<p>I know all of you must have other things on your mind right now - like getting that important letter or getting ready for I Day - but I have a question that keeps coming up. I always thought it was harder to get into the AFA than into Annapolis, yet I see the acceptance rate at Annapolis is lower (14%) than at the AFA (18%)? Does anyone have any ideas of why?</p>
<p>More applicants. USNA has a couple thousand more applicants a year I believe, but they are limited to the same numbers as USAFA, so their rate is technically lower.</p>
<p>One interesting (and almost related) statistic is that evidently USAFA does not count the official number of four degrees as those who report for I-Day, but as those who are still there for Acceptance at the end of BCT. So officially about 1302 candidates were admitted to the class of 2010 rather than the 1354 who reported for in-processing.</p>
<p>Ahhhhh, yes. I should have thought of that - more applicants. Do you have any idea how many applicants there are to each academy and why there are so many more to the USNA? </p>
<p>RTB DAD - I'm praying my son will make it through BCT without any injuries. He is mentally prepared and I know he won't quit, but he may hurt himself trying. / :</p>
<p>Certainly in the Northeast and Middle Atlantic states USNA and USMA appear to be bigger draws than USAFA - in Pennsylvania it was about a 3:1 USNA to USAF ratio this year. Annapolis and the yard are impressive - if you like the feel of of traditional east coast campus, on the water to boot ...and relatively close to home (and major population centers) it's a popular choice.</p>
<p>The traditional academies (USNA, USMA...USCGA in a sense) have always had more interest from almost every part of the nation, I think partly because they've been around longer, and the only large populations that live near USAFA are Texas and California. While everyone knows about USMA and USNA, not too many people east of the Mississippi know much about USAFA.</p>
<p>Most parts of Texas seem to be really interested in Air Force. Our congressman was trying hard to encourage people to apply to the other academies - but without much success.</p>
<p>PatriotMom, I bet your son will do just great! Just encourage him to have real wisdom about when to tough it out and when to get help. My son wrenched his shoulder pretty badly. When he went to the nurse, she had him lie down while she checked the range of motion in his arm. She said, "you're awfully tense." He protested that he was not really very tense at all. Then he looked up and realized his arm was straight out and she wasn't holding it anymore!</p>
<p>To reinforce what guy4christ posted: I live East of the Mississippi and I had never heard of the AFA until one night I was talking to a guy I work with and I told him that I was debating applying to the USNA. He told me I should look into the AFA. The next day I became psyched and obsessed. There really isn't much awareness in this area.</p>
<p>As services, the army and navy also have much more to offer in terms of ways to serve. Navy, for one, has marines, subs, aviation, surface, etc etc. Air Force is much more limited and is a different way of life. So this, on top of previous comments, is another consideration.</p>
<p>USAFA is 20% Texan. We are the largest group. In addition, 1/25 people here are from the SE part of Texas (Gulf coast around the Houston Area). Very large representation.</p>
<p>whoop for the texas representation...although my area (panhandle) actually has problems sending/keeping people to the air force academy. it looks like this year we have one to air force, one maybe two to west point</p>
<p>Out here in San Diego its almost embarassing to see how few people actually realize theres such a thing as a military academy, let alone the AFA. People will ask, what college are you going to. I'll say Air Force, or when I know they dont have a chance of understanding, I'll say "the Air Force Academy". All they can say is "wow, so when is your enlistment date", or "why did you study so hard then if your joining the military", they dont even realize its a college, let alone one of the most prestigous in the nation. UGH. sorry big rant, much frustration. But as far as applicants, much more were interested in USNA, then either of the others. No doubt due to the Navy's huge impact on the San Diego area.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think most of us get they "oh, when are you enlisting?" question a few times.</p>
<p>Thanks RTBDad. I will mention this to his dad and see if he will encourage him in this area. </p>
<p>How is your son?</p>
<p>Patriotmom, without wandering too far off the theme of this thread, my son has finally got the physical thing down pretty well. His greatest challenges right now are mental and spiritual. Figuring out what to major in (and about foreign language -something he's not very good in), and dealing with the stress leading up to recognition. Most of the cadets on this forum are really top tier, and sometimes they may make things seem a little easier than they are for the majority of four degrees. Still, the academy is success oriented rather than failure oriented, and the challenges are doable. I would say he's gained about three years maturity in the past six months.</p>
<p>I will definately agree, that one of the most annoying things when you actually get here is the lack of acknowledgement for the academies. The usual questions are where are you deployed, how much does it cost, and a few ignorant people ask Have you killed anyone yet? I think the worst was when Notre Dame was in town. Me and my friend were walking through the tailgate before the game and we admittedly saw some good looking ND girls sitting in a truck. When we walked by, i heard her talking on her cell phone saying, Ooh, two cute Navy boys just walked by in their uniforms. We were at AFA no less. Made for a good laugh later.</p>
<p>Wow, that's just bad. I haven't had ones that bad before.</p>