Self prep success rate?

Jakesimp_

Jakesimp_

Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2019
Messages
38
Good evening guys,
Im sure you may have seen me on other threads haha, just trying to weigh all my options. Just got my TWE for USAFA. I’m debating between reapplying after a year at Purdue and AFROTC and self prepping. I’ve been advised against self prepping and am curious as to what the success rate is for self preppers getting appointments to USAFA vs college re apps. (Which schools have higher success rates etc). Also, would it even be worth it for me, since my CFA went well and I had a 33 composite ACT? The thing that seemed to count me out was my gpa (3.85), and it appears that I could further improve my grades at a university like Purdue, and that would show them I am developing better study habits and doing well in school. I will still try to improve my ACT score and CFA scores as well regardless.
 
I am not an expert... thought I needed to start there. That said, I have read, many times in this forum, that the SAs prefer candidates that were TWE'd to go to a 4-year college, take classes similar to the SAs freshman course load, demonstrate ability to do well with those courses and re-apply as a college re-applicant vs self-prep.

I am not sure of the statistics of success for the self-prep re-applicant and would assume there is always a chance; however, if the academies prefer a 4-year college view - I would personally recommend you consider the Purdue path leveraging AFROTC - may show better.

Please note, I am not a specialist around SAs - this is our families first introduction to SAs and mine is going the preppie route at USAFA... time should certainly give us better insight with years to follow - we hope!

That said, my husband was an ROTC commissioned officer into the Navy from a large public university and he has fond memories of his experience and highly recommends that route! :)

Good luck!
 
Jakesimp_ said:
Good evening guys,
Im sure you may have seen me on other threads haha, just trying to weigh all my options. Just got my TWE for USAFA. I’m debating between reapplying after a year at Purdue and AFROTC and self prepping. I’ve been advised against self prepping and am curious as to what the success rate is for self preppers getting appointments to USAFA vs college re apps. (Which schools have higher success rates etc). Also, would it even be worth it for me, since my CFA went well and I had a 33 composite ACT? The thing that seemed to count me out was my gpa (3.85), and it appears that I could further improve my grades at a university like Purdue, and that would show them I am developing better study habits and doing well in school. I will still try to improve my ACT score and CFA scores as well regardless.
Click to expand...
I don't believe you will find any quality data on "success rates" by school. A re-applicant class at any given college may be tiny, maybe as few as one re-applicant. Thus, a rate of success is a meaningless number if that applicant gets in or doesn't. All schools, prep or college, are not equal, and neither are the individual applicants. Assess your strengths and weakness honestly. This is the advice from my DS, who was a successful USNA re-applicant. Find somewhere where you can be successful in enhancing your weaknesses. And then go and kick butt. Take care of the things you can control. Don't worry about things you can't. If you aren't selected a second time, make sure it wasn't because of something you could have done better. You can't control nominations, and you can't control what district you are from and how competitive it is. You also can't control waivers if you need one. But you can control your class work, your physical fitness, your discipline, your leadership and your perseverance/dedication. That is what Admissions wants to see.
 
I would concur that any data on "success rates" of self prep may be self serving and will not measure the effectiveness of the self prep program. Self Prep may have some advantages for young people who may lack the maturity to succeed on their own or not have a strong educational foundation from their high school. I can tell you specifically that the advice from USMA admissions is that strong candidates who are QNS should attend a four year college, take a "plebe like" schedule, participate in ROTC and do well in both. (This message was reinforced this week in a message to the field force.). You do not need a 4.0 but you should have above a 3.0. I would also suggest that this advice would apply to all service academies. From your test scores and grades you seem to have the educational background so a year of demonstrated success at the college level will only help improve your file. The ROTC nomination would also open another set of doors not available to you last year.
 
As a former self-prepper at a school recognized by all 5 of the SAs, I can tell you that proving your abilities through your academics, leadership abilities, and military experience is very important. Focus on keeping your grades up while also participating in extracurriculars. It is important that you maintain your focus. I agree with @USMA 1994 that it really depends on the nature of your schedule and extracurriculars.

At the school that I came from, self-prep students had about a 75% success rate, which is actually fairly decent. That was 75% of about 90 students that were self prep. This year, a large number of self prep students received their appointments to USCGA, USMA, and USMMA. The other two academies look really hard at your academics and extracurriculars, so keep those up!

There is no harm in continuing to try as a self prep, taking those classes, and participating in AFROTC. It might actually open up more doors for you even if you don't earn an appointment.

Best of luck to you!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top