How competitive am I? Am I on the right track?

LJ-USAF-22

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Joined
Jan 22, 2016
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Hello, I am currently a Sophomore in high school and I am preparing to be the best possible candidate that I can become. I have been striving to attend the United States Air Force Academy for the past 3 years of my life. My motivation is the academy from the minute I wake up until the sun sets. I feel like I am preparing myself very well, however, I know that I can always do better and I am looking for input on how I can achieve improvement. Currently as a student and these are my current credentials:

Classes (10th Grade):
AP U.S. History
Honors Chemistry
Honors Geometry
Honors American Literature
Public Speaking
Spanish 2

GPA:
Weighted: 4.1
Unweighted: 3.8

Extracurricular activities:
JV Cross Country
Varsity Track
NHS Member
Civil Air Patrol Cadet (Grade: C/SSgt) -- Currently pursuing staff positions at my state Encampment - also pursuing promotions as fast as I can get them and aspire to be squadron cadet commander.
Community service in my community - various projects
Peer leader at my school for incoming freshmen

These are my current credentials. My current and most obvious weakness is my math level. I am doing well in my math class, however, my track that I was set on in 5th grade has set me up to take Pre-calc as a Senior in high school. How big of a deterrent is this towards my candidacy success? I am obviously striving to increase my GPA and take harder courses. With this in mind my prospective schedule for Junior year is:

Junior Year Classes:

IB English
IB History
IB Chemistry
Honors Algebra 3/4
Theory of Knowledge (IB)
Spanish 3

After reading all of this I hope that you can assess what I have done and what I will need to do to achieve my ultimate goal of securing an appointment to the USAFA. Thank you for your time and effort in reading all of this.

- Luke
 
Pre-calc as a senior by itself will not be a large deterrent towards your candidacy, but you will need to do well on the math portion of the SATs. Minimum you want is a 6 in front of that score. A 7 or 8 would be even better.

Look at all the threads on how to be competitive. It the same things you would want to do to get into any selective college.
Get great grades in the most challenging courses
Ace your ACT/SAT. Study for them to maximize your scores
Gain leadership positions, preferably elected president positions. President of NHS for you would be great.
Varsity letter in multiple sports
Captain of those sports teams
Attend Boys/Girls State (summer of junior year), get an elected position at b/g State...
Serve your community

Remember your junior year teacher in english and math are going to write your recommendations to the SA. That math rec will be important.

You are on the right track. Keep up the good work.
 
DS1 is at USAFA and only had precalc in high school but made A's in Calc 1 & 2 at the academy . DS 2 has precalc now and has appointments to 2 academies. Both boys had good but not stellar ACTs but had great recs from their Math teachers.
 
Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. If you drop it, you'll go hungry. It's good to be focused, but not obsess.

Have fun in high school. It goes quickly, and you'll never get those days back.

And for what it's worth, your numbers look competitive. Take and kill the SAT, keep your nose clean, and did I say... have fun?
 
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