Chances for selective schools?

Transfer Students
1

I’m a sophomore at West Point, and this is my last year to transfer. I want to have all my available options. I came to usma because it was a great academic school, but I think I’d be better suited for rotc. I have a 3.33 academic gpa, and the average is a 2.9. I think it’ll definitely go up after this semester. I know my grades are the best, but I think that I have unique enough experiences to be competitive for top schools or ivies. I’m an urm, but I’m not banking on that helping me too much.

Extra: Model un, debate team, air assault course{rappel out of helicopters), fbi negotiations course, academic trip to Puerto Rico, 2 summers of military training, responsible for mentoring a freshman cadet “plebe”
High school
GPA: 3.86 UW 4.0 W
One of the Top public high school in Nation

Act: 27

Ap(s): Euro-4 ( Only took 1 because I changed schools my junior year, and this was the only one i could take)

Extra: Class President, SGA rep(junior), SGA VP(Senior), Soccer (JV MVP)(Varsity), Basketball, Debate (2 time Nat. qualifier), Football( JV and Varsity), Wrestling (JV Captain; Varsity Team State champs and runner ups), Spanish Club President, Ambassador(senior), Internship at State University in Sociology, Student Outreach Team

Awards/Honors: Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, 98th percentile on National Spanish Exam Level 2,

Summer: Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference, Westpoint(USMA) Summer Leadership,

60+ hours of community service to the school in Junior Year

2

This is just my opinion. Why you want to transfer and what can other colleges help in your academic and post grad plans. These will be very important. Why ROTC in the Army Navy Air Force? Your grade looks too low for the Ivy transfer. Your grades should be 3.7 to be on the safe side, and your test score is very low for the IVIES. Even for URM. Many URMs out there with 4.0 community college and 32+ ACT. Civ colleges prefer to admit students from community college because they have to attend 4 year schools. And you’re in one of the nation’s top prestigious 4 year colleges. If you still want to serve in the Army you are bette off staying and graduating. And go to professional graduate school after serving 5 years. West Point can help you get into the Ivy and to professional schools even with 3.33 GPA. At professional schools your URM status no longer really matters so you will have to perform on fair game with everyone else including grades and tests. Your professional experience and employee reference will be very important. You’re doing well at West Point. If you intend to serve you should stay and graduate. Best.

3

27 ACT and a 3.3 GPA is way low for transfer to an Ivy League school or equivalent (Stanford, MIT, Caltech). It should however get you a good chance at a very good university, such as your in-state flagship public university (depending upon what state you are from – for California replace “in-state flagship” with “a UC or CSU”).

4

@DadTwoGirls @Patriot4Life What is the best school do you think I could get into? I understand my grades aren’t high in comparison to some other schools, but USMA severely deflates grades. I want to leave USMA because I think ROTC will give me more freedom.

5

The Ivies will look at your high school GPA and ACT scores regardless of when you transfer. You seem more interested in prestige than a change of environment.

6

“What is the best school do you think I could get into?”

What state are you from? What is your major? What can you afford (or does ROTC cover the price)? What sort of school would you prefer to attend? Large, small, city, rural, …?

When you say “best school” I hope that you mean “best fit for you” rather than “highest ranked”. However, “best fit for you” will require more information to answer. With a 3.33 GPA, I think that the highest ranked 25 schools are probably out of reach, and the next 200 or 400 or so might be worth considering.

7

If you want to serve active duty in the Army I would stick to West Point. Because throughout your career you will be given the benefit of the doubt and stronger support by your Army peers. Also West Point has incredible fraternity in the Army service and beyond and that goes a long way throughout your life. By perception, whether by myth or fact, WP Brand is the Gold Standard of the Military and Leadership. This perception is worldwide. Annapolis has it too but not as strong. Air Force doesn’t have this perception, unfortunately. Navy and Air Force are believed to be more academic and technical leaders.

However!

If you want to change Service say Air Force, I would take the ROTC path myself. If you want to directly enroll from WP to a Civ college than your choices are to target top 25-35 schools.

If you want to attend top 20 schools I would take a year off and apply into the Adult Veterans admissions program at Columbia General Studies, UPenn, Georgetown, Stanford. And consider joining the Air Guard or National Guard. This will increase your chance for admissions at Columbia UPenn Stanford and Georgetown. They would accept you with your stats from WP. But only after you have taken 6-12 months off and working.

During this time you can also apply to the Air Force or Navy ROTC Programs to qualify for 2-3 year National Scholarship. 2-3 Year Scholarships are less competitive but you should apply by Aug-Sep. Now you are in cycle 2 and maybe cycle 3 which is more difficult for Scholarship for 2018 entrance since you are competing against all regular applicants. Military already selected their national top 10-15% who have 1500+ SAT and 33+ ACT with 3.7+ GPA (A-) so you are now competing against everyone in the general ROTC pool.

I am happy to counsel you so if you have more questions let me know. Good luck!