extras in application package

[sarah]

My son's robotics team was featured in a front page article in our newspaper (big city daily, not a small local paper), including a photo of him as driver.

The article describes this extra-curricular very well, and brings out the achievements of the team.

Is it okay to include this, say attached to the resume? Or does the Academy frown on extras?

 

[usafa84]

I would include on resume. My son's was three pages long, but I am not sure I would include a picture or newspaper article. Good question.

 

[sarah]

Thanks, son doesn't like to "show off", but it's his biggest extracurricular after sports.

 

[singaporemom]

From the instruction booklet:

Extracurricular Activities Apply to Grades 10-12
Only. We use these questions to compute your
Extracurricular Composite; so be sure you’ve checked
all items for which you deserve credit. We restrict these
items to grades 10-12 only to be fair to all
precandidates. Please keep two things in mind. First, we
can’t list all possible activities, so if you’ve done
something which isn’t listed, put it in the remarks
section, especially if it included responsibility,
leadership or some unique indication of achievement.
Be specific, give us details, and keep us updated.
Second, if you’ve been involved in substantial
extracurricular activities after high school (won
awards, etc.) let us know by separate letter. If your
school doesn’t offer organized sports or most of these
extracurricular activities, be sure to note this in the
remarks section.

Document this activity in a letter. I would not send a news article.

 

[Christcorp]

What the applicant provides and what "Others" provide, are 2 different things. During my son's application process, his ALO would send emails, links, etc... to various people. She sent info to her district/regional director; to the academy counselor; to the football coach; etc...

My son would make comments of achievements in his resume, but he didn't actually add articles or such into the application. But, he would provide EVERY THING HE EVER DID, to his ALO. His ALO would then pass info on as she saw fit. I.e. Numerous articles were written featuring my son, both academically and athletically. Well, many mentioned his academics and specifically mentioned that he "Has Applied to the Air Force Academy". And it went on to talk about how prestigious the Air Force Academy is. (Is was mentioning how athletes weren't all just DUMB JOCKS; and that many were 4.0 type students applying and getting accepted to some big name schools). Well, the air force likes GOOD PUBLICITY. So, my son's ALO considered this "Good Publicity" for the academy. She then sent such articles (Links to various people).

Now, did it have any affect on his selection? I have no idea. He's always been involved heavily in athletics, but he wasn't recruited as an IC until after he already had accepted an Appointment in November. So, he didn't get in because of sports. But my feeling is, it can't do any harm for people to hear/see your name a lot. I doubt the board saw any of these articles. But it's possible that "MAYBE" the counselor made a comment in his file. I have no idea. But it sure can't hurt to pass all these extra things to your son's ALO and MAYBE they will pass it on through their channels. good luck. mike....