Timeline and Questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Air Force Academy - Colorado Springs
1

<p>Recently I’ve been doing an immense amount of research on the application procedure that is facing me in the upcomming months. The thing is though, I’ve been overwhelmed with info on it. To the point that i really don’t know what to do when. I’m asking if anyone can outline the basics timetable of the application procedure, or if they know of a link to somewhere that does well. Many of my question include “when does the academy start accepting applications, and do you apply there independent of your congressman/woman?”, “what do you have to do about the DOMERB medical exam?”, “what is the difference between a flying nomination and a non-flying nomination,” “for the PAT, do you need those results on your congressional nomination applications or not?”</p>

<p>That’s a lot of questions…but some of the stuff that’s been on my mind. If anyone can help me clarify these…a huge thanks goes out to you. I have a feeling that a basic timeline and info on the nomination procedure could be a great resource on these boards. Again…thanks to everyone for their help.</p>

2

<p>Alright..after more research tonight I figured out a lot. One good document solved weeks of questions. My big question right now is this pre-canidate questionaire. I don't get how it works into the application process.</p>

<p>Also..I'm still not too sure about when most people take the PAE...is it before your congressional nomination or not??</p>

3

<p>Pre-candidate questionnaire opens up your file. It allows USAFA to prescreen candidates and only send the full application to the stronger portion of the pool (including DODMERB appts, etc). So do a good job on it. It's the first step.</p>

<p>Most people take the PAE in the summer or fall prior to senior year. Your file is not complete without it; files are reviewed on a rolling basis; those with completed files early have a better shot.</p>

4

<p>falconhopeful:</p>

<p>Look at the West Point discussion under the topic: Tips for Freshman/soph/juniors. Much of that material is applicable to AFA.</p>

5

<p>Alright, this is going to be kind of long because I want to be thorough. This timeline is just how I did it.</p>

<p>late February junior year- I applied for Summer Seminar. This involved filling out and submitting an electronic app. </p>

<p>late June, junior year- I went to Summer Seminar. SS is more for your own personal benefit, though. The PAE administered there doesn't count. The only thing that's helpful application-wise about SS is that your element leader writes you a recommendation that goes in your application file, and this can be very helpful to candidates who might be "borderline" or need that little extra push to get in.</p>

<p>also in June- if you don't go to Summer Seminar, fill out the pre-candiate form thing on the website. I'm not quite sure when the form is available (if you go to SS you might not need to fill it out), but fill it out as soon as possible. Don't fret over this though, it's basically just a form that weeds out any unqualified candidates (married, scores out of range, etc).</p>

<p>July and August, summer before senior year- I went to two practice PAE days hosted by the local ALOs. While yours might not have this, definately practice for your PAE. If there is one area that you need extra work in, practice that. Also, stay in good general shape. I found that helped me the most. I would recommend doing something that gives cardio and strength benefits (ie, swimming).</p>

<p>August/early September, summer before senior year- I got my appointment card from DoDMERB. SCHEDULE YOUR EXAM THE DAY THIS CARD COMES. They WILL find something "wrong" with you or make a mistake with your forms, which is why you want plenty of time to get it all corrected. You might even need to redo an exam. I think I had my exam in the beginning of September and didn't have my CORRECT Nav Qual until sometime early in December. </p>

<p>In terms of the flying/non-flying thing you were asking about, I think you're referring to Comission-qualified, Navigator Qualified, or Pilot Qualified. All these are based on your sitting height, eye-sight, and other medical things outlined elsewhere. Because it is the law that USAFA must admit a certain portion of their class that is pilot qualified, this is what you want. Nav Qual is also good though, it's comission qual that probably hurts you more than it helps. If you're only comission qual you're going to have to compete for one of about 400 spots, as opposed to pilot/nav people who are competing for about one of 600+ spots. Don't worry if you're only Nav Qual and you want to be a pilot. Plenty of people end up getting waivers as Firsties.</p>

<p>early September, senior year- I submitted an application for a congressional nomination. Different congressmen/senators/whatever have different policies and different deadlines, so make sure you know them all and get that information early. Make sure you have everything in for those as early as you can, trust me it's worth a little elbow grease in the summer getting your nom packets together (transcript requests, SAT scores sent, rec letters for teachers handed out, etc) so you don't have to worry about them later. </p>

<p>September- I got the actual packet of application materials from USAFA and distributed teacher recs. If you can bring the forms to your teachers (to an English teacher, a chem or phys teacher, a math teacher, plus your councelor, all from junior or senior year) during the first or second week of September, you will be happy, and they will be happy.</p>

<p>early October- I took the PAE. This is probably a good time to take it because you've had the most time to get in shape, but it's still not too late. Ace it on the first try. It looks better and it's a lot less stressful. </p>

<p>October- I filled out the rest of the app-packet. This includes sending high school and college transcripts and SAT scores. Again, do this early because there is a chance something will go wrong (ex, CollegeBoard might misplace your SAT scores). I wrote/edited all the essays (type them first before transcribing them) and filled out the scantron forms. Signed the drug/alchohol sheet with my ALO.</p>

<p>late October- I sent in my completed packet. The academy starts accepting applications, I believe, as soon as they send them out, and accepts them until January 31 (although this I am not sure about). The earlier you submit, the better though, and the earlier you submit, the higher your chance for getting an "early" appointment. </p>

<p>November- I had my ALO interview (which was really informal for me) and my Congressional Boards. Not much you can do there except wait for them to call you and schedule everything for you.</p>

<p>Other advice? Don't wait for approaching deadlines. Fill everything out as early as you can. Also, just because you get in everything early doesn't mean you will be admitted early; it's really more for your own peace of mind (and to allow for time to fix any problems that might come up). Problems will come up, but don't freak out about them. Just keep making phone calls, asking questions, and bothering people until your problem is fixed. Also, stay in close contact with your ALO. It's his job to help you through this, so make sure you develop a good relationship with him.</p>

<p>If you have any more questions or I left something out, please ask more. I'm happy to help. :)</p>

6

<p>Thank you for such a thorough timeline. How extensive were the board interviews?</p>

7

<p>Well, I really think it depends on the person you're getting the nomination from and where you're getting it. I'm sure in un-competitive districts, the interview process is pretty informal. If you're up against a slew of highly qualified people all fighting for five slots, then the interview suddenly becomes alot more important and the questions all the more extensive. Then again, it also depends who sits in on your board.</p>

<p>My district was pretty competitive, but my friend had a reasonably mild board of officers sitting in on her interview. She told me they were pretty relaxed and didn't prod her too much. I on the other hand felt somewhat antagonized by the kinds of things they were asking me. I realize now that they ask difficult questions to see how people respond. They don't want candidates cracking under the pressure or getting riled up, etc. It's really all about maintaining your composure, but it doesn't seem like that when you're being asked what (sometimes) seem like unfair questions.</p>

<p>For example, I recall saying something innocently (I can't remember exactly what) that prompted the most senior officer there to jump on me with a response like, "So what are you going to do when somebody you think is less intelligent than you is giving you orders? Are you just going to defy them and do what you want?" </p>

<p>I was a bit surprised by this to say the least, but I said something like, "Well sir, that's a different situation entirely. In such a case, you yeild to your commanding officer, no questions asked. That's your job. You don't question, you follow." I was also surprised when the same officer made an issue out of the solitary B on my transcript.</p>

<p>Either way, I guess they were all satisfied with the answers I had to give, but the trick is just to remain calm, and probably not getting defensive or acrid is harder than answering the actual questions themselves. My advice for the interview would just be to be relaxed and realize that your composure means as much as your answers.</p>

<p>I assume the kinds of questions they ask though are basically the same no matter where you go or how formal/informal the whole process is. What sorts of leadership qualities do you have, why do you want to go to USAFA, what makes you the best candidate, do you want to fly, what got you interested in this, will you pursue ROTC/Acad Prep if you aren't accepted into the academy, what are your goals in life- all pretty standard questions that I imagine get asked wherever you are. If you want, I can copy/paste or PM you some of the specific questions they asked me.</p>

8

<p>vampielinred - Again, thanks for taking the time to answer the question. Did you get a chance to ask THEM any questions? Sounds like you did a remarkable job in maintaining your composure and bearing. How many others applicants were there when you were?</p>

9

<p>Thank you thank you thank you...you've done a great service by putting a lot of these events into prespecitve. Only question that arose though...by what you said earlier...it seems that your saying those who go to summer-seminar don't have to fill out the pre-canidate application?? How does this work?</p>

10

<p>If Air Force is like WP or USNA, the application for the summer program is used to open your file. Then you wouldn't need to fill out the pre-candidate application as you already have an open file and are considered an applicant.</p>

11

<p>falconhopeful06- First of all you're welcome. I'm really happy to help. :)</p>

<p>But to answer your other question, it just depends. It's supposed to work like momoftwins said. The application for SS is more or less the pre-candidate questionaire. I had to fill out the questionaire though because there was a computer glitch for the SS candidates in my session, and while we were there, we were told to fill out the online form just to be safe.</p>

<p>Nothemomma- I did get a chance to ask the people on my board questions, but I kept them reletively simple because I wasn't getting a friendly "vibe" from any of them; basically I just asked questions for protocol's sake to show them I was interested. I'm sure in other boards though the people are much more open and friendly, it's really a case by case basis. In terms of how many people were there for AF noms, I can't say exactly (because people go in one at a time and have staggered appointments, some are interviewing for more than one place, etc), but I know there were at least 10. I wish I could tell you the precise number.</p>

12

<p>Alright, I have another question for you all. I've always wondered how the number of academy appointments added up with there only being 5 slots per senator (even with the alloted military appointmes). Recently though I've been seeing many references to the idea that those who's appointments were submitted through a senator, and recieved a letter of assurance can be admitted without being charged to their congressman's 5 person limit. Everything else I've seen on the academy site etc. makes no reference to this. It would make sense...but I'm not sure right now. Could anyone clarify?</p>

13

<p>Falconhopeful06
Try this link to West Point. I would expect the process to be nearly identical for all Service Academies.
<a href="http://www.west-point.org/academy/malo-wa/educators/noms.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.west-point.org/academy/malo-wa/educators/noms.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>CM</p>

14

<p>That's actually where I got the idea from...it dosen't make it extremely clear though if that's correct or not.</p>

15

<p>Qualified alternates who get a nomination from a senator or congressman but aren't admitted as "that congressman's" nominee, don't count against their 5 allowances. That's how LOA's are often filled and how multiple nominees sometimes come from a single district or senator. I've written about this before on this forum, so I know there's a more complete explanation of this somewhere. Qualified alternates can make up several hundred members of every class.</p>

16

<p>docfrance - Are chances of getting in a whole lot less if your only nomination source is an Honor School? What about that along with being a sport recruit?</p>

17

<p>I'm honestly not really up on the whole "honor school" process. Your chances are MUCH higher if you are being recruited for an intercollegiate team and the coach identifies you as such.</p>