Suggestions on helping my odds?

<p>I am currently on hold. Everything is in and passed. </p>

<p>I have dropped a class at hs to take Metallurgy at a local college for AP credit (hope this will look good). End of JR yr ranked top 24% (attend competitive Blue Ribbon School). GPA 4.0 weighted, SAT math 620, reading 510 (not as good as I had hoped). Grades this year three A's(AP Phyco., AP English, ROTC), and a B(AP calculus) so far. Physical fitness test great. Full resume-many leadership qualities, speaking engagements and a couple PT jobs.</p>

<p>Now for the questions...I have a good family friend with ranking of LTC who has written me a very impressive letter of recommendation. I had not sent it through my nomination since he does not live in my district at this time. Would it be wise to copy this to admissions? I have also been accepted to a very competitive state University Engineering and Aeronautical program. Some have said I should advise admissions of this. Honestly that seems a little forward to me. I am not in one of the top 5 states attending the academy but my state probable ranks 8th or 9th so I am not sure how competitive it will be this year. Does anyone out there have any advice for me? </p>

<p>I have been keeping in touch with admissions and sent them my current grades.</p>

<p>I have been working hard for this for the past three years and I am not ready to stop yet!</p>

<p>A. First off, it is LCDR, not LTC.
B. Sounds decent, although you may want to list more of these "many leadership qualities, speaking engagements and a couple PT jobs" those are more important than most of the other stuff.
C. Do you play a sport?
D. Do your best not to use connections to get in, it doesn't help your crediblity. Even if you have (very good) connections, don't use them.
E. Don't give admissions more than they need, they have enough crap already and don't need your "look, I got into a better school" crap.
F. Don't worry about your state's ranks, focus more on your district's, that is where the nomination comes from.
G. Make sure you go to the academy because you want to serve your country, not because it is free and will look good on your resume later in life; i.e. are you applying to all of the academies or just this one?</p>

<p>Oh, and out of curiosity, what's a Blue Ribbon School? Never heard of one of those, I'm assuming though, it is nothing like the D.C. Public School I went to.</p>

<p>send Admissions anything and everything that could help your chances... annoy the crap out of them with questions and papers. the larger you fill your file with good things, the smaller the bad things look. how did you do on the ACT?
if anything i would say retake the SAT as soon as you can. it never hurts to try for a better score. congrats and best of luck to you!</p>

<p>I have read several of your responses and appreciate your input.</p>

<p>K314, I think he means he knows a Liuetenant Colonel, LTC is the correct Army abbreviation.</p>

<p>A: His military email address is LTC and that is the way he signs his name.
B: My resume list in detail all I have accomplished, the post was just to keep it short
C: I do run cross country, have played lacrosse and play golf on the side.
D: I would not use connections to get me in...it is just a sound letter from someone in the military field.
E: I do not consider the state school a better school than the USMMA or that would be my first choice.
F: I already have the nomination but understood that they filled appointments by the number available to each state.
G: I understand after the USMMA you can serve in the military or private sector and it is not 'free' I believe the fees the first year are around $7000. I am military leadership bound. And yes I have applied to other academies. </p>

<p>A Blue Ribbon school denotes a public high school ranked top in your state.</p>

<p>Metallurgy. Had to look that one up. I hate it when everyone is smater than I am..... Anyhow, in reading your post, I recalled that admissions had called my kid to offer his appointment & the admissions guy joked with him that the only thing missing from his file were his two recommendation letters. He told him to fax them the next day. I remember thinking it odd as he'd sent them in with some other stuff. Might be a good idea to send them in. Try not to let it set you on edge with the waiting game. Being on hold means they're looking at you so hang tough. ;)</p>

<p>yeah Fleet. for your recommendation letters, don't go for the "ooh, he knows this guy" approach, but having high up people that you know personally write a letter for you is never a bad idea. i had my letters done by my pastor, a State Congressman from my church, and a Col. from the Air Force. i figured that by having a pretty wide scope of people in leadership positions referring me, the school would see that i can work under various forms of leadership, and those guys knew the qualities it takes to be a good leader and could say what they thought my strengths were. it must have worked, i mean, i got in, so whatever, right?
seriously though, any time you have a question, call admissions. it got to the point with me where i didn't even have to fully introduce myself (a bit shameful perhaps), but they recognized my voice. and be sure to ask every time you call if they've gotten any info on your packet yet? it'll push them to look at it. cause they know you'll keep calling and they want to have good news for you. also, in case you haven't done so, consider making an overnight trip out here, you'll get to see a little bit of what the average day is like here. if you decide to do this, let me know and i can give you some of my info and perhaps i could be the one to show you around.
keep the faith, stay focused, and don't give up.</p>

<p>We just got back from KP last night (YEA!!! MY SON ACCEPTED HIS APPOINTMENT WHILE WE WERE THERE VISITING....SO IT'S OFFICIAL!!!) He did not do an overnight visit, but a day one. He had a good idea of what "life" would be like as he spent a week at the USCGA AIM program, so a day visit is all he felt necessary.</p>

<p>is2day4him.....Did you see a young man on Tuesday (wearing a blue shirt, yellow tie and leather jacket) following a plebe around??? That was my son.</p>

<p>But, we did speak with Admissions and sat in on a power point presentation they gave to a HS junior. The admissions officer told them that it was important to get the app. and all information in early as there are "slots" for each state, and since it's a rolling admission process the early bird [with good resume] usually gets the worm.</p>

<p>My son sent in 3 letter of recommendation as well, one from a good friend who is a Commander in the Navy, one from our pastor, and one from his AP History teacher (who also happend to be one of the first women commissioned to a Navy ship).</p>

<p>Hope this helps. Good Luck and keep plugging. KP is an awesome opportunity.</p>

<p>Congrats!! That is the best news. Allow me to provide the first warning label you receive when becoming a member of the KP parent club:
Please keep your hands & feet inside the cart at all times.
Welcome to the roller coaster ride of your life. How much did you love the waterfront? Or did you even get to see much of it? I know it was kinda yucky weather yesterday.</p>

<p>Speaking of weather . . . snow flurries were witnessed by many mids this afternoon at KP!!</p>

<p>that's awesome suz.
tell him we all wish him the best of luck and a hearty congradulations. it's a tough life, but well worth it. and i might have seen him, i can't say for sure... i wasn't really looking for recruits. but that's awesome. my first hand experience warning is to not get lazy now that he's accepted. it's easier to do than you'd think. keep on trucking.
congrats once again!</p>

<p>Thanks. I'm proud for sure! I'm not at all worried about him getting lazy....he starts his 2nd half of Sr year tomorrow with all new classes and is taking College Classes (he's has enough credits to graduate)... College English, Physics, Criminal Justice and French 5. In addition he runs indoor and outdoor track so he'll keep in shape for indoc and the rest.</p>

<p>Mom will be sad come July..........well sad/happy LOL!</p>

<p>Susannegra and 'Alex,'<br>
Congratulations to both of you. Truly, applying to KP is a family affair when it involves visits, forms, signatures and the 'waiting.' July will come soon enough. As a mother of a 1/c, I see June coming fast with Graduation. So, July can't be far behind. Your 'frenzy' has just taken a short break. Wait till the packet arrives, and you rustle through the papers, information and forms.<br>
Again, Congratulations! Your persistence and motivation paid off! </p>

<p>MountaineerMom</p>

<p>Thanks MountaineerMom. My son is very excited {lol and so am I}. You are right about it being a "family affair." Congratulation to you on your son's graduation. We heard that Arnold Schwartzneager (spelling?) may deliver the commencement address at graduation. Are you in West Va? I was looking at the Parents organizations and it appears that VA and West VA are in the same organization. We live in SW Virginia area so I don't think there are many KP parents around here.</p>

<p>Congratulations to you,your son and family. We just got our nomination and appointment yesterday in the mail. Alabama is just sending out noms now. Where in SW Va are you?-we are looking to retire in several yrs on a small piece of property that I own in the Meadows of Dan area. I think there is one other Appointee from the Roanoke area. A very exciting time! The people that helped on this forum are excellent-absolutely a great reflection of K.P.</p>

<p>cga, :D :D :D Many congrats! Its one impressive piece of paper isn't it!? Welcome to the family officially!</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, what does the USMMA send out as a letter of acceptance? Oh, and another question, how did you find out, by looking online or letter in the mail?</p>

<p>Jamzmom, thank you-I enjoy your post(s), I'm always wondering how or what will be your responses will be..</p>

<p>Majmattmason, Fedex delivered a ltr size envelope that contained the Appointment. The Appointment notification was contained in a nice Blue folder with a Silver K.P. Crest with the United States Merchant Marine Academy embossed above the crest and Kings Point below the crest.</p>

<p>We knew the Appointment was coming from the candidate profile page that stated "Principal".</p>

<p>CGA 82, We are near Roanoke. Actually in Moneta at Smith Mountain Lake. Congrats to your family as well. Looks like our kids will be shipmates.</p>