Reapplicant- Medical Waiver Denied for 2024 app

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20cris

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Feb 29, 2020
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Hi everyone!

So as the title says I am a reapplicant for USAFA after having my medical waiver denied last year. I honestly think I had a decent shot at getting in other than the medical disqualification and maybe CFA, but I'm looking for advice for remaining a strong applicant. Obviously due to COVID-19, the clubs and organizations that I want to join for college this year are not going to have the same leadership opportunities due to significantly decreasing the number of meetings and activities.

I really haven't found any threads about someone in a similar situation, as most reapplicants were rejected on the basis of their application rather than their medical status. Just for reference these are some of my stats:

ACT superscore- 35
GPA- 4.0
Valedictorian
All of the honors/AP classes that my school offered except for one.

Main clubs/organizations:
4 year member of Speech and Debate, 1 year letter winner
7 year member of Civil Air Patrol, with a plethora of positions held but the highest was Cadet Deputy Commander of tbe Squadron. I reached the rank of Cadet 1st Lt.
I also had worked during my Junior and Senior years of high school, averaging 10-20 hours a week during school, and 20 hours a week during the summer.

Sports:
I did not do any club or varsity sports throughout high school, but I did work to prepare for the CFA. In my opinion, this is probably what I could have been rejected for if not the medical disqualification.

Pushups- 30
Pull ups- 1
Sit ups- 78
Basketball throw- 33
Mile run- 7:46
Shuttle Run- 10.0

Nomination:
Received from my congressional representative.

I also was invited to visit USAFA as part of FVE (Falcon Visitation Experience). They did not specify why we were chosen to attend FVE, but all of our applications seemed relatively competitive. I personally did not go to Summer Seminar, but some of the people in FVE had.

I am currently preparing for the CFA as I know I have to take it again for this year's application. My medical waiver should be approved this year since it was denied due to how recent my medical history was last year. They asked for me to have 1 full year of not being treated, which I will have in November. Other than improving my CFA, does anyone have any advice for making my application stronger? And has anyone else been in this situation with the medical waiver? I'd love to hear how it worked out for you. Thank you all in advance!
 
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I want to make sure you understand the process. You have to be qualified in all three areas to be offered admission. Your first step is to understand why you were medically disqualified and is it a waiver-able condition. In my experience waivers are usually granted if a) you are a strong candidate likely to be offered admission and b) the condition is waiver-able. It will not matter how strong of an application you have if you are going to be medically disqualified again.
 
Thank you for checking my understanding, but I am well aware of the requirements. :) My medical condition was unwaiverable for last year only due to it being very recent. To quote the denial letter, "waiver for [medical condition] requires credible demonstration of a more prolonged period of stability (at least 1-2 years) without active treatment or medication." So yes I could be medically disqualified again this year, but my condition is no longer guaranteed to be unwaiverable. My last treatment was in Nov 2019, so I will be within the 1-2 years "period of stability" to make my condition at least considerable for a waiver.
 
For What It's Worth = Just to let you know, USAFA no longer has medical waiver authority over their applicants. Beginning with the Class of 2025, the USAFA medical waiver authority is AF Recruiting Service/Accession Medical Waiver Division in San Antonio, TX. :wiggle:
 
MullenLE said:
For What It's Worth = Just to let you know, USAFA no longer has medical waiver authority over their applicants. Beginning with the Class of 2025, the USAFA medical waiver authority is AF Recruiting Service/Accession Medical Waiver Division in San Antonio, TX. :wiggle:
Click to expand...

Mr Mullen that will be interesting. Are all academies moving in this direction or just USAFA?
 
If you have a handle on the medical DQ, then you need to focus on what you do going forward. There is no secret sauce for re-applicants. You need to go to a four year college, take a challenging/plebe like schedule and do well. Participating in ROTC also helps and you are able to get another nomination. You do need to retake the CFA but remember how it is weighted. The difference between average and excellent there has much less impact on your competitiveness than say the difference between a 2.75 or a 3.75 in your first semester grades. People like to debate the CFA but in my opinion it is almost a pass/fail event with pass defined as scoring above the averages on all events. The effort to chase on or two points on the CFA is really not worth the time and your efforts are much better spent elsewhere.
 
USMA 1994:

1. No, just USAFA.
2. Correct on CFA. CFA, Medical, and Nom are check the box affirmatives. If you have it, you're done. If you don't have those affirmatively at decision time, your really DONE.
3. Concentration should be placed on the Admissions selections for all academies to separate yourself from the pack. :wiggle:
 
Thank you both for the information! I will keep it in mind moving forward.
 
MullenLE said:
For What It's Worth = Just to let you know, USAFA no longer has medical waiver authority over their applicants. Beginning with the Class of 2025, the USAFA medical waiver authority is AF Recruiting Service/Accession Medical Waiver Division in San Antonio, TX. :wiggle:
Click to expand...
Is that good or bad?
 
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