Is there a minimum standard for each fitness test that must be met in order to pass (as in at least 50 pushups or 6:00 mile etc)? I know that West Point posts the results that you would need to get an optimum score, but what exactly would be a passing score? Also, when does the CFA usually take place?
I have never seen minimum scores posted. They want candidates to do their very best not just get the minimum. In the 2006-2007 catalog that was sent to my son there is a chart to show averages (you want to do better than average). Here they are:
BB throw - male = 67 ft., female = 41 ft.
Pullups - male = 9, female = 3
Shuttle run - male = 9.1 sec., female = 10 sec.
situps - male = 72, female = 68
pushups - male = 54, female = 33
1 mile run - male = 6:43, female = 8:06
Candidates can take the CFA at Summer Leadership Seminar or one of your school's gym teachers can administer it. It needs to be done before the application deadline (remember - with admissions "early is on time and on time is late"). I would say most take it during the fall of their senior year. They send instructions in the admissions packet that goes out in August or September of your senior year.
There are no minimums. I was explicitly told this by one admissions officer. It's a competition and they check how far you are away from the bell-curve overall, which explains how one guy in my class did 15 pushups on the APFT but had still managed to get in. He had other credentials.
"There are no minimums"
Not true - There are minimum requirements for each CFA event as well as an overall passing score requirement. These minimum scores are not published. USMA is the only academy that holds candidates to this standard.
The original intent of the CFA was that it would be a common standard. However, my understanding is that the other academies will make exceptions, but USMA will not. So yes, similar but not the same.
No, not speculation, or from questionable sources. The minimum standards are set by the USMA admissions board and are not published for a reason - unfortunately one of them is to stop cheating. I have no idea what the USNA minimum standards are, but if you do please publish them.
Well, if you don't know the USMA standards and I don't know the USNA standards, sounds as if we are both speculating. Ever since the CFA's inception, USNA candidates have been asked to repeat the test, often with the caveat to concentrate on one or more of the areas. Initially, they only published the maximum goals, and a year or so later published averages. I speculate that USNA and USMA pretty much do the same thing for the same reasons, and you claim you don't speculate, but provide no backup, that they are different.
USNA69: The standards are different in that no exceptions to the minimum or overall required score are made for any candidate applying to WP. Other academies have dropped that standard and do make exceptions. If you would like to discuss further please PM me.
^^^^^
USNA69 is correct regarding the CFA. Both West Point and USNA do not publish the minimum standards; however, they do publish the maximums and the averages for each event. Those maximums happen to be the same for USMA, USNA, and USAFA.
For both USMA and USNA, the CFA is a pass/fail test. There are no waivers and there are no exceptions.
The CFA was standardized so that candidates to the service academies would not have to take three different tests. One test covers all three academies.
To obtain an appointment, candidates to USNA must be qualified academically, medically, and physically (and have a nomination). I can assure you that there are many candidates who do not pass the CFA and are therefore ineligible for an appointment.
Last edited by GreatAmerican; 08-09-2007 at 08:02 AM.
Yes, one test covers all 3 academies.
If you can guarantee that USNA or USAFA make no exceptions to the minimum standards of individual events then your information differs from mine.
After finding a strong correlation between upper body strength and injury rates during Beast, USMA has decided to hold their minimum standards - no exceptions.
I have no doubt what you say about USMA is true. I am just questioning the source of your information on USNA. Your statement is tacitly giving a USNA candidate cause to evaluate his own CFA results. Example: A candidate maxed a couple, scored above average on a couple, slightly below average on one, and totally bombing the run for example, and deciding on their own that since Ann stated that there was no standard, that they are good to go. In my opinion, a disasterous decision. But you tell us otherwise. I am just trying to weigh the validity of your remark.
USNA continues to keep it a closely guarded secret and I am very curious as to the source of your information. All I have is circumstantial evidence that indicates otherwise. USNA does still TRIPLE Qual candidates, with one of the triples being the CFA. If there were no standard, it would not be a qual.
