so basically my freshman and sophomore year grades really really sucked. I had a some C’s from both years. But, I was student council secretary freshman year, and student council president sophomore year. I am the publicity officer for the badminton and ping pong club. I have been a teacher/teacher aide for kindergarten at my local church for about two years as well as volunteering throughout the years of my student council career. I took one honors class freshman year and i will be taking one AP class this upcoming junior year.
I will try so hard junior year, enough to get me straight A’s every marking period.
Do I still have a chance? What if I did poorly freshman and sophomore years, and did extremely well junior and senior year?
Your grades are not a deal-breaker by themselves, as long as you do indeed get straight As the rest of your high school career. The board will notice the improvement. I would be more concerned with your weak extra curricular activities and your total lack of athletics. What is your PSAT score? Have you scheduled your SAT and ACT tests? The one thing that you can control is to get the standardized test scores as high as possible since that will be biggest impact on your package score. Your competition will all have scores in the 95+ percentile. Beyond that, the competition will have multiple AP courses, multiple varsity letters, and leadership roles in their activities. Remember, the first level of competition is getting a nomination from your senator or representative. You need to pass that hurdle before you can be considered for an appointment.
That’s only some of my story. I have not listed all of my EC’s/info yet:
My current GPA unweighted = 3.20
My current GPA weighted = 3.67
PSAT Scores:
490 = Reading and Writing
500 = Math
Volunteer:
In my church, I was a teacher aide for 2 years, an hour every Sunday, from Sept. - May
I will be a teacher this upcoming year.
Soup kitchen for 3 hours.
Veterans affair socializing with veterans for 2 hours.
Achievements:
Student of the Year award at my Music School
2nd place in the Crescendo International Music Competition (performed in Carnegie Hall)
Extra Curriculars:
Grade Level Student Council = Secretary (freshman), President (sophomore)
All School Council = freshman representative
Ping Pong & Badminton Club = Public Relations officer
Future Doctors of America Club
Project 7 Club
Sports:
JV Cheer = sophomore
Made it on JV lacrosse team, but had to quit due to personal reasons.
And I have not taken the SAT/ACT tests yet. I plan to take it this year. When is the deadline for it? Also, how do I get a nomination from my senator/representative?
Your GPA is lower than it needs to be to get into one of the service academies, as are your PSAT test scores. Yes, you will find some who got in with a low GPA or low standardized test scores, but they has something extreme on their resume to balance it out. The board is looking for candidates with the “whole package” of academics, athletics, and leadership. Honestly, you need to step up the grades to all As for the rest of high school. You need to get involved in athletics. If Cheer is what you want to do, then make varsity this year and be the best cheerleader in your school. Become captain. Lead the squad. Why did you quit lacrosse? (I am not looking for you to tell me the reason, I am telling you to look inside and see the reason). Lacrosse is a great sport for teamwork. Can you get back on the team? Student government involvement is good. Keep it up and become an upperclassman leader in the school.
The ACT and SAT tests are given year-round. Look at their official websites for dates and locations near you. Take a prep class, take practice tests, take the real test as often as possible until you are at 700+ SAT and 31+ ACT.
Find out who your representatives and senators are. Go to their websites and look for their information on service academy appointments. All of their information will be there. Each congressman does it a little differently, so follow the directions.
Yes, I can definitely step up with my grades, as well as getting more into athletics. I have a few sports I want to join in mind:
Bowling, Golf, Ultimate Frisbee, and Lacrosse.
I’m also in the badminton and ping pong club. It’s not technically a team sport, but it does get me into shape.
I also have to agree that the Academies want the best of the best “all-around” students.
That means strong grades and high test scores, strong EC’s and strong athletics (things you can “letter” in). Bowling and Frisbee can be alternate ECs, but they are not considered “daily practice” sports competing against other schools. Don’t pad your resume. Do things that are quality over quantity.
You have to have a senator who knows you and is willing to write up a letter. Some of our Eagle Scouts worked in the senators’ office staff rooms. Typically, in our state, they only pick two students that they sponsor; your state may be different.
As I understand it, the other way in with lower grades is through their “prep school” program. I believe these students are generally superior athletes.
Golf and lacrosse are decent sports. What the academies are looking for is physical fitness as well as a demonstrated ability to work as a teammate. Badminton, Frisbee, bowling, ping pong…not so much. Dedication to a sport should be long-term, not just something to put on a resume. Since you are already behind on athletics, anything you do will help but it will not trump someone else who has been doing a sport for years. You might be better off just working very hard on your physical fitness and endurance and use the lack of organized sports as a talking point in your interviews as to how you realized late what you needed to do.
Your Senators and representatives should have the instructions on their websites for nominations. There is a point of contact for each member of congress who takes care of their academy appointments. The info from aunt bea above is incorrect. The members of congress do not “write a letter” supporting you. Most of the time you will never meet the Senator or congressman who appoints you. You will submit an application to their selection committee for an appointment. Those who have applications that the committee finds to be competitive will be asked to come in for an interview, and from there the committee will select up to 10 candidates for each vacancy that the member of congress has for that year. These are called “slates” of 10 candidates. The slates can be submitted in three ways, depending on the congressman’s choice. There is an unranked slate, which then lets the Academy decide to whom they want to offer an appointment. It can also be submitted with a Principal nominee with unranked alternates. The principal nominee is the one who the Academy must pick if qualified. If they are not qualified, then the Academy can pick from among the other 9. The third way is a Principal nominee with ranked alternates, and the Academy must follow the list down and choose the first fully qualified nominee.
The Prep School is for candidates who would be qualified except for one area that is weak. It may be that they have high grades but a low SAT/ACT. They might have great athletics but low grades. The Prep School is also for enlisted candidates who may have been out of school for a few years before applying and need some academic help to get back to where they need to be for the Academy academics. Unfortunately, they often get used as a red-shirt program for the D1 athletes at the Academies.
I am curious about why you want to go to the USNA?
I don’t see a lot of things that you’re interested in that necessarily match up with what the typical USNA candidate has. I"m not saying you’re not good enough, I’m saying it may not be a good fit for you.
Please, do some research on your own. You have found the link for both of your senators above. Go to their websites and look at them. I found both of their Academy applications and directions within minutes on their websites. All of those questions that you have about appointments are answered there for you, along with links to the applications.
SAT/ACT are weighted pretty heavily by USNA. I have a strong feeling that my SAT scores(1500/1600) played a big part in my admission to USNA despite not having a stellar GPA. @che527 PM me to have a more detailed talk about USNA if you want to.
I want to be challenged, pushed to my limits, and be serving and protecting my country at the same time. USNA exposes itself as an elite school. The athletics, the academics, and the high intense military training. I want it all.
Between your grades and test scores, you have almost no chance for admission or a nomination. That said, if your goal is to be a naval officer, that’s still a reasonable option through a NROTC program at any number of universities.
If the Navy is like the Army, they’ll also have a Officer Candidate School (abbreviated as OCS) but that’s generally an option for someone who already has a college degree.