<p>ok thanks!</p>
<p>Some schools award 'letters' to the top athletes in a given sport, some do not.</p>
<p>As it relates to varsity sports (letters or not), would be good if you can briefly state your accomplishments, such as during an interview. It is one thing to say you were a member of a varsity Track team, but adds more value if you can say what you accomplished (i.e. broke the school record in the...., or part of the 4x200 relay team that qualified for state...., team captain......). </p>
<p>Obviously these things need to be truthful, don't exaggerate, but be able to clearly articulate your major h.s. sports accomplishments when given the opportunity. Just another part of preparing for the entire admission process.</p>
<p>Most schools include with the transcript and document called the school profile. It will tell and reviewer about both the Academic program and the Extracurricular program at the school. It may include the range of GPA's over a given period of classes: usually the last three to five classes, give the high and low ACT and SAT scores, AP score ranges for the AP classes available and then the range of SAT or ACT for either the middle 50% or the top third. Available Extracurricular activities and sports will also be indicated as will the % of those attending that go on to higher ed institutions and sometimes a listing of those institutions. This is how the admissions people can evaluate how you fit within your school - even if your school does not rank, and how your school compares to others.</p>
<p>You will be asked to give the name and e-mail address for an official at your school who will be asked to verify all of the EC's and Sports included on the USAN application. (At least for the application process for the class of 2010 it was required) Make sure that your guidance official or principal can verify what you include. Our high school also was small. The college counselor required each senior to turn in a resume at the end of Jr. year or by August 1st and she verified each item on the students resume as she also included the resume with the official transcript. As Time2 said, obviously you need to be truthful. You don't want to tell the congressman's committee in your interview something that may differ from what your high school has sent them.</p>
<p>Re; varsity letters-</p>
<p>this can differ from school to school, but will offer how it works in our school district...</p>
<p>varsity "letters" are awarded to kids who play over50% of "league" games within the regular season. Thus, while there may be many kids who "make varsity," some will get to play a few games, some will "start" in most, and, as much as it saddens me to say it, some will be relegated to keeping the bench "warm" .... those are the kids that really win my heart over as they still do the practices, stand on the sidelines to cheer the "letter winners" on, and would give their right arm to just play....even for just a few closing minutes of the last quarter!</p>
<p>Anyway, "letters" are awarded to those that play most of the time.... in our district, that is over 50% of the competetions that are played "in the league" (does not include scrimmages or games played against other opponents outside the regular league, even if played during the regular season).....that is how it works in our district, and it seemed to follow the same path when our dd rowed varsity on D-1 level at her university. </p>
<p>Would not let a "letter" get in your way- of joining a team, giving your all when you are out there, and having some fun while you are at it! In the end,no one is going to remember who-got-what, but they will remember a really great "teammate!"</p>
<p>JB- soccer sounds great! Sounds like you already have some experience, so why not build on that- and what a great way to build up some running and conditioning at the same time! Just watch those headers..... :eek:....</p>
<p>thanks! I started every varsity golf match last year but no letter :(</p>
<p>I'll see about soccer, thanks a lot</p>
<p>and thanks to P2 and T2 for the info :D</p>
<p>^^^^ should have added to the "varsity letter" that you have to have some "wins" in your column as well......</p>
<p>Not sure I would list as an accomplisment that you were "proud to be a 'bench warmer' and really supported my teammates".</p>
<p>Need to focus on your positive results and accomplishments, if that is your best achievement in h.s. sports, maybe you choose the wrong sport.</p>
<p>Remember the thread here is about one's chances for getting accepted to the USNA class of 2012 and athletics is part of the total equation. As I read recently in some other post, about 10% of those who start the application process actually get accepted. So obviously the competition is fairly intense.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Not sure I would list as an accomplisment that you were "proud to be a 'bench warmer' and really supported my teammates".
[/quote]
</p>
<p>not sure anyone suggested that-
the question was "varsity letter vs. varsity"...</p>
<p>but I will add one additional comment.
And that is just making a varsity sport is an accomplishment- not everyone gets to be letter winners, conference champs, AA's, or otherwise.</p>
<p>In some larger, highly competetive schools, just making "varsity" is, and of itself, an "accomplishment," bench-warmer or not. So I would "list" your "accomplishment" on your activities list.</p>
<p>Keep in mind- even on Navy's varsity teams, not every athlete hits the turf/field/water/etc every game...... some, in fact, will not get to participate in ANY competetion in a given season.....
are they still "part of the team?" You bet.
are they still "expected to be at every practice?" You bet.
are they still reamed if they hold back? You bet.
Should they be proud of even their "bench-warming" status? YOU BET!
And so should you!</p>
<p>Which is not to say that the majority of USNA varisty players (add to that JV, intramural and even club level players) are typically highly competetive, highly motivated, and highly critical of their own performance....having said that, sitting on a bench can be a frustrating experience..... add to that a bit humbling if they reported in after being "tops" in their sport before they arrived on the yard....</p>
<p>Anyway, I digress....
do list any varsity-level participation you have-
as well as any accomplishments associated with that. </p>
<p>Keep in mind the admissions board does look beyond "letters" won..... just the fact that you participated in organized sports, managed your time, maintained great grades while pulling off this balancing act, speaks volumes....
so by all means, take credit for your "varsity" accomplishment! </p>
<p>jmo-</p>
<p>
[quote]
....athletics is part of the total equation. As I read recently in some other post, about 10% of those who start the application process actually get accepted. So obviously the competition is fairly intense.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The competetion can be very intense.<br>
but do keep in mind- it is not all about "athletics" as much as it is about "physical fitness." Athletics is just one avenue to demonstrate that- there are others. And while a good majority of those gaining appointments have been "varsity athletes" (typically in the neighborhood of 80% and above), not all are "letter winners".... but they still come to the table with the other positive attributes organized sports carries with it.</p>
<p>"Possibility of Varsity football for senior year (should I?)"</p>
<p>Since your school is so dang small, you'd have a good shot on making the team.</p>
<p>J, </p>
<p>Without having a really clear picture about your accomplishments it's tough to make suggestions on how best to use what time you have remaining. From my perspective I would not go down the path of shopping for items to enhance your application at this point. Put yourself on the review board, you're sitting there looking at an application and you notice that after "x" years of golf the applicant in front of you joined the football team in his senior year coincident with his application to the USNA..... how excited about this part of his application would you now be? If you have time to spend outside of your academics I would work on expanding upon aspects of your life you have already invested time in. Depth may very well be more important than breadth, don’t try to hit a few of the “application buttons” at the last minute. There are also many other activities outside of organized sports that can demonstrate the same kind of qualities as may be found on the field. Leadership and the capacity to work with others doesn’t require a uniform or a set of cleats. You can demonstrate that ability in many ways. </p>
<p>If you work with others in some leadership capacity or role perhaps you could focus on further development in that area. As many others have said; don’t try and reinvent yourself for the application. Be the best candidate that you can be as the person that you are. If you play golf you can still demonstrate to an admissions board that you are up to the physical challenges presented by the Academy by working hard to get in shape and do well on the CFA. Playing one year at a sport that really isn’t something you are in to will not compare to a strong showing on the CFA. I don’t know anything about the condition you are in, but it’s just August, with effort and determination you should be able to substantially increase your potential score by working hard at training, (running in particular) over the next few months.</p>
<p>great advice--and will second....</p>
<p>doing something for several years- showing that committment- will far outweigh an activity picked up late in senior year-</p>
<p>ok thanks a lot guys! </p>
<p>How about varsity basketball then! I played 2 years of JV and was a captain in 10th, so that will make it 3 years altogether (even though it will only show up as 2 on the application since 9th doesn't count)</p>
<p>I know I keep throwing sports at you but I feel like I should add one more (along with the leadership stuff you were talking about rjr)</p>
<p>If you do add Basketball, then have a solid answer to "Why did you not play your Junior year." If you can't answer honestly with a very solid answer then the admissions team and nominating committees will see right through this and assume that you were just filling out a resume. </p>
<p>This may seem a bit harsh but hard questions will help you think this through, just trying to make sure you have really covered your bases. :)</p>
<p>I have a solid answer (I think)... I participated in F.I.R.S.T. robotics which took up a TON of my time (up to 16 hours some saturdays and snow days) right during basketball season..... I ended up being one of the leaders of the mechanical team and I was the drive team coach for the competition itself (I also participated in this in 9th grade btw)</p>
<p>do you think they'll buy that? lol</p>
<p>(and the reason I'm not doing it next year is because the teacher who ran it retired and many of the team members graduated, therefore there will likely not be a team next year :( )</p>
<p>J,</p>
<pre><code>After reading your most recent post there are a couple of things that come to mind that I want to say to you that I hope you won’t take the wrong way. The first being this is a very serious and extremely challenging path you have chosen for yourself.
Have you ever watched an event at the Olympics where a couple of competitors are heading towards the finish line side by side, with one inching out the other at the last second and winning by a few hundredths of a second? The guy or gal that comes in second in that scenario probably worked just as hard as the person that won and for that at least they come home with a silver medal; if that second place finisher is you in this event you open your mail box to a thin letter and the opportunity to go through this again next year.
I don’t want to sound overly dramatic but this is serious business and you must realize that you have to be your greatest advocate. English is a language of words and you should choose those words carefully. As Time2 has already pointed out to you regarding how you framed some of your achievements consider this;
[quote]
I ended up being one of the leaders of the mechanical team and I was the drive team coach for the competition itself
[/quote]
You could say “I was a leader of the mechanical team as well as the drive team coach for the competition and my responsibilities were; ….., our achievements were; …., we won, placed etc. you get the point.
Bragging is fine, exaggeration is not. My son put together a “Brag sheet” that he provided to his BGO that was a single page of perhaps a dozen or so bulleted achievements that hit each area of interest and mapped well onto the main characteristics of an applicant the Navy identifies as important to them. Some were academic and athletic achievements, some involved leadership roles, and some highlighted volunteer efforts. He didn’t invent these achievements, he simply took what he had accomplished over the course of his life and framed it in a meaningful and organized manner that a BGO or member of a review board could look at and in a moment or two and gain some understanding about him. Do everything you can possibly do to make it easy for them to see you for the person you are while they gain an appreciation for your life accomplishments. Make them understand why you would be an asset to the United States Navy.
When you write about yourself and your accomplishments do not make light of any of your achievements or diminish them in any way. I have a great deal of respect for people who are modest about their successes, now however is not the time. Don’t settle for anything less than the best you can possibly do when it comes to your application or interview preparation, from your appearance to your answers to questions that you can anticipate. “Why do you want to be a Naval Officer etc”.
</code></pre>
<p>F.I.R.S.T. is a highly respected program. BTW how did your team do? Robotics is the future and USNA has an Underwater robotics program. You might want to contact the person who is in charge of that and get more information on the program. and it might not hurt to have someone in the robotics program to have on your side. Sort of like the coaches help recruited athletes through the admissions process.</p>
<p>IMO they do not have to "buy it," if you believe it and it is presented with conviction it will speak for itself. In this entire process present yourself with positives and no hesitations.</p>
<p>This also goes for the personal statements. (essays) Be true to yourself. Don't base your essay over what you think the audience "wants" to hear. Believe in yourself and write with conviction, that will be a much better essay than an essay where you are just putting down words that you think they want to see, after-all do you really know what it is "they" want to see?</p>
<p>Usually the essay will include instruction. If you answer the questions, in your own words you will have done what they ask - don't second guess what they are looking for. For the class of 2010 they asked about your long term goals and how USNA and the Navy can help you achieve those goals. Everyone seemed to say "Don't say you want to be a pilot" LOL: that was exactly what was included in my Mids Essay. He had three goals, the second spoke to the desire to be a pilot and how USNA and NAvy would allow him to reach that goal. He did not listen to all of the nay-sayers who said don't talk about it but about wanting a career as an officer in the Navy (how many blowing smoke up the admissions board you know where essays do you think they get; all talking about the same things?) None of the three goals included wanting to be an officer in the Navy. He spoke of serving the greater good, being a pilot and wanting a challenge. It was written from the heart, he knew his answers when he read the question and wrote and edited it in all of about an hour (certainly not recommending the hour thing but it was what worked for him.) The bottom line was it was written with conviction, in his own words, with no preconceived notions about what "they" were looking for. </p>
<p>My Mid never was presented with the "Why do you want to be a Naval Officer" from his BGO (maybe because his was a five and dive). He was prepared to answer that question and was asked in two of the three MOC's interviews. He received two nominations, one from the board that never asked it!</p>
<p>It is a different experience for many, be prepared for it all! and remember in the entire college admissions process just make sure you are being true to yourself. It will show and speak highly of "you."</p>
<p>Our mid did something similiar-
-submitted an athletic cv
-submitted an activities cv
-submitted a 'description" page that had a brief description of the activity and his role in it, what he gained from that particular experience
-submitted a "highlight" summary of the above- combined/bulleted highlights of activities and athletics.</p>
<p>This may be on target for some, overkill for others.<br>
My guess is that most will submitt one CV outlining activities and athletics combined.</p>
<p>In his case, the two were seperated as he was involed in multiple varsity sports throughout his HS years with notable achievements in all. Ditto for his list of "activites".... in which his participation spanned 4 years-plus. Not trying to "brag," but rather highlight one example of what was done.</p>
<p>The "description" page came on the advice of one of his teachers, who (wisely, IMO), told him that someone might not know "what a swim coach at a special olympics program really does"..... or "what did he get out of sea cadets"..... so for each, he, very briefly, discussed the activity, his role, and what he "gained" from the experience. In a way, I believe it helped to "broaden" who he was "on paper" aside from the 500-words of the personal essay.</p>
<p>The "highlights" page was another piece of advice given to him from a coach of another service academy that was recruiting him for his sport- he said "all this stuff is great, but I get about 30 seconds to present this before the board- can you put this on a summary page for me?" He did- and the response, now that I think about it, was really funny..."this is great- did you give this out to the coaches at Navy and Army? Don't...." (when our son called him after declining that appointment, the coach told him "I knew that page would get them...." )
(actually, what a great coach- and kudo's to his team for beating their main "rival" this past season! :) )</p>
<p>personal essay: had trouble getting it going, so did some "free writing" instead..... like Profmom's son, that took about an hour...... but he ended up with 1800+ words..... what took hours (and several rewrites) was whittling that down to 500 words....exact....that captured who "he" was, what he wanted, and his plan for getting there. </p>
<p>What came across loud and clear (that, from his BGO), is that you could trace his interests right back to the roots.....all supported by what he had "involved" himself in and "accomplished" to date.....so for him, his interest in "naval archectiture" was supported by years of boating, boating license at age 13, sea cadets, and even a boat that he built! So a "career at sea" was just a natural progression of stong interests already there....</p>
<p>and as profmom said, write it from the heart.....the essence of "who you are" is unique to YOU.... and you get 500 words to get that down in black and white!</p>
<p><strong>back to your situation</strong></p>
<p>you mentioned your robotics project- you were a leader of a team that was successful.... that is really great! Do put it on your CV, and then use a "description" page to describe it a bit further, your role, and what you "gained" from the experience! Would add to that using words like "we" instead of "I" demonstrates that bit of humility that is found in most good leaders....</p>
<p>as for soccer..... or basketball..... if that is of interest to you, then do it! But do it for YOU, not for the admissions board! If it is of interest to YOU, then you are more likely to "accomplish" something in the process. If you are doing it "to stretch a resume" then forget it. Our Mid had a seperate athletic CV not because he was "streching" or "filling" space.... but because he had 4 varsity sports for 4 years, with conference/county/state/AAHM in earned achievements, over 4 years. </p>
<p>all things to think about.</p>
<p>OK my 2 cents worth.</p>
<p>Leadership (one of the things the USNA is looking for) is partly about taking charge and applying your skills in unique and creative ways AND getting results. The essence of many of the comments about is that ultimately the USNA admissions team will measure you based on results, not good itentions.</p>
<p>You were previously asking us what to pursue in your senior year. </p>
<p>When you say:
[quote]
....the reason I'm not doing it (F.I.R.S.T.) next year is because the teacher who ran it retired and many of the team members graduated, therefore there will likely not be a team next year
[/quote]
</p>
<p>sounds more like an excuse than an accomplishment that will make your application/inteview stand out. You also never did say how the team actually did, maybe they didn't do well (stuff happens), but if they did and you never point that out, you lose a chance to demonstrate how your leadership yielded results. </p>
<p>Did you try to get any other teachers to replace the one who retired or somehow demonstrate leadership in a unique/creative way to solve this 'problem'???......THAT is what leadership is all about. Those are examples of what you focus on in your senior year to make yourself stand out in the application process.</p>