride!!! Congratulations to all of you!! I'm sure she'll be an amazing cadet!
 
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