congressional award

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DarkShado_

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Feb 23, 2021
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hi, I'm working on the congressional award. this is basically what it is: The Congressional Award is an award for young Americans, established by the United States Congress in 1979 to "recognize initiative, service, and achievement in young people. in my senior year if you complete it gets presented to you in Washington by the government. anyways, will that increase my chances of getting into usafa?
 
Yes, it should. I have also been working towards it and the knowledge and experience that it provides surrounding long-term goal setting as well as leadership (such as planning and leading an expedition) will all be very beneficial to your application and interviews. Furthermore, the athletic requirement is a great way to record your training in preparation for your CFA.
 
I am going to disagree that the award itself will have any bearing on whether you receive an appointment or not.

It’s an award just like thousands of other awards that candidates earn. Service hours themselves gain no points on the WCS for USAFA. What gains points is what you do while accruing the service hours. An example would be is if you were president of one of your schools service clubs and ran a large project to raise money for a new library. Leadership roles and accomplishment of goals gain points. Lists of awards don’t.

Stealth_81
 
OldRetSWO said:
Gee, who to believe? The person with decades of experience in Service Academy Admissions and the Air Force or a High School student who is going to apply next year. ;)

Quite a dilemma here :zip:
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No disagreements with @Stealth_81 here. All I meant by my post is that by getting this award, you will be demonstrating aspects of leadership and service, both of which the Service Academies look for in a candidate.
 
Andrew26 said:
No disagreements with @Stealth_81 here. All I meant by my post is that by getting this award, you will be demonstrating aspects of leadership and service, both of which the Service Academies look for in a candidate.
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And he told you that they actually don't look for "community service". Some Congressmen do include that in their scoring but the service itself is not used by Admissions except for any leadership that may be associated with it but that same leadership can be scored within a myriad of other activities. What he said matches what I've seen and EXPERIENCED in decades of Service Academy admissions activity. I just reviewed the specific criteria for the Award and there is no specific leadership requirement so it appears that you could get the award without actually "doing" leadership.

That is not to say that it would hurt a candidate, far from it but there are other awards/titles that actually do carry weight (points) with Admissions.
 
OldRetSWO said:
Gee, who to believe? The person with decades of experience in Service Academy Admissions and the Air Force or a High School student who is going to apply next year. ;)

Quite a dilemma here :zip:
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No disrespect intended, but I see no reason to be flippant towards someone who is just trying to be helpful.

Also, in regards to @Stealth_81's post, if you read @Andrew26's post, it says "the knowledge and experience that it provides surrounding long-term goal setting as well as leadership (such as planning and leading an expedition) will all be very beneficial to your application and interviews." So you two are essentially saying the same thing lol.
 
OldRetSWO said:
And he told you that they actually don't look for "community service". Some Congressmen do include that in their scoring but the service itself is not used by Admissions except for any leadership that may be associated with it but that same leadership can be scored within a myriad of other activities. What he said matches what I've seen and EXPERIENCED in decades of Service Academy admissions activity. I just reviewed the specific criteria for the Award and there is no specific leadership requirement so it appears that you could get the award without actually "doing" leadership.

That is not to say that it would hurt a candidate, far from it but there are other awards/titles that actually do carry weight (points) with Admissions.
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Thanks for sharing your experience. Can you list some of the awards that would carry weight. Also, if you had to choose between Boys State or Summer Seminar ( AFA) which would you recommend? Thanks
 
Mdm26 said:
Thanks for sharing your experience. Can you list some of the awards that would carry weight. Also, if you had to choose between Boys State or Summer Seminar ( AFA) which would you recommend? Thanks
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When I got into Summer Seminar last year they gave me two different options a few weeks apart in case you had a scheduling issue. So there should be no reason why you can’t attend both Summer Seminar and Boys State (provided you get into both). However, if you had to choose, I would advise boy’s state. Summer seminar is a way for a select group of people to have an immersive experience at USAFA, but it has no impact on your application. Boys state is more of a leadership camp and something the Academies value very highly. Then again, you should be able to attend both.
 
Disagreements or heated exchanges or anti/pro stance, it’s all hot 🥵 air 🌬 wind... hopefully the one from Macy’s.
 
Mdm26 said:
Thanks for sharing your experience. Can you list some of the awards that would carry weight. Also, if you had to choose between Boys State or Summer Seminar ( AFA) which would you recommend? Thanks
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Yes, Boys State get more "cred" with admissions but if I were you, I'd try to go to both.
 
SpaceForce said:
No disrespect intended, but I see no reason to be flippant towards someone who is just trying to be helpful.

Also, in regards to @Stealth_81's post, if you read @Andrew26's post, it says "the knowledge and experience that it provides surrounding long-term goal setting as well as leadership (such as planning and leading an expedition) will all be very beneficial to your application and interviews." So you two are essentially saying the same thing lol.
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Welp, I'm out of this one. You candidates and not quite yet candidates go ahead and advise each other.
 
Boys State should help the application more for the appointment. Summer Seminar will help you confirm your interest and also give you a talking point during interviews and make you seem like you know what you are talking about a little more. As OldRetSWO encouraged, try to do both.
 
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