<p>I'm on varsity teams but i dont have letters, and i got 3 nominations. Still waiting for appointment though.</p>
<p>Same story as Hornet: no HS sports, but I've done rifle outside of school. My HS didn't offer any opportunity for rifle. I was able to mention my experience (and success :) ) in my application, and I wound up blue-chipped, nominated, accepted and a big "2012" rubber-stamped on my forehead (all right, so I was responsible for the last part ;) ).
I'd agree with Bullet et al.: academic performance comes first, always.</p>
<p>Yet another similar story: only club-level sports at my high school...did indoor soccer for two years, fenced for a year independently, no meets or competitions, no achievements. Didn't end up being a problem at all...BECAUSE of my academics and extra-curricular activities, which were quite good. Again, moral of the story: The AF can always shape you physically, academics and character are much harder to do, and are more important for applicants to be strong in.</p>
<p>blackeyedsuzan71:</p>
<p>You're not the only ballerina to apply to the military, like hornet said...there is actually a ballet group here at USAFA. One of my good friends, also a 4-degree, was also an expert ballerina before coming to USAFA. She got in and is doing fine, so you probably could too.</p>
<p>Like what everyone else has said, don't stretch yourself too thin. If your grades start slipping, take a step back and see what you need to change. But it looks like you're doing pretty good. Good luck!</p>
<p>Arts and the military are by no means exclusive! One of the '07 grads in my old squad turned down Juliard to come here.</p>
<p>I did not have any varsity letters either, and I got an appointment. I did, however, do individual sports and I played for extracurricular leagues. During my interview, my ALO told me that one of the main aspects the AFA looks for in "sports" is in the leadership opportunities. So if you show good leadership potential elsewhere (clubs, churches, etc) you'll be fine. The CFA will show the academy how relatively "in shape" you are, I guess.</p>
<p>Wow! I've got to say, for only 4 to 17 percent of cadets without letters, a whole lot of people seem not to have one!
Do they have big percents at AFA, or is it just me?</p>
<p>The percentage information could be from past years...it's possible that the last couple years have seen a lower percentage of athletic letters than in previous years.</p>
<p>Or...it just could be that the kind of people who don't have varsity letters but are accepted on other merits (high academics, extra-curricular, community service, or even alternate sports) are just more inclined to use the CC forums. :-P</p>
<p>I concur with G4C.</p>
<p>I know that for a fact that our class is in the upper 90's (percentage) when it comes to varsity letters, myself included.
I'm thinking that G4C hit the issue right on the head about CCposters on here. :)
You might also notice that there are/were alot of LOA post on this site, that is highly uncommon but because the average CC poster is on the upper spectrum of academics and overall performance it makes it seem uncommon if one does not get a LOA, which is quite opposite from the truth.</p>
<p>Varsity letters in two "sports"...one of which was actually a sport. Illinois has some strange rules, as they consider Scholastic Bowl to be a sport. I have no idea how that one came to be...team jeopardy is NOT a sport, IMO.</p>
<p>I don't know...that buzzer can give you a real workout. ;)</p>