USAFA Candidacy

[2u3s9a4f5a]

Does anyone know how long it takes for the Air Force Academy to get back to a person and tell them if they are a candidate or not?

 

[TeddyPlus4]

Does anyone know how long it takes for the Air Force Academy to get back to a person and tell them if they are a candidate or not?

LOA’s usually are sent out in Nov-Dec

Acceptance letters usually start in March and can continue until I-Day minus 2. This year there was a girl that received appointment 2 days before I-Day.

 

[GoCubbies]

Does anyone know how long it takes for the Air Force Academy to get back to a person and tell them if they are a candidate or not?

My memory is a bit fuzzy in this, but I think my DD submitted the candidate questionnaire in early March. I am almost sure she got an email saying she’s an official candidate within 2-3 weeks. The email told her she would get access to the application on 1 July and would have 4 months from that date to complete the requirements (less nom and qualified DODMERB exam). I say 1 July because I know for a fact her deadline was 1 November.

She got an appointment 1 December. That date sticks with me because it was the same day she had her only interview for a nom. It was the interview for our rep. Our senators didn’t interview. At the time of her USAFA appointment, she had only a presidential nom on file.

 

[querencia]

I completed my pre-candidate questionnaire on March 4th and I was moved to candidate status on July 3rd (yesterday).

 

[justdoit19]

Does anyone know how long it takes for the Air Force Academy to get back to a person and tell them if they are a candidate or not?

If this is your real name, its strongly recommended that you change it to remain anonymous. You can do that by messaging a forum moderator.

 

[Heatherg21]

Our son filed his application with USAFA last week. He is 'applicant' status now, email he received said he would get instructions soon in a 'candidate kit' and then could continue his application.

 

[BBQ-Devil]

Our timeline for c/o 2023:

DS applied for Summer Seminar in Dec 2017.
After his turn down letter for SS a few weeks later, he got another letter in his portal telling him he was moved to Candidate status and his portal would open July 1, 2018.
DS completed his part of the application in mid-October 2018 (the deadline was Nov 1, 2018)
Had his interview with AF representative in mid-November (interviewer was retired AF and out of the country for the entire month of October)
Portal showed compete application Dec 2, 2018
LOA received Dec 18, 2018
Received Nomination Jan 9, 2019
Received Appointment Jan 30, 2019

 

[USAFA2023mom]

Here is the timeline for DS. He applied for Summer Seminar in late December (I believe) but was not offered a spot. May 31 was his next message from USAFA.

 

[flieger83]

Want an fairly "official" answer?

Once a potential candidate (read: applicant) completes the initial application, then it's up to USAFA to decide whether or not they wish to "trigger" the candidate kit. Understand, you're not an official (read: legal) candidate until you have a nomination. This "early candidate" trigger allows the process to move faster with students that have met a certain level of "???" that USAFA is looking at (and they have never told ALO's what that level is). I only mention this because someone is going to give a timeline that shows a person getting a candidate kit, then an LOA...and the LOA will say "contingent...xxxxx...AND obtaining a nomination."

So...if your package is excellent, they might trigger a kit on you within one or three weeks...or...a month or three later.

My "ALO" advice, which is going to be VERY hard to accept, is this: be patient. If it's meant to happen, it WILL happen. But don't take a timeline as an indication of anything.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83

 

[Co9496]

It is interesting that two successful appointees in this thread received appointments, and even LOAs after not getting into the summer seminar. Can anyone tell me what acceptances to the summer seminar mean, if anything? Are those people on the fence they need/want to see more of, or are those people they feel certain about, or random picks? Thanks.

 

[Newinwin]

It is interesting that two successful appointees in this thread received appointments, and even LOAs after not getting into the summer seminar. Can anyone tell me what acceptances to the summer seminar mean, if anything? Are those people on the fence they need/want to see more of, or are those people they feel certain about, or random picks? Thanks.

Officially, everyone is told SS does not increase likelihood of being accepted to the Academy. However, of the nine members of DS 2018 SS "Element" (squad they do everything with for the week of SS), six received spots in class of 2023 and three were turned down. In that SS Element, the members of the group had a 66% chance of being offered a spot at the Academy, but the statistically "average applicant" has only a 12.5% chance of being offered a spot. That five-fold difference doesn't necessarily mean there is a causative relationship between SS and a USAFA offer, but it's at least suspiciously likely. One former ALO with ten years experience in that role privately told me that 50% of candidates he knew who went to SS were offered a spot at the Academy, while the vast majority of general applicants who did not go to SS were not.

 

[Heatherg21]

Does anyone know how long it takes for the Air Force Academy to get back to a person and tell them if they are a candidate or not?

our son completed his initial app 2 weeks ago. His candidate kit was sent to him this morning.

 

[BunkerDog1]

It is interesting that two successful appointees in this thread received appointments, and even LOAs after not getting into the summer seminar. Can anyone tell me what acceptances to the summer seminar mean, if anything? Are those people on the fence they need/want to see more of, or are those people they feel certain about, or random picks? Thanks.

Officially, everyone is told SS does not increase likelihood of being accepted to the Academy. However, of the nine members of DS 2018 SS "Element" (squad they do everything with for the week of SS), six received spots in class of 2023 and three were turned down. In that SS Element, the members of the group had a 66% chance of being offered a spot at the Academy, but the statistically "average applicant" has only a 12.5% chance of being offered a spot. That five-fold difference doesn't necessarily mean there is a causative relationship between SS and a USAFA offer, but it's at least suspiciously likely. One former ALO with ten years experience in that role privately told me that 50% of candidates he knew who went to SS were offered a spot at the Academy, while the vast majority of general applicants who did not go to SS were not.

My DS went to the USNA SS last year and did not receive an appointment to USNA (He also did not receive an appointment to USAFA but he is prepping this year for a re-application). In fact to his knowledge only one of his group received an appointment. SS is more to see if the lifestyle works for your DS or DD than it is an assessment of their candidacy.