<p>Hi everyone.
I have just recently found this board and have really enjoyed reading all the posts that everyone has posted on their experiences with USNA. At the moment, I am applying for my third time to the academy. The problem that I'm having is my eye-sight... oh its killing me, but I'm going to keep trying until I can't try anymore. Now for a quick introduction so I can get acquainted with everyone:
-Name: Nicholas (Nick)
-Location: Lubbock, Texas
-Graduated in 2003 from Lubbock High School with high honors and IB
-Rank: 56 of 650
-GPA: 4.16 out of 5
-SAT: 1330
-ACT: 29
-PAE: Scored very high on all aspects of this test. Pull ups: 22, Push ups: 66, Standing long jump (My favorite): 114 inches, Kneeling basketball throw: 75 ft, Shuttle run: 57.2 seconds.
-Earned 11 Varsity Letters.
3- Football
3-Wrestling
3-Track
2-Powerlifting
-Texas All-state academic football team 5A, Wendys High school Heisman nominee, National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame scholar athlete
-Quite a bit of volunteer and community service over the past few years with things such as Special Olympics (inspired by my Brother with Down's Syndrome), United Way, etc etc.
-I have my private pilots license with over 120 hours flight time.
-Black Belt-American TaeKwonDo
-I was very active in my school's newspaper, NHS, and student government, but never made it to president to any of them. (Lost in the "popular" vote, hated to see it go like that but what can you do?)
-Attended SS way back in June 2002 (Seems like such a long time ago... I'm getting old...)
-Right now I'm in my second year at Texas Tech University as a Junior in the College of Mechanical Engineering
-I've made the Dean's Honor list the past three semesters (Taking no less than 19 hours in each one of these semesters) I'm taking 21 hours at the moment with classes like Calculus 3, Electrical Circuits, Physics, Chemistry 2, History, Materials, and Dynamics. (If I can get in this next year, then if anyone needs any tutoring in the lower level classes just let me know... :cool: )</p>
<p>I've got more detailed numbers on the class grades/sports stats/etc but I think I will end this post here and just say that I hope to get to know each and every one of you, and I wish you all the best of luck in getting into the Naval Academy this upcoming year. If you don't make it, please don't settle for second best....</p>
<p>Hey Nick! Nice to meet you. Wow, applying for the 3rd time? If I had seen your resume, I would have thought you'd get in for sure. But has your eyesight been a disqualifier in the past?</p>
<p>For the past few years, I've been waiver-able for my eyesight... which started off as 20/150 in both eyes the first time that I had tested for DODMERB. My eye doctor has actually told me about a few exercises that can strengthen one's eyes and in some cases improve eye-sight slightly. In this last DODMERB test, the medical doctor actually got my eye-sight to be 20/75... I had also worn glasses for about a month prior to this test so Im not sure which method helped the most. I have actually been given an appointment to the Air Force Academy, but ended up turning them down because I can't really see myself at USAFA over USNA, and I think I wouldn't be as happy there as I would be at Navy.</p>
<p>Nick~You sure seem like an unbelievable candidate to me! Best of luck to you! Can you provide a little more detail on the eye exercises? My son has a vision waiver but realizes that it puts him in such a small pool for potential appointment. He does not have a nomination yet either. I wonder if coming from Texas...Texas produces many that want to go to the Academy...has been a barrier? Thanks for any insight (opps...no pun intended) you can provide! Juniormom (seniormom now)</p>
<p>Thank you... and best of luck to your son. I will post more information about these exercises when I have a little more time, right now I'm getting ready to go to class. I was told that being from Texas is a bit harder to get in. Then again I've also been told that since I'm from west Texas (a bit smaller in the population department than places like Dallas/Austin/Houston etc) that it isn't as bad. Well I hope everyone has a good day... I will be back on later this afternoon to post that info for you Junior(Senior)mom</p>
<p>It appears that a high percentage of applicants for the Naval Academy come from Maryland, Virginia, Texas, and Florida and those states are as a result the most competitive for both nominations and appointments. The areas where the Naval Academy believes it needs to improve it's recruiting efforts are NY, New Jersey, and California. I got this info from an admissions person I spoke to a few months ago.</p>
<p>SpiderMD, your stats look great! And, the fact that this is your third time applying might actually be a plus. The Academy will see your determination and desire to go. Also, the classes you're taking at Texas Tech should put you at the top of the pile of apps. The only thing that I can see that may or may not hurt you is your SAT score. It's not a bad score at all, but it's probably average for most applying. Have you thought about taking it again? I think you have an excellent chance of receiving an appointment! I have to ask, are you in NROTC there at Texas Tech, or do they have one?</p>
<p>By the way, I'm a black belt too!!! :-) (Karate)</p>
<p>Navgirl-
No, we do not have NROTC at Texas Tech, I would have made time in my class schedule for Navy ROTC, but in fact, Texas Tech has Air Force ROTC. I've taken 20,19, and 21 hour course loads over my last three semesters here and never really had time to do ROTC (however I do have a job on top of all that so i'm not sure if I really "didn't" have time for ROTC)</p>