Stats check - esp. CFA

Invisibility

Invisibility

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2012
Messages
119
Hello everyone!

I'm a long time lurker and a candidate for USAFA c/o 2017. I wanted to ask the community about my shots with scores around my current CFA. I'm female.

B-ball - 37 ft
Flexed arm hang - 19 sec
Shuttle - 10.0 sec
Sit-ups - 55
Push-ups 41
Run - 7:46

The other stats:
2300 SAT - 800 CR/730 M/770 W
34 ACT
3.96 USAFA-calculated GPA (though I'm homeschooled, so I hear that they basically throw GPA out the window)
Taking Arabic, Russian.
AP Calc AB/BC (5 on test)
AP Language (5 on test)
4 in Calc AB, 5 in Physics B - neither was accredited
Some dual-enrollment during last 3 semesters - 4.0
National Merit Semifinalist (probably a finalist; that's not announced yet).

CAP - Mitchell award, Cadet Commander, COS graduate/Academic Ace
Varsity Tennis Captain (Local public school), Coach's Award
Varsity Cross Country (Local public school), Academic All-State
FIRST Robotics co-captain, Dean's list semifinalist
Math team - awards at state level
And a few other, smaller things. I did go to SS.

3 nominations (not a very competitive state) & medically qualified.

I think I've got a pretty strong package overall, but I'll admit that I'm scared silly over the CFA. I know that they don't post minimums, but that a fail in any one event or overall a low score is an automatic disqualification.

The scores above are from a practice test I took today. I also worked out today pretty hard, so I'd guess they will go up--a little. In a real testing scenario, I'd guess I can do about the following:
B-ball - 37-41 ft
Flexed arm hang - 20-25 sec
Shuttle - 9.7-10 sec
Sit-ups - 60-63
Push-ups 41-50
Run - 7:35-7:45

I know that these are all "in the zone" and that probably none are disqualifiers by themselves, except maybe the sit-up. But I'm worried about a sit-up disqualification and/or an overall low score.

Can anyone give me input? I live in Maine, and I'm hoping to take the test late next week. Any later, and I risk having snow to run through. (It's snowed a couple times already, actually, but it's been melting.) It's a possibility to take it in January at the local university's indoor track, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it. At the same time, obviously if any of these ARE a zinger score then I'll wait.

A final note: I am well aware that you do NOT want to be in the low zone at the academy -- thanks Raimius for your really helpful blog posts. I started seriously preparing for this test about 2 months ago (later than I should have, I know. Long story) and I've improved quite a lot. So I am hopeful that, continuing to ramp up my current exercise routine, I will be in a much better place come June.

Thanks a lot!
 
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Try and get a pull-up instead of doing the flexed arm hang. You are better of doing one pull up than hanging for a minute.
 
IMHO. You submit CFA only after you're satisfied that they're your best scores.
A 7 minute mile for a varsity cross country runner isn't impressive. A single pull-up is better than the longest flex hang. The rest of the requirements (3nominations etc.) are already a given. You have plenty of time before the deadline to maximize your CFA.
 
how does AFA calculate your GPA? People always say they have an AFA calculated GPA....
 
Invisibility, aside from the CFA, you have very good stats- nearly identical to mine (yours are probably better) and I'm sitting on an LOA right now and am waiting for nominations. I'd say for the CFA, if you can get one pull-up, do a little more on the situps, and get a bit more improvement in the mile, I'd say the CFA definitely won't hurt you. You should try to get as much improvement as you can before having to take the test, also remember that you will do a little better on the actual test due to the adrenaline rush. Good luck with the rest of the application process!

FlyingFuzz
 
at first i was a little shocked by your numbers but that was because i thought you were a male candidate.

push ups are pretty good. sit ups though, you really need to try to max it to 95 within two minutes, it's really doable and it just takes practice.

7:46 mile isn't terrible, but it's definitely not good and will only get worse with the altitude here. \


everything else seems pretty good though
 
Thank you for the advice, everyone!
I took the test today outside. There's now snow on the ground, but the track was fine. The temperature made a difference mostly on the run, I think.
Here are my scores:
B-ball - 39'
Flexed arm hang - 25 sec
Shuttle - 10.0 sec
Sit-ups - 53
Push-ups - 48
Mile run - 7:36

My proctor was clear that he's good for another go in 3 weeks or so. The viability of doing it again will depend largely on a) the weather and b) the availability an indoor track. Realistically, I'm not going to do significantly better except on the sit-up, where I think with that much time I can definitely pull my score up. I also bet I can max the push-ups--I believe it's 50 for females.

So--does anyone have further advice? Tips for working out during the holidays? My family is going to stay in a tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere (I understand that many of you probably think that all of Maine is the middle of nowhere) and so, while I won't have school, I will have plenty of distractions.

And I hate to ask this, because it gives completely the wrong impression, but I can't help it... does anyone know whether a 53 on the sit-up is definitely a pass for females? Or definitely not a pass?

Thanks a lot!
 
https://admissions.usafa.edu/RRS/Online_CFA_2013.pdf

The above link will take you to the online CFA max and mean scores for the CFA. There seems to be alot of chatter on this forum on what is a "passing" CFA score, and I think the very knowledgable people on this forum will tell you that it's hard to say. Every piece of advice my daughter got from others on the CFA was MAX AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!
Best of luck to all of you.
 
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