USAFA ESSAY TIPS: ESSAY #2

Academy Endeavors provides tips on every Service Academy essay question…

USAFA #2 essay question: What attributes, life experiences, unique perspectives, and/or special talents do you possess that would contribute to the classroom, student body, and/or Air Force Academy? (3000 characters max)

AE Guidance: This prompt is an invitation to tell a story.

The #1 rule of Academy essay writing is “show, don’t tell.” It’s more powerful to display your resilience through a story than to say “I have great resilience.”

Think of two attributes or experiences, and give a supporting example/story for each.

The most challenging part of this essay is which attributes or experiences to choose, so try this. Look at your resume, and ask yourself, “do I have a story for that?” If it has an impressive result where you overcame an obtstacle or solved a problem, then the answer is “yes.” However, if your story has no result or no problem to be overcome, its not a story.

End this essay discussing your AF career goal, intended major, and concrete plan for how you want to contribute to USAFA.