Female CFA score

U

USMAhopeful2026

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Joined
Feb 22, 2022
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14
To whomever reads this:

Hey! I hope you're doing well!

I recently was asked to retake the CFA for USAFA because my pushups were lacking a bit. My total results consisted of
42ft bball throw
30 sec flexed arm hang
10.32 sec shuttle run
85 sit ups
23 pushups (18-20 will likely be seen as "correct")
9:19 mile
I received a congressional nomination and am qualified in all other fields. I'm just waiting to see if I passed this time around. Any input on pushups? Or does anyone know a female to have passed with 19 good pushups?
 
I started out last year not being able to do a single pushup and was able to do 36 for my CFA. Once I was able to do 20, I would do 20 five times at some point during the day. So, practice is key, and I am still working on my pushups! Also, (definitely get input from others on this) I think your mile time may be a little high too. The average mile time for a female is 7:38. Considering that average, they encourage every candidate to try to "max out" every category. I also believe they view the score holistically, so improving both scores may help you pass. Good luck!
 
I had similar scores in some of the categories and passed for USNA. For me, I passed with a push-up score of 40. To see averages, there is this helpful document posted by West Point that shows their CFA averages. I'd assume for other SAs the range is sorta the same.


The average female score is 33. Really, the only way to improve push-ups, is to just do them. I did 100 a day for about 5 days a week. At first, I started in a lot of sets, 10 sets with 10 reps. At first, I would alternate full push-ups and then the next set as tricep push-ups on my knees. Eventually as the weeks moved on, I was able to move into 5x20. Strength building also helps, such as improving bench press and shoulder workouts. Just put some time and care into them and I'm sure it'll work out fine!

Also, for the basketball throw, it really comes down to technique. I played softball so throwing an object was not an issue. But I watched a lot of YouTube videos to maximize my technique and thus my score.
For the shuttle run, it's important to stay low! Don't pull up too much when you are running and push off hard when you change direction.
Lastly, my mile time was worse, haha.

Honestly, do the best in your strengths and they can "make-up" for some weaknesses. Not sure for AFA, but USNA is pass-fail. Just do the best you can in every category and that's all you can do! Work hard, train and never give in.
 
jrw0531 said:
I had similar scores in some of the categories and passed for USNA. For me, I passed with a push-up score of 40. To see averages, there is this helpful document posted by West Point that shows their CFA averages. I'd assume for other SAs the range is sorta the same.


The average female score is 33. Really, the only way to improve push-ups, is to just do them. I did 100 a day for about 5 days a week. At first, I started in a lot of sets, 10 sets with 10 reps. At first, I would alternate full push-ups and then the next set as tricep push-ups on my knees. Eventually as the weeks moved on, I was able to move into 5x20. Strength building also helps, such as improving bench press and shoulder workouts. Just put some time and care into them and I'm sure it'll work out fine!

Also, for the basketball throw, it really comes down to technique. I played softball so throwing an object was not an issue. But I watched a lot of YouTube videos to maximize my technique and thus my score.
For the shuttle run, it's important to stay low! Don't pull up too much when you are running and push off hard when you change direction.
Lastly, my mile time was worse, haha.

Honestly, do the best in your strengths and they can "make-up" for some weaknesses. Not sure for AFA, but USNA is pass-fail. Just do the best you can in every category and that's all you can do! Work hard, train and never give in.
Click to expand...
I don’t know this for fact but I think they care about the mile a lot more at USAFA. I would worry about submitting a score without improvement in the mile time here. I failed with an 8:59 mile (male) and improved to a 7:20 for my resubmission, that did the trick! I don’t know what the minimum is for female but I would shoot for at least below 9 minutes.

To OP, train hard, use all the time you got to train yourself. I’m surprised they asked you to retake this late, since I thought they wouldn’t do that after Jan 31. If you have 30 days use em! Get the best score you can get, but of course leave yourself time before the deadline in case something happens.
 
Skyhawk said:
I don’t know this for fact but I think they care about the mile a lot more at USAFA. I would worry about submitting a score without improvement in the mile time here. I failed with an 8:59 mile (male) and improved to a 7:20 for my resubmission, that did the trick! I don’t know what the minimum is for female but I would shoot for at least below 9 minutes.

To OP, train hard, use all the time you got to train yourself. I’m surprised they asked you to retake this late, since I thought they wouldn’t do that after Jan 31. If you have 30 days use em! Get the best score you can get, but of course leave yourself time before the deadline in case something happens.
Click to expand...
They let me finish mine with a deadline of February 15th. I had a 9:09 mile(male) with a 7:29 mile time improvement after 2 weeks. Shuttle(8.58sec).

I'd say, run more than 1 mile. Sprint as well. Don't waste your energy on the shuttle run too much. Do 1 attempt for the shuttle run.
 
USMAhopeful2026 said:
To whomever reads this:

Hey! I hope you're doing well!

I recently was asked to retake the CFA for USAFA because my pushups were lacking a bit. My total results consisted of
42ft bball throw
30 sec flexed arm hang
10.32 sec shuttle run
85 sit ups
23 pushups (18-20 will likely be seen as "correct")
9:19 mile
I received a congressional nomination and am qualified in all other fields. I'm just waiting to see if I passed this time around. Any input on pushups? Or does anyone know a female to have passed with 19 good pushups?
Click to expand...
Hello, I am also a female who was recently asked to retake the CFA for USAFA (my mile was in the 10 minute range.) The best advice I can give you for pushups as someone who maxed them out is that be consistent! Around a month ago, I could barely do 15, but due to pushing myself to do at least 100 perfect pushups a day I was able to easily max them out on day I took my test!
 
jrw0531 said:
I had similar scores in some of the categories and passed for USNA. For me, I passed with a push-up score of 40. To see averages, there is this helpful document posted by West Point that shows their CFA averages. I'd assume for other SAs the range is sorta the same.


The average female score is 33. Really, the only way to improve push-ups, is to just do them. I did 100 a day for about 5 days a week. At first, I started in a lot of sets, 10 sets with 10 reps. At first, I would alternate full push-ups and then the next set as tricep push-ups on my knees. Eventually as the weeks moved on, I was able to move into 5x20. Strength building also helps, such as improving bench press and shoulder workouts. Just put some time and care into them and I'm sure it'll work out fine!

Also, for the basketball throw, it really comes down to technique. I played softball so throwing an object was not an issue. But I watched a lot of YouTube videos to maximize my technique and thus my score.
For the shuttle run, it's important to stay low! Don't pull up too much when you are running and push off hard when you change direction.
Lastly, my mile time was worse, haha.

Honestly, do the best in your strengths and they can "make-up" for some weaknesses. Not sure for AFA, but USNA is pass-fail. Just do the best you can in every category and that's all you can do! Work hard, train and never give in.
Click to expand...
I initially could barely do one good one and worked my way up to 20 by doing 80 per day for 10 days. I'm going to do this regimen once more to see where I can max and continue training from there. Thank you for your response!
 
My CFA qualified for the each of the big three schools with 25 push-ups, but my guess is that I probably had fewer than 25 push-ups with good form, but like many others have said, you just have to do them! I went from not being able to do a single one in the summer to 10 to 20 at a time by doing max push-ups every day. I started on my knees and did them elevated and then progressed to just doing them properly. Keep at it and you've got this! I passed with very similar scores to yours, though you did much better on the flexed-arm hang than I did!
 
bubblyroses said:
My CFA qualified for the each of the big three schools with 25 push-ups, but my guess is that I probably had fewer than 25 push-ups with good form, but like many others have said, you just have to do them! I went from not being able to do a single one in the summer to 10 to 20 at a time by doing max push-ups every day. I started on my knees and did them elevated and then progressed to just doing them properly. Keep at it and you've got this! I passed with very similar scores to yours, though you did much better on the flexed-arm hang than I did!
Click to expand...
Hi Bubblyroses - you passed USAFA CFA with 25 push ups?
 
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