Hey, guys. I’m a junior this year in high school. I wanted to know if other activities substitute for varsity sports. I’m not on a school sports team because I never realized how important it could be. However, I did swim at a club for 4 years and then quit in 10th grade. I know I need some more physical activities, but would outside activities other than varsity sports help? I’m planning to join a cycling club/team, but I don’t if it’s worth it, because I think it’s too late. Any helpful suggestions and tips would be great.
Basically, any athletics will help, although varsity is always referred. If it is a club team, you want to really try to get a leadership role within the team. Yes, it is true that the vast majority of applicants have varsity sports on their resume, but it is not a requirement.
Nothing will equal varsity school sports in helping your application. The things that can replace it in the eyes of the academy are a long-term commitment to another physical activity. I would say things like national or state champion in martial arts would be a good example. Working as a team and long-term commitment to an activity are things that are learned in school sports that cannot be replicated in other activities. Time management is also another benefit of being in school athletics in addition to other school activities. In your situation I would suggest starting in Track and Field or Cross Country (or both?). Start running today, and get into a position where you can make the team by the Spring season. If your school has Winter Indoor Track, then start that. Those are your best bets for getting some athletics on your resume.
I was thinking about doing track, but I have executive club meetings after school as well as regular club meetings afterschool. In addition, I have tutoring after school sometimes too. However, I was wondering Venture Letters or Varsity Scout Letters are equivalents to a Sports Varsity Letter. Do you know of this?
They are not equal to a varsity school athletic letter. They would be at best categorized as an EC activity outside of school. I will repeat - Nothing will equal varsity school sports on your application. You are in competition with candidates who somehow find the time to do sports in addition to all of the other activities that you list. Either step up and get it done, or stand there in April wondering why you didn’t get an appointment. I am being harsh, I know, but one thing that will not get you into USNA is continuing to make excuses rather than trying to figure out a way to get it done.
Think of the nature of the product of the USNA. Leaders for one of the armed services – not simply members of clubs and committees. Is varsity sports the sole predictor? No. But you cant complain why several HS level clubs won’t impress admissions either
If you look at statistics, 90% of USNA admits were varsity athletes in high school. At this point, the only option you have to fill that criteria would be track. Sign up for the spring track season and talk to the coaches to determine which events have the lowest number of participants. If the number is low enough, you could be “varsity” by default simply to keep your school competitive in their division. This is how my daughter became a varsity athlete her freshman year.
You say that you have several other commitments that prevent you from participating in sports. Really what it comes down to is what activities will help you reach your goals. USNA is physically challenging as well as academically rigorous.
consider working out to reach the maximum scores for the CFA. Varsity letters show teamwork/leadership/etc, but if you have the right extracurriculars you might not be penalized for not having any varsity sports.
They’re looking for someone who can put in the time to score well on the CFA- and with the amount of time that you have- for sure you can increase your chances. I am senior applying to USNA and my plan (regardless of the admissions decision) is to run a half- marathon in May. Maybe consider doing a local 5K to get your running up to speed (?).
*also, look at this website < serviceacademyforums.com >, I found it extremely helpful when I had questions about the application and it also gave me a bunch information about the Academy itself/ experiences people have had with both the application and attending.