Summer Seminar Questions

36falcon36

5-Year Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2017
Messages
46
Hi everyone, I started applying to USAFA SS today and had a few questions...

1) Do they want my cumulative GPA from throughout high school or my GPA from first quarter this year, or what?

2) I haven’t gotten to this section of the application yet, but do they need my class rank or just the class size?

3) When will I find out if I got a spot at SS?

4) Is there a correlation between those who got accepted to summer seminar and also received an appointment to the academy, even if they don’t look at it on your application?

5) Overall, if anyone here has attended a summer seminar in the past, did you enjoy it? Was it worthwhile? Did you also attend other summer seminars at other service academies?

Thanks for any advice/help in advance!
 
1. They want your cumulative GPA from throughout high school.

2. They ask for both, but you can leave the class rank section blank if your school doesn’t rank.

3. I heard back in early February last year.

5. I attended last year, and it was an awesome experience. It was definitely worth it, and I learned so much about USAFA. I went to NASS as well, and both programs were excellent.

Hope this helps!
 
Word of advice....if you want to go, you have a much better shot if you seem on the fence about applying and attending an academy in your essay then stating you are "gong ho" and it's always been your dream school. Lastly, geography and demographics play a huge role in selection. Don't be discouraged if you don't get selected.
 
I didn't hear about my acceptance to Summer Seminar until March. I only attended USAFA's. It was awesome! Sadly, there were no weapons or planes involved (as they told us at the very first briefing). Some things we did: talk to the parachuting teams (Wings of Blue or Wings of Green, maybe both? I didn't really get the difference), see the gliders at the airfield, one of the girls in my flight went on a hike, we saw the athletic complex and the swimming pools, did a practice CFA - at USAFA SS your scores don't count :(, woke up at 5 am every morning for PT so be ready for that... a lot of kids weren't used to it and complained about how early it was...., we had some pretty cool classes with faculty, career fair, academic fair, it was good stuff. Let me know if you have any questions!! I loved it and I'm applying to USAFA right now. I just found out that I got a nomination. Best of luck!
 
I didn't hear about my acceptance to Summer Seminar until March. I only attended USAFA's. It was awesome! Sadly, there were no weapons or planes involved (as they told us at the very first briefing). Some things we did: talk to the parachuting teams (Wings of Blue or Wings of Green, maybe both? I didn't really get the difference), see the gliders at the airfield, one of the girls in my flight went on a hike, we saw the athletic complex and the swimming pools, did a practice CFA - at USAFA SS your scores don't count :(, woke up at 5 am every morning for PT so be ready for that... a lot of kids weren't used to it and complained about how early it was...., we had some pretty cool classes with faculty, career fair, academic fair, it was good stuff. Let me know if you have any questions!! I loved it and I'm applying to USAFA right now. I just found out that I got a nomination. Best of luck!

Thanks for the advice! It sounds like a lot of fun and definitely worth the time. Congrats on the nomination, by the way!
 
1. They want your cumulative high school GPA.
2. Don't fret if your school doesn't rank. DS and DD were registered with a national private umbrella school and were homeschooled, then moved to DE at a private college. The umbrella school did have a class size but did not rank. It did not affect either one of them negatively.
3. March timeframe was when we heard about SS.
4. Really no correlation. Both DS and DD did not get into USAFA SS. Both are now USAFA cadets. DD attended NASS and loved the challenge. It solidified her commitment to military service. DS did not get accepted into NASS.
5. NASS had an actual CFA for all attendees, and offered to transfer the CFA scores to another academy if the prospect desired. DD scored very well and worked with her NA counselor to send her CFA scores to USAFA; that was perfectly acceptable to USAFA.

If you don't get into any SS programs, don't spend a lot of time wracking your brain to figure out why. Just move on and be super dedicated to your priorities and efforts to get into the academy/academies.
 
Definitely apply to all SA Summer Programs. Best way to know which one fits you is to go and find out. You will build an opinion when you come back. All good just different. Like Ravens said if they think you are the type of candidate to apply and probably likely candidate to get in you may have less chance than if you say you are on the fence Air Force or Navy or Army or Coast Guard. SAs use summer as recruiting tool and to assess the quality of the next class and to ID HYPOs. They receive about 50% of the total application for the next class. About 50% summer become a Cadet in next class. USAFA little more about 60%. And Coast Guard it seems even more. Coast Guard is a tight culture. After meeting the grads from the Coast Guard it appears their culture is more like West Point than the Navy. And you are assigned to command sooner than other services, within 1 year post graduation you can command a boat. Most other services you don't command anything until you're O3. I grew up at a large joint base so I have been fortunate to pick up some acronyms and interact with various services except the Coast Guard.

SAs expect you to apply to their SA if you are a committed candidate to their schools. Benefit of applying to their program for the summer is they have your file Early, and therefore, you can start your App early and not have to enter new info later, just updates. Also it is nice to stay in touch with admissions throughout the summer. They are lot more responsive and kind during the summer since they have more time. Air Force was very responsive and very personable during the summer but not when the Fall App opened up.

I went to USAFA and USMA Seminars. Air Force even gave me full scholarship to attend including Air Ticket after doing additional essays turned in my CFA turned in my official transcripts and Test Scores. They identified 150 out of 700 summer incoming and picked 34 in my cohort to be on the scholarship. This was very nice of them. I loved both experiences. Definitely different culture. Air Force gave more liberty and West Point more structured environment and packed a lot of activities and training. But don't get fooled by summer at Air Force. Cadets told us it was all intentional to make you feel at home. When you're a Cadet that will all change. PT was lot harder and more frequent at the Air Force. Altitude makes it more challenging. You're at 7,000+ feet so you tire faster.

I got dinged for NASS even though I applied and submitted my app on the first day Portal opened. I waited waited waited and got a ding in the end. That hurt I'm not a URM nor female. And I come from an intensely competitive district for the Navy and West Point. If you are either URM or female you should have better chance at most SAs. Not at the Air Force. Air Force has plenty of female Cadets. And in the summer you will meet many high academic achievers. Not all are athletic types. So non athletes will struggle to pass the CFA. I kid you not this is where many book warms will fail out of the process. You must be physically fit let alone Qualify and pass the DODMERB. So everything has to line up. DODMERB is where you need to be genetically and physically correct. This is very sad for some really great candidates who cannot attend for some medical reasons. Very sad because they are great people!

Nevertheless, Navy gave me an LOA in Sep with a guaranteed Appointment with any Nom and invited me to attend CVW. I got an Appointment to USCGA in November. After being dinged for NASS I thought my package was not strong for the Navy but on the contrary beginning July it was USNA who reached out to me first. Then all other SAs. Visit all the SAs you want to attend if you can unless the cost prevent you. If struggling with cost some Academies maybe able to help you find the cost. Contact them and ask. I visited all SAs and this is very helpful. You can build an emotional bond with some of the SAs just by being on the Garrison or Campus, like you will when you visit some college campuses. Some literally immediately.

So you never know. Also apply to ROTC Programs. They are also excellent options. Like many say on the post, first pick the college then the ROTC Program on the campus. ROTC support and funding varies by schools. So pick the schools first based on your academic interest, school programs on campus, and the service.

I applied to all SAs and all ROTC Programs. Got all 4-Year full ride National Scholarships to Army Navy Air Force. So it's not the cost of attendance in my calculus. Because I am committed to serve my country first which service, I am honored to serve in any one. But I am a grunt in heart. I like the outdoors and Hooah with men and women. I enjoy shooting and am a good marksman. I can do assembly and disassembly of weapons. But I can do Pilot, my physiology can fit into all cockpits. I am lean so I can fit into small cockpits and have long limbs so I can reach all instruments. I can be a Squid at Seas. I like boats! I like STEM such as Aerospace and Cyber but I also like humanities like History Economics and Greek, Roman Classics and Latin. It's good to be good in many things. After all, as officers you will travel and need to be prepared to represent your country as a well learned men and women and well mannered. You are your country's Ambassador and the American brand abroad. So be well learned and represent well.

So don't leave yourself short. Apply to all opportunities you can find. Read the posts here but on face value. There are many great posts. But build your own judgement. You will only know which is right for you or better for you.

Enjoy the journey!
 
Hi Patriot,

Congrats on your recent opportunities! It sounds like you are quite accomplished as far as appointments go--nice work and keep it up! You also seem really enthusiastic about serving in the US military and pursuing your dreams.

I just wanted to give you and any other candidates who may be reading a friendly word of advice regarding SAF and how you present yourself. Enthusiasm is great, and it helps hugely with daily motivation at the Academy. However, it can also easily come across as arrogance on social media/SAF, even if it wasn't intended that way. Messages that appear to present a self-admiring or know-it-all attitude tend to attract negative attention from current cadets and other posters--again, even if that's not the true intent. I wanted to bring this up especially because of your post above.

Please don't take this as an insult or belittlement--it is simply $0.02019 from someone who has seen this type of thing happen to past appointees on multiple occasions. I should also be quick to add that I have personally made and continue to make my share of mistakes as well, some more embarrassing than others. :oops:

"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." --Henry Ford (very relevant to all of SA life, IMHO)

Good luck to you as you continue to prepare. :thumb:
 
  • The thing to keep in mind above all is acceptance to SS or not has no bearing on your chances of appointment. Don't worry if you don't get into SS.
  • I disagree with Patriot4Life's stats that 60% of the Academy is made up of SS grads. For that to happen almost every kid (guessing 500-600 in SS) who goes to SS liked it, everyone then received a nom & an appointment to make up 60% of the incoming class.
  • Yes some of SS attendees will become cadets, but there are many more candidates who are just as, or even more qualified whose families cannot afford the approx. $1000 to go. Probably one of the reasons attendance has no bearing on appnt.
  • Yes your chances improve if you're "on the fence" which makes sense as the program is for recruitment.
  • Good luck to all.
 
Back
Top