Chances for admission

Colleges and Universities A-Z Air Force Academy - Colorado Springs
1

Would welcome comments / advice concerning my middle son’s chances at admission to a service academy. Air Force or Navy would be his first choice but he is also impressed by the others. He is very interested in engineering
Here is a summary of his stats and a few brief other factors. he is a Junior.
Unweighted G.P.A. 4.0
Class rank 1 (out of 32, we are in a tiny town)
PSAT 206 Will be National Merit commended but not a National Merit finalist in Texas
SAT 2030 (took it again today) I think he can hit 2100
Class President freshman and sophomore years
Beta Club (an honor society) President
Candidate for Texas state Beta club president (came in second)
Math team state qualifier 2 years (5th in state freshman year, 2nd last year, plan on winning this spring)
National qualifier in beta club science competition (compete in nationals this summer)
4 sport letterman Football (all-district defensive tackle this year, Basketball, Baseball and Track (regional qualifier in discus as soph. hope to do well this year and next)
Acted in district champion one act play freshman and Soph. year In it again this spring
Play Guitar, Bass and Ukulele
Chosen to be a Texas NASA aerospace scholar by my state representative (currently in that STEM program)
Attended the Broyhill Leadership Academy in South Carolina last summer
Worked last summer on the work crew at a summer camp and have been promoted to Jr. Counselor for this summer
Helped organize a water drive to take water to the Oklahoma tornado victims. Filled a whole trailer and delivered it
On Church youth advisory counsel
Started and contribute to a blog along with older brother who is in college
State finalist in beta club talent contest last year. Played Bass and sang.

Vital- 6’1" 194lbs
Athletic…the fitness test should not be any problem
Excellent (20/15) vision

Disadvantages- We are from a very small town. The only A.P. class at our school is calculus and he is in it. He has taken all the honors classes offered but not many are. I worry about getting a nomination because in our congressional district are large towns and our new rep. is from the urban part not the rural part. I am unsure about the political part of getting the nomination. He could not volunteer at his office because it is more than an hour away.

What else do we need to do or work on?

2

I think your son looks like an excellent candidate. You might want to look into Boys State…supposedly carries a lot of weight in the application process. Not sure what state you live in but I would doubt that your local Congressperson will have 10 more qualified applicants. Encourage your son to apply but make sure you have backup plans B,C & D.
Good Luck!

3

My son has now been named an official candidate for the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy. But here is a question I cannot seem to find an answer to. How many initial applicants make the first cut to become candidates? I was curious about how many are cut right off the bat.

4

Why?

5

Just wondering how many were left, I did not know if most
Applicants make it to candidacy or if a lot were cut

6

The only candidates that are cut “right off the bat” are those that are not qualified. Lower than minimum standardized test scores, too old ect. In order to reach the “official” candidate stage an applicant needs to have completed a certain amount of their application. This might also be considered the “Tentative Candidate” stage.
http://usafa.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2014-2015/Catalog/Admissions/Definitions-of-Terms
For reference sake…the class of 2017 had 9706 applicants and 2277 “Qualified Candidates” of which 1170 were admitted. I believe that in USAFA terminology that the status of Qualified Candidate means: A candidate who has met all admission requirements AND has a nomination.
http://www.usafa.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=21371
Good Luck!

7

Thanks…new to this. The letter AFA sent him said his application had been reviewed and was “competitive” and further instructions would follow this summer. The letter from Navy said he was an “official candidate” and actually gave him instructions and a mountain of paperwork to get submitted. Both letters told him to get busy seeking any and all sources of potential nomination. Meanwhile he has started working on the fitness events that worry him. Pull ups are hard for a 196 lb kid even though he is muscular and not fat.