I'm a 13 year old boy and i want to get into the Air Force Academy when i am 18?
I’m 13 and as you already know I want to get into the USAF Academy. At my school we do physical fitness testing and I for the past 2 years have been meeting or exceeding the standards listed for men at the U.S.A.F.A . Though we do not do Push-ups i have tested myself with a couple of friends and i achieved 42. On my report card for the end of the year i received all A’s and two B’s the B’s were in English which was a B+ and the other was a regular B and it was in computer I only received that because my was on an older computer (a toaster as people at my school call them) this computer didn’t have all the nessisary programs that i needed to get an A on the test. i am in sports such as Football, freestyle skiing(trick skiing), golf, and tennis. I have never been in serious trouble (such as drugs, alcohol, vandalism, and so on and so forth.
This summer I plan to be involved in volunteer work. I would like to know if i am a likely pick or if i have a chance to get in to the academy.
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Tagged with: alcohol • couple of friends • drugs • freestyle skiing • older computer • physical fitness testing • push ups • serious trouble • sports • tennis • toaster • ups • usaf • usaf academy • vandalism • volunteer work
Filed under: Ski Fitness
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I do not believe "it is too early." If you have a long term goal, it is never too early on trying to reach that goal.
You have a better chance already because you are asking these questions early. You have more than enough time to lay down a good track record. But you need to stay focused.
You can start right now, this summer on working towards your goal.
If you get a chance to be a volunteer at someone’s office running for election, do so. Find out if your Congressman or Senator is running for re-election this fall. If he is, you can volunteer to help. Or you can volunteer for someone who is challenging him. Right now, if your Senator or Congressman is a Republican, they may be on the way out considering the issues over the economy and war. In that case, working for the Democrat candidate may make sense as he may have a very good chance to win and four years from now when you start really having to shine for an appointment, he will remember you as volunteering for him.
However, it is best to pick a political side and stick with it. Loyalty is a very important characteristic in the service. Flip flopping from one party to another will back fire on you.
High school is what they are really going to look at. Take a deep breath and read on.
Take advanced placement courses. You will have to work harder but it helps show you are willing to tackle the tough work. Never be afraid of asking teachers for extra help. They would rather see students ask for help than to flounder and fail.
Take extra math and science courses than you are required to take. The USAF is a very technical service and if you do get into the USAFA extra math and science will really help.
Take some dual credit courses at your local JR college. Even if you take just one college course each semester for your last three years of high school, you will graduate with far more than the required credits AND will have college credits already on your record.
If you are going to take a language course, do NOT take French, Italian, or any of the other standard courses that our schools seem to be stuck on. Spanish, while it will help you communicate to a large percentage of the troops, is not what the services really need. What they need are fluent Chinese and Arabic translators. If you have two or three years of either and speak it well, it will definitely be something they will notice when it comes time to pick candidates for the USAFA.
(Many colleges require you to have two years of a foreign language to get a bachelors degree. If you do the language at your local JR college, it counts and you will not have to worry about that no matter where you go.)
Get at least a 3.8 average on your core (required) courses. While it is nice to get great grades in everything, it is the core courses that really matter. An "A" in math is worth more than an "A" in Art.
If your high school has a JR ROTC unit, join and work hard to be a leader. A recommendation form the ROTC commander really helps. Try to get on one of the drill teams. The honor guard team gets a lot of notice but it does take up time.
Be involved in school politics, athletics and fund raising activities. You want to show you are not just a book worm.
STAY OUT OF TROUBLE! I do not know how many times I have seen some outstanding candidate get turned down because they got caught up in some prank that resulted in criminal charges, a DUI, a drug bust, a car accident. Part of this is avoiding the crowd that is known to be trouble makers. Those who take ROTC are usually less likely to be trouble makers so that would be a good gang to hang with. Along with this, do not go get a tattoo or body piercing.
Lastly, ignore those who say it is "easy" to get in. Right now, the number of applicants asking to get into the academies is low so odds are pretty good. However, how do you know 4-5 years from now that will still be true? The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be over and the number of applicants may be much higher, lowering the odds.
Keep in mind that sometimes it works out that you do not get offered an appointment in the academy you want but rather get offered an appointment in one of the other academies. (Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine). If you do, do not consider yourself a failure as any offer of an appointment is an honor and recognition of your hard work.
Good luck.
I’m not being rude but its a little early to be thinking about joining. You’re going to go through a lot of changes in High School and more than likely you’ll change your mind.
Absolutely! The good news is, Air Force Academy isn’t hard to get in at all and it’s a very top notch school. I’m in the Air Force right now and from what I’ve heard & seen, it’s easy. Just maintain your high GPA and achieve as much as you can. Try to be "Above All." The best part is, it’s an university like any other universities with collegiate sports like you mentioned: football, hockey, golf, etc. It’s certainly better than joining the AF enlisted right out of high school. You made the right choice, pursue it!
Well, it really depends. Like the other guy said, it’ll be five years before you graduate, so you might change your mind that you want to go in. However, the traits you would need to get into the AFA are also very nice traits to have just in civilian life.
They look for leadership capabilities, since if you get in, you’re going to be commissioned as an officer. Therefore, it’d help if you were in captain positions in team sports/extracurricular activities.
They also want you to show dedication. This means no bad grades. Try to aim for a GPA (grade-point average) of 3.8 or above. That’s roughly equal to all A’s, and one B.
The Congressional/Presidential nomination you need to get in is another big thing that you need to worry about. As soon as possible, try to go meet your Congressman/do internwork, or something of that nature. Make sure they know you, so they won’t hesitate to recommend you.
Thick skin, thick skin, thick skin. You need thick skin. When my brother was in the United States Military Academy, pretty much everyone screamed at him non-stop his first year. He told me that it helps when they’re screaming at you if you start counting numbers or something. I dunno. I think I’d start laughing if they were screaming at me like that, but I’m not in the military, so there you go.
Sorry I can’t help more.
short answer:
stay out of any trouble, get involved in and excel in sports, keep yourself in top physical shape, and work hard in school to get good grades. that may sound cliche but i guarantee if you do all that you can get into any military academy.
plus, colorado springs, where the AF academy is, is a BEAUTIFUL place.
You need to excel in as many aspects of life as you can. When my cousin went he was appointed by a senator, so you need to stand out keep your grades up especially in math and science. You said that you play football and plan to do some volunteer work that is good. Keep that up, and do as much as you can to get noticed. The more the better present yourself as an outstanding citizen in all aspects of life. Good luck.