What are my chances of getting in?

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FencingSF

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Hello, I’m a junior in high school currently in New Jersey and am applying to USAFA. I wasn’t exactly sure how I’d compare to others and my chances. Any advise that may put me ahead of others. These are my stats:

ACT: 31 (taking in April, but practice exam was about this, expect to get a 32 on my actual)
GPA (weighted): 4.59/5.33 (so A student, with one b+
GPA (unweighted); 3.98/4.33
Fencing Captain and Starter (State Champion School)
Eagle Scout
Marching Band Captain (Trying for Drum Major next year)
School Wind Ensamble
Taking BC Calculus and AP Chem. Got 4 on AP Statisitics. Taking AP Biology next year.
Class rank not released yet

I also know New Jersey has very few applicants. Do I look good, or do I need more?
 
I second Boys State. Great program. Adds a few points to the WCS
 
Looks to me like you're at a great place right now. Do everything you can to show well rounded leadership in all areas. Like kwade2018 said, volunteer and be active in community roles, and also be active in school clubs if you can. Showing diversity will help you application stand out among the rest. Best of luck!
 
Agree with all above posts.
Find out which congressional district you're in. Do a search of your MOC's press releases (thru their website) for the last several years' announcing their USAFA nominees. Some MOC do this, some don't. I know of 1 candidate who was the 1st. AFA one to apply in the last 5 yrs. for a district. Of course this is unheard of in very competitive districts such as in Virginia around the DC area.
USAFA chances are better for your state as most wish to go to Army or Navy, close by SA's where parents could attend church services & see their Cadet/Mid every Sunday!
You can also do this for your Senators but since they cover the whole state, chances are their slots are filled for every yr. Good Luck!
 
BBQ-Devil said:
I second Boys State. Great program. Adds a few points to the WCS
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Boys State for NJ starts on June 21 for me, but depending on whether or not I get accepted to the SS, I will be returning the night before. Additionally, I am working as a camp counselor and will be unable to attend it. For community work, I have volunteered hundreds of hours to the community through Boy Scouts. Talking about school clubs, I play in the pit for the school musical.
 
FencingSF said:
Boys State for NJ starts on June 21 for me, but depending on whether or not I get accepted to the SS, I will be returning the night before. Additionally, I am working as a camp counselor and will be unable to attend it. For community work, I have volunteered hundreds of hours to the community through Boy Scouts. Talking about school clubs, I play in the pit for the school musical.
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Boys state has three sessions. You can ask USNA to allow you to attend another session that does not run into Boys State. You school will allow you to take exams early to attend both events if necessary.
 
FencingSF said:
Hello, I’m a junior in high school currently in New Jersey and am applying to USAFA. I wasn’t exactly sure how I’d compare to others and my chances. Any advise that may put me ahead of others. These are my stats:

ACT: 31 (taking in April, but practice exam was about this, expect to get a 32 on my actual)
GPA (weighted): 4.59/5.33 (so A student, with one b+
GPA (unweighted); 3.98/4.33
Fencing Captain and Starter (State Champion School)
Eagle Scout
Marching Band Captain (Trying for Drum Major next year)
School Wind Ensamble
Taking BC Calculus and AP Chem. Got 4 on AP Statisitics. Taking AP Biology next year.
Class rank not released yet

I also know New Jersey has very few applicants. Do I look good, or do I need more?
Click to expand...
Different districts in NJ have different interest levels. In mine, while there are fewer USAFA candidates than USNA or USMA, there are still candidates for USAFA.
 
If I can share a few seemingly minor bits of advice...

Work out for the CFA. Do the test at least once a month to guage progress. Two areas it's easy to miss on seem to be the shuttle run and basketball throw, especially the latter. Get a real basketball. Get down on your knees. Practice throwing the thing. My DS thought it would be a joke considering how fit he is. The first time he tried it he threw 47' average. That got his attention. By the time he took the evaluation for real he was throwing 85-87' per throw. Pure technique difference, no real strength addition for the improvement. The shuttle run can also be hugely affected by technique. For the mile time improvement, there are good videos online for fast (4-6 weeks) training methods. Surprisingly, the best training to improve a mile run time is not to run miles (exclusively). My DS improved from 7:15 to 5:46 min/sec over 8 weeks.

Anyway, you may not be a super athlete, and that's fine. Work to at least meet average stats on the CFA but with a little preparation you can excel in technique in a couple areas where pure strength and/or endurance aren't really what's being measured.

I suggest joining National Honor Society, at least in your senior year.

Kahn Academy for SAT/ACT prep.

Check your Congressional and Senatorial web sites for nomination information. Most want a photo, but follow their instructions carefully for the nominating packet. Buy a well fitting and fashionable suit for the interview. Get a haircut. Prepare for the interview by looking online at job interview type questions. Expect questions about current USAF or USAFA events, important or notable current or past USAF related persons. Be prepared to talk about your decision to live a life of service to your country. Be confident... Smile and make eye contact. While preparing for questions, actually ask yourself if this is what you want for your life. While you should be able to speak intelligently about government, do not share political ideology in an interview. Your politics are no one's business and have a greater chance of doing harm than any real good.

Best of luck.
 
All great advice above, I cannot put enough emphasis on Boys State, I truly believed it changed our son dramatically, and boy did it open some doors for him. Boys Nation was amazing!

I would also suggest enlisting your teachers in your plan to apply, they will have to complete evaluations for your applications. Enlist your guidance counselor as well, let them all know how important this is. Get them copies of your resume when the time comes for them to evaluate you.

See if there is a parent group for one or more of the SA's. Our son signed up with a local West Point parent group, and they held mock interviews. Tough panel, great feedback and suggestions to improve. Super experience for him. Do no have parents at interview, they should be chauffeurs at most. :)

Get a whiteboard and list all sources of nomination available to you and their deadlines. Don't procrastinate when you have the ability to apply.

Oh, and spend time with family and friends. This is a marathon but it goes at warp speed. Only 128 days until we deliver our DS to USNA, good luck to you in your journey!
 
Essentially a week of camp hosted by the American Legion. Each state runs their own, and the kids spend a week running a 'mock' State, following their State's constitution. They run for local office, county and state positions. Give speeches, write laws, have elections etc. Our DS came away with great friendships and mentors (counselors) that he is still in touch with. Most boys were all considering university or SA applications.
Each state then sends 2 to represent their state as Senators to Boys Nation in DC.
You can read bills each Senator wrote and presented to their real Senators in DC if you scroll around the Legion website. The American Legion does amazing things for kids.
 
Most Boys State programs are conducted on college campuses and in addition to the program itself, for the rising seniors (just completed junior year) and their parents, it is a "dry run" of sorts for college. In many cases, it is the first time away from home/parents for this length of time and very helpful in that regard. Additionally, for many of the participants it is a chance to find their peer group in a way that does not usually happen in most high schools. The participants tend to be motivated high achieving young men and in many high schools, those are not common. The Service Academies all respect the program and annually send reps to meet with potential candidates at our program. Many other colleges are fans as well and send reps to the college fair that we offer during the week.

FWIW: as a County Chair for Boys State, I literally just got off the phone after making calls to the guidance departments of six high schools ranging from semi-rural to small city and one highly rated private school to get them started on nominating boys for the upcoming session. All of them are highly aware of our program and each of the six would gladly take at least half (if not more) of my available slots.
 
The Boys States program sounds amazing. My DD would have enjoyed something like this - similar to Model UN. Wish we had known about it earlier. For our DS, unfortunately between a summer job (away at camp) and the USAF Summer Seminar, he's already missing a couple weeks of school, and this just doesn't fit. Hopefully that doesn't put him at too much of a disadvantage if he decides to go through with the academy application.
 
OfficerToBe750 said:
The Boys States program sounds amazing. My DD would have enjoyed something like this - similar to Model UN. Wish we had known about it earlier. For our DS, unfortunately between a summer job (away at camp) and the USAF Summer Seminar, he's already missing a couple weeks of school, and this just doesn't fit. Hopefully that doesn't put him at too much of a disadvantage if he decides to go through with the academy application.
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Lots of kids do more than one program like this such as two different academy summer programs or Boys State plus and academy program. Myson did USNA Summer Seminar plus Boys State and had a job when he was at home. He was pretty busy but still found time for mischief, etc.
 
OfficerToBe750 said:
The Boys States program sounds amazing. My DD would have enjoyed something like this - similar to Model UN. Wish we had known about it earlier. For our DS, unfortunately between a summer job (away at camp) and the USAF Summer Seminar, he's already missing a couple weeks of school, and this just doesn't fit. Hopefully that doesn't put him at too much of a disadvantage if he decides to go through with the academy application.
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There is Girls State for your DD. FWIW, our son's high school is on modified year round schedule, he attended Boys State 7 hours from home, was home 14 days, left for 8 days at FBLA Nationals in San Antonio, came home, worked 2 jobs then left for Boys Nation in DC, which was 8 days I believe and he missed the first 3 days of senior year. Wouldn't change it for anything. To affirm what @OldRetSWO stated, our son didn't have peers in high school that he respected. Most were making horrid choices and had lackluster expectations of themselves and others. He was reluctant to attend Boys State, thought he would be spending a week with more of the same unmotivated boys.
What he found instead was by and large 241 boys who were all over achievers with lofty plans and goals. The counselors were amazing, still in touch with them, 1 wrote him a letter of recommendation and has become close to him and he seeks his counsel when needed. The boys are still in touch, they have a huge group chat and discuss current events, their plans, successes etc.

The same is true of Boys Nation, but there he found he was 1 of 100 boys, many of whom had been elected Governor at their program. He said it was a little more competitive but he loved it and has maintained contact with many of them. And, he got to shake Mike Pence's hand!!

Just yesterday they were sharing their current status in the SA hunt and college application process. Really a tremendous program. I discuss it with my students who are interested in higher education all the time. Or, simply in a leadership role sometime in the future.
 
Unfortunately it's not just a matter of reprioritizing to make it work. Appreciate the information and encouragement, unfortunately, we've already done the analysis - it won't fit without going back on prior commitments and other activities important to his application. Will keep it in mind though if for some reason schedules change. My DD participated in a similar type of activity during her high school years and agree, the opportunity to be surrounded by equally motivated students can be a really fulfilling and valuable experience.
 
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