Please Chance Me: Military Academies, Stanford, MIT

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Schools I’m applying to:
Desired: US Air Force Academy, US Naval Academy, West Point, Stanford, MIT, Harvard
Backups: University of Washington, Purdue, GIT, University of Michigan, Northwestern

Demographics:
-State (if domestic applicant): Washington
-Country (if international applicant):
-School Type: Public with 1500 students
-Ethnicity: African-American (50% black 50% white)
-Gender: Male

Academic Profile:

Standardized Tests
-SAT I (Please List Breakdown): 1570 (M 790/ R&W 780); essay 6/7/7
-ACT (Please List Breakdown): n/a
AP Scores:
-Junior Year:
Calc AB: 5
AP Lang: 5
AP US History: 5
AP Physics: 5
-Soph Year: Chem: 4

Courseload and Transcript
-Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
-Weighted GPA (out of 4.0): I don’t know, my high school doesn’t weight and I have yet to calculate
-Freshman year courses (only list honors/AP): Honors English/Chemistry/World History
-Sophomore year courses (only list honors/AP): Honors Bio/English, AP Chemistry
-Junior year courses (only list honors/AP): AP Calc AB, AP Lang, AP US History, AP Physics
-Senior year courses (only list honors/AP): AP Calc BC, AP Government, AP Biology
-Rank: 1 (my high school ranks all 4.0 students as #1)

Awards and honors
-Major Awards: Elizabeth Wesley Incentive Program for African Americans, AP Scholar

Subjective factors:
Extracurricular Pursuits: (also list: number of years/ leadership positions/ achievements)

  1. JV Football Fr/Soph/Jr, Varsity Sr
  2. JV Track Fr/Soph, Varsity Jr/Sr
  3. National Honor Society (Soph, Jr, Sr)
  4. Wind Ensemble/Jazz Band, Trumpet player (5th grade through Sr)
  5. Licensed Pilot, received license on 17th birthday
  6. Freelance tutor, used funds from tutoring and part-time job to pay for flight lessons (Soph-Sr)
    *Just another thing, I delayed getting a car and took the city bus every morning at 4:45 AM to school so that I could get my pilot’s license before my driver’s license

Job/Work Experience: (also list: number of years and achievements)

  1. Goodwill Donations employee, Soph-Sr, not really much in the way of achievements

Volunteer/Community service: (also list: number of years and achievements)

  1. National Honor Society (150+ hours)

Intended Major:
-Aeronautics and Astronautics, or related field

Essay:
-Personal statement: About my love of flying and being a pilot

~What can I improve? Should I take the ACT or retake SAT? How well do I stand out? And overall, where would you put my chances? Thanks so much.

P.S. If I do go to a civilian college (MIT, Purdue, etc.) I plan on joining their ROTC or cross enrolling with a local unit.

2

@MochaMan11 For applying to the US Military academies, you need to be familiar with the nomination and appointment process. One does not merely just apply to service academies for admission.
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33213.pdf

Westpoint: http://www.usma.edu/admissions/SitePages/Apply_Nominations.aspx

Air ForceAcademy: https://www.academyadmissions.com/admissions/the-application-process/nominations/

Naval Academy: https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Nomination-Draft/index.php

Merchant Marine Academy: https://www.usmma.edu/admissions/admissions-a-to-z

3

Yes I’m aware, and I’m already involved in the congressional nomination process. I was just curious as to what my odds were for acceptance at the end of the day, particularly at the civilian colleges because I think I might have a good shot at the academies.

4

My only advice is to give other engineering majors a look as well. The mantra during my time at Canoe U was “you don’t have to be an aero major to fly”.

5

I don’t know how the service academy process works, but as far as “civilian” schools go, you have perhaps a better chance than most. You clearly have stellar test scores and GPA, plus the URM status. Keep in mind that a better chance than most is still a very small chance.

Also, it’s a bad idea to have Michigan and Northwestern as backups. You may be unpleasantly surprised.

6

The Naviance data from your own high school will probably give you better “chance” info than anyone can here.

7

I don’t venture opinions on chances. But a few thoughts come to mind.

  1. Retake SAT or take ACT? Only for bragging rights if you want a perfect score. Your 1570 is pretty damn high and I don't see much advantage in taking more tests...Unless you want a 1600 or 36 just to say you got perfect score. If time is short, you're probably better off spending it elsewhere.
  2. Sat II subject tests? Might be required or strongly suggested by some of your target schools. Check requirements at specific schools. Your test energy is better directed there.
  3. An essay about flying is likely to be unique. Maybe not so unique at Air Force Academy, but probably unusual at most non-military schools. Good idea.

Your profile looks really strong. Many indications of excellent academics, ECs and character. Put together a thoughtful application and you will be a contender.

8

^^ I agree with @oldschooldad

Consider SAT II math2 and another (physics). Some of the schools might say optional, but there really is no such thing as optional, right?

9

Thanks so much for the info guys, you gave me a lot of advice to act on and I will certainly take it to heart.