Re: West Point Admissions

Hi, I am a junior in high school and I just recently decided I wanted to apply to West Point. However, one of their admissions requirement is to attend their Summer Leaders Experience program, the deadline of which I missed, having recently made this decision. Does this mean I would not qualify for admissions into West Point?

You’ve misread it-- it’s recommended but not required: http://www.usma.edu/admissions/SitePages/Steps.aspx

Attending or not attending SLE will not factor into an admissions decision. It is true that a fairly high percentage of students who attend SLE will ultimately be offered admission but don’t worry about missing the deadline

This is true but not because they attended SLE; many highly qualified candidates who end up receiving appointments happened to have attended SLE, but there is no causal relationship there.

SLE is not part of the WCS (whole candidate score) used to determine appointments. It is a marketing tool used by the academy to give candidates an opportunity to see the fort. It is nothing like a real day in the life of a cadet, so all it does is enable you to experience the campus, open your profile, and take a CFA if you choose. If you can’t attend, no worries as it has no effect on your application.