Chance of Acceptance

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rollpolar

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I am currently a female sophomore in high school (class of 2023) in Rhode Island. I am very interested in attending a service academy, specifically USAFA. My goal is to become a pilot in the Air Force. While it is still too early for me to be applying anywhere, I was wondering if I am on the right track to attend a service academy.

Academics
Unweighted GPA: 3.76
Weighted GPA: 4.2
Class Rank (as of June 2020): 51/232
My grades freshman year included quite a few B's, but I have become much more serious about school this year. I am in all honors classes and will be taking many AP courses my junior and senior years to increase my class rank. I have not taken the SAT or ACT yet, but I am starting to prepare and I hope to score high.

Extracurriculars
  • Civil Air Patrol: I have been serving in CAP for over 2 years and I am currently the rank of C/CMSgt. I have earned the Wright Brothers Award and I hope to earn the Billy Mitchell Award in April/May of this year. I have taken on a few leadership roles within my squadron including Element Leader and, most recently, Leadership NCO. I am also a member of my squadron's Honor Guard. CAP allows me to put hundreds of hours into volunteer service in my community.
  • Robotics Competition Team: I have been a member of the FRC Team at my school for about 1.5 years in which we build robots and compete with them. I am a part of the Pit Crew that is responsible for quickly maintaining the robots during the short amount of time in between matches. I hope to take on a bigger leadership role in the coming years.
  • Musical Performance: I have played the Alto Saxophone for about 3.5 years and I am in my school's Wind Ensemble and jazz band.
  • Part-Time Job: I have worked as a cashier at a local grocery store on weekends for about 2 months.
  • Unified Basketball: I have played as a unified partner on my school's Unified Basketball team for about 1.5 years. My school is a Special Olympics Unified Champion School. I get to support unified athletes with intellectual disabilities and give them the opportunity to experience playing traditional high school sports.
I realize that there are definitely some things I could improve upon, such as the fact that I don't play a varsity or JV sport. However, I am a fairly active person and I plan to focus specifically on preparing for the CFA so I can score far above average. Also, keep in mind that I have about a year until I can apply. Please give any feedback you have on whether you think I am on the right track to applying for a service academy.
 
It's great that you have a goal in mind! It's impossible to say, but it looks like you're on the right track. If you can perform well in your interview and get a nomination, that should give you a great chance. No need to change anything you're doing, just make sure you're having fun and developing as a leader as you finish high school.
 
Your extra curricular resume looks very strong, GPA is on point, just continue to work on raising your rank and getting those standardized test scores and you’ll put yourself in a good position!
 
Planning for the CFA is a very good idea. Do not let it sneak up on you! I know it's hard to motivate yourself to train right now but it is super easy to get in the mindset of "oh it's ok I still have _ months left." There have been plenty of otherwise outstanding applicants that failed the CFA twice and had their applications closed. Otherwise, apply for Summer Seminar, apply for as many nominations that you are eligible for, and crush your SAT/ACT. Good luck!
 
Enlist your teachers and counselors in your goal. Their support is invaluable. Seek opportunities to do interviews, with tough questions, not softball questions. Get the free videos for CFA (former Navy seal) on you tube and start training. Make sure you research the career options and lifestyle that service as an officer will entail. Good on you for planning ahead.
 
Wow! You're off to a good start! I would follow the USAFA advice at:
www.gainserviceacademyadmission.com

How to Get Into The Air Force Academy - Written by a Grad

In this complete guide, a service academy grad explains the keys to getting accepted into the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA)
www.gainserviceacademyadmission.com www.gainserviceacademyadmission.com
and spend $20 on the book.

One thing Kirklands book says is how highly the USAFA admissions weigh the SAT/ACT.

You want to figure out whether to focus on SAT or ACT. SAT tends to favor you if you're best in math as the questions are a little harder, they give more time, and 1/2 the score is math! ACT tends to favor fast readers. ACT gives you less time per question, and composite score is 1/4 math.

Best advice is figure out which one to do and only do that one.

Then, take *real* tests, previously given real exams, available for free on line. Put at least 100 hours of practice into it first time, prob this summer or Sept of JR year. If you need to up the score a lot from there, then pay for $150/hr tutoring like at stellarscores.com. It does help.

My DD went from an ACT 30 to a 32 to a 34 in her 3 tries over 1.5 years. That last one got her a full AFROTC type I scholarship. She would not have got it with a 30 (even though she got her Mitchell too!). That's potentially a $100,000 difference, worth working really hard for.
 
rollpolar said:
I am currently a female sophomore in high school (class of 2023) in Rhode Island. I am very interested in attending a service academy, specifically USAFA. My goal is to become a pilot in the Air Force. While it is still too early for me to be applying anywhere, I was wondering if I am on the right track to attend a service academy.

Academics
Unweighted GPA: 3.76
Weighted GPA: 4.2
Class Rank (as of June 2020): 51/232
My grades freshman year included quite a few B's, but I have become much more serious about school this year. I am in all honors classes and will be taking many AP courses my junior and senior years to increase my class rank. I have not taken the SAT or ACT yet, but I am starting to prepare and I hope to score high.

Extracurriculars
  • Civil Air Patrol: I have been serving in CAP for over 2 years and I am currently the rank of C/CMSgt. I have earned the Wright Brothers Award and I hope to earn the Billy Mitchell Award in April/May of this year. I have taken on a few leadership roles within my squadron including Element Leader and, most recently, Leadership NCO. I am also a member of my squadron's Honor Guard. CAP allows me to put hundreds of hours into volunteer service in my community.
  • Robotics Competition Team: I have been a member of the FRC Team at my school for about 1.5 years in which we build robots and compete with them. I am a part of the Pit Crew that is responsible for quickly maintaining the robots during the short amount of time in between matches. I hope to take on a bigger leadership role in the coming years.
  • Musical Performance: I have played the Alto Saxophone for about 3.5 years and I am in my school's Wind Ensemble and jazz band.
  • Part-Time Job: I have worked as a cashier at a local grocery store on weekends for about 2 months.
  • Unified Basketball: I have played as a unified partner on my school's Unified Basketball team for about 1.5 years. My school is a Special Olympics Unified Champion School. I get to support unified athletes with intellectual disabilities and give them the opportunity to experience playing traditional high school sports.
I realize that there are definitely some things I could improve upon, such as the fact that I don't play a varsity or JV sport. However, I am a fairly active person and I plan to focus specifically on preparing for the CFA so I can score far above average. Also, keep in mind that I have about a year until I can apply. Please give any feedback you have on whether you think I am on the right track to applying for a service academy.
Click to expand...

"I get to support unified athletes with ... disabilities and give the the opportunity to experience playing traditional high school sports". That is servant leadership and excellent essay topic. Keep developing that aspect. Nice work! SA's boards notice that type of activity, commitment and community support. Work on the CFA early.
 
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