Military Academy Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z Military Academy - West Point
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1

I’m currently a junior in high school, and I recently started to gain an interest in military academies, such as West Point. Prior to this, I’ve always wanted to go to Stanford or MIT. While I likely have the academic qualities for West Point, I lack a lot in my physical abilities. For one, I have never participated in sports throughout my time in high school so far.

My parents wouldn’t let me join any sports in freshman and sophomore years, and this year I have a class during cross country practice, so I wasn’t able to participate this year either. However, I might be able to join my school’s volleyball team this year (I might have classes during practice again, but I’m not too sure since it’s next semester).

Nonetheless, I have participated in sports in middle school and in my own time throughout high school. I used to do martial arts back in middle school, but quit halfway through 8th grade because the classes were no longer beneficial for me (I was beating all the black belts at sparring when I was a red belt, but had to do the same training for another year before I could learn anything new). Since then I’ve been exercising a lot in my free time, such as through mile runs, boxing (with a punching bag), curls, push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and jump roping. I’ve also attended several activities in my Boy Scout troop, such as hiking, backpacking, camping, sailing, swimming, etc.

I might be able to pass their physical examination test, but chances aren’t too high. I should be fine with the sit ups, push ups, and pull ups, and shuttle sprint requirements, but the mile run and basketball throw are a lot of trouble to me.

On the bright side, however, I’ll also be an Eagle Scout around the time of admissions. I will either be valedictorian or salutatorian in my class, my SAT is pretty competitive (1550), I have several extracurriculars including piano, programming, math Olympiads, etc, and I have had a few leadership positions in my school.

I know that physical ability is one of the important factors in admission decisions at West Point, and a large majority of people admitted to West Point took part in some sport, whether junior varsity or varsity, throughout all 4 years of high school. Given my statistics, is it worth it to train to meet these physical requirements and apply to West Point, or should I continue my route towards MIT or Stanford.

2

The physical aspect is important at USMA and the other academies. Beyond that leadership plays a big factor, as do grades, scores and sponsorship by a Congressman.

Apply for this (https://www.usma.edu/admissions/sitepages/summer.aspx) this summer. If possible, try to go to Boys State (and Boys Nation from there - https://www.legion.org/boysnation). Round out your Boys Scout experience with Eagle Scout or as high a level as possible.

If you don’t make it next year, you could enlist and go that route (https://www.usma.edu/admissions/sitepages/faq_soldiers.aspx)

OR you can apply to one of the feeder academies to USMA: USMA Prep (https://www.usma.edu/USMAPS/SitePages/Home.aspx), Bridgton Academy (https://bridgtonacademy.org/) or several others.

3

@ktong777: No one can chance you for a service academy. You can read what I tell every candidate who posts here about their chances in general:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21291683/#Comment_21291683

As for sports, of the 1302 candidates appointed to the class of 2020, for instance, 99% were varsity athletes in high school:

https://www.usma.edu/oir/Class%20profiles/Class%20of%202020.pdf

Appointments are based on a very transparent three-legged Whole Candidate Score (WCS) made up of academics, physical fitness, and medical health. Every candidate has to pass the bar set for each in order to become 3Q (fully qualified), along with receiving a congressional nomination, before the application can go to the admissions table. Extreme physical fitness and “perfect” health are required to pass two of those bars which heavily favors athletes. Plus, the leadership component of athletics as noted by the high percentage of team captains among the varsity athletes dovetails well with what the academies look for and need in future officers.

Earning Eagle Scout will give you high marks in the leadership category, but your application would benefit from participation in a team sport even if you don’t make captain or earn a varsity letter. Join the volleyball team or any other that interests you and fits in with your schedule.

If becoming an officer in the United States Army is your goal, then you already know the answer: Train and give it all you’ve got. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

4

If you are a junior in HS you have a year to get yourself in shape to pass the CFA. If you are serious, get going.

I am concerned about your lack of sports and your excuses for not doing them. If your practices are held during class times, how do the other athletes handle it? You quit martial arts because you kept beating all the black belts as a red belt, yet they wouldn’t let you progress? I have had many candidates who did martial arts and this one doesn’t smell right to me.

5

@oldpilot1972 The classes I mentioned are from community college and online classes. Specifically, I have a class at community college from 6 to 9 on Thursdays (meaning I’d have to go from practice straight to class which my parents won’t let me do), and I have an online class on Monday from 4 to 6:30, which overlaps with practice times. Furthermore, the actual meets are held during Boy Scout meetings (which are usually important).

As for how the martial arts thing works, basically there are specific classes for specific belts, and the black belt classes are held separately from red belt classes with the exception of the Saturday class. I have trained and learned a great deal with the black belts, and honestly it would not have been too much help for me even if I did continue as a black belt (I knew all of the black belt forms by the time I quit, and most of the new self defense techniques).

I had asked the main martial arts teacher at the place I went to if I could skip, and he said I’d have to go through the belts one by one in order to get the black belt, and it was more of a training time thing (You had to be red belt for I think 4 months, then red 1 for 6 months, and then red-black for another 6 months before you test for black belt). But even so, black belt wasn’t really the peak at the martial arts place I went to. While you did learn more stuff as a black belt, most of them were focused on self defense, and nothing really crazy (most of the stuff could be learned on your own through the internet). They had special programs that costed extra (almost double) where you learn some of the more advanced stuff, like butterfly kicks, and other acrobatics techniques.

I don’t want to sound like I hate the place I went to for martial arts. It was extremely helpful for me, and honestly gave me unforgettable memories with several friends that I’ve made along the way. However, I do believe that the teachers were there mostly for the money, and my mom felt the same way. About once or twice a month, they’d call me in after class to try to get me to sign up for their premium programs and such. At first we were pretty lenient on this, and paid for several programs, but in hindsight we realized it wasn’t really worth it. Now that I think about it, perhaps it would’ve been better for me to transfer to another martial arts studio.

6

What I am hearing from you is excuses. You need to find solutions, much like you will if you get into USMA and the Army afterwards. What I see is that you would miss one cross country practice a week. Did you talk to the coach and see if that would be acceptable as long as you are running at another time that day? Did you discuss with your parents why it would be OK to go right from practice to class one day per week and what you could do to make that happen?

92% of appointees have a varsity letter in sports. You know that you are weak in the physical aspect so you know that you need to work on that. Find solutions.

GPA and class rank are vital. Your SAT scores look good. Leadership could be better. Eagle scout is a plus. You will need to be good in all areas to be competitive. You know where you need to improve.