<p>In a recent post, UNcynical said the attrition rate for USAFA is 26%. Does anyone have any percentages or ideas about how many of those are because they just can’t make it academically?</p>
<p>I'm sure everyone's decision is a mixture of reasons, but my son said everyone recently received an e-mail suggesting that if they were considering withdrawing to please do so on Dec 13 when they have organized a group out-processing day. He thought that was kind of a depressing way to organize it. The 26% figure seems a little high compared to the stats in college guides like Peterson's. However, most colleges would be quite proud of a 74% graduation rate (within 5 years). My son also said something about a group who calls themselves the "square root club" because the square root of their GPA is higher than their GPA. (For you math challenged people, only quantities less than one have a square root larger than the quantity.)</p>
<p>I have a son who is a falcon at Northwestern Prep right now. He has a real vision for being an officer in the Air Force and is working hard to get there. He has many great qualities but schoolwork does not come easy for him. He has to work longer than most for the grades he gets. I would just hate to see him work so hard to get to the AFA, and then not be able to make the grade.</p>
<p>USAFA works harder than any other university I know of to help people succeed. In many ways a good attitude ranks above ability. People who are used to working hard for their grades may even have some advantage. Tell your son we're all pulling for him!</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement, RTBdad.</p>
<p>26 percent. Does anyone have any references for that, I never remember it that high, then again, I never had a great memory.</p>
<p>It's about 5% for beast, 5% for the first semester, a little over time, and a bit just before commitment.</p>
<p>It has held fairly constant over the past few years.
It was at its highest during the '70s with a 35-40% rate.</p>
<p>According to PrepHQ.com 89% of freshmen return to the Air Force Academy. This will vary slightly from year to year, the year I am quoting appears to be 2005. By the way 96% and 92% of freshman return to the USNA and USMA respectively.</p>
<p>Also from the same site: 9601 applicants, 1402 admits (this figure counts students who were admitted but decided not to enroll.)</p>
<p>PrepHQ.com is subscription based website, provided to my son free of charge by his school - very handy.</p>
<p>Patriotmom -- one great thing is how classmates in the same squadron really do seem to help each other. My son had real difficulty in one class and he had a LOT of help, both from the teacher and his squadron. Just had to ask. He's doing VERY well now. They are taught from the begninning to help each other and they mean it!</p>
<p>My son has seen some of that already, even at NWP. Others have helped him in his studies. He has helped others with not giving up in running, etc. I am encouraged by your comments and he refuses to be discouraged. ( :</p>
<p>Out of the cadets I personally knew who dropped out, they both were struggling a LOT with academics (GPA < 2.0) . However, almost always there is more than only one factor that makes a cadet decide to drop out. It usually starts out with severely disliking the lifestyle, and then something like academic or honor probation to push them over the edge. 6 months of probation is harsh, and some would just rather leave. But let me add that the reason they were doing poorly academically was their OWN fault; horrible work habits, procrastination, staying up way too late, wasting their time, etc. (one of those who dropped out was my old roommate). The academics themselves aren't impossible, but developing good study habits in this lifestyle can be, to some people. The only people I see struggling with grades are those who aren't putting any effort into good time management.</p>
<p>Your son sounds like he is positioned for success here based on his reasons for wanting to come (becoming an air force officer). Just a hint, that is the "correct" answer that anyone who interviews your son will be looking for. Sure there are additional reasons people want to come to USAFA - to be a pilot, free education, good career opportunities, etc. but the biggest thing they look for is the willingness to become an officer and serve your country. Those who are here for the "right" reasons are always motivated to push themselves through success here, while those here for the wrong reasons (parental pressure, only caring about the pilot slot, etc.) are the ones who can't appreciate their opportunities and lack the motivation to put in the effort required to make it through.</p>
<p>The ones that quit (besides those who get medically turned back during the year) are almost always the same. They're undermotivated, don't want to be here, and didn't come here for the right reasons.</p>
<p>Even those who struggle will stay if they find a good reason to be here. My roomate had a tough week a couple weeks ago and was talking very seriously about transferring out when the semester ended. However, this last week we got to finally fly the flight simulators in our military studies class. That alone was enough to help him realize he still has a reason to be here.</p>
<p>MAKE SURE you have a good reason to be here before you come here, or I can almost guarantee you will outprocess, if not seriously consider it and have one hell of a horrible time.</p>
<p>What happens when a cadet is placed on probation?</p>
<p>There are four kinds of probation, academic, athletic, conduct, and honor. I am on athletic probation right now. I have to go to a two hour mandatory workout three days a week, and have to file a bunch of extra paperwork to use my passes. Academic probation is also restricted and has some other stuff to do. I really don't know about conduct, but that's only if you screw up badly. Honor is the worst. Cadets on honor probation are restricted (they need the group AOC's permission to leave base), they have to make presentations on honor, and fill out journals...i.e. it stinks, BIG TIME.</p>
<p>My son has a friend on honor probation. The inability to leave can be demoralizing but in this case, I believe he is lucky to still be at the Academy. </p>
<p>I think the thing that struck me about it is how fast you grow up at a military academy. I remember a letter from my son soon after Basic where he said essentially, "I am a soldier now. It's a little sad that I have had to grow up so quickly." When he comes home, he is very proud of the choice he has made and the uniform he wears, but I know he also wonders (sometimes) what it would have been like for him in a normal college. He won't leave -- it's so very much the right choice for him -- but it is easy to see why many do.</p>
<p>26% may seem high, but it's a slightly conservative estimate. Here are a few numbers on my class: Being the first class to enter after 9/11, there were 16,508 applicants
(ref: <a href="http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SS_100504_Drop,00.html)%5B/url%5D">http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SS_100504_Drop,00.html)</a>.<br>
Of those, only 1207 were let in. From those, 889 graduated, meaning 318 who inprocessed with my class did not graduate with us. Using that number, I get 26.35%. According to an article in the Academy newspaper, "just over 870" graduated, meaning that the attrition rate could have been as high as 27.92%.
(ref: <a href="http://www.csmng.com/images/academyspirit/academyspirit_2006-05-31.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.csmng.com/images/academyspirit/academyspirit_2006-05-31.pdf</a>)</p>
<p>It's already been touched on, but I thought I'd add my 2 cents on cadets getting kicked out for academics. I was on academic staff for half my time as an upperclassman (and training staff the other half). While it is very common for cadets to be on academic probation at one point or another, especially during their first year, not many get kicked out for it early on. As time goes on, expectations raise and the Academy will not tolerate someone who repeatedly fails to meet standards in academics (or athletics or military). Prior to commitment (half way through the Academy, right before 3 degree year), cadets tend to be looked at harder. This isn't to say that if a cadet in his last two years ends up on academic probation for a semester that he'll get kicked out, but it should obviously be avoided if possible. Very few cadets who get kicked out have academics alone to blame, and only a VERY tiny number of those were "doomed" to fail due to not being smart enough to make it. There is a phethora of resources for cadets to get help if they are truly motivated to do well. This doesn't mean that cadets will necessarily be able to get straight A's if they work hard, even if they did in high school, but they can make it through. Being the cadet academic officer in my squadron last year, the majority of people who I worked with were in the lower 2 classes, and they fell into a few categories: those who needed help to organize their study habits and were willing to learn and work hard to succeed, those who made a poor decision in prioritization or had a personal issue going on but who knew what they needed to do to get back on the right track, and the most frustrating group to me: those who would say whatever they thought I wanted to hear and would overestmate how well they were doing, making "reasons" for why they didn't do this or that or for why they think their study method is better, never fessing up to the whole truth of the severity of their situations until grades were already out. You can only help someone so much, but it's up to them to make the right choices. I took a very proactive approach to assisting people in my squad, but many other academic officers left it more to their cadets to sink or swim on their own. Regardless, there are so many resources available to academically at-risk cadets. For example, you will not find a better teaching staff than at the Academy. What other school has small clas sizes where not only do the instructors know all of their cadets by name, but they provide them with their office locations, e-mail addresses, office phone numbers, and usually home phone numbers, AND they are always more than willing to spend time going over things with cadets who are motivated and willing to meet them half way. But again, what it all boils down to is whether a cadet can admit they need help and whether or not being at the Academy means enough to them to make the necessary measures to ensure they stay there.</p>
<p>In the first year, if I had to make an educated guess, I'd say the number one reason cadets leave is because they don't want to be there, whether it be because the military lifestyle isn't for them (you mean that in addition to classes you gotta do military stuff at a military academy??), the college stories from their friends get to them, or they realize their heart isn't in it, just to name a few. If someone came to the Academy for the wrong reasons (to please parents is a HUGE reason), they will most likely leave, as it's not something you get endure if you're only doing it for other people. There's a smaller number of people who are somehow able to stick it out to avoid the disappointment of people back home, but they are truly miserable people who end up being very resentful.</p>
<p>Having a son at West Point, I have focused more attention on USMA attrition rates than the other academies. However, I believe the attrition rates and reasons are fairly similar among the academies with West Point having slightly higher attrition.</p>
<p>I haven't seen any published information classifying the reasons for separation/resignation. Here are my personal observations based on various discussions with parents and cadets. The estimated attrition rates are based on numbers I have gathered for the USMA Classes of 2004 -2010.</p>
<p>End of Beast - about 5% of class drops. Some due to injuries but most due to decision that USMA is not what they were expecting/wanting.</p>
<p>End of 1st semester(Christmas break) - another 5% drops. Some have academic problems but most decide that USMA is not what they want. They feel they have given it a fair shot by staying a semester.</p>
<p>End of 2nd semester - 2-3% drop. Mostly academic and physical separations. </p>
<p>End of 2nd Year - 6-8% drop. This is the last point that cadets have to depart USMA without a financial or service obligation. Some are based on academic/physical issues, but most of the group leaving have decided they do not want to take on the service obligation.</p>
<p>If you've been counting that adds up to about a 20% attrition during the first two year (Class of 2007 had a 21% rate and Class of 2008 had an 18% rate). </p>
<p>About 5% more cadets separate during the final two years. I think most of those are due to academic, physical and a few behavioral problems. That adds up to about 25% attrition on average (Class of 2004 was 21% while Class of 2006 was 27%). Class of 2007 has a 23% attrition rate as of August 2006.</p>
<p>By comparision, I believe the USNA and Air Force has four year attrition rates closer to 20%. (Altough an earlier posting here claimed 26% at AFA)</p>
<p>Before you think these are high. The USMA Class of 1977 had the highest attrition rate during the last 35 years with 48%. During the 70's the attrition rate averaged in the 35-40 % range. Navy and Air Force had similarly higher rates during that period.</p>
<p>It should be noted that almost all colleges had higher attrition rates during the 60's and 70's than they have today. At that time it could almost be a point of pride that a tough program caused a high drop-out rate. Today, colleges are judged partly by what percentage they graduate within five years. Unfortunately that has led to the dumbing down of some programs that want their graduation rate to remain high. The attrition rates at the academies probably do not really reflect any great flaws in their programs or admissions procedures, but rather what might best be called normal human behavior in a free society.</p>
<p>"By comparision, I believe the USNA and Air Force has four year attrition rates closer to 20%. (Altough an earlier posting here claimed 26% at AFA)"</p>
<p>My class was somewhat an exception, for numerous reasons. While each class is a bit differerent, 20% sounds about right for an average.</p>
<p>...and yes, I realize that even 26% bears little resemblance to attrition rates in the brown shoe days. ;)</p>