Pipeline HS/Competitive HS

[AFAhopeful45]

Good afternoon all.
DS is a Junior at a Lab School in IL. His HS has had a good pipeline of kids going to AFA as well as other academies over the years. There may be 4-5 kids at AFA from his HS right now actually. I was told that this can help candidates when they apply especially as his high school does not use a weighted scale etc.

His academic profile is pretty good. Has a 3.7/4 gpa, took AP Calc AB as a soph got a 5 and AP History as a soph and got a 5. In AP Chem/Gov/English this year. Made nationals in debate, also does speech and scholastic bowl (all conference as frosh/soph). He is also a Capt. in CAP as well. He score a 35 on his ACT Composite with his lowest being 34 in Math (most of the math was from his jr. days on the test). He also runs XC (not varsity) and plays Club LAX. Also first chair clarinet/all district and picked up tenor sax a few months ago for jazz band.

I just wondered if going to the HS he does matters or not.

 

[usafcellist2026]

Well, I would say I'm in the same situation, (kinda?). I believe I'm qualified enough to answer this.

I attend an unusually competitive high school. Magnet, and with a 100% graduation rate. This is mainly because if you fail an academic class or obtain a C or lower in your major class (performing arts, so everyone has a major), then in short you're kicked out.

I have a 4.3 weighted, 3.8 unweighted GPA yet I'm only in the top 20% of my class. We have no sports at my school as well.

It says in the USAFA website that they'll take into consideration academically competitive schools or that are in unique circumstances such as mine. They'll look at the overall profile of DSs' school, and weigh him based on that.

Hopefully that makes sense, his overall profile looks pretty good.

 

[AFAhopeful45]

Well, I would say I'm in the same situation, (kinda?). I believe I'm qualified enough to answer this.

I attend an unusually competitive high school. Magnet, and with a 100% graduation rate. This is mainly because if you fail an academic class or obtain a C or lower in your major class (performing arts, so everyone has a major), then in short you're kicked out.

I have a 4.3 weighted, 3.8 unweighted GPA yet I'm only in the top 20% of my class. We have no sports at my school as well.

It says in the USAFA website that they'll take into consideration academically competitive schools or that are in unique circumstances such as mine. They'll look at the overall profile of DSs' school, and weigh him based on that.

Hopefully that makes sense, his overall profile looks pretty good.

Thank you! Good luck!

 

[BuckeyeDad20]

The HS he attends does matter. Colleges attempt to weigh the rigor of a HS compared to others when making admissions decisions. USAFA is no different. Obviously this is not precise though so I have no idea how you would take it into account when trying to calculate his odds.

I would say in your DS case, regardless of his HS being a "pipeline"or not, he has a great shot. 35 is a very strong ACT and his grades are good in tough classes. LAX and cross-country show he has been on sports teams. He has other ECs that are solid. Ideally, he would have some demonstrable leadership role(s) to include. I don't know if Capt in CAP is a big deal or not, but it would help him if he was a captain of debate/speech or team captain or something similar. Though, he is a very strong candidate even without that.

Good luck!

 

[CrabbittMom]

A huge hurdle may be securing a nomination from such a competitive area. Make sure he applies for every opportunity out there and is ready to stand out during the interview process. It doesn’t matter how good your stats are, if you don’t have a nomination you don’t get in.

 

[AFAhopeful45]

A huge hurdle may be securing a nomination from such a competitive area. Make sure he applies for every opportunity out there and is ready to stand out during the interview process. It doesn’t matter how good your stats are, if you don’t have a nomination you don’t get in.

Fortunately for him it's a less densely populated area and we have some connections to the local reps via HS friends so that's the least I'm concerned about. Heck I was able to get a nomination and I had nowhere near the scores etc he does.

 

[AFAhopeful45]

The HS he attends does matter. Colleges attempt to weigh the rigor of a HS compared to others when making admissions decisions. USAFA is no different. Obviously this is not precise though so I have no idea how you would take it into account when trying to calculate his odds.

I would say in your DS case, regardless of his HS being a "pipeline"or not, he has a great shot. 35 is a very strong ACT and his grades are good in tough classes. LAX and cross-country show he has been on sports teams. He has other ECs that are solid. Ideally, he would have some demonstrable leadership role(s) to include. I don't know if Capt in CAP is a big deal or not, but it would help him if he was a captain of debate/speech or team captain or something similar. Though, he is a very strong candidate even without that.

Good luck!

Thank you!

 

[AFAhopeful45]

The HS he attends does matter. Colleges attempt to weigh the rigor of a HS compared to others when making admissions decisions. USAFA is no different. Obviously this is not precise though so I have no idea how you would take it into account when trying to calculate his odds.

I would say in your DS case, regardless of his HS being a "pipeline"or not, he has a great shot. 35 is a very strong ACT and his grades are good in tough classes. LAX and cross-country show he has been on sports teams. He has other ECs that are solid. Ideally, he would have some demonstrable leadership role(s) to include. I don't know if Capt in CAP is a big deal or not, but it would help him if he was a captain of debate/speech or team captain or something similar. Though, he is a very strong candidate even without that.

Good luck!

Yeah I don't know if CAP helps much or not. He has been in leadership there for the last 2 years (1 of 3 captains in his unit) and has also been in leadership at the annual encampments in the Summer. If he was a Col he would be able to get a Spaatz award and get in under that. But due to COVID he won't have time now.