Do I have a good chance?

<p>I am a senior in high school and I have just started applying to the Air Force Academy. Following are my qualifications to attend, and I’m hoping to get some feedback on how competitive a candidate I am. I would also welcome any suggestions on things I need to work on in order to build a stronger profile. Thank you.</p>

<p>ACADEMICS/ECAs
-GPA: 4.00
-Class Rank: 1st of 407 students
-Advanced/AP courses: AP US History, AP Government, AP Economics, AP English, AP Literature, Physics, AP Physics, AP Calculus I, AP Calculus II, AP European History, AP Statistics
-SAT: 2150
-Rotary Student of the Year, 2003
-Student of the Month, February and November 2004
-National Honor Society Member
-Future Business Leaders of America Member
-Young Republicans Club Member</p>

<p>ATHLETICS
-Soccer: Freshman (JV), Sophomore (JV), Junior (JV), Senior
-Track: Freshman (JV), Sophomore (JV), Junior (JV), Senior
-MVP (JV Soccer) 2004, 2005
-Track Booster Club Athlete 2005</p>

<p>CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
-Good Faith Rescue Mission
-Church Missions Trips</p>

<p>LEADERSHIP
-Senior Class President
-National Honor Society President
-Church Student Leadership
-Editor-in-Chief of school newspaper
-Sophomore Class Delegate</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE
-Baskin Robbins, May 2005-Present</p>

<p>I would say so. one thing though. how were you selected MVP of the JV soccer team as a sophomore, and not make varsity as a junior?</p>

<p>A couple of students transfered to my school. I was close to making varsity, but because there were more new athletes than there were varsity athletes graduating, it was extrememly competitive and I got put on JV again. I have no idea where I'm going to be placed this year. I'm working hard on proving to my coaches that I am ready to be on the varsity team.</p>

<p>You seem to be well qualified. But don't take anything for granted. Work on your application as if you were marginal. Get everything submitted absolutely as soon as possible. If you can get everything submitted by October, there is a good chance you may have a letter of assurance in November. Believe me, there is nothing better than knowing you have an appointment before Christmas instead of having to wait till the middle of March or later.</p>

<p>br2011, Wow! You responded to james3 as if you know something we don't.
Just because james3 did not make the Varsity team his JR year does NOT make him any less of a candidate than the best Varsity player. Athletics is just ONE area that helps evaluate if one can handle the physical demands of BCT and Military Service. </p>

<p>For ALL the new applicants to any of the Service Academies, you have to keep things in perspective. There are thousands of qualified candidates that apply to the SA every year. Each one is evaluated on MANY things. Keep reviewing older posts, Stats on paper are not the only measure. </p>

<p>No one said it was going to be easy. Continue to work hard and don't forget to enjoy your Senior year!</p>

<p>momof3boyz -- to be fair, I don't think br2011 was saying Jame3 was less of a candidate, I think he was just wondering why he wasn't selected to play varsity after getting the MVP. I wondered the same thing when I read it. And I think jame3 answered the question very well. ;) Overall, I agree that Jame3's record looks very good indeed! Best of luck.</p>

<p>Jame3 -- just would add that your record looks very similar to my son (current class of 2010). He received an LOA early in the process, which was a great relief. Note RTBDad's advice of getting everything in as early as possible. And, of course, you never really now why someone is picked over someone else so don't assume anything. I also like the idea of thinking about your application as being marginal -- it can only help your chances.</p>

<p>I certainly would agree with you. I know that appointments to USAFA are extremely competitive and a high honor; it would be prideful and foolish for anyone to assume that his achievements automatically secure him an appointment. In some ways I already feel marginal, so I don't believe I am in danger of putting things off or making assumptions. I am confident, though, that I have what it takes to make a successful cadet and an excellent officer; I just want to make sure that everything about me conveys that to those who make the ultimate decision.</p>

<p>What is the breakdown for your SAT scores? (ie math/verbal/writing) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the academy looks at your writing score as much.</p>

<p>Math: 680
Verbal: 690
Writing: 780</p>

<p>I hope they look at my writing score. I recieved a 12 on the essay, which is the highest you can get. I would say I'm stronger in the English department than math. Not the norm for an applicant, I know. What can I say, it must be the newspaper editor in me... But I do enjoy math and am a very good at Physics and Calculus. Are my scores low?</p>

<p>to momof3boyz.</p>

<p>I didnt mean it like that. in fact i was involved in a similar situation my freshman and sophmore year. was MVP of the JV baseball as a freshman, the coach told me i would start on Varsity the next year, and i ended up only sitting the bench for a few games on varsity. big political mess. </p>

<p>sorry if i sounded rude</p>

<p>BTW amazing writing score. a 12 on the essay is an accomplishment, considering you only get 25 min.</p>

<p>Don't worry, br2011, I didn't take offense at all. It was a good question and I would have to agree that it is an odd situation. I fully expected to be varsity by my junior year, and I think everyone was a little surprised that I didn't. I may not be the best athlete on the team but many of my teammates have told me that I am the most motivating, and I have a strong work ethic. Anyway, some things you can't control and I'm focusing on what lies ahead. I still have a shot at varsity, which I would say at this point is pretty important.</p>

<p>Thanks for the comment on my SAT. Still, if I could swap my writing score and my math score, I think I would. That was my first time taking the SAT, though, and I plan on taking it again. I didn't study for that first one because it was toward the end of my junior year and things were getting pretty hectic. So I am hoping to bump my verbal and math scores into the 700s. It just sounds a lot better.</p>

<p>700 does sound better. I'll be taking it for the third time in October and hopefully i can at least get my math into the 700's. I just make the dumbest mistakes. i really would rather the test be over calculus, rather than deceivingly easy algebra. i got a book though that has a bunch of tricks on how to answer a lot of the problems without solving them. hopefully that will be enough. Verbal is hit or miss. you either understand all of the passages and dominate, or think you understand, and read the questions and see that what you think is the answer is not one of the choices and just start filling in random circles</p>

<p>Good luck getting in. you seem to have a pretty good package.</p>

<p>I know what you mean. I went into the SAT thinking that it was going to be pretty complicated and when I took a look at the math section, it looked so easy that I started second-guessing myself. I think that's where I tripped up. I recently bought the SAT prep book, though, and it gives some good tips on how to approach the math section. The beginning questions are meant to be no-brainers, and then they will get progressively trickier and if you're not careful, you can make a dumb mistake and fall for the wrong answer. So hopefully that knowledge will help me out when I test next time. It sounds like we both approached it the same way. Is USAFA your first choice, too? From what I hear, if you have SAT scores in the 1400s, you're looking pretty good. Good luck to you too, even though you probably don't need it :)</p>

<p>I'm leaning a little more towards USNA, but would be equally excited to go to USAFA.</p>

<p>a 1400 or somewhere around there is my goal. Im at a measly 1280 right now (650 math, 630 verbal) I'm pretty confident i can raise my math pretty high. I wont be happy with anything lower than like 720, maybe get my verbal up to 650, hopefully higher, flirt with 1400. </p>

<p>I'm also taking the ACT, supposedly its geared towards higher caliber students.</p>

<p>It's nice to see some other 2011 hopefuls. I wonder if more people will join as we get closer to nominations, LOAs, and appointments. Speaking of which, I thought that LOAs and early offers of appointment were mostly given to star athletes. I'm not sure where I heard that, possibly an earlier post...</p>

<p>Excellent job on writing, unfortunately, unless it was changed, which I doubt, they don't even consider that score, at all. Which sucks considering you did so well. Even so, you have good scores, so you don't really have to worry.</p>

<p>It's probably a good idea that you try the ACT. I don't doubt that it's geared toward higher caliber students. My sister took the SAT and did ok, but then tried the ACT and got some pretty impressive results. I'd say, try anything you think will display your full potential.</p>

<p>I'm applying to USNA as well, but USAFA is definitely my first choice. I got hooked after talking with a girl from my hometown who is now a second class cadet. I'm very excited about potentially becoming a cadet there. It's on my mind quite a bit now and I have to remember not to talk about it all the time because it would probably annoy the rest of my family. I hope some day that I can join the jump team there, but I've heard that it is extremely hard to get on. I'm sure there will be a lot of opportunities that open up once you get there that you couldn't have known about before. I'll just have to wait and see...</p>

<p>Thank you, hornetguy. My counselor at USAFA included my writing score on my online application, but that still stinks that it doesn't come into consideration very much. Aren't you a currently a cadet? I was reading some other posts and I think you said you were. Do you have any advice on other things that I can improve?</p>

<p>1)Start getting letters of recommendation for your nomination applications and for the USAFA application.
2)Turn your nomination applications in as soon as you can.</p>

<p><strong><em>make sure you read the nomination process thread in the SA parents forum</em></strong></p>

<p>Good luck.</p>