Looking for Advice

[dogface51]

Hello all,

I wasn't sure what to post this under, so I thought Introductions sounded like the most suitable. I am a junior this year, and I just transferred to a new school at the over the summer. The reason for the transfer was to make myself more competitive for a SA, since my former school had little in the way of ECA's and no honors or AP courses. There were about 3 ECA's and I was in all of them, and a leader too. The athletics at the old school were pretty bad too. At the new school, I am now in honors and AP classes, but I am not sure where to start for getting into new ECA's. I really enjoyed them at my last school, but I'm not sure where to start now. By the way, I am in Civil Air Patrol and 4H, and I'm also a leader within my church community. I have a burning ( I really mean burning) desire to attend USAFA, but I am concerned because the high school I spent two years in was subpar. With all that being said, I have a couple questions that I am looking for answers to. Here goes:


Will it hurt my application that I couldn't take honors or AP classes my first two years of high school since my school didn't offer them?
Any advice for what ECA's to join and where to start?
Will it hurt that my old school didn't give out varsity letters for athletics?


Thanks in advance for any and all advice.


dogface51

 

[MidCakePa]

You can only do what your school offers. You will not be penalized for what your school does not offer. The SAs look at your record in context of your school profile, so everything on that front should be fine.

As for ECs, do what you’re passionate about and can eventually become a leader in. Do not do something just because you think it will look good on an SA application. When people do that — rather than something they’re passionate about — they tend to not get as involved or rise to leadership positions. And remember, it’s “leadership impact” that matters, not just titles held or elections won. Quality over quantity on this one!