USAFA or USNA?

C

Carlooo

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Aug 18, 2021
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Hey everyone! So I come from a district (MD-04) around 30 minutes or so from Annapolis which I would assume is extremely competitive. My question is, would it still be worth it to put USNA as my #1 choice? Or would it make more sense to have another service academy as my top choice since the rest are out of state and probably have less competition from my district?
 
Where do you want to serve? What job can you see yourself doing? What academy meets the mission and service life you seek?
If you are lucky enough to earn an appointment to either, geography will be a non issue.
Once in the fleet or the force, you will be scattered to the four winds.
Look at the mission of each and see which is a better fit.
 
I think if you want to attend an academy and become an officer, it’s fine to make this decision strategically. While you’d obviously get a different experience with either path, it’s really the same premise so it makes sense to not have a strong preference if the priority is just attending an academy. I don’t know if your district is more competitive or less for Navy vs AF (You might be able to find an answer if you do some digging) but if it is, maybe it does make sense to put AF as your first choice.

The thing with basing your choice on the specific career options is you frankly have no idea what you’re getting into. I’m assuming you’re 17 now and will be 22 when you commission if you get in. That’s a time of significant development and your life priorities may evolve. You’ll also talk to many officers from different communities to understand what their jobs entail. So personally I wouldn’t consider the career options too deeply unless you know you are deadset on doing something specific like going to sea or being a Marine.
 
Kierkegaard said:
I think if you want to attend an academy and become an officer, it’s fine to make this decision strategically. While you’d obviously get a different experience with either path, it’s really the same premise so it makes sense to not have a strong preference if the priority is just attending an academy. I don’t know if your district is more competitive or less for Navy vs AF (You might be able to find an answer if you do some digging) but if it is, maybe it does make sense to put AF as your first choice.

The thing with basing your choice on the specific career options is you frankly have no idea what you’re getting into. I’m assuming you’re 17 now and will be 22 when you commission if you get in. That’s a time of significant development and your life priorities may evolve. You’ll also talk to many officers from different communities to understand what their jobs entail. So personally I wouldn’t consider it too much unless you are deadset on doing something specific like going to sea or being a Marine.
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As always, @Kierkegaard makes a great point. Just because you see yourself flying doesn’t mean you will medically or service select for that.
But I do believe doing your research is critical.
And the years of exposure via trainings may open your eyes to paths you wouldn’t have considered otherwise.
 
I would also take into consideration how close your are to USNA. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you handle it and what your personality is. If you are the type to run home every chance you have, you may miss out on some opportunities and relationships at USNA. However USAFA is clear across the country which brings in some other hurdles to get over. Best of luck!
 
So the question is

Does living in Md , and close to Annapolis, as a non sports recruit, make it harder in general , to get an invite to the USNA vs the USMA or USAFA?

An interesting question for sure especially if in general there is a statistical difference..

Someone must have some insight to this. But if I wanted to attend a SA , I’d want my best , most likely choice, to be my first choice.

Good Luck
 
Small Team Bacsi said:
So the question is

Does living in Md , and close to Annapolis, as a non sports recruit, make it harder in general , to get an invite to the USNA vs the USMA or USAFA?
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If by invite, you're referring to CVWs or Summer Seminar then yes, it does make it harder but if you're referring to getting admitted to USNA then no, I do not think that living in Maryland is disadvantageous to an applicant in any way other than SOME of the districts reportedly being more competitive.
 
Heatherg21 said:
As always, @Kierkegaard makes a great point. Just because you see yourself flying doesn’t mean you will medically or service select for that.
But I do believe doing your research is critical.
And the years of exposure via trainings may open your eyes to paths you wouldn’t have considered otherwise.
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Thanks for taking the time to respond! I plan on trying to compete for an aviation slot and so logically, USAFA would be the place to go. But at the same time, the culture at USNA is something I’d kill to be a part of, while still having a chance of going aviation. I think right now, the two things that are battling it out in my decision is the JOURNEY vs. the GOAL.
 
OldRetSWO said:
If by invite, you're referring to CVWs or Summer Seminar then yes, it does make it harder but if you're referring to getting admitted to USNA then no, I do not think that living in Maryland is disadvantageous to an applicant in any way other than SOME of the districts reportedly being more competitive.
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Not sure I would agree with that. In my cong district (not MD) we had 29 USNA nom applicants and four USAFA nom applicants. All four of the AF applicants were put on the slate. Lots of good USNA applicants were not. YMMV.
 
Simple fact: It takes only one candidate with better credentials than yours to make a district competitive. So while your district may have fewer nominees for USAFA than for USNA, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be easier for you. Focus less on gaming the system — I’ve read plenty of examples here on SAF of where that backfires — and more on determining fit.

Both places can lead to aviation, both places have amazing cultures (and while they have distinctions, their cultures aren’t that different). Think about what you’d do if you didn’t or couldn’t get aviation. Which branch then has the alternative MOSs that would be good fits for you. That’s your best choice, regardless of supposed or perceived competitiveness of your district.
 
I had a similar experience so I'll speak on this. Like you, I was interested in both USNA and USAFA, except I had the opposite situation where I was closer to USAFA. I ended up putting USNA as #1 and USAFA as #2 and only ended up with a nom to USNA. I I think a few people in my district got noms for both, but most of the people that got a USAFA nom had it as #1. The point is that I didn't put USNA as #1 because I thought it would be less competitive, I did it because it was genuinely my first choice and I preferred the Navy. I'm not totally set on flying, and I liked the Navy's variety of careers. These posts make a good point on thinking about what you would do if you didn't get aviation. I'd focus more on the branch the school commissions to rather than the school itself. You can still consider location, culture, certain majors, summer opportunities, etc. but at the end of the day you will be commissioning as an officer so really think about which service you see yourself in. As @Heatherg21 put it, where do you want to serve and which branch's mission speaks the most to you?

For me, USAFA was still in the mix because it was a lot closer to home and West Coast = Best Coast (feel free to disagree with me on that). When I realized that the Navy was a better fit for me in terms of jobs, station locations, and the lifestyle, the choice became a lot easier. I definitely miss Colorado, but I think I would have been a lot less happy if I received a commission through USAFA. The Air Force is a very respectable branch, but I just wasn't as interested in the mission because I'm not crazy about being a pilot. You might have different priorities since you want an aviation slot, so I would encourage you to look at the aviation aspects of the Air Force and Navy, as well as both branches as a whole. I'd exercise caution with trying to game the system, because while it can work it can also backfire. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to PM!
 
Nagging voice in my head is recalling something I heard recently. Can’t speak to the accuracy. But isn’t the United State’s Navy the second largest Air Force in the world?
 
8th Wing Refugee said:
Not sure I would agree with that. In my cong district (not MD) we had 29 USNA nom applicants and four USAFA nom applicants. All four of the AF applicants were put on the slate. Lots of good USNA applicants were not. YMMV.
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I don't disagree that I've seen similar differences between USNA and USAFA applicants In my district over the past couple of years, just about everyone who applies to USAFA gets onto the slate while about a third of USNA applicants manage to get onto a slate. We're closer to USMA than USNA and have an Army base within the district but USNA get more nomination apps here.
 
Sometimes you have to make your best guess as to how to handle ranking your choices, cross your fingers and jump.

Every year we have applicants who ‘wish’ they could redo their ranking bc they received an LOA, but no nom bc of their ranking choice.

Personally? I advised my own to go with what they really wanted. If USNA (and NAVY/MARINE) was where they wanted to be? Then put that as #1 on all. It worked for them.

You can also address your feelings in your essays/interviews!!

Good luck.
 
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You should do your research to determine which branch of the military seems the best fit for your career goals and then make your choice about which SA is right for you. Choosing an SA by trying to 'game' the NOM system is a bad idea and you never know who else is applying (or what their resume looks like) in any given year. MOC NOM is only one of several ways to get a NOM. Every SA recommends you apply for every NOM for which you are eligible.
 
It’s a personal opinion but I think one service over another for people that have never served , as in still in HS, is like picking a college major or a spouse you never met, while still in HS.

I knew out of HS what branch and only one branch was the one for me . Then I served with both the USN and USMC and realized I could have been equally unhappy or happy with either.

And based on that first hand experience I now realize I would have been as equally happy or unhappy with the AF, Army, or CG.

What would be important is not the service but the actually job or mos. I think this which service will I be happy in is an over rated exercise.

And people game the system all the time.

They sign up for clubs or run for HS office for no other reason that a better looking resume. They pick sports because it will make their application look better. They take certain classes because of how it will look on an application. They vol for community service for the first time in their life solely because of a SA application.
 
Carlooo said:
Hey everyone! So I come from a district (MD-04) around 30 minutes or so from Annapolis which I would assume is extremely competitive. My question is, would it still be worth it to put USNA as my #1 choice? Or would it make more sense to have another service academy as my top choice since the rest are out of state and probably have less competition from my district?
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It is always worth it to apply to all Academies if your goal is to serve regardless of the branch of service. As others have mentioned, your competitiveness will be determined by the quality of pool of candidates in your district, not by how close you live to the Academy. I don't know your district, but if your district does not have a history of producing highly competitive candidates with high test scores than you have a great chance as someone applying as far away as Montana or Alaska.

On the other hand, if your aspiration is to become a pilot flying fixed wing and don't want to land on a moving airport with short runways somewhere out in the ocean and get graded for every landing, than Pilot in the Air Force is a better option for you. While the Navy has great Aviation opportunities and almost as many planes/helicopters as the Air Force, your chance of flying fixed wing, even different types of fixed wings during your Pilot career is greater in the Air Force. In the Navy, about 50% get to fly rotary and other 50% fly fixed wings (tactical, patrol, supply). If you want to fly fixed wing, Air Force has more opportunities in fixed wing.

From the Naval Academy this year, about <20% got the NFO slot in Aviation and placed 30% of the class to the Pilot slot (incl. Marine Aviation). From what I understand, Air Force places about 50% of its class to the Pilot slot. At the Naval Academy, you may also get drafted into Submarine or Nuke (Carrier) if the Navy is running short on candidates. And the Navy is always under subscribed in Sub/Nuke so if you have strong academics and stand above 50% in class ranking, Sub and Nuke have priority in drafting strong candidates from Aviation, SWO, and Marines. Even candidates ranking in top 100 are free game. So this can end your Pilot aspiration at the time of commissioning. Although, you can consider lat transfer during your JO, but more difficult to do.

If serving is your goal, even as a Pilot, than apply to all Academies and commissioning options, including to USCGA, USMMA, ROTC, OCS. All services have Aviation. The differences are your choice of platform and probability of commissioning as Pilot. And then you have to survive Pilot training school which has 15-20% wash out rate. Those who wash out will be repurposed based on the needs of their service, except OCS since candidates are direct commissioning to Pilot. So OCS normally don't get a second chance if you wash out. All Academies have their strong and weak cultures. And so does the Big Navy and the Air Force, and depending on the people you serve with. So at your stage in admissions, I would worry about which service to commit after they have picked you.
 
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Carlooo said:
Thanks for taking the time to respond! I plan on trying to compete for an aviation slot and so logically, USAFA would be the place to go. But at the same time, the culture at USNA is something I’d kill to be a part of, while still having a chance of going aviation. I think right now, the two things that are battling it out in my decision is the JOURNEY vs. the GOAL.
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I dissent on the point that USAFA is logically the place to go if you want to compete for an aviation spot. As long as you have reasonable grades and don't have any serious vision problems, you have a very high chance getting an aviation spot. In my company this past year, we had 12 people pursing aviation. Every person got an aviation spot. 10 went Navy Pilot and 2 went Naval Flight Officer (NFO). Out of the 2 that got Naval Flight Officer instead of pilot, one had a like a 2.1 GPA, and the other failed out of the the Powered Flight Program (A summer training that prepares people to be Navy pilots). All this to say, it is not all that difficult to get a Naval Aviation out spot out of USNA if that is what you want to do.

As to your first question, I thought about it for a few minutes and had mixed feelings. Inevitably I decided I don't like the the idea of ruling yourself out of USNA if that is where you want to go. Even if you are from a competitive district. Pursue your goal, put together a strong package for your nomination and USNA application, prepare for your interviews, and hope for the best.
 
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