Summer Seminar - Did it help?

Hello. My son applied for the Summer Seminar. Just curious if anyone could share their (or kids) experience. Did it increase or decrease interest? What did they get out of it? Pros/Cons? Anything that's noteworthy. Much appreciated.

Also, does USAFA use it more as a recruiting tool? Just curious what their perspective is on why they do it.

My daughter did the virtual session this past summer. It was very helpful in cementing her desire to attend USAFA. Not the same as the in person experience, I'm sure, but she was able to get a lot of her questions answered. It made it all start to seem like a real possibility instead of just a dream.

Cadets who work the event are not "primed" with applicant info or told to encourage some more than others. Its a recruiting tool in the sense that it allows USAFA to show off its outstanding academic program. How many other universities launch and track satellites? For cadets, its an opportunity to run a program, and work with real people. For attendees, who are presumed to be more academically inclined (otherwise they might have applied to sports camp) its an opportunity to do more than tour USAFA as a visitor, but to get inside the cadet area that visitors cannot see, and get a close look at academic and cadet life, but also the campus and its athletic and recreational facilities. Attendees get to interact with professors, ask real cadets lots of questions about life at USAFA, and interact with a bunch of other talented high schools students, many of which will apply to USAFA. Attending sports camp, summer scientific, or having a family member who graduated gives selection committee members a warm fuzzy that the applicant knows what they are getting themselves into. USAFA wants people who accept their appointment to stick with the program and graduate in four years. If a cadet leaves before graduation, the "slot" they occupied cannot be given to somebody else to finish out the remainder of the program...it is lost forever.

I attended the virtual session this past year and although I wasn’t actually at USAFA, it absolutely was helpful. Having the opportunity to talk to faculty, cadets, and graduates gave me a lot to think about; it was invaluable. Attending summer sem can also provide TONS of great talking points for interviews, essays, etc.

Not a parent or a kid who attended summer sem. But I can tell you a couple of things that are fact:
1. USAFA sees attending (and even applying) to summer sem as demonstrated interest which the academy loves. It won't double your son's chance or guarantee him a spot but it will help.
2. Summer sem will give your son an experience, he will know whether academy life is something that he loves or hates or can put up with. More importantly, summer sem will give your son a chance to talk about an experience at the academy if he is in the nomination interview process. They are going to appreciate a much more personalized answer rather than a vague one.

My DS was selected for virtual SS last year and I do believe it was beneficial. He was selected for 2 MOC interviews and in both interviews they asked him if he participated in SS. He was initially bummed about getting virtual however around the same time Falcon Sport Camp signups were out so he was able to at least be on the campus, eat in mess hall, and sleep in the dorms to get a feel for the campus. I highly recommend the Falcon Sport camps for anyone in similar situation, they are very well run.

Anxiousmama said:

My DS was selected for virtual SS last year and I do believe it was beneficial. He was selected for 2 MOC interviews and in both interviews they asked him if he participated in SS. He was initially bummed about getting virtual however around the same time Falcon Sport Camp signups were out so he was able to at least be on the campus, eat in mess hall, and sleep in the dorms to get a feel for the campus. I highly recommend the Falcon Sport camps for anyone in similar situation, they are very well run.

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I haven't heard of sports camps. I'll check that out.

VikingAirman said:

Not a parent or a kid who attended summer sem. But I can tell you a couple of things that are fact:
1. USAFA sees attending (and even applying) to summer sem as demonstrated interest which the academy loves. It won't double your son's chance or guarantee him a spot but it will help.

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I didn't go to USAFA SS, but to USMA SLE and NASS, and at both they said that attending the SS has absolutely no impact on your application, and how the academy looks at you. Going to something like Boy's/Girl's state instead was something that was seen as beneficial. I am not sure about USAFA SS, but that is what they told us at the other academies?

AshSpike said:

I didn't go to USAFA SS, but to USMA SLE and NASS, and at both they said that attending the SS has absolutely no impact on your application, and how the academy looks at you. Going to something like Boy's/Girl's state instead was something that was seen as beneficial. I am not sure about USAFA SS, but that is what they told us at the other academies?

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True but the academies do like demonstrated interest you can check out the CDS to see for yourself. It doesn't have an impact in the sense that if you do it you will automatically get in, but from what I've read and seen those who attend an SS or something have a better chance per capita of getting in. Maybe they don't look at SS but they do look at your essays, interviews, etc and if you have a more personal experience like SS they will appreciate it.

walker1974 said:

Hello. My son applied for the Summer Seminar. Just curious if anyone could share their (or kids) experience. Did it increase or decrease interest? What did they get out of it? Pros/Cons? Anything that's noteworthy. Much appreciated.

Also, does USAFA use it more as a recruiting tool? Just curious what their perspective is on why they do it.

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I've been an ALO (active duty, and reserve duty) since 1995.

In the "early" years, USAFA SS was a BIG DEAL and counted very nicely on our application to USAFA. It was very competitive and gave the ALO a good visual of their future candidates and their potential for appointment.

However, some years ago...and my dimming memory can't tell you precisely when, the "then" current Director of Admissions came out and said, to the effect, that SS was all wrong. It should be more diversity-focused. Now, hold on...don't jump because it is NOT what most people think when they see that word.

The Director said "We want diverse backgrounds...the kid whose school has a low graduation rate and no visibility to USAFA. The kid who lives out of the way, nobody comes to the school talking about USAFA, or its opportunities. The kid that comes from a single-parent home that works full time after school to help the family make ends meet, etc..."

So the Director decided that admissions would NOT be involved in the SS process, at least, not in an "admission" capacity. Whether or not a student attended USAFA SS would not be reflected in their application. They brought in students who were great candidates and many who were not but it exposed them to USAFA and they went home as almost mini-spokepersons. And underrepresented groups/schools/communities suddenly started being heard from. And great candidates emerged.

And so that's how it's remained. It's actually very challenging for a "high achiever" to get selected. Not saying it doesn't happen, but most of my "high achieving students" are overlooked for SS.

Does this help?

Steve
USAFA ALO
(Mentor and Evaluator)

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walker1974 said:

Hello. My son applied for the Summer Seminar. Just curious if anyone could share their (or kids) experience. Did it increase or decrease interest? What did they get out of it? Pros/Cons? Anything that's noteworthy. Much appreciated.

Also, does USAFA use it more as a recruiting tool? Just curious what their perspective is on why they do it.

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I got lucky enough to go, and here’s what I saw: the kids who knew they wanted to go came out out of it knowing they wanted to go, maybe using it to decide against another service academy. I didn’t see any kids who didn’t want to go to a service academy have a change of heart. If anything, I saw the opposite. Most people I went to the summer seminar with who wanted to go realized it wasn’t for them by the weekend’s end. And while the cadets monitoring the camp are awesome, they will be brutally honest about their struggles to adjust to life at the school.

There might not be any "points" in a scoring system directly linked to a Y/N Attended USAFA SS, but at some point, a board member reviews a applicant's package and provides a score that represents their judgment of the applicant. That is where attending SS, sports camp, or having a grad brother/sister/father/mother can help. (Or not...its a subjective judgment).

GoodRun said:

There might not be any "points" in a scoring system directly linked to a Y/N Attended USAFA SS, but at some point, a board member reviews a applicant's package and provides a score that represents their judgment of the applicant. That is where attending SS, sports camp, or having a grad brother/sister/father/mother can help. (Or not...its a subjective judgment).

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Thank you

Julia67 said:

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I got lucky enough to go, and here’s what I saw: the kids who knew they wanted to go came out out of it knowing they wanted to go, maybe using it to decide against another service academy. I didn’t see any kids who didn’t want to go to a service academy have a change of heart. If anything, I saw the opposite. Most people I went to the summer seminar with who wanted to go realized it wasn’t for them by the weekend’s end. And while the cadets monitoring the camp are awesome, they will be brutally honest about their struggles to adjust to life at the school.

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I think it's not that he doesn't want to attend, as I think he's prepared for the difficulties. I think it's whether he can understand better what it offers when it's all said and done. Meaning, can he better understand what the 5 years commitment post-graduation looks like and how his career would be different by going to a service academy.

My son was fortunate to be invited to the SSs for USMA, USNA, and USAFA. He attended USNA's and USAFA's. He did not attend USMA because he already visited there a few times and didn't want to miss his sister's graduation.

He was already focused on USNA, but went to USAFA with an open mind. He said after attending both seminars that he was more interested than ever to go to USNA, and that he did not feel the same connection with USAFA.

walker1974 said:

I think it's not that he doesn't want to attend, as I think he's prepared for the difficulties. I think it's whether he can understand better what it offers when it's all said and done. Meaning, can he better understand what the 5 years commitment post-graduation looks like and how his career would be different by going to a service academy.

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I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this. If you mean SA vs. ROTC, it won't affect your career except maybe help get into a more competitive career field. If you mean military vs. civilian, I don't think he'll get that kind of info at Summer Seminar...at least not in depth. My ds attended and says that they talked about post-Academy careers a bit, but not much. Not enough to really understand what happens after graduation and how cadets are chosen for different career fields. USAFASS is an introduction to USAFA meant to be more marketing. I'm glad my DS did it, but it wasn't a make or break program for him.

Also, admissions keeps harping on the fact that it does not help candidates get an appointment in any way. I don't even think it would be a "tiebreaker' because getting in isn't competitive in the traditional sense like @flieger83 described it was in the past. There are also be cost barriers and timing issues (some high schools are still in session, conflicts with Boys State, etc.) for some families which admissions knows about.

Honestly, I'm not sure how my ds got into the program with our family's background.

walker1974 said:

I think it's not that he doesn't want to attend, as I think he's prepared for the difficulties. I think it's whether he can understand better what it offers when it's all said and done. Meaning, can he better understand what the 5 years commitment post-graduation looks like and how his career would be different by going to a service academy.

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They don’t go into depth about what life after the academy is like either at the summer seminar. I don’t think there’s much emphasis on the service commitment there at all.

walker1974 said:

Hello. My son applied for the Summer Seminar. Just curious if anyone could share their (or kids) experience. Did it increase or decrease interest? What did they get out of it? Pros/Cons? Anything that's noteworthy. Much appreciated.

Also, does USAFA use it more as a recruiting tool? Just curious what their perspective is on why they do it.

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As a candidate that did summer seminar, I was 100% on USNA coming in and coming out, I really had to think about what’s best (between USNA & USAFA). So I would say it definitely increased interest!
- USNA co28