What Are My Chances: Westpoint Summer Seminar

[sydneyliny]

I was interested in applying for the 2018 Westpoint Summer Seminar, but I know it’s really selective so I wanted to hear an opinion on my chances of getting in.

Grade: Junior (class of 2019)
Gender: Female
Race: African-American
School: Prestigious Private School in Philadelphia
SAT: 1360, Math: 650, Reading & Writing: 710
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
Accelerated Classes:
9th: Advanced Bio, Advanced Geometry
10th: Advanced Chemistry, Advanced Advanced Algebra 2
11th: Double Advanced Pre-Calculus, AP US History, AP Literature, Advanced Physics, Advanced Spanish 4
Extracurriculars: Head of Model UN Team, Varsity Rowing, School Community Service Council,
School Public Purpose Advisory Board

[ChoatieMom]

As I’ve posted several times here:

SLE is just a marketing tool that has zero bearing on admissions and does not resemble a day in the life of a West Point cadet one iota. The purpose of SLE to reach a broad diversity of students who might not have much exposure to or consider a career in the military. It does enable attendees to open their candidate profile and complete a CFA if they wish (but not mandatory) as well as see the garrison if they have not seen it before. Because it is just a camp, “chances” are based on available slots. However, your chances are best if your profile describes a person who is less likely to consider an academy than the bulk of applicants the academy typically sees and you apply early while there are still spaces. It is not an honor to attend SLE any more than it is an honor to attend any other summer camp. Remember, most appointees do NOT attend SLE and attending SLE is not counted in the Whole Candidate Score (WCS) used to determine appointments.

So, apply if you want to spend a week at the fort, but don’t lose a wink of sleep if you don’t get a slot due to space restrictions; it won’t affect your application one whit. Our son, who is a cow (junior) at WP, didn’t even apply because a) he wasn’t interested in the camp program and b) he didn’t need to spend any time at WP to know he wanted to go there.

[ChoatieMom]

Also, if you’ve looked at the application for SLE, it only takes about ten minutes to fill out which should clue you in to the fact that being selected is not an academic contest. Just apply. If you’re early enough, there are still open slots, and you are a person who is not likely to attend an SA without a bit of marketing, you have a good chance of being selected.