I’ve been wondering this for a long while, even though I am in the beginning of my highschool career…what chances would I have to make it into USNA without being in sports?
I consider myself a very involved student so far, and I will continue to be. I am part of my school’s NJROTC program, where I participate in the Unarmed Drill exhibition team, and the Varsity air rifle team (as a freshman in high school). As a sophmore, I will be the air rifle team commander in my NJROTC unit.
Outside of NJROTC, I am involved in Advanced Orchestra (a class that few freshmen make it into), and I am a Girl Scout working on her Gold Award…equivalent the honor of Eagle Scout. In school, I also take part in Student Government as the Blood Drive Coordinator.
As far as classes and grades, I take all Honors and one AP class, which are the highest leveled classes I can take at my grade level. I also am in the top 20% of my class when it comes to GPA.
I’ve never really been interested in playing sports, so I worry that my involvement in everything else will not be able to make up for the lack of a varsity letter.
I know that it may be a bit early to be worried about an application, but I want to do whatever I can to have the best chance at getting into the Naval Academy. The more of a head start, the better.
Thank you @bopper. Joining Cross Country is definitely something that is doable for me. At the end of the day, it just comes down to how I manage my time.
As shown above, you’re at a severe disadvantage for admittance into USNA without varsity sports. My guess is that applicants who don’t have a varsity sport must impress with other aspects of their application, and top 20%, I presume, isn’t going to do that. Joining cross-country would be a good option, but consider other sports as well as cross country. It can’t hurt to play more sports if you can keep your grades up to standard, and only increases your chances of playing varsity.
At many schools, cross country is no-cut, and if you train hard and smart, you will get better. You don’t have to start “specializing” when you are ten. Not a lot of politics on the stop watch. Just some thoughts. Listen to cruiser18 when he tells you that you are at a severe disadvantage as an applicant with no varsity sport. Best of luck.