USAFA Essay Tips: Essay #3

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: Ohhh the dreaded open-ended essay question. What am I supposed to do with this?

This is a great opportunity to feature something (or multiple things) about yourself that hasn’t already been mentioned.

First, read USAFA essays 1 and 2. Don’t duplicate anything they’ve already seen. Next, read your Resume, Congressional essay, or other Academy essays to see impressive stories or qualities that haven’t been mentioned yet. You could approach this as 2-3 mini-essays if they were brief.

This question can also be an opportunity to potentially address a weakness in your application. (i.e.. C+ in Chemistry, gap in extracurriculars, etc.) If you do, take responsibility, but also explain the extenuating circumstances, so it doesn’t appear like you are hiding from it.