<p>I am a Junior at a college prep high school in California. My first two years in high school I took mostly honors classes and AP classes (all except spanish and religion) and got A’s, B’s, and a couple C’s. My junior year, I am taking only one AP class (Environmental Science), one honors class (Pre-Calculus), and the rest are CP (college prep) classes. This year, I have finished my first semester with all A’s (4.333 gpa). I am a Boy Scout and am working on my Eagle Rank. I am also a member of the Civil Air Patrol. I play golf for my school as well as Varsity Volleyball. I do community service every few months. I have also been a part of NHS and NSHSS for my entire High School Career. I have not recieved my PSAT scores from my junior year but have scored in the High 50’s and 60’s in each subject when I have taken it the past few years. I’m a part of the surf club, food club, and golf club at my school as well. How much of a chance do you think I have of getting accepted into the academy? Please be honest.</p>
<p>What is your overall H.S. GPA, both weighted and unweighted? Outside of Boy Scouts, what other leadership positions have you had?</p>
<p>I do not know my exact overall GPA but if i had to guess it would probably be a 3.8 or 3.9. Outside of Boy Scouts, I was team captain of our schools JV Boys Volleyball Team last year and am a member of a program at my school called Presidents Ambassadors. We are essentially ambassadors for our school and learn leadership values and how to be a leader.</p>
<p>Unless you are a under-represented minority, you will need to insure you get your test scores up. Ideally for the AFA you will want to his 700’s. You have solid leadership and ECs. Not taking the most challenging curriculum in your school will hurt you and will impact your class rank if your schools weights GPAs. They definitely look at those. I’d say, as things stand now, you are not as strong as other candidates I’ve seen. A lot will depend on the congressional district you are in and competitive it is. If you meet the minimum qualifications for the Academy and you are found to be the most qualified in your particular district, then you are in. Did you apply for their summer program?</p>
<p>“A’s, B’s, and a couple C’s” generally don’t add up to a 3.9 unweighted GPA…</p>
<p>Eagle Scout is good.
NHS and leadership positions are good.
Having varsity athletics is good.</p>
<p>500s in SAT categories is generally sub-par, so make sure your test scores are the best you can do.</p>
<p>I have not applied for the summer program but I plan to.</p>
<p>@MidwesternHeart How do I know which district I am in and can only one person from each district go to the academy?</p>
<p>@raimius The 3.9 is what I think my weighted GPA is.</p>
<p>Weighted GPA is 3.8</p>
<p>unweighted is a 3.4</p>
<p>If you aren’t sure which congressional voting district you are in, do a quick search to find out. Normally, you will need to enter your mailing address to find out if you do not know. Generally, each of the 2 senators from the state will each get to appoint one person per academy and each congressional representative can appoint one as well. There area certain examples where more than one person per district may get into an academy, based on other circumstances. Read everything you can at the Air Force Academy’s website. Also, if you do an internet search you will find a whole website similar to this one that is dedicated specifically for students trying to get into one of the Service Academies or get an ROTC scholarship.</p>
<p>Work hard to get your GPA and test scores up and apply to the Academy’s summer program for rising seniors ASAP.</p>
<p>Ok. I will thank you</p>
<p>First, if you want it, then go for it. Contrary to what somebody else said, your SATs need only be excellent not stellar – in the mid-600s is fine. The middle 50% at the USAFA has SAT scores from 1230 to 1410 – which means that 25% of those enrolled had lower than 1230 on the SAT. Varsity athletics and other extra curriculars are what separate you from the pack. So, get that Eagle badge!</p>
<p>Second, definitely apply for an Air Force ROTC scholarship too. The great thing about living in California is that you have some stellar state universities, including Berkeley and UCLA, which have AFROTC. This is the best “plan B.”</p>
<p>Third, if you want to fly… well, let’s say the future is in drones. Combat pilots will not exist by the year 2030 (perhaps sooner), because drones are far cheaper than training a human pilot. Sorry, but the writing is on the wall. Same with Navy pilots. There might be a few military pilots left in 2030, but you might not be one of them.</p>
<p>
If you look at the numbers closely you will find that the vast majority of under 1230 SAT Appointees are URMs or recruited athletes. Unless you fall into one of those categorizes I don’t think you are very competitive with less than 650 for math and CR. 700 each would be better.
Disagree completely. There are missions that are great for drones and others that require manned aircraft. If the DOD believed the above they wouldn’t have ordered so many F-35s. There will be more manned aircraft than drones well into at least the second half of this century. You will be retired by then. </p>
<p>Haha, no combat pilots in 16 years?!<br>
You do realize that 1969 vintage Hueys and 1950s vintage B-52s will likely still be flying, right? You think the F-35, which is still under development will be gone before then?
I’ve got some oceanfront property in Utah that needs to go!</p>
<p>Congresspersons get one for each academic year. If an appointee leaves from one year they can fill two the next. There are also presidential appointments. My brother ( '94) got one of those. His senator offered Annapolis but he really wanted usafa. For those you need to be child of retired or there may be a few other special circumstances. Test scores and grades do not have to be as high as many of the top academic schools. Character and leadership are just as important. Don’t. Forget to foster the relationship with reps that can make appointments. Even if you otherwise meet requirements it is political too. Good luck. Agree…rotc should be in backup plans.</p>
<p>Err…don’t forget,…oops</p>
<p>
This is not exactly correct. Members of Congress (MOCs) may have up to 5 appointees to each SA at any given time. The 5 could all be seniors, but usually the MOC attempts to distribute his appointees through all 4 class years so that he has at least one to award each year. As Torveaux mentioned, due to people leaving before they commission sometimes the MOC has more than one nomination available in a given year.
Good Luck!</p>
<p>You think they won’t put a robot into the F-35 as soon as they get a chance? That would make it a drone.</p>
<p>see this: <a href=“Lockheed Martin reveals plans for unmanned F-35 JSF among other new UAV concepts | News | Flight Global”>http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/lockheed-martin-reveals-plans-for-unmanned-f-35-jsf-among-other-new-uav-208488/</a></p>
<p>No…I don’t think “they” will put robots in any of the AF / Navy / Marine fighters as soon as they get a chance. There is no need to design aircraft with cockpits for humans if you are going to remotely pilot an aircraft. If you are suggesting that the DOD will turn over an aircraft of any kind to an independently thinking and decision making robotic machine…well that’s just too silly to address. 50+ years from now? Who knows. But during the military flying career of any current HS student…it’s not something to even consider. JMPO…</p>