<p>How important is being a team captain for your whole candidate score? (Obviously there are people at West Point who were not captains but there seems to be very few based on the class profiles.) Can a lack thereof be compensated for with other demonstrations of leadership potential (ie. Eagle Scout, Class President, or Editor School Newspaper....anything?)</p>
<p>TampicoTrauma, I have received an appointment and I wasn't a team captain. However, I have plenty of other forms of leadership. As long as you have demonstrated your leadership potential, you don't need to be a team captain.</p>
<p>Hey- Just wondering... If I have excellent academics and physical ability, would that make up for not being in clubs? It seems like everybody on these threads is in like 10 clubs or more! I train all year for football and track which limits my participation in clubs. My school counselor says don't join clubs just for the sake of being in a club. I could go for a team captain spot, but there's over 100 kids on the football team ( I go to a huge school).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>You only have room to fill in one club on the application, so more than that is pretty pointless. As far as being captain, definitely not required as long as you have other leadership, e.g. class pres., senior patrol leader, etc.</p>
<p>I'm only a sophomore, but I'll definitely try to get a leadership position in my church youth group and german club. Is that enough?
Sounds kind of weak to me...</p>
<p>Once again, I go to a huge school (about 800 in my graduating class, about 3000 in my school) I really don't think the class president think would work.</p>
<p>There are lots of other leadership positions besides class president. I didn't win any class elections because I'm not in the in the "party crowd". You can be in CAP or boy scouts, sports captains, language clubs officer, service clubs like key club and NHS, band, volunteer work, even a job and even better if you become a shift manager.</p>
<p>Since you are only a sophomore, you have plenty of time to find something along those lines.</p>
<p>im vice prez (could be prez if i wanted the work load, no thanks) of my school's Interact club (community service). I started as a member, became a board member, and then VP. the club has like 50 members. you can work your way up pretty easily if you want a leadership position, cause most people dont. </p>
<p>You can also start your own club. then you'll immediately be president and founder, for 3 years :)</p>
<p>thats a good idea. I was actually thinking about how our school doesn't have a national honor society...</p>
<p>I was referred here not long ago by a friend. I'm in the process of applying to WP, more precisely, the SLS program. I don't have test scores of any sort yet, but I am taking the ACT in Febuary. I will do well on the test (at least I hope so) and won't have any academic problems (3.8-4.0 GPA). My dilemna is as follows. I have been homeschooled 100%- meaning that I haven't been able to be class president or anything of the sort. I have no sport or leadership experience to show on an application. Also note that the local highschool is somewhat hostile toward homeschoolers (meaning highschool sports are not a good option, they don't even let us play often). What should I do?
My thought was to do boxing this summer and join lacrosse teams or something to get some athletic sports under my belt. I am at a loss as to what I should do for extra-curriculars. My current plan is as follows.</p>
<p>-My brother and I are helping Dad build a house this summer.
-I organized a short film for this summer in which I will write and head the project.
-A book on the making of the movie will also be written and published by me.
-A large work of fiction should be written by late summer and I will have it published too.
-This spring, I am doing a large concert (singing) with my brother, possibly launching us on to the professional stage or a CD.
-I am planning to do freelance writing for the city paper.
-other various clubs I would start including a local Rep. club or something of the sort.</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>i'd say get involved with community service, church, and youth groups as much as you can. maybe try to join some rec sports leagues also(like the boxing you mentioned).Try to knock out SAT and/or ACT too. also, if you don't do as good on your first ACT as you would have-it's ok! take a deep breath, buy a practice book, maybe take a class. There is no limit to how many times youc an take the test, my first time i got a 24, was extremely discouraged, almost just gave up all together. I took the class, read the book, took the practice tests, now all my scores are in the mid-50 percent range.</p>
<p>Clongbeard: homeschooled candidates have a tougher road to hoe, but it is not impossible. This topic of sports was discussed extensively a while back - do a search for team sports. Boy Scouts is always a great option for leadership opportunities.
Good luck!</p>
<p>Clongbeard,</p>
<p>First of all, good luck on the ACT next month. You may want to take it a 2nd time also. Then plan on taking the SAT as soon as possible. Also, try to apply to each of the academies summer programs. That way, if you don't get into SLS, you may still be able to have to opportunity to see a service academy first-hand.</p>
<p>I believe the reason the academies prefer candidates with sports leadership experience is to insure they are bringing in candidates who are athletically/physically inclined and who have demonstrated that they can lead. Therefore you may want to consider doing both, but separately which others have done successfully. For example, you may want to start a running program and begin running some 5k and 10k races. This will also be a big help when it comes time to take the CFA. You can also begin a weight training program that will also help to develop the necessary skills for the CFA.</p>
<p>In terms of leadership, you will want to look for an organization for which you have a passion. Then you can volunteer to be on a committee - every community service organization needs volunteers in a big way. Since you are building a house, what about Habitat for Humanity? How about a church group? Could you teach Sunday School? Or start and conduct a children's choir since you are musically inclined? </p>
<p>Finally, there have been a few discussions on these boards regarding homeschoolers. You will likely find some good information from those who have gone before you.</p>
<p>Leadership comes in a lot of flavors. It can be developed but needs to be sincere. Don't just look for something that you think will look good on the application or a resume. And best of luck to you.</p>