Hi, first of all thank you for taking the time to look here
My name is Zach, and currently I'm a high school junior in Washington state. I intend on applying for the USAFA, but I'm a little worried about my chances of being a appoint-able candidate.
I'll start with the good:
And then my shortcomings:
I'm really hoping that my comparatively high SAT score will be able to at least somewhat make up for the hit that my GPA has taken. Also, the deadline for the pre-applicant questionnaire is December 31 and I'll have finished next year's Fall quarter by then, so I may be able to bring my GPA back up to a (very) low 3.8. This is still lower than I would prefer, and I'm really hoping that the rigor of the curriculum will be appreciated by the Academy admissions...
I've also been told to consider getting a Private Pilot's License before the deadline so that I can have that to my name as well. Would it be to my advantage to do this?
In addition, in the sports that I participated in, I was not a Varsity athlete. I've actually improved considerably, athletically, since I started taking college classes, since I've had more time in the day to work out. I didn't like my coaches at all, and while I would've continued with the sports regardless this year, my schedule conflicted with it. I've gotten to love paddlesports, and I'm thinking about seeing if there's a local crew/rowing team that I could join.
While I think my best shot at a nomination would be from my congressman, Dave Reichert, I also plan on applying for nominations from Washington's senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, as well as Vice President Joe Biden. Is it possible to get more than one nomination, and would this be an advantage?
Moreover, do you think that I would be a competitive applicant for the US Air Force Academy? If I could get an offer for the Prep School, I'd be more than happy with that...
Thank you for again for your time!
My name is Zach, and currently I'm a high school junior in Washington state. I intend on applying for the USAFA, but I'm a little worried about my chances of being a appoint-able candidate.
I'll start with the good:
- I volunteer every other weekend at the UW Medical Center in Seattle, and I have a little over 80 volunteer hours there. I should have 100 hours or more by the time summer rolls around.
- I've been highly active in the YMCA, and I've been going on several-week-long kayaking trips into Canada and back out of one of their camps in the San Juans every year for the past 5 years.
- I'm going to be an intern at said YMCA camp this summer, where I'll earn exactly 570 volunteer/community service hours.
- I'm enrolled in the Running Start program, which allows me to take a full college courseload at a local accredited 2-year college. I will be graduating with my diploma and a general AA degree.
- I participated in Key Club, Track/Field, and Cross Country at my high school during my freshman and sophomore years (2009-2010), and I'm currently in National Honors Society.
- I scored a 2030 on the SAT when I took it a few months ago with poor preparation, and I'm planning on retaking it near the end of the summer with hopes that I can get a >2200 after extensive preparation.
- I have family who are friends and attend church with my congressional representative, Dave Reichert.
- I have not tested my Basketball Throw, but I can do 14 Pull-Ups in 2 minutes, my Shuttle Run is approximately 8.2 seconds, I can do 87 Modified Sit-Ups in 2 minutes, 65 Push-Ups in 2 minutes, and my 1-Mile Run is right around 5:50 right now. I've only been practicing these tests with my family, but I believe that if I continue to work as hard as I've been working, I should be able to do better.
- I am not medically disqualified in any way from the Academy, although my vision is 20/60 in each eye with a refractive error of -1.25 in my right eye and -1.5 in my left. From what I understand, this can be corrected surgically to at least 20/20 in both eyes with no refractive error, although I would be best off waiting for surgery until I can do it with the approval of the USAF.
And then my shortcomings:
- While I finished my sophomore year with a 3.925 GPA, taking a full college courseload caused it to take a significant hit. As of now, it's a 3.782, but this quarter has not yet finished and when it does I believe it will be around a 3.7 +/- 0.05. Driving 50 minutes each way to school every day and the hard rigor of my classes, as well as my relative lack of preparation and organization contributed to this, but there's no excusing it, really.
- There is very little military service in my family's history. One of my uncles was a Marine in Vietnam, but that's all that I'm aware of...
I'm really hoping that my comparatively high SAT score will be able to at least somewhat make up for the hit that my GPA has taken. Also, the deadline for the pre-applicant questionnaire is December 31 and I'll have finished next year's Fall quarter by then, so I may be able to bring my GPA back up to a (very) low 3.8. This is still lower than I would prefer, and I'm really hoping that the rigor of the curriculum will be appreciated by the Academy admissions...
I've also been told to consider getting a Private Pilot's License before the deadline so that I can have that to my name as well. Would it be to my advantage to do this?
In addition, in the sports that I participated in, I was not a Varsity athlete. I've actually improved considerably, athletically, since I started taking college classes, since I've had more time in the day to work out. I didn't like my coaches at all, and while I would've continued with the sports regardless this year, my schedule conflicted with it. I've gotten to love paddlesports, and I'm thinking about seeing if there's a local crew/rowing team that I could join.
While I think my best shot at a nomination would be from my congressman, Dave Reichert, I also plan on applying for nominations from Washington's senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, as well as Vice President Joe Biden. Is it possible to get more than one nomination, and would this be an advantage?
Moreover, do you think that I would be a competitive applicant for the US Air Force Academy? If I could get an offer for the Prep School, I'd be more than happy with that...
Thank you for again for your time!