I have always wanted to attend a service academy and become a military officer. With that said, my first choice is USNA, but since my grades aren’t so high, I’m sorta giving up on that and really hoping on a USMA appointment. However, I want to continue my family legacy of Naval Officers. How tough/could I cross branch from West Point to the Navy? Something to keep in mind is that I want to become a Naval Aviator, and I’ve heard Army Aviation slots are extremely tough to get.
The class profile statistics for both school are virtually identical. What makes you think it will be easier to get into West Point than USNA? If your grades are not high, then you won’t get into either school.
That being said, the possibility to cross-commission still exists, but in recent years has become quite rare. If you want to commission to a different military branch, you will need to have a valid reason, and also there needs to be someone from USNA who wishes to commission to the Army. It needs to be a trade of sorts, since the Army is not going to spend $400K on your education and get nothing in return. Also, even if the stars aligned and you could change to Navy, the aviation billets will be gone for your class a year before you graduate, so you would most likely have to go SWO and then apply for an aviation slot from the fleet.
@oldpilot1972 My grades aren’t horrendous, just one C and the rest A/B. I have heard you can get into West Point with CP classes, but only strictly honors and AP for USNA.
I concur with oldpilot, the stats and entrance requirements are the same for both academies, and your academic profile counts for 60% of your WCS (Whole Candidate Score) at USMA. Also, you have to get a nomination from a member of Congress to each academy you wish to apply to before your application can be considered for an appointment by that academy; there is no distinction in the level of difficulty for receiving nominations to the various academies. Worry about getting a nomination to one academy before you worry about cross commissioning at graduation to another.
Thank you. @ChoatieMom Also, how much do they view your CFA? For example, if I had one less pull up (probably my worst part) than someone else, how much emphasis would they put on that?
The CFA counts for 10% of the WCS; you only have to pass it. Though minimum standards are published, you should always shoot for higher than the minimums in each category (situps, pullups, mile run). All of this information can be found on the USMA website, by asking your Field Force Rep (FFR), or by searching the archives or posting on serviceacademyforums.com.
Thank you once again! @ChoatieMom
“@oldpilot1972 My grades aren’t horrendous, just one C and the rest A/B. I have heard you can get into West Point with CP classes, but only strictly honors and AP for USNA”
That is untrue. Each academy expects you to take the hardest classes available to you. They cannot expect people whose school does not offer AP classes to have any on their transcript. However, if your school offers AP classes and you are taking basic classes, then it is a red flag for any of the academies. That is why each academy requests a school profile with your transcript. The academies are virtually identical in their requirements so it is not “easier” to get into one versus another.
So they expect us too overload on AP/Honors classes? @oldpilot1972 My friend got into West Point and rarely took AP (Yes, it was offered). He took mostly CP and honors.
@ryanalexander116 They expect you to take the hardest classes available, provided you are able to handle the workload.
These anecdotes of “my friend got in with this…” are irrelevant. West Point and other academies choose their appointees on a “whole person” concept. That is why the admission process is so lengthy. There is no secret formula for who gets accepted and who doesn’t. It is a decision of the admissions board based on many factors. Someone with perfect ACT scores and a 4.0 GPA with 25 AP classes may have no chance for an appointment if they lack the ability to communicate and lead others. By the same comparison, the most athletic person in a school who has 12 varsity letters cannot get in if they can’t master basic math. The admission board wants to see people who are good in every area, not necessarily the one who is best in only one.