another "how do i compare" thread

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DGlock7

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
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May 10, 2009
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I hate to start another one of these threads, but I am curious about how my application would compare...

I'm a junior, not attending SLS (did not apply). My Weighted GPA is currently 4.09 (Freshman ~ 3.98, Sophomore ~ 4.22, 1st semester Junior ~ 4.12 i think). I've taken exclusively 400 classes when available, with the exception of French. I'm 7th in my class of just under 300, at a Connecticut high school that's about as competitive as public schools can get. I have not gotten my SAT scores back, but they will almost certainly fall between a 2100 and a 2250. My academics are definitely the strongest part of my app.

I will have played 4 years of football; i haven't yet been a varsity starter but i will be in my senior year, and i weight lift 3-4 times per week in the football off-season. I also sing in the sophomore through senior advanced choir and the barbershop quartet (both groups have an extracurricular commitment). The only other activity worth mentioning is National Honor Society.

Leadership is where I'm a little bit weaker... Unless I get President of the National Honor Society (elections are in a few days), I won't have a legitimate leadership position to speak of.

I would appreciate any insight or suggestions for how to improve my chances - especially in regard to leadership positions. Thanks!
 
DGlock7,

Hmmm, if I had any suggestions, it would be to get more involved in community things. I'm talking about getting involved in things like Salvation Army, church positions(if you go), volunteering for charity organizations. Show that your a leader in your community-start a clean-up of the streets, run/raise money for charities, ect. You have a whole summer coming up, so that would be a great time to volunteer.

Glad to hear you excel in academics, hopefully you will receive the SAT scores you expect. I can't recall if you mentioned this, but since you're trying for pres. of the NHS, try joining others things like student council(if your school has it), various school clubs, maybe you could become an officer with that kind of stuff too!

Remember to keep on your physical strength. This is definitely the hardest part for me.:shake: The CFA is a critical part of your application. If you keep working hard and get more leadership, I believe you'll look pretty competitive.
Let me know if you have any more questions. GOOD LUCK!:thumb:

USMAalltheway
 
OH!

By the way, welcome to the service academy forums! This websight is amazingly helpful, and it's full of great people who are definatly capable of answering any questions related to the academies. So welcome!

USMAalltheway
 
I fully agree with USMAalltheway. You really need more community involvement. You should also really try to find some leadership activities. USMA is all about training the leaders of tomorrow and if you can show them that you are already on your way then things will be a lot easier. Do a lot of research on USMA's wesite. They will have a list of things they are looking for there.
 
Thanks for the kind welcome. In browsing the forums I've already come across some valuable information.

I will definitely look for some school/community involvment oppurtunities. I didn't mention my volunteer/community involvment in the first post simply because i didn't see any of it as leadership oriented. I've volunteered with habitat for humanity, person to person, and other local organizations. And I'll keep my eye open for more oppurtunities, especially if i don't get the NHS pres.

Regarding CFA / physical preparation... I have an unfortunate conflict of interests between CFA training and football training: I'm almost 6'3" and i weigh 200 lbs (already up 15 pounds from 4 months ago) and am trying to gain another 15 pounds or so by the end of the summer in order to start on the offensive line. The type of training that lets you gain so much weight isn't exactly condusive to improving mile-run time or doing more pullups! For that reason i'm doing my best to make sure that my weight gain is mostly in muscle, and that i'm not falling out of shape by ignoring endurance training in favor of bulk-training such as squats and bench press. On that note, when is the best time to take the CFA (or is there no single best time?)

Thanks again for your advice and input!
 
Football and CFA balance

You should feel pretty good. If you're academics are as good as you say they are (good SATs), you've got a good shot at an LOA.

I know what you're talking about for the CFA with football- I was 6'3 205, training everyday for DE and OT starting positions. I was squating 500lbs but still made sure to run at a minimum 4 miles a week. I know a lot of guys think gaining fat is the only way to get big enough in time for season but that's not entirely true. -- If you're really committed in your training, you will have time between now and two/three a days to build the more beneficial muscle weight. About the pullups, if you're doing the shoulder stuff you should be working lats JUST as hard.
Before pre season, my CFA was 7 min mile and 8 pull ups-- without sacrificing the 205 weight, 500 Squat, 285 Bench, 225 Clean, and 4.6 40 time. If you really work every day for both football and CFA, you'll only benefit both.

Take the CFA before pre season, at the peak of your training with two days rest prior.
 
"Regarding CFA / physical preparation... I have an unfortunate conflict of interests between CFA training and football training: I'm almost 6'3" and i weigh 200 lbs (already up 15 pounds from 4 months ago) and am trying to gain another 15 pounds or so by the end of the summer in order to start on the offensive line. The type of training that lets you gain so much weight isn't exactly condusive to improving mile-run time or doing more pullups! "

If you work hard you can still do well on the CFA, I'm 6'4 225 lbs, also a football o line man and heavy weight wrestler, but I was able to nail the CFA while still hitting the weight room, make sure you really focus on running along with your lifting and practice every event regularly. (remember the CFA is only 10% of your total admissions packet while your academics are 60%, When I applied I was told that the CFA was more or less a "do you Qualify" thing for kids like you who are so qualified everywhere else, for me it may have been a make it or break it.)
 
Hey!

Just wondering about those who have already taken the CFA, would you fail if you were able to max on all events except basketball throw(69 ft.) pull-ups, and push-ups? I am able to do sit-ups, 1 mile, with max scores, and shuttle with above average scores.

The thing that plagues me is the pull-ups and push-ups. Right now, I'm only able to do 5 pull-ups and 45 push-ups. I lift weights 6 times a week( 3 days lower body, 3 days upper body). Does anybody have any advice on how to increase my push-up and pull-up performence? The CFA is the thing that stresses me out most I think. Thanks,

USMAalltheway
 
To Dave,

wow 6'3" squatting 500lbs before senior year! who says tall guys can't squat? And a 4.6 40. impressive. I hear you on the shoulders and lats, and taking the CFA at that point in time makes a lot of sense.

To Spartan,

That sounds like solid advice, and it is refreshing to hear that the CFA wouldn't be a huge factor for me - provided I pass it!

Thanks to both of you for the advice. (I was beginning to think that WP was just a bunch of trackies! (no disrespect to the trackies haha))

To USMA,

our pull ups and pushups are pretty similar... I'm improving in both events by, well, doing pull ups and push ups! To increase your pull ups, work with a spotter who can push you up to do more reps once you can't do them yourself. So if you get 5 on your own, your spotter will help you up partway through the 6th rep and into the 7th. This allows you to work past failure. For pushups just make sure you do them everyday, except when you're too sore from an upperbody workout.

To all:

just a general question... is it unethical to load up on creatine in the weeks before the CFA? i'm sure the football guys know what i'm talking about...
 
no its not unethical, its a legal product and if you're sure its going to help you then by all means do what you feel is best.

also you say your from CT, same here, what high school? i go to kingswood-oxford, a very stupid private school in west hartford.

you're academics are solid by the way, good enough that i think if you nail a strong leadership position you may (*don't take my word for it*) be in good standing for an LOA. be aware though, if you truly have NO leadership position to account for you could be possibly disqualified for admissions on that account.
 
Frankly, you probably know this but for those who don't, creatine is a supplement that theoretically helps with anaerobic activity by increasing the water content of muscles, which supposedly helps with certain processes.

Your body already creates enough creatine for what it needs to do. Excess is simply excreted (you're literally pissing away money) and you're threatening yourself with potential kidney stones that would SUCK to have and explain during BEAST.

I'll be honest and say i know kids who believe they saw results from it, but I really think it's because they worked harder anyway, not directly because of the creatine.

It's not unethical, but even if creatine is effective, the reward of maybe an additional 3 pushups isn't worth the risk of SUCK kidney stones.

Another Note: On R-day, new cadets are not allowed to bring in performance supplements. So get your body used to not having it now. Protein after workouts is KEY, along with basic nutritional awareness. Bottom Line: One sure thing is that hard ****ing work gets results. hehe.
 
very true
keep an eye out for the language on the forums though, lots of parents and service folks out there, r-e-s-p-e-c-t
 
I go to Darien High School in Darien, CT. Thats in Fairfield County, maybe 45 minutes by car from new york city. Your advice about creatine makes sense, and yes I am aware of the debate over its effectiveness. I'm not talking about going crazy here... the protein/weight gain powder that I use to get stronger/bigger for football has 3 grams of creatine for every 580 calories (Cytogainer). But yeah kidney stones would not be fun...
 
All CFA/fitness results will come with practice and hard work NOT chemicals and supplements, many kids on my sports teams have used that stuff and got results, but I have never used any of that stuff and by working harder then them I am bigger, stronger, and faster than all of them. Personally I would like to go into R-Day with confidence that I am ready for beast because I put in the hard work all by myself and not some powder...but thats just me.
 
Rowayton

I am originally from the town next door, Brien McMahon HS alumni. If you are interested in looking at other opportunities, contact me.

sea74@cornell.edu
 
The thing that plagues me is the pull-ups and push-ups. Right now, I'm only able to do 5 pull-ups and 45 push-ups. I lift weights 6 times a week( 3 days lower body, 3 days upper body). Does anybody have any advice on how to increase my push-up and pull-up performence? The CFA is the thing that stresses me out most I think.

Using a spotter is great when available. Two other things to do when a spotter is not available are ... use a chair/stool/etc as a spotter, such that you can use your legs when you can't finish and to do negatives - Hop up with chin over bar, slowly lower yourself.

Lat pulldowns hit the same muscles, and kid did pyramid sets of both positives and negatives (1,2,3,4,5,...,4,3,2,1). Went from 5-14 pullups in about 3 months. Entered basic able to do 12, now doing 18 regularly - so there HAS to be some training that works.

Best of luck.
 
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