Lately, I’ve been thinking about leaving the academy. I’m not sure if I belong here. I think it’s a great school, though. However, I don’t want to leave unless I think I have a good shot of going to a better school. Ultimately, I want to be an officer, but I think ROTC might be a better route for me. Anyways, I was wondering about my chances to go to Ivy league schools or schools like Georgetown, Stanford, or other institutions with great programs. I’m a plebe(freshman), and my GPA is a 3.4. My academic GPA is a 3.55. I’m involved in a couple of academic clubs that compete against other schools. The average GPA is a 2.9. Do I have shot at these types of schools?
My nephew was accepted at West Point last year. He wanted to go into MI and was well along in his Mandarin Chinese studies from his travels, summer school and HS. He was also accepted at Georgetown. Because I had worked in college admissions and been in MI, my brother asked for an opinion.
There are a large number of very high quality schools that offer Army ROTC. See http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/courses-and-colleges.html. The list is organized by state. The schools that have the ROTC program directly on their own campus are followed by an indented listing of participating area schools. Four year scholarships are very common in areas of study where the Army has a high demand, some e.g.'s are Chinese, Arabic and most any engineering field.
Academically speaking, you are qualified. Pick some candidate schools and call the ROTC commander directly. If they want you and have full rides available it helps admission. Cast a wide initial net as there are some very strong programs out there that you may not know about.
Transfer admissions are often more difficult than freshman admissions in majors of high demand as the university must first meet the faculty work load needed for current students. Good officers realize the need to take on challenges.
My nephew selected Georgetown. When I was a student at WPI we had transfers from two of the military academies in my fraternity house. While working there years later in admissions, the son of a friend was funded through his PhD in biology by the Army. Army Lt General’s Harry Storke and George Hazzard were two very important pioneers in the development of a revolutionary change in the design of an engineering education at WPI.
Picking the learning environment that fits you is more important than most HS seniors are aware. The importance of this fit impacts the total learning experience and is not always measured in GPA. If you have not done it already, you may want some confidential discussion with a knowledgeable advisor at WP.
It might be best to perhaps stay at West Point, or apply to much less selective schools.
A 3.33 is well below the average college GPA at NYU and Columbia, even with your school being very academically rigorous.
Sorry to hear Yearling year is not proving to be the relief you had maybe hoped for. While I agree USMA may not be for all, if you plan on military service, there is no better place to be. I graduated with just over a 3.0. It has not hurt me in the slightest in my career. Having USMA on your resume’ will open more doors than almost any school. That said, don’t stay just for that. The misery index is pretty high for Cow year. I almost left as a Cow. My fiance’ (now wife) encouraged me to stick it out. I’m glad I did.
This was posted back in March. However, OP might have a shot at NYU,but not Columbia… It depends somewhat on the high school record, but his grades are significantly above average for West Point, so he should be able to transfer to a somewhat more academically competitive school. Obviously, West Point has other requirement, such as Congressional recommendation, leadership, and athletics. Obviously, it is difficult to get through, particularly at the beginning. Probably, if you want to be an officer, you should stay, but if not leave.
@soccerboy97 What did you do?
@gearmom stayed,but exploring my options.