<p>Hi, my name is chaeho shin, and im considering to join u.s merchant marine academy. but am i competitive enough? thats my question. i perticipate in two sports in school such as crew and football, have 270 hours of community serive hours, member of Civil Air Patrol, in international club and a club which i have created myself and im the president. never got into trouble in school. yeah but the think is i have low GPA, about 3.14. when i was freshmen my GPA was 2.8, with no honor courses, when i was in sophomore i had 2 honor classes with GPA of 3.0 and junior this quater i have got 3.2 with 4 honors classes. do u see the improvement i have made so for?? but thats still low. can you tell me if im competitive enough for u.s merchant marine academy?
thank you</p>
<p>I smell a troll here, but I'll play</p>
<p>The first requirement is being a US Citizen (except in rare circumstances)
Second, anything is possible</p>
<p>I'll leave my response at that for now.</p>
<p>Knock knock
Who's there?</p>
<p>Is there anywhere in his post that says he is not a US citizen? For that matter perhaps he is a young lady. </p>
<p>The GPA will oppose a challenge but there are still possibilities. If you have a really good SAT/ACT result this may compensate for your lower GPA. </p>
<p>Your amount of community service hours as well as extracurriculars will help too. </p>
<p>You are a junior so you could show the review board tremendous goal oriented ability by acing your grades the duration of this year. </p>
<p>Being in Civil Air Patrol will help too. </p>
<p>Don't underestimate the importance of your interview with your congresperson in your home state. That information is passed on. A strong interview will help. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>the gpa will not pose that much of a problem. i got in with a 3.2 overall gpa. just make sure you're active in sports and or extra curricular activities at school.</p>
<p>With a name that sounds asian, poor grammar, poor spelling, and a very similar post in the coast guard forum I don't think I'm making that far a leap by making sure they are aware of the citizenship requirement. Call me insensitive if you'd like, but I think I'm closer than one might imagine.</p>
<p>And no response from them yet, I'm still going with troll.</p>
<p>actually I have seen some questionable grammar and spelling from midshipmen that have made it into the academy. </p>
<p>I suppose I am not skeptical because I live in an area with a high amount of first and second generation asian kids. </p>
<p>My son has a Vietnamese friend that is in college ROTC. So for me it isn't something I would question without a great deal more information. </p>
<p>I have also noticed similar duplicate postings from other prospective candidates on the other boards asking the same, "what are my chances" question. </p>
<p>When in doubt, error on the side of graciousness, compassion and support.......</p>