Air Force Academy Admissions

While I highly doubt that anyone that uses Sythe is/has been a Cadet at the Air Force Academy, I am in severe need of assistance.

I'm currently a Junior in High School, and on March 1st the applications for the Academy open up.

I'll need to acquire the following: A nomination from a state Senator or Congressman or the Vice President and 3 recommendations from teachers.

A nomination is REQUIRED to even be considered for admission to the academy. So for at least 3 individuals I need to put together a packet of a 500 word essay, official transcript, 3 recommendations, etc. and then I'll have to go through an interview process among other individuals seeking out a nomination if they like my application.

I'll need to get in extremely good shape(run a 6 minute mile, 60+ pushups, etc.).

What worries me the most is my GPA and extracurricular activities. My GPA is a decent 3.5 and I haven't done any athletics. My PSAT was 181 which was a low for me(equates to a 1810 on the SAT). I'm taking the ACT in April. All I've got going for me is the fact I'm in two Varsity Choirs. No community service or work experience.

I have ONE month just to prepare for the admissions process to begin, and I am in severe trouble. If I had known what a great University the Academy was a year ago, I could have turned things around, but right now my shit isn't together.

I honestly don't know what to do to stand a chance against the other applicants, and I don't know where to start. We currently have a 5 day weekend, but I'm going to go straight to one of my school counsellors on Thursday when I'm back to get some help.

I've emailed the Air Force Admissions liaison in the area, but it's been a day and he hasn't yet responded. I don't want to go through this grueling application and nomination process if I ultimately stand no chance in the end.

I'd appreciate any advice, and I'd like to say one thing to those of you that are in High School.

If it's not too late TRY YOUR HARDEST. Please. I know that my test scores and decent GPA alone are good enough to get me into Texas A&M and that's where I've been planning on going the past two years. Now I discover someplace I REALLY want to go, and it may be too late for me to fix it. I've been just sliding by until now.

 

As someone who is about to go into the Army, where the physical, and intellectual parts play a huge part, my advice would be to not give up. There's still time to pick up your GPA and test scores if need be, ask your teachers for extra stuff to raise it if possible. I can't really talk though because I dropped out of school twice, not because I'm not smart, but because I didn't lack the discipline to wake up each morning, but in the end I went back and graduated with good grades. It's never too late.

As for the physical part, start jogging immediately. If your cardio isn't that great, start off by walking for 3 minutes, then do a 30 second jog, then walk for 3 more minutes, jog for 30 seconds, over and over. Eventually work your way up and in that month's time, you should be able to run for several minutes at a time, depending on your physique. Same with the push-ups, start doing them throughout the day, if you can only do 5 at a time, do that, and do them every 20 minutes or so, so you give your arms a break. And each day or two, try to up your push-ups by 1.

 

Yeah I was thinking about joining Cross Country next year just to get me ready for all the running, but I have to make sure I have a chance before I commit to something like that.

I'm starting Krav Maga so hopefully that'll help get me in shape too.

If I remember correctly, they'll be receiving my official transcript that includes my Freshman-Junior years of High School(potentially the first half of my Senior year in that too). I just don't know how high I can get my GPA in time for that where it'll really make a difference. I'm at 3.48 and I believe the average is 3.8....

Edit: While the academy is receiving a more complete official transcript, the people I'm seeking a nomination from will see a less complete version. This also worries me.

 

Well whenever you join believe me you will have to take a lot of physical education classes. Also knows as PT training classes, you will also have a lot of Moral Education classes basically teaching you how to overcome life changes from boy to man. You will also need fairly good grades coming out of high school and me strong minded your physical fitness level really dosent matter upon entry because you will be trained accordingly but upon completion of the military academy you will go straight into Officer Ranks/ skip NCO's. So that's a plus ++++but I guess you can get a heads up and start training but id say concentrate more on grades than anything.

 

READ THIS:
FOUND IT ON YOUTUBE

If you are interested in attending the Air Force Academy after high school, you might like to attend one of the Academy's summer sports camps this summer. They are available to students aged 8 to 18. Camps are taught by the Academy's intercollegiate team coaches at the Air Force Academy's world renowned sports facilites, and students are housed in the cadet dormitories.
Comments cannot contain links, so go to the "go air force falcons dot com" website and click on "Sports Camps"

 

I worked out for the first day today. Damn that shit is hard.

I started with the Day 1 prep training off the Academy website.

 

You should push to your limits and never ever ever think that you are gonna fail. You must always think that you are going to pass. Don't think anything negative. You must give yourself a test. If you pass the Academy then the test will be an A+ for yourself.

 

Jesus Christ the requirements to get into the army over there are way stricter than it is to enter over here (Australia). Even to join the Air Force it is NOWHERE near as strict as it is for you guys, that's tough. Keep up the hard work though, and even if you aren't admitted, it'll make you a better person (cliche).

 

That's definitely good advice. I've been telling myself the same thing. I mean it's only been like five days since I made up my mind and decided I wanted to go to the Academy and I've got doubts just because of how incredibly difficult the Academy is to get into.

My class is 446 kids and I'm in the 33rd percentile in terms of class rank, so I need to move up about 50 places to get into 25% to have a chance.

Yeah it's definitely a challenge. Being someone who has suffered with depression for years, it is a massive relief to for once have motivation in my life. The motivation to work out, study, etc. has been something I've been struggling to find for a long time and just the idea of going to the Academy has given it to me.

I went to the first day of Krav Maga today and it's awesome. I'm going back tomorrow night and I'm also going to the gym tomorrow morning.

For the Air Force fitness test I need to be able to run a mile in 6:37(avg. time), and I'm supposed to be able to run 5 miles comfortable. Can anyone here give me a training plan to accomplish that? Keep in mind I'm a few hundred feet above sea level is the Academy is over 7000 above sea level. When I moved from Colorado to Texas I felt AMAZING because I could run so much longer but in the years I've been here I've adjusted.

My top priority is the 6 minute mile as that's what I'm going to be tested on.

To anyone here that runs, I need your advice. What's a good workout to increase my endurance? Right now I can't even run .5 miles COMFORTABLY, and I'm not overweight or anything, I'm just that out of shape.

I don't think I've gotten to the real challenge of this yet. The academic portion. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm really smart and I do great on standardized tests, but god studying for tests is just so boring. It's gonna be hard for me to pull my act together and take notes and study for every test to make sure I ace each test and quiz.

Time management is going to be a new problem. I have Krav Maga up to 4 times a week along with going to the gym. I also have Varsity Choir and we're entering UIL performance season which means rehearsals. I'm going to have to work in Krav Maga time, Gym time, Choir time, and study time in where once it was just Poker time.

I hope I can get into the top 25% of the class by the end of my Junior year, because then I'd get an automatic admit to Texas A&M as a fall back plan. If I don't make it into the Academy I'm going to join the Corp of Cadets at A&M and try and get a full scholarship in return for service after college as an Officer.

I think my biggest challenge is going to be getting a nomination from a Senator or Congressman. I'm getting a recommendation from my Choir director on Thursday to apply to join Teen Court which is a local system in which students act as jurors, defense attorneys, prosecutors, etc. in an actual court where other teenagers have committed some sort of crime. I'm hoping that through this I'll be able to secure a letter of recommendation from a Judge.

I'm going to continue to update this thread with my progress all the way up to March(and maybe further) of 2014, as that is when a majority of acceptance letters are sent out. I'll keep writing as this is by far the biggest challenge of my life, and I need advice and guidance, and the support is very helpful.

So back to my question; workouts for running anyone?

 

I've secured a Presidential nomination, but I'll still need to apply for Vice Presidential, Senatorial, and Congressional nominations to be safe.

I'm joining our school track team(at least I'm trying, it started 2 weeks ago so I'm waiting on the coach to see if I can join late), I'm joining the Civil Air Patrol as a Cadet, I'm applying for Teen Court, and over the summer I'm going to be attending Boys State.

Next year I'm doing wrestling, and I'll try and get accepted to National Honor Society. In the mean time I'm still going to Krav Maga and working out.

I'm taking the SAT on March 9th and the ACT on April 13th.

This is going to be a joy ride...