A few questions

[cantalOPe]

Hi Everyone,

I think this may just be me being a bit anxious about the results but I'm wondering if there is anything else I can do now to increase my chances. I have already submitted everything - 1540sat, 3.77gpa, 2 year varsity football, 1 year varsity wrestling, 3 year FRC robotics engineer, some volunteering, some AP classes, fluent in Chinese, got my senatorial nomination interviews done, still waiting for congress interview, also still waiting for an email from DoDMERB.

One thing that came up in my senatorial and ALO interview is that one of my teachers wrote on my recommendation that I "march to the beat of my own drum", which the interviewers seemed concerned about as I may not be able to fit in at USAFA. During the interviews I kind of spun this around by saying the teachers think I'm unusual/stand out from other students because the majority of students at my school do not want to attend a service academy, and I gave the example of doing pushups in the hallway between periods to prepare for the CFA, which some of my teachers found unusual (one of whom probably wrote that in their comments). I'm wondering what the best way to respond to this is if it comes up in my congressional nomination.

I am over the weight limit (205lbs 6'1), so will need to get checked with tape. If I'm standing tall I have a 33-34in waist and 16-17in neck (measured at middle and base, not sure which one is correct), I put that into the calculator and it says my bf% is good to go, just want to double check that?

Should I talk more about computer science in my last interview? I took AP compsci last year and am taking an advanced class this year, and also participated in the cyberstart cybersecurity challenge (which I somehow forgot to include in my resume and applications) both years, but I didn't talk about it much in my interviews, I think it could be good to link computer science with the air force since the air force is the branch primarily responsible for cyberspace.

 

[StPaulDad]

Not sure if it's your writing style or what, but it looks you need to slow down a moment and step back to get a broader view of your application. If you look at what you wrote above it kind of sounds like you're doing things to get in rather than because they make you a better person or you enjoy them. For example, if computers were a significant part of your interests you probably wouldn't completely forget a large annual event. I could be mis-reading, or you could be presenting things from an angle that concerns you, but the point I'm trying to raise is that before you get too much further into this you should have a well-considered, thoughtful reason for why you want to attend USAFA and become an officer. The better your passions and skills align with that service, the easier these questions are to answer. For example you might not want to talk about linking two classes to cyberspace, but instead let your interest in computers lead to your interest in that part of the Air Force mission.

Regarding your own drummer, if anything just own it and indicate that different is not necessarily disruptive and you understand the need for order and standards. But be fair to yourself: pushups in the hall *are* unusual. If you're in shape and in the middle of your team's season then 20 more won't change anything, so what was the goal? Can you stand in line for four (or twenty-four) years without standing out? You're not just aiming to get through the summer and first year, this is a career where weird isn't valued. You need to know for yourself if this was just a small moment of exuberance or if that's just who you are and how you roll.

You look like you've got a good resume, so now you need to polish your Why and put a bow on this thing, and then go enjoy senior year. Good luck.

 

[shiner]

Regarding your own drummer, if anything just own it and indicate that different is not necessarily disruptive and you understand the need for order and standards.

Good advice from @StPaulDad . I think you can spin that in any number of ways that strengthen a review committee's opinion of you. The first potential response that popped into my head was this:

"Most of my peers are not concerned about their future and are focused on YOLO and FOMO. From an early age I have been driven to succeed. This often puts me in the position to do difficult things, like juggling academics and athletics in such a way that stands out when compared to my peers. It also forces me to chart my own course from time to time and go against the grain of my peer group who are not driven to do great things. For example, yes - I am a varsity football player and at my school, most of my teammates stay out late partying after games. This often means underage drinking and experimentation with other things. In my case, I choose not to participate in those activities and some may view that as marching to my own drum. I'd like to think it is just me making good choices and electing not to put myself in potentially bad, dangerous, or illegal situations. In all honesty, it is common for me to race home after a Friday night football game to get to bed because quite often, I have a volunteer project or robotics competition first thing on Saturday mornings. My priorities are just different than other guys on the team and that doesn't make it right or wrong, but I can see how in context of my peers - it makes sense that an instructor would describe me as being a little different. And.... if that is what they meant by the comment, I'm ok with their definition."

 

[cantalOPe]

Not sure if it's your writing style or what, but it looks you need to slow down a moment and step back to get a broader view of your application. If you look at what you wrote above it kind of sounds like you're doing things to get in rather than because they make you a better person or you enjoy them. For example, if computers were a significant part of your interests you probably wouldn't completely forget a large annual event. I could be mis-reading, or you could be presenting things from an angle that concerns you, but the point I'm trying to raise is that before you get too much further into this you should have a well-considered, thoughtful reason for why you want to attend USAFA and become an officer. The better your passions and skills align with that service, the easier these questions are to answer. For example you might not want to talk about linking two classes to cyberspace, but instead let your interest in computers lead to your interest in that part of the Air Force mission.

Regarding your own drummer, if anything just own it and indicate that different is not necessarily disruptive and you understand the need for order and standards. But be fair to yourself: pushups in the hall *are* unusual. If you're in shape and in the middle of your team's season then 20 more won't change anything, so what was the goal? Can you stand in line for four (or twenty-four) years without standing out? You're not just aiming to get through the summer and first year, this is a career where weird isn't valued. You need to know for yourself if this was just a small moment of exuberance or if that's just who you are and how you roll.

You look like you've got a good resume, so now you need to polish your Why and put a bow on this thing, and then go enjoy senior year. Good luck.

Thank you so much for the reply, I think I was just focusing on the areas of my application that were concerning me when I wrote this, I will definitely polish up my Why. After looking around on the forum for a bit I realized I just need to relax and put a bow on it as you said, since the decision could take a while there is no reason to stress about it a lot. Computer science is something I do on the side, my main focus being engineering, so I guess that's why I didn't talk about it much, but in hindsight, I think I should have talked about it more.

 

[cantalOPe]

Good advice from @StPaulDad . I think you can spin that in any number of ways that strengthen a review committee's opinion of you. The first potential response that popped into my head was this:

"Most of my peers are not concerned about their future and are focused on YOLO and FOMO. From an early age I have been driven to succeed. This often puts me in the position to do difficult things, like juggling academics and athletics in such a way that stands out when compared to my peers. It also forces me to chart my own course from time to time and go against the grain of my peer group who are not driven to do great things. For example, yes - I am a varsity football player and at my school, most of my teammates stay out late partying after games. This often means underage drinking and experimentation with other things. In my case, I choose not to participate in those activities and some may view that as marching to my own drum. I'd like to think it is just me making good choices and electing not to put myself in potentially bad, dangerous, or illegal situations. In all honesty, it is common for me to race home after a Friday night football game to get to bed because quite often, I have a volunteer project or robotics competition first thing on Saturday mornings. My priorities are just different than other guys on the team and that doesn't make it right or wrong, but I can see how in context of my peers - it makes sense that an instructor would describe me as being a little different. And.... if that is what they meant by the comment, I'm ok with their definition."

Thank you so much, I will definitely be using some of this if it comes up during my congressional nomination. A lot of what you said is actually true, I guess I just couldn't think of it on the spot since I had to come up with the response on the spot.