You may want to consider RPI too, similar vibe to RIT. They have a neat junior bridge semester where all students do an internship.
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Thank you! Several people have suggested both RPI and WPI. Weāll check it out. A friendās daughter recently committed to RPI for aerospace because she was awarded the RPI Medal, which is apparently a hefty scholarship. I donāt think our high school has any relationship with them (our kids tend to go to SEC schools) in terms of scholarship nominations ā but I can ask about it.
Iām floundering a bit with what kind of schools to explore next because my kid is all over the place, lol. Weāre planning to look at Miami of Ohio over spring break because they have interesting emerging Tech and game design majors ā along with a real marching band.
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Hello - waving from a class of 2025 parent who stumbled in. Fwiw if you are interested in the RPI medal, school nominations are due by May of JUNIOR year. We learned this the hard way, only reading about it the summer AFTER junior year when my son was doing applications. (Also, my older S22 goes to WPI, so feel free to ping me if she has any questions in the future.)
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If your child is interested in being nominated they can just contact their guidance counselor for the nomination. Only one nomination is āallottedā per school so as long as no one else from the school is interested it should be very easy to acquire.
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So glad she had a great experience visiting RIT! It would be great if you wanted to share her impressions from the visits on either or both of these threads!
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Ooh, Iāll do that ā thanks for the reminder!
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Clark in Worcester MA has game design. If you are going to visit WPI look at Clark as well since they are both in Worcester!
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We just got home from a week away in paradise and now it is back to cold, snow and school/work. D26 ACT scores were posted last week and overall she is happy. She did much better in math than she (or we) thought- got a 26 and every practice test she had done she was getting 24ās. Her science score however was MUCH lower than she expected (23). She will be doing the new online version in April where the optional science subject is excluded from the composite which will help her. Both English and reading were strong so we are hoping she can bring up math another point or two for a better superscore. But at the end of the day she and we realize this scores are only a small part of her application and trying not to make it a stressful thing. She is taking SAT March 8 so will be interesting to see how that compares to her ACT.
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Check that you can superscore between the written and digital versions - I thought I had read that you couldnāt, but that may have been for the SAT.
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Welp, my kid just threw me for a huge loop. She is the type of person to mull something over and research and study and then present us with a decision that we cannot alter. Not saying thatās a bad thing, just how she is.
Yesterday she came to me and told me that she wants to apply to the Air Force Academy. She is somewhat an introvert, very analytical mind, but prefers humanities for school. Excels in the sciences and in math, but enjoys history and English. She enjoys analyzing things like historical documents and literature. All this time sheās been looking at creative writing and English majors and considering international relations, some foreign languages, that type of thing and Iāve been in a panic because school is going to cost her a lot of money for a degree that doesnāt pay a lot or has very limited job options.
Iāve looked over the Air Force Academy website and applying is intense. Sheās already spoken to her guidance office this morning and is changing next yearās schedule to make sure she has her best chance. Going strictly by the numbers, she has a great chance however, I also know that they go heavily on nomination and other aspects. Sheās not a super organized sport athlete although sheās very fit. She doesnāt play organized sports except dance. Sheās very strong for her size though so she is confident she can get the fitness requirements under her belt in no time.
Does anyone have any insight into how she can prepare? Real life experience with your kid going through the application process? This is the most enthused sheās been about any school since we toured Yale and this is the first time sheās doing a deep dive into researching a particular school. I honestly cannot tell you Iāve seen this level of motivation from her regarding the college selection process in a very long time.
Funny thing is that we mentioned military academies about a year ago and she poo pooād it. Just goes to show that she actually listened and took it in. Her father was enlisted CG and grandfather enlisted AF but the only officer she knows is a friend of the family so she hasnāt seen in a good five years. He went to West Point and sheās aware of that and aware of how well heās done since he retired from the army and sheās met his wife who also went to West Point and is feminine and cute as a button so I think that took some of that fear away
Baghhhh my kid!!! Iām happy that sheās enthusiastic but OMG I feel like we are so behind in the research department for this.
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Yes I checked and all scores regardless of online vs. paper can be super scored. Beginning with the online April test, the science portion will be averaged with the math to give a separate āstemā score and then the composite will be Math, English and Reading. So her crummy science score does not actually matter too much, especially since it is optional beginning in April.
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I canāt give you advice about applying but I can tell you I had two Air Force academy graduates in my masters degree cohort (in the UK, they were based there at the time) and they were superb. Of course the Air Force was paying for their graduate study too.
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Paging @AnonMomof2 and @ChoatieMom as two parents whoāve had kids go through the nominating process.
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The āYour College Bound Kidā podcast had an interview a month or 2 ago where they talked all about stuff to consider when applying to a US military service academy. The #1 biggest thing I remember from that was make absolutely sure that you, the student, will pass the physical fitness test thatās required.
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There were 2 or 3 kids in D19ās class who got admitted to military academies - the admits were announced at the awards evening - I donāt specifically remember which other than one was West Point. I do recall that they all had also won the awards given to those that maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school.
Hi! My son has just gone through the Academy application process. He currently has an Appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy and is waiting to hear from USNA and USAFA. He also just received an NROTC scholarship (his plan B). What does she want to do in the military? She should look at the career opportunities at all of the Academies. USMMA wasnāt even on our radar. My son wants to fly Navy jets. Not just fly and he prefers the Navyās mission- really is not interested in Air Force and at USMMA you can commission into any branch when you graduate. Sounds like she has taken a good step by meeting with her guidance counselor. All academies are heavily STEM. You should have physics and calculus under your belt in high school. Take the SAT and or ACT as many times as you need to get your highest scores. Leadership is extremely important. Is it too late to apply for Girls State? I know Boys State adds points to your application. Go to your senators and congressmanās websites to see what is required to apply for a nomination, each one is different. We had one that required it all on paper via snail mail. Line up her recommenders, look up the candidate fitness assessment activities and start practicing now. Begin the application as soon as it opens, Air Force requires most of it be completed before they send you to DODMERB (medical exam) My son had childhood asthma and required a waiver -his medical exam was in August and it took from October- February to get that waiver. It is intense, and a lot of work but starting early, and reading everything on the website will keep you on task. There is a parents of military applicants facebook group and join serviceacademyforums.com for tons of information.
Good luck to her!
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Our son is an Army Cyber captain six years out of the academy currently serving with Cyber Joint Forces at Ft. Meade, MD. He will be joining the research faculty at West Point once he completes his PhD.
So, although our son chose Army (appointed to Navy as well), the process for USAFA is the same. Iāve posted my standard reply below, but to this poster, Iāll first ask:
- Why does your daughter want to become an Air Force officer?
- Why is she choosing the USAFA as her path to a commission as opposed to AROTC or OCS?
- How deep is her commitment to service?
She must communicate honest answers to those questions at every step of the long, involved application process. The service academies are looking to produce capable officers for each branch of our armed services. It takes a certain kind of kid to go this route, and those kids donāt always look like the applicants to the usual civilian suspects. The posterās daughter will need to dig deep to be able to explain clearly and genuinely to the nomination panels why she wants to serve as an Air Force officer and also be prepared to answer her understanding of the consequences of that decision. Candidates for service academies have a specific drive and goals that differ from typical civilian college applicants. The daughterās application and interviews will need to demonstrate that difference. She may have a burning desire to become an Air Force officer that isnāt offered in the post, but be aware, the nomination panels are expert at ferreting out motives and goals because they know that getting through a service academy and the years of service that follow take a gut commitment to something other than academics.
OK, so on to my standard response: Due to the intricacies of the nomination process and the rubric the service academies use to determine appointments, it is impossible to chance anyone. No one knows what the competition in the posterās district will look like in the year they apply, and her daughter is only competing against those in her own district for a nomination. Without one, USAFA cannot offer an appointment. So, the posterās daughter must focus on doing well in the most challenging courses available to her (especially calculus, chemistry, and physics), participate in team sports and earn a varsity letter, and look for leadership opportunities.
The absence of team sports is a red flag as even candidates selected as scholars are also athletes. All of the academies are similar in this regard. Of a recent USMA class of 1302 appointees, for instance, 99% were varsity athletes:
This emphasis holds in these percentages across academies year after year, and USAFA defines its general athletic focus here:
Physical strength is just as important as mental strength at the United States Air Force Academy. Every cadet is expected to play Division I intercollegiate sports or participate on an intramural team, is enrolled in physical education classes, and is tested on their physical fitness each semester.
It is great that the applicant is fit and able to pass the fitness test (just one piece of the process), but dance does not check the heavily-weighted team participation and team leadership boxes. She should make a concerted effort to be an impact player on a sport team but, if she absolutely cannot, it will be critical that her application emphasize those traits that team sports confer, such as cooperation, commitment, and leadership.
As @AnonMomof2 referenced above, please encourage your daughter to create an account on serviceacademyforums.com (the equivalent of CC for those pursuing service academy appointments) to get her questions answered by current and former military officers. Because securing a nomination is the most critical gate, she should also understand that process which is described here on that board and on page 7 of this document on the USAFA website.
The above is just my general advice to anyone applying to a service academy, but Iām happy to answer any specific questions this poster might have either here or via PM.
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Thank you so much! So much good info! Joining that forum asap!
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Also, itās worth a look at a recent USAFA class profile to see what the general competition looks like. And this article discussing the 20 things you need to know about being admitted to a service academy is still relevant.
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Annoyed- D26 just got an email from ACT that her test for April 5th was switched to paper. That was the only site within 200 miles that had an option for the new online version. So she is going to take the paper test at a local place instead and then just be done with this testing - like I said in my earlier post- we donāt want this testing stuff to be a source of stress but it is definitely frustrating they changed it. We were hopeful the new shorter format would be better for her. Oh wellā¦
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