Thoughts on chances for USAFA. Thanks in advance!

[gshimer]

Junior in HS, 16 years old.

Swim Team - lettered 9 & 10th year, will also 11 &12 - would like to swim for USAFA. Will have times that make me recruitable by my senior year.

Club Swim team year around

Own and run a successful small business after school. This is a real six-figure business. I work about 4 hours a day in addition to school and a two-hour swim practice each day. I do not slack off.

DECA State first-place competitor (business competition organization)

Mission Trips out of the country

Involved in my local church as a small group leader.

Now the not-so-good... 3.6 GPA, have not taken the ACT/SAT but starting tutoring now. Plan to take several times, but know I will not be on the high end of scores. So academics will be my weakness. Do plan to take AP or dual enrollment in my senior year, but have not up until then.

Have I have put myself out of the running by not having a 4.0+ GPA, AP classes or great class rank? Any insight is greatly appreciated as I do not want to get hopes up if I would not even get past the Pre-candidate Questionnaire.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

 

[A1Janitor]

Nobody can chance you because we don’t know your competition.

While academics is a main ingredient, your GPA looks ok to me with your business and swimming. Work hard at the SATs and ACTs.

Good luck.

 

[shiner]

Your self assessment seems accurate.

Athletics - CHECK. The CFA will tell the tale. Understand that swim ability is different than CFA preparedness. My DS an DD are also year-round club swimmers and there was little translation into the CFA athletic movements... so be sure to specifically practice these just like you would train for swim events.

Leadership - CHECK. The small business is interesting and will be something to develop in your essays and verbal interview responses. This is unique for a person your age and you will benefit to highlight this skillset and the lessons learned from the activity.

Academics - WARNING. The low GPA could be a factor of available time in the day, but as you know, your competition has the same time in the day. If you are a AAA/AAAA swimmer, then the GPA will be less important. Your academic resume needs to convey that you will be able to pass your classes. Understanding the snowball effect of grades over time, you do have a little wiggle room to course correct here, but as you indicated, the damage to the future GPA may already be done. Trust that people with lower GPA do get an appointment offer, but also understand there MUST BE other compelling areas within the student resume for the Admissions board to consider and decide outweigh the poor (relatively) academic performance. Understand that an amazing standardized test score can also bail you out here and demonstrate to the panel that you made oxygen choices in the past and academics did not come first, but it is not a challenge for you as demonstrated in the SAT/ACT performance.

Think 3-legged stool: Athletics, Leadership/ExtraCurricular, and Academics.

All three need to be good and at least ONE needs to be exceptional. You have a chance at exceptional for 2/3, so I would say you are competitive -- ASSUMING you keep it up.

 

[gshimer]

I am more than willing to attend the prep school if needed, but what I have not been able to find out if I can swim during that time at the Prep school. I would like to be recruited as a swimmer. Is that a whole different process than a normal application?

 

[A1Janitor]

I am more than willing to attend the prep school if needed, but what I have not been able to find out if I can swim during that time at the Prep school. I would like to be recruited as a swimmer. Is that a whole different process than a normal application?

Applications are the same, other than an introduction to the coach.

 

[shiner]

I am more than willing to attend the prep school if needed, but what I have not been able to find out if I can swim during that time at the Prep school. I would like to be recruited as a swimmer. Is that a whole different process than a normal application?

It is a parallel process. Recruited athletes should declare interest on the athletics website goairforcefalcons.com - you still complete the exact same process for application and medical. Ultimately recruited athletes gain an additional voice of the coach in the admissions process. Each team has a specific number of bluechip slots they can essentially lock-in a recruit but at the end of the day, the recruit still has to be considered "qualified" - medically and academically, and receive a nomination.

The process is hard for any applicant, but I would say there is a higher degree of certainty with athletic recruitment and additional insider voices can be helpful to work through the system.

 

[USAFA10s]

Echoing @shiner - a good SAT/ACT score can definitely help you out a lot here. I'd say really commit to getting a solid score. Take both tests, figure out which one you do better in, then focus your prep on that test and keep taking it to get a really outstanding score. You have some great experience that will definitely set you apart, but USAFA needs some confidence you'll survive the academics there.

As to the prep school - it's not at all uncommon for preppies to come over to USAFA for practices to maintain their sports skills. I'm not sure about swimming but they definitely did for tennis because I remember hitting with a few of them. There was a bus that would bring preppies over every afternoon for practices. I don't think the prep school has an actual swimming team though - only football, basketball and soccer if I remember right

Also be sure to contact the swim coach and express your interest. Sounds like you are just starting your junior year? You definitely should get in touch soon and let them know you are interested. They can be a helpful resource throughout the process, just take everything they say with a grain of salt - nothing from a coach guarantees anything and they definitely do change their minds frequently.