<p>I’ve been a lurker on CC, but have to weigh in on this one. I am a USAFA 80 grad. I know, I must seem like a dianosaur to you, but I can remember very clearly being in your identical shoes in the spring of 1976. I was deciding between UCLA or USAFA. I went USAFA and to this day think it is one of the single best decisions I have ever made in my entire life. At 17 you can’t say for sure if you want to make the AF a career of even if you really want to become an officer. I couldn’t. It was a difficult 1st year, but the experience was wonderful. They simply don’t train you or put you through any process at any Ivy school like they do at any of the military academies. Not only will you get a fantastic personalized academic education, but you will come out a confident supremely developed young person who will have the skills to do just about anything you want to do in life. Yale is a wonderful school and you will do well if you go there. You will also do well and would never regret going and graduating from the USAFA.</p>