Going to USMA has always been a dream school for me: How can I improve upon these grades to make myself most competitive?
3.4 GPA
Class Rank: No idea, sophomore
Taking all advanced classes available, all are honors level. Also taking most classes one year ahead of usual so I will have time to take more APs junior and senior.
Extracurriculars:
Model UN
Wrestling, likely to be Captain junior and senior year
Competitive Swimmer
Soccer player
30 hours of community service per year
I am taking PSAT next year.
All help is appreciated, thank you.
uSMA looks for scholar, leader, athlete. Are you in NHS yet? Try to run for office and eventually President by senior year. Work on GPA and take SAT and ACT by next fall so you can see where you need to focus to improve if necessary. Summer after 11th grade try to attend Boys State and the USMA SLE. Captain of wrestling team will be huge help too. Are you in Boy Scouts? Eagle Scout gets you more points too. Keep up the sports and fitness so you will be prepared for the CFA. Start running now.
Thank you. I also forgot to mention I am attending wrestling camp at the academy this summer, will that help? I live in NYC so there isn’t really boy or eagle scouts. But thank you.
Wrestling camp at USMA will not help unless you get recruited. You do need to get your GPA up but still take challenging courses.
Your definitely on the right track. Even thinking about this sophomore year shows potential.
Make sure to keep a good relationship with your wrestling coach and practice leadership during practice/meets so you can land that captain spot. Try to make varsity soccer and swimming if possible. Take practice ACT/SAT beginning your Junior year and work hard to bring the scores up (remember, they can always go up unless you have perfect!).
Your GPA can definitely be improved by the time the application comes around, but it will take work. The only thing we do not know is how competitive your school is… Whether it it is a small competitive private school or a large metropolitan public school, your GPA will be looked at differently—but more important than your GPA will be class rank as GPA fluctuates separately per school. Class rank is important because it shows how you did compared to your peers who took the exact same classes.
Word hard and reap the benefits later!