<p>I have done many sports over the years, many JVs, and many Youth Services sports, but because of the extremely tough competition for varsity slots, I have not been able to compete with many of them. I believe my chances for varsity X country will be good this year however. Basically, how big of a disadvantage am I at? I did 2 Jvs, and 6 club sports every year. Does this compensate for the lack of varsities? I just read somewhere that like 95 percent of all candidates had a varsity letter.. ...</p>
<p>Earning a letter will help you to improve your file. However, explaining the level of competition at your school will help Admissions to put your situation in perspective. I can suggest that you reach out to your MALO for specific information regarding your situation. And good luck with cross country this year.</p>
<p>Hey momoftwins, when you explain things to admissions (also senators and congressman) to put our situation into perspective, how do you do this? Do you send them a separate letter or do you attach this letter to your application? And what exactly is MALO?</p>
<p>Straight from the usma.edu website. Your MALO is your Military Academy Liaison Officer (It's been a while for me, so suddenly I think it may mean Military Admissions Liaison Officer). In any event the job is the same. Because you're overseas it may be a bit more difficult, but by reaching out to Admissions now there will be time to find the right MALO for you to contact.</p>
<p>"USMA Admissions enjoys the assistance nationwide of representatives who provide service to candidates in their local areas. They include graduates of West Point, both in and out of the Active Duty Military and U.S. Army Reserve Liaison Officers who have been trained at West Point for this specific program. These people are available to assist you in admissions processing and will answer your questions about West Point programs. Through them, we hope to maintain a flow of information about the West Point experience that will increase your understanding and ease your pursuit of an appointment to the Military Academy. Contact the Admissions Office for the name of your local Field Representative."</p>
<p>Good luck. And please let us know what you find out from Admissions as we occasionally have other overseas applicants who would find the information valuable.</p>
<p>Thanks by the way. A very comprehensive and thoughtful post. My MALO would then have to represent a region that my parents are registered to vote right? There is no such MALO that would represent military families overseas
?</p>
<p>I'll bet that there are MALO's at military posts overseas. They are in place to help USMA's Admissions dept. If you already have your logon via Admissions, you may ask for a contact person through the site. If not you can e-mail Admissions directly.</p>
<p>Instead of me trying to explain my situation about the lack of varsity letters, could I have a recommendation letter from someone who does this for me? One of my dad's friends, who is an Ex- usma professor could do this for me. </p>
<p>I just don't get it. I would think that 6 DoD (department of defense) sports a year and 2 JVs a year would've more than compensated for the lack of varsity letters. :/ Thanks though.</p>
<p>There is place on the application to explain your sports situation, as I recall. This year it will be online, though, and may be different. Last year the applications were sent after the middle of August (cannot remember the exact date, sorry). </p>
<p>And remember, 5% do NOT have varsity letters. Plan to ace the physical fitness test. Keep moving forward with the nomination applications and with DoDMERB when you get the card. Remember there are three elements of your fitness that are considered: academic, medical and physical. Your goal is to be qualified in all three. You sound like a motivated candidate!</p>
<p>It is easy to get discouraged in the academy apllication process. Recognize that and move on, never stop, never give up. You can do it and if you do not try you will never know!</p>
<p>I don't think I have ever seen stats on this. However, I have met cadets who had 4 letters in 1 sport and others who had letters in multiple sports along with those who had only 1 letter. A cadet I know who had no letters had a 36 on the ACT and no athletic participation in high school. He also received an LOA. I also know a cadet who progressed through a martial art over many years. His dedication to the art left no time for high school sports. My daughter earned her letters in just about the only sport not played at West Point at either corps, club or intramural levels.</p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, the letter adds to your Whole Candidate Score. Good luck getting on varsity cross country this year. In the meantime, prepare your answer to the question. You have gained experience in multiple sports and developed many athletic skills already.</p>
<p>The stats on the various Academy websites consistently show that 9x% of the student body participated in varsity sports in high school. All of the Military programs are physically demanding, so there is obviously a good fit between people who are physically fit (mainly due to h.s. varsity sports) and the type of person they are looking for.</p>
<p>That doesn't mean you can't get accepted if you are not a varsity athlete. You build up your strength and endurance over a period of months if not years while in organized high school athletes. I wouldn't get too wrapped up in how many vasity letters you need/got, since some sports are obviously more physically demanding and time consuming than others. I think your motivation in high school should be to pursue athletes because you enjoy them or are good at it, not to check off some box on a college application form.</p>
<p>I don't quite understand your statement that you were never good enough to make any of the varsity teams at your school. Regardless of your background and physical skills, if accepted, there are minimum physical standards you need to achieve in order to remain in good standing. (Those are all listed on the Academy sites as well).</p>
<p>I think you should recognize that and continue to pursue your ambition of going there. Every situation is unique and as someone posted someplace on here, there is no one, single magical formula that we can apply to say you will or will not get accepted.</p>
<p>If someone is not nor has ever been a varsity athlete, doesn't work out or train consistently and is not physically fit, they will probably find they are having trouble once they enter the Academy, regardless of the other attributes that got them accepted in the first place.</p>
<p>Our son did not have a varsity letter, never played varsity sports and still earned an appointment to the USMMA, so it can be done. His situation made it impossible to play varsity sports since he was in the first graduating class of six students, four boys and two girls, which made it a tad difficult to field a team in any sport. But, he was in great shape due to having two older brothers who both served/are serving and showed him the ropes of being in shape. There are always options and if you are serious, then become a PT stud and ace the CFA. That will help offset a lack of a varsity letter.</p>
<p>Well, until the girls came it was 4 to 1. Depending on the class, sometimes it was 3 to 1. They had lots of fun with who was in which percentage of the class rank. Each one of the guys had a quarter of the class rank all to themselves. And to answer the question, no, it was not considered in any of their college applications since it was meaningless.</p>
<p>I did pass the CFA at SLS. Probably an average score anyhow, but Ltc. Bachleder said it was only worth 10 percent of the candidate score. Another thing, will usma recognize the fact that you participated in a varsity sport, without earning a letter? My X country is really weird. The JV and Varsity kids train at the same time, but varsity kids run alittle longer. They also switch out the teams depending on who beat whose score... so I actually stayed with varsity for a short time, just didn't earn the letter. I'll try harder this year. </p>
<p>But my athletic standing isn't that bad in my oppionion. I just feel that USMA values that Varsity letter higher than anything else.</p>
<p>I have done DoD Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Swimming, every year, with a cumulative of 10 years altogether. Every year I also represented the Army garrison by competing in the all star leagues (only 3 kids per team could make the team) against the navy, airforce, and marine corps bases. I'm a black belt in taekwondo, and hapkido, and have been doing that for 6 years each. Two years of JV X country, and im still trying to figure out my junior situation with the so called varsity. No letter, but experience... If you take the usma questionnaire... you have the option of claiming varsity, then the option of claiming if you won a letter. Those of you that were wondering, i didn't get the letter because I got docked off seventh fastest runner, and was pushed to eight, which was top JV.</p>
<p>Martial arts have been discussed quite a few times. Your experience includes teaching students more junior to yourself. Also, in many schools, students lead parts of the classes and help others prepare for their tests.</p>
<p>All in all, it looks like a great profile. Don't focus on the lack of a letter. Focus instead on the successes you've had in your various athletic experiences.</p>
<p>Is martial arts valued there at West Point? Is a black belt in to martial arts considered a varsity equivalent? My school used to have it as a school sport, but it was dissolved a year or two ago because of some safety issue.</p>
<p>My son received an early LOA without ever having played a varsity sport. He was given the equivalent varsity sport credit for TaeKwonDo (senior 2nd degree black belt with national competition awards). He was asked to send in a recommendation from his instructor as well as copies of his awards. </p>
<p>Mister Sinister: make sure you explain your athletic situation on your application form. Use an additional page if you need to.</p>