<p>If you have a medical waiver for vision which I hear is pretty common, does this mean that you are in a lower pool of applicants than kids who don’t have the medical waiver? Does it mean that you can’t get a LOA or hear early (before April)? Basically, I know that no more than 35% of the class can have medical waivers and the SAT scores on average are 50 points higher in both Math and Verbal Sections. So it is definately tougher if you can’t see But I’m wondering if it is really a big problem or not. Thanks</p>
<p>For USAFA you don't need a "waiver" per se for vision--that only applies to USNA. While it is true that USAFA looks to have a certain number of their appointees "pilot qualified"--i.e. 20/70 or better vision (among other things)--that doesn't mean that a person who is "commission qualified" will not get an LOA or receive an appointment early on. I'm only "commission qualified" but I received my appointment to USAFA by mid-November. So if you are academically and athletically qualified enough then it doesn't really matter--as long as you are medically qualified in some shape and form--pilot, nav, or commission. </p>
<p>Being "only commission qualified" does give you a very slight disadvantage, but really this is not a huge issue as long as you're OK'd by DoDMERB and are mildly competitive in other areas. Remember, USAFA wants to produce people who are going to be good officers and leaders in the USAF, not necessarily hot shot pilots with good vision. The visual acuity thing can be corrected now thanks to PRK, so USAFA is looking more seriously at other qualifications that attribute to a good officer.</p>
<p>Back when USAFA was founded, every candidate had to be pilot qualified. Now, however, USAFA simply wants to ensure that it has a certain number of people that will be eligible to move on to pilot training after graduation (hence the 35% [or whatever it is] rule). With the advent of PRK, the academy is looking more than ever beyond the whole "can you see well" ideal (as evidenced by this year's entering class being only 44% pilot qualified). Hope this helps and makes enough sense.</p>