CFA fail

bethf said:
On behalf of my DS, and likely others here, THANK YOU for this attitude. My kid trained all year, did CFA in June, one and done. No appointment yet x3. I know looking right and left isn't the thing to do, but seriously, it's disheartening to hear of those with LOA's (not my kid either) getting the call about conditional appointments who are still taking CFA and SAT tests in December. It seems like many chances are given to some, who post on here about their kids shaky SAT scores and subpar CFA's (their words, not mine) I am shocked by this. Isn't part of being a military officer being motivated and organized? Sorry for the semi-rant. I need to take a few days off from this forum 😂🤣 For the record, at my son's MOC interview, they wanted details about his CFA, date taken, and each individual event score, which he provided. So there is at least one other panel that sees the value in this portion of the WCS. NavyHoops, thank you for your service!! 🇺🇸
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Navy Hoops always gives solid advice.

My son got his LOA and nomination before he took the CFA. He was asked about it, and he explained that he was waiting to take it because he was waiting for his sports season to end so he could train to score max on the events.

He could have passed it at any time. Not all those that are waiting are out of shape.
 
A1Janitor said:
Navy Hoops always gives solid advice.

My son got his LOA and nomination before he took the CFA. He was asked about it, and he explained that he was waiting to take it because he was waiting for his sports season to end so he could train to score max on the events.

He could have passed it at any time. Not all those that are waiting are out of shape.
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DS was similar. He also didn't know what USNA was until August of Sr year, so he couldn't have attempted CFA before the season.
 
A1Janitor said:
Navy Hoops always gives solid advice.

My son got his LOA and nomination before he took the CFA. He was asked about it, and he explained that he was waiting to take it because he was waiting for his sports season to end so he could train to score max on the events.

He could have passed it at any time. Not all those that are waiting are out of shape.
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I'm definitely not referring to those like your son, who did the CFA and clearly did well, rather those who fail over and over, getting retakes after the due date, who literally are offering up information on this forum about how their academic scores are lacking, which just leads me to think that they're not great candidates, so how are getting the extra allowance? It may be just a few, but those are the ones that stand out to me. Of course, I would never call any specific names out, but I literally can find them on this forum, who offered up a little too much personal information.
 
justme said:
DS was similar. He also didn't know what USNA was until August of Sr year, so he couldn't have attempted CFA before the season.
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This is an understandable situation, and he should be commended on being able to put together a complete application in that timeframe. That shows a lot of motivation and not the kind of candidate I'm referring to. There are some on here they have been posting since last spring, went to summer programs, etc... still acting like there are some barriers for their kiddo.
 
Rixce said:
...I know of her as our CFA administrator (AFJROTC ASI) always complained to me about her never being prepared for the CFA...
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I think your ASI needs some remedial training in professional behavior and privacy standards. A candidate's personal information should never be bandied about with third parties.

bethf said:
...which just leads me to think that they're not great candidates...
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Thankfully, your opinion with regard to their qualifications is completely irrelevant.

bethf said:
...Of course, I would never call any specific names out, but I literally can find them on this forum, who offered up a little too much personal information...
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Which means that you have already spent the time finding them? I think you need to step back, take many deep breaths, and chill out.
 
bethf said:
ather those who fail over and over, getting retakes after the due date, who literally are offering up information on this forum about how their academic scores are lacking, which just leads me to think that they're not great candidates, so how are getting the extra allowance?
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First, take everything you read on SAF with a grain of salt. Admissions has discretion in granting additional time to retake CFA , but I expect it is a rare occurence and they usually have some good reason. I've been part of the BGO program for almost 20 years (actually maybe over now !) and have never seen anyone given an unfair advantage or an unreasonable accommodation.

bethf said:
Isn't part of being a military officer being motivated and organized?
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Certainly part, but only part .... Interest and Motivation is actually one of the categories that BGO's address in our interview write up, but understand that all the "I want to attend USNA so bad that I bleed Blue and Gold" or "I wanted to attend USNA since I was born." is meaningless without the tickets to back it up.
 
NavyHoops said:
I sit on a MOC panel, we hold it mid-Dec. I always ask if they have completed their CFA yet. The amount who say no is actually disheartening. I then ask, when is it scheduled. What are your mock test scores. If they tell me a date with scores from practice tests, I know they are good to go. The amount who don’t have a date scheduled and haven’t taken a practice test tells me they aren’t prepared for it. Don’t wait until the end. It does not allow time for a retest or if you get sick or injured. For most, you have 4-6 months to take this test. It is 100% in your control. Take the practice test under test conditions. Don’t just test 1 min here and then there. Understand how your body will fatigue during the process.
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I always ask about the CFA status in my BGO interviews for USNA and my MOC interviews for all of the academies. If they haven't taken it yet, I always ask how their practice/mock tests are going and if taken ask about times/scores.

I also consider this to be a fairly good indicator of candidate motivation in most cases.
 
BTW, one group that sometimes struggles with the CFA are swimmers. I've worked with all-district or all-state swimmers who initially fail the mile run portion of the CFA -- they're in great shape but don't do much, if any, running. They refocus their efforts (because they are great athletes) and end up passing (before the deadline).

Don't assume that everyone who fails the CFA is out of shape, isn't trying or doesn't care.

Just like any test, the CFA tests specific things. You can be in great shape and not necessarily do well on some of those skills.
 
OldRetSWO said:
I always ask about the CFA status in my BGO interviews for USNA and my MOC interviews for all of the academies. If they haven't taken it yet, I always ask how their practice/mock tests are going and if taken ask about times/scores.

I also consider this to be a fairly good indicator of candidate motivation in most cases.
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Good point. I also ask in BGO interviews. And keep asking their plan if I see it not getting completed. The MOC panel is a larger group all in one day and always done mid-Dec. so just a larger group.
 
DTT!FSA! said:
I think your ASI needs some remedial training in professional behavior and privacy standards. A candidate's personal information should never be bandied about with third parties.



Thankfully, your opinion with regard to their qualifications is completely irrelevant.



Which means that you have already spent the time finding them? I think you need to step back, take many deep breaths, and chill out.
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Yes, I likely do. Thank you for the re-centering. 👍🏼
 
Interesting that swimmers have issues. They tend to make some of the best triathletes once they do take up running and cycling. Top swimmers have tons of endurance and aerobic fitness.
 
The best way to get better at an activity is to do that activity. Cross training and thinking it will increase performance in a specific specialuzed discipline has been disproven many times over.

It's certainly good for overall health and muscular balance, but running lots helps you run faster, swimming lots helps you swim faster, cycling lots, etc. etc.
 
IronmanDaremo said:
The best way to get better at an activity is to do that activity. Cross training and thinking it will increase performance in a specific specialuzed discipline has been disproven many times over.

It's certainly good for overall health and muscular balance, but running lots helps you run faster, swimming lots helps you swim faster, cycling lots, etc. etc.
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lol that’s why he is doing four hours a day training now. He runs his cross country workout from high school, does the stew smith training for swimming, and has a program for lifting from his power lifting friends. And eating right. And not drinking.

He is working harder for PT now as an officer that he did at the Academy.
 
IronmanDaremo said:
Interesting that swimmers have issues. They tend to make some of the best triathletes once they do take up running and cycling. Top swimmers have tons of endurance and aerobic fitness.
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I am a varsity swimmer as well as varsity cyclist. I passed the CFA at CVW but for me the push ups was my obvious weakness. I am really interested in doing triathlon team if appointed to the academy. Also, most high school swimmers are very slim and do not build giant muscles since swimming burns so many calories that it’s hard to eat enough to gain mass.
 
The Academy has a really strong tri team. As mentioned, swimmers have an inherent advantage in tris. They have the endurance and just need ti "learn" to run and ride.

I ran in high school, and got into cycling while in the Army before getting my NAPS appointment. I specifically joined the swim team to get experience in the water at NAPS. But, compared to others that had been doing it since they were little kids, I was terrible.

Flash forward quite a few years, and I decided to go for tris again. Swimming is hard to be good at when you have little background in it and are self coached.

My motto was always, survive the swim, crush the bike (I raced top amateur for years), maintain on the run (front of the pack age grouper). It was the swim that always kept me from being an elite amateur.

Point of all that? Train your discipline and your weakness. Race your strength.
 
IronmanDaremo said:
Interesting that swimmers have issues. They tend to make some of the best triathletes once they do take up running and cycling. Top swimmers have tons of endurance and aerobic fitness.
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This. My swimmer did a test run of the mile only & absolutely crushed his CFA. Then did it again for the ROTC scholarship and almost broke 6 minutes (6:01). His basketball throw could use some work (more of a technique issue) but he had absolutely zero problems with push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups/plank. Yes, he would do pull-ups in gym class on occasion to practice them, but by no means trained for anything. The 6:01 mile was only his 3rd time running a mile.
 
IronmanDaremo said:
Interesting that swimmers have issues. They tend to make some of the best triathletes once they do take up running and cycling. Top swimmers have tons of endurance and aerobic fitness.
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I used to do XC and track in mid school, but did swim HS. I never felt like I had an issue with being gassed, but my peak strength (mainly upper body) is definitely not where I'd like it.
 
As far as swimmers go, it depends on the training regimen they follow. Solid club teams typically have extensive dry land training, including runs, calisthenics, and weight training. The only weakish spot for for DD1 was the basketball throw. DD2 only applied to USCGA, so the criteria is different, but the run was not a problem.
 
There are a lot of ways to struggle with the tests. My DD had an OK score to get in, mostly held back by very blah running times. But once she was at the academy and running in a pack her performance improved a lot. She wasn't good at pacing and pushing herself but she's stupid competitive and reacts well to someone on the track ahead of her. You never know, I guess.
 
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