Mid in Isolation - AMA

Zxasqy1@ said:
The way I see it there are 3 ways to prepare for I-Day: physically, mentally/emotionally, and logistically.

For physical preparation I stuck to a consistent workout schedule. When the Permit to Report Packet comes out, there will be a recommended exercise routine that goes day-by-day for about 14 weeks leading up to I-Day. I highly recommend following this, as well as adding in other things to supplement your weaker areas. Personally, I struggled a lot with distance running so I started building a running base in March and built it up all the way to I-Day. The biggest thing is to start small if you're not a runner so that you don't get injured. My runs went from 1.5-2 miles all the way up to almost 8 at the max within those months. I also recommend running a few practice PRTs to simulate the true experience.

Mentally and emotionally the last few weeks leading up to I-Day will be weird. Your friends will be getting ready for the summer, and making a lot of plans that you won't necessarily get to take part in. It sucks, but I promise your summer will be a lot more worthwhile. My biggest advice is to make time to be with the people who are important to you. You want the last times you see people before I-Day to be special, so don't get distracted by all the preparations you need to go through and end up regretting how you spent your time. On that same note, a lot of people aren't going to understand what I-Day and Plebe Summer really means to you and what you're actually going to be doing, which can be frustrating. Just be patient and enjoy your time with the people who mean the most to you.

Logistically you're going to be hit with a lot. Get your paperwork done early and have it organized. I made a master list of when each document was due, if it had to be mailed ahead of time, where it had to be mailed, etc... This part of the process will be time consuming, but put in that time now to save yourself a lot of hassle on I-Day.
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Great advice!
 
Onlychild said:
Are candidates allowed to resubmit CFA scores? My DD's PE submitted the wrong scores to the wrong SA (i.e. 1.5 mile run for USCGA to USNA).
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I took the CFA at NASS and then was able to retake it, but I would recommend contacting your admissions officer.
 
Onlychild said:
Are candidates allowed to resubmit CFA scores? My DD's PE submitted the wrong scores to the wrong SA (i.e. 1.5 mile run for USCGA to USNA).
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Hey, I actually had to retake the CFA when I was applying and basically I had to email my application person and say I was retaking it. She cleared my previous score. This allowed me to send a new request form to the person I wanted to proctor the new test.
 
Onlychild said:
My DD is struggling with pull-ups and push-ups. What is the minimum passing score for the two events? Her BB Throw is outstanding and sit-ups are great. She's working on decreasing the mile time to as close to 7:30 as possible. She's currently at 8:10. However, she has not been able to do any pull-ups or hang for more than 20 secs. and only pushing out 30 push-ups. She trains 5 days a week. We will begin training for pull-ups with negatives daily for 5-10 minutes. Her goal is at least 2 pull-ups. #fingerscrossed
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USNA doesn't publish minimum passing scores so it can be hard to tell. When it comes to running, make sure she's working in short and longer distances. For reference I ran an 8:01 my first time and around a 8:45 my second. I ran the second one in about 30 mph winds and had my proctor report that in the form. Running gets better if you stay consistent, find a running plan and stick to it. Take your easy days easy and your hard days hard, this is what helped me drop over a minute off my mile going into plebe summer. Pull ups were also a big struggle area for me. My advice is to get a bar and spend time every day doing some form of reps. I started with negatives and modified before working my way up to full reps. It took me about 5 months to get up to 4 pull ups. I personally had to drop about 7-8 lbs to get to the ideal weight for me to complete a pull up within the amount of time I had to apply, but this is certainly not necessary. When it comes to pushups, the best way to get better at pushups is to do more pushups. Rotate in variations to exaggerate certain muscles and do other chest workouts as well to help. When taking the CFA, I approached the pushups not as 50 all at once, but as a set of 30 and 4 sets of 5. 2 minutes is a lot more time than you think.
 
Zxasqy1@ said:
USNA doesn't publish minimum passing scores so it can be hard to tell. When it comes to running, make sure she's working in short and longer distances. For reference I ran an 8:01 my first time and around a 8:45 my second. I ran the second one in about 30 mph winds and had my proctor report that in the form. Running gets better if you stay consistent, find a running plan and stick to it. Take your easy days easy and your hard days hard, this is what helped me drop over a minute off my mile going into plebe summer. Pull ups were also a big struggle area for me. My advice is to get a bar and spend time every day doing some form of reps. I started with negatives and modified before working my way up to full reps. It took me about 5 months to get up to 4 pull ups. I personally had to drop about 7-8 lbs to get to the ideal weight for me to complete a pull up within the amount of time I had to apply, but this is certainly not necessary. When it comes to pushups, the best way to get better at pushups is to do more pushups. Rotate in variations to exaggerate certain muscles and do other chest workouts as well to help. When taking the CFA, I approached the pushups not as 50 all at once, but as a set of 30 and 4 sets of 5. 2 minutes is a lot more time than you think.
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Thank you for your response! Absolutely motivating oorah.
 
Onlychild said:
My DD is struggling with pull-ups and push-ups. What is the minimum passing score for the two events? Her BB Throw is outstanding and sit-ups are great. She's working on decreasing the mile time to as close to 7:30 as possible. She's currently at 8:10. However, she has not been able to do any pull-ups or hang for more than 20 secs. and only pushing out 30 push-ups. She trains 5 days a week. We will begin training for pull-ups with negatives daily for 5-10 minutes. Her goal is at least 2 pull-ups. #fingerscrossed
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Our DD struggled with pull ups as well. Her improvement came from using an elastic resistance band looped around the pull up bar. We got 3 different gauges. She began with the strongest band, looping it around the pull up bar, and then putting a knee in the low hanging loop. The band basically provides added lift. As she got stronger, she reduced the gauge of the band (less lift).

She went from not being able to do a single one to currently being able to do 4 unassisted. Her goal is to be able to do 7 before Leatherneck.
 
MiddyAcademy said:
Hey, I actually had to retake the CFA when I was applying and basically I had to email my application person and say I was retaking it. She cleared my previous score. This allowed me to send a new request form to the person I wanted to proctor the new test.
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Thank you, my DD received an email to contact admissions with the contact information of her examiner when she was ready to re-test. What a relief!
 
Zxasqy1@ said:
USNA doesn't publish minimum passing scores so it can be hard to tell. When it comes to running, make sure she's working in short and longer distances. For reference I ran an 8:01 my first time and around a 8:45 my second. I ran the second one in about 30 mph winds and had my proctor report that in the form. Running gets better if you stay consistent, find a running plan and stick to it. Take your easy days easy and your hard days hard, this is what helped me drop over a minute off my mile going into plebe summer. Pull ups were also a big struggle area for me. My advice is to get a bar and spend time every day doing some form of reps. I started with negatives and modified before working my way up to full reps. It took me about 5 months to get up to 4 pull ups. I personally had to drop about 7-8 lbs to get to the ideal weight for me to complete a pull up within the amount of time I had to apply, but this is certainly not necessary. When it comes to pushups, the best way to get better at pushups is to do more pushups. Rotate in variations to exaggerate certain muscles and do other chest workouts as well to help. When taking the CFA, I approached the pushups not as 50 all at once, but as a set of 30 and 4 sets of 5. 2 minutes is a lot more time than you think.
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Thank you for the advice, I will definitely pass this along for her to implement in her daily work-out routine.
 
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