Like many others on here, I was in the batch of TWEs that came on April 21. I plan on reapplying and getting my application in asap so that I can focus on maintaining good grades in my college courses. A question I have is whether or not it is appropriate to use my high school teachers to do my evaluations and possibly a recommendation. Also, would it be frowned upon to utilize the new ACT subject test in one subject? My ACT scores are E: 30, M: 29, R: 35, SR: 26.
Reapplication Questions
- Thread starter lnino
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- Jul 26, 2008
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- 6,197
Hi!
I can completely understand how you feel and the desire you have to redo this and to win. I was in your shoes...okay, in 1978. I still remember the disappointment, anger, and then this burning resolve to say "oh yeah, well...I'll show you!" And I did.
How? You need to focus your attack. Okay...so...this time it didn't work. Don't drive yourself crazy trying to figure out "that one thing..." as it'll drive you crazy and you'll probably be wrong. Instead, focus upon the goal: obtain an appointment. Okay, how do you do that? You convince USAFA/RRS (that the admissions directorate) that YOU are the one they missed, that they WANT you, they NEED you. How do you do that?
First...go to school. Mirror your schedule to that of a doolie. Go on the academy website, do a little digging, and you will find the curriculum guide. Mirror your year in school to that of the first-year cadet. Take the hard classes. And excel in those classes. The BIG question the academy application is trying to answer is: will this candidate physically and academically SURVIVE doolie year and the ensuing three years after that? They don't know...so they use the CFA, your GPA, SAT/ACT scores, letters, DODMERB, and then they GUESS. Well, okay, Dr. Phil would disagree with that; he'd say "I have a fabulous success model and if the candidate fits, then they'll most likely do fine."So your job is to prove him wrong, in your case.
Slam the freshman courses! Crush the CFA, you completely control that. Consider retaking the ACT; perhaps take the SAT as well. STUDY FOR THEM!!
No guarantees...but if you approach the selection board with a "typical first-year cadet" academic load, a GPA in the 3.XX+ range, great fitness scores, etc...etc...well, you've taken the guesswork out of it, haven't you?
That'd be what I'd do.
Oh, FYI, I had a candidate this year that did precisely that. He received his appointment about a week ago.
Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
I can completely understand how you feel and the desire you have to redo this and to win. I was in your shoes...okay, in 1978. I still remember the disappointment, anger, and then this burning resolve to say "oh yeah, well...I'll show you!" And I did.
How? You need to focus your attack. Okay...so...this time it didn't work. Don't drive yourself crazy trying to figure out "that one thing..." as it'll drive you crazy and you'll probably be wrong. Instead, focus upon the goal: obtain an appointment. Okay, how do you do that? You convince USAFA/RRS (that the admissions directorate) that YOU are the one they missed, that they WANT you, they NEED you. How do you do that?
First...go to school. Mirror your schedule to that of a doolie. Go on the academy website, do a little digging, and you will find the curriculum guide. Mirror your year in school to that of the first-year cadet. Take the hard classes. And excel in those classes. The BIG question the academy application is trying to answer is: will this candidate physically and academically SURVIVE doolie year and the ensuing three years after that? They don't know...so they use the CFA, your GPA, SAT/ACT scores, letters, DODMERB, and then they GUESS. Well, okay, Dr. Phil would disagree with that; he'd say "I have a fabulous success model and if the candidate fits, then they'll most likely do fine."So your job is to prove him wrong, in your case.
Slam the freshman courses! Crush the CFA, you completely control that. Consider retaking the ACT; perhaps take the SAT as well. STUDY FOR THEM!!
No guarantees...but if you approach the selection board with a "typical first-year cadet" academic load, a GPA in the 3.XX+ range, great fitness scores, etc...etc...well, you've taken the guesswork out of it, haven't you?
That'd be what I'd do.
Oh, FYI, I had a candidate this year that did precisely that. He received his appointment about a week ago.
Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
Thank you for the kind words flieger. This is my first post on the forums but as a long time lurker, you have proven to be a wealth of knowledge during this process. It is comforting to know that one of your candidates crushed what they could control and got in second time around.
usafaco9496
Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2019
- Messages
- 35
Love the motivating advice! We received similar last year and it definitely shifted the gut-punching rejection to motivation.
My DS did retake the ACT and luckily went up in all the lower areas from his first test (superscore). His SAT was solid so he did not retake that. He used an engineering professor, ROTC professor, and I’m pretty sure his high school AP English professor. He worked all summer on his CFA and took the test end of August.
The thing that helped him most in all of that has been his year in AFROTC. First off he loves it, and would have been happy to take that route to his dream of being an officer, so that took the stress out of the reapplication process. Second of all, it shows USAFA you are a committed soldier. Third, it was a third nomination source for him. Fourth, he is so much better prepared for the rigors of USAFA, as he’s already managed and excelled at year of engineering, sports and military at a University.
I hope this helps you...keep the positive motivation going...USAFA loves reapplicants!
DD was a reappicant this year and received an appointment this time around. One thing she focused on was increasing her leadership game. In high school she participated in several activities (sports, clubs, volunteering) and had some minor leadership roles. When she was in interviews last year for nominations, one of the interviewers praised her experience, but asked what made her a leader. She had a good response, but afterwards felt that having evidence of leadership was her weakest area. This year she took rigorous college classes, but also started a club, was in a college sport, and took every leadership role she could find. That was the main change she made to her application.
In terms of LOR's, you will still need to have one from your high school teachers for the academic areas you submitted this year, so giving them advanced notice now that you are still interested in applying to USAFA and will need another letter might help in shortening the turn-around time. If you know you have strong LOR's for the additional 2 letters, that's your choice, but having new individuals from college might help to show your strengths at a higher level... That'a absolutely just a guess though.
If you think you can raise your ACT score, why not retake it?
As another person stated, you can also work on improving your CFA. This time around DD maxed out on 3 events and was close with her pull-ups. I will say, my DD mentioned that one advantage to being a reapplicant is you now know the process; you know what you submitted this time around, so you probably know what areas you can improve on. You got this!
In terms of LOR's, you will still need to have one from your high school teachers for the academic areas you submitted this year, so giving them advanced notice now that you are still interested in applying to USAFA and will need another letter might help in shortening the turn-around time. If you know you have strong LOR's for the additional 2 letters, that's your choice, but having new individuals from college might help to show your strengths at a higher level... That'a absolutely just a guess though.
If you think you can raise your ACT score, why not retake it?
As another person stated, you can also work on improving your CFA. This time around DD maxed out on 3 events and was close with her pull-ups. I will say, my DD mentioned that one advantage to being a reapplicant is you now know the process; you know what you submitted this time around, so you probably know what areas you can improve on. You got this!
