<p>Remember, your goal is to be an Air Force pilot. And, there are many ways of achieving that goal. USAFA, USMMA, ROTC, OCS. Work hard and prepare yourself and check out all your options. Figure out which one is right for you.</p>
<p>Yea. My parents are strong supporters; and so is all my family. </p>
<p>You know what they say; "Have at least 2 fall back options because life can take twists and you can't always twist with it!" So, I mean, if this whole USAFA doesn't work out the way I've been hoping; hey! I could always fall back on UCLA or UC Berkely with ROTC; or who knows right?</p>
<p>Backups are a smart idea. I kind of forgot that little detail, so it's a good thing USAFA came through. :) And don't forget to have some fun, Tim. You don't want to come out of high school socially challenged. haha, I'm teasing you. ;)</p>
<p>Lol I'm definatly not socially challenged! Try persuading anyone I know of that-</p>
<p>Just want to point out that you only live once. I know we all here want to fulfill our dreams during our lifetime and we will do anything to get there. But there comes a point that is obsessive; if you are lacking social skills and losing friends because you want to study, there may be a problem. It doesn't matter if you have a 4.0 GPA with 34 ACT, have hundreds of hours in your logbook, if you can't pass the FC1, you won't be flying for the USAF. </p>
<p>Spread yourself out and try new things; high school is where you get the chance to determine what interests you. An individual with a strong personality will go further than one with strong academics...</p>
<p>Here here! Strong personality is a good thing in interviews, in my experience, and a great interview can help you out a tremendous amount.</p>
<p>But a 4.0 GPA doesn't hurt either. And if you don't have strong academics you won't get into the Academy, so... Balance! That's the key. Like momof3boyz likes to stress, the Academy assumes a "whole person" perspective.</p>
<p>just one reminder: don't stress too much about being perfect in everything, cause it won't happen. i hated the first 3.5 years of high school because i stressed over grades WAY too much. not saying you should work hard, oyu should. but don't forget to enjoy life too. if i was as much a perfectionist here as high school, i'd be gone.</p>
<p>and about the gf, you beware of the "2% club" ;) j/k. good luck pursuing and getting in.</p>
<p>these guys are right, I mean, i'm a sophomore too, and they all offer great advice. from what i've heard, leadership and grades are really important along with the interviews with the congressmen and ALO's. and SAT's are also right at the top with grades. but hey, keep it up, lets hope that we'll both be there!!! 2013!!!!!!!</p>
<p>I HIGHLY recommend cross country, I think it teaches discipline and persistence. My main sports in high school were cross-country and track and I got in... But I would have to guess the main reasons I got in were decent SATs 660 writing, 670 math 680 verbal = (1350 math/reading) President of Photography and Film Club, and my essay. I wrote my essay on this nightmare English teacher at my school that only crazy people signed up for, and only sadists endured and I was one of the eight students who actually endured her.</p>
<p>So, if I were you, i would do maybe two sports, one of them being cross country, study madly for the SATs and ACTs, get the GPA to 4.0 accum by senior year. Try starting a club, and being the president, or run for a leadership position in an existing club, or run for class office. If you have that along with everything you have now, you should be more than set. Hope to see you at USAFA 2013 :)</p>
<p>Just an echo... absolutely everything said above is on the mark. Honestly it sounds like youre on a great start and you resume' at this point sounds a lot like mine. With your license handy you'll be able to compete for the Academy Flying Team and you'd be a step ahead for flight screening and pilot training. About 'fun' definitely dont kill yourself now. I was just as gung ho as you as a sophomore but as time wears on you can get burnt out, just save time for you as well. Again the sports are key, try to be a captain. As for CAP thats a great place to start leadership. I was a First Sergreant and and Flight CC in my squadron among being on the Honor Guard as well. </p>
<p>Make sure this is something YOU want though, if you work hard and can SUCCESSFULLY balance academics, athletics, extra cirriculars and CAP that's an extremely strong base for the academy; then there's the application :)</p>
<p>Try to become an officer in your civil air patrol squadron. The air force holds JROTC and Civil air patrol in high regard.</p>
<p>one note on that, it also depends on your unit. if yours is good, great, and i encourage it. mine was, well, on probabtion for a while with threat of being shut down to say the least. i dropped out of the program because it wasn't beneficial enough, and that didn't hurt me at all. a lot of ppl who are here have never done either CAP or JROTC, and they do fine.</p>
<p>but again, if its something that interests you and you enjoy it, go for it, and the leadership opportunities are good too. i had just spread my self out too thin, and needed to cut back, and that was the least beneficial. i have some great memories, tho, and leaderhsip examples to learn from (most bad, but some good)</p>
<p>Most people here (I know 3 who have done it) do not do JROTC or CAP. It's not necessary at all. Also, if you do JROTC or CAP don't tell anyone here, you'll get crap for it.</p>
<p>Be proud of your accomplishments, just don't brag...most people won't give you crap unless you seem to be overly proud/bragging.</p>
<p>I would say be proud of your accomplishments but remember that everyone here has the same accomplishment! i.e. being in CAP or JROTC is trumped ten fold by being appointed to USAFA... I say this only because I had an interesting talk with a JROTC from NJ (my home state) who was (and this is quite the euphemism) "very out of shape"-- who told me that after JROTC, basic should be a piece of cake... I gently corrected him. From what I here they are two VERY different things, but throw it on the application and learn from the discipline of it-- thats an invaluable skill here.</p>
<p>Yeah, the USAFA guys are right. CAP and JROTC are good, but the appointment is the true accomplishment.</p>
<p>Benjo6, I haven't seen you on CC for a while. It's good to see you back on. :)</p>
<p>thanks Falcons'11 yea its hard to find time-- believe it or not I read more then i write just to get the pulse of 2011 etc... Can't wait to meet you guys</p>