<p>I'm a freshman, and I don't really know what kind of clubs/service organizations the admissions office likes to see. any suggestions</p>
<p>my suggestion is to focus on things you are interested in- there is a wide diversity of activities to chose from- but you are more apt to get involved more with something you believe in/feel passionately about then going for something that "might" be in favor today, and "less in favor" tomorrow....better to focus on 1-3 things that hold your interest- throughout your highschool years (getting really involved for 4 years is better than doing something for a year and moving on)....and then seek out leadership opportunites within that activity....leadership is more important than simple participation- again, you have a better chance of gaining a leadership spot when you are involved....just a thought....
also go to the admissions web site and look at the admitting profile- it will list activities that the admitted cadets were involved with- you will see lots of involvement in varsity athletics and leadership positions there, as well as student government....but there's tons of others as well- scouting, special olympics, coaching, mentoring, etc, etc.....
follow your interests...and remember, while you are motivated for WP (which is really great)...there are no guarentees....you may find yourself at a civilian school perhaps following an ROTC track....so my best advice (having watched our son go through this) is not to put all your eggs in one basket!...the good news is that you are starting early and that is really terrific! Good for you!
best of luck!</p>
<p>Soccerguy:</p>
<p>Take a look at the class profiles for accepted candidates and you will find the activities favored by USMA. As Navy2010 points out, the academies look for leadership as well as participation. They include:</p>
<p>Student government, Boys State, School Paper and Yearbook editor, debate, dramatics, scouting and athletics.</p>
<p>Would also expect that jrrotc would be looked on favorably.</p>
<p>Soccer Guy,</p>
<p>The academies wanna see the following things</p>
<p>Strong Commitment to Academics
Motivation for High Level of Physical Fitness
The Ability to Effectively Communicate
Leadership Potential</p>
<p>However you go about proving that you have these 4 characteristics - prove it. Put your heart and soul into it and not because you have to but because you want to.</p>
<p>Starting this process as a freshman already puts you ahead of the class of what, 2013? haha.. You've got 4 years to do what you need to do.</p>
<p>Be tough. Stay motivated.</p>
<p>This comes from the "horses mouth" Col. Jones at USMA (from sitting through several WP admissions briefings). For athletics they are looking for participation and leadership (varsity letters and team captains) in contact team sports. As war is a "contact" sport the high school field is a prime proving ground of what is expected at WP. "Team sport" was not defined but I took it to mean football, basketball, etc. Leadership in other activities such as Eagle Scout in BSA, class officer, officer of honorary society such as NHS (as opposed to a club started by the applicant) would be looked upon favorably. Remember it all depends on who you are competing against locally, so it would be a good idea to talk with your MALO (WP admissions can tell you who he/she would be) about the competition in past years.</p>
<p>In my opinion, west point is looking for someone with leadership posistions in athletic activities and academic activities</p>
<p>Athletic activities- varsity, varsity letters, team captain
Academic Activities- Editor of Paper or Yearbook, NHS officer, Dramatics, Debate, and other various clubs.</p>
<p>If you have a good balance of leadersip activities in both of these then you will max out your 30% portion of Leadership. West Point is not only looking at grades and scores but also this stuff...something i found out too late, but if you get started youll have a great chance. GL and HF</p>
<p>Would there be any advantage to writing my congressman or senator now, asking for his support?</p>
<p>SoccerGuy, I'm not the expert on this, since my daughter is still a Junior, but when we've talked to Congressional staffers in the past they were encouraging, but not really interested in talking to anyone who wasn't old enough to be actively pursuing a nomination. A Senators Staffer told my daughter on the phone that it sounded like she was going the right direction, but to call back January of her Junior year when they were done working with that years Seniors. </p>
<p>A really good extracurricular activity is Civil Air Patrol. You learn leadership and are given opportunities to exercise it. You also get the chance to interact with Air Force officers and enlisted, which is very good even if you're not destined for the Air Force. Check out <a href="http://www.cap.gov/%5B/url%5D">http://www.cap.gov/</a></p>
<p>Good luck, Freshman year is a great time to start your journey.</p>
<p>Soccerguy-You may find The West Point Candidate Book by William L. Smallwood helpful. As a freshman I believe it is too early to start calling your Member of Congress. Your nomination status will not be considered until the fall of your senior year.</p>
<p>Ann, You're absolutel correct that nomination status won't be considered until fall of junior year, but I think that's too late to get started. Our MOCs have deadlines for submitting everything around the middle of October and it would be really easy to have some little thing hold you up. I'd recommend having most everything done for the nomination before the end of your Junior year in high school. I think I got that information from William Smallwood's book which I also recommend highly (along with How to win ROTC Scholarships by Chuck Brewer.)</p>
<p>Bottom line, Soccer Guy is too young for MOCs, but not too early to work on making himself the best candidate possible.</p>
<p>Cougar_62
I agree. My comment was that Soccerguy's nomination status would not be considered until the fall of his senior year - thus calling to ask for support at this stage would be fruitless.
It was in no way meant to imply that he should wait to apply for his nomination until the fall of his senior year. Most MOCs have instructions on their websites documenting the procedure a candidate needs to follow to compete for a nomination. Nomination packets are made available to candidates at the end of their Junior year, and the summer is a great time to complete these.</p>
<p>SoccerGuy - It is never too early to begin planning but as others said contact your MOCs offices spring of your Junior year. As to asking them for their support, I believe you will find that most if not all of the MOC will keep an arms distance from the Academy nomination process. The paperwork and the Q/As are handled by the staffers. Most will have interview boards consisting of local liason representatives from the Academies, military officers, or distinguished citizens from the community. There is little to be gained and much to loose from showing favortism in this process, especially if someone is given the nomination as a "favor" and is not fit for the Academy life.</p>
<p>thanks for the help</p>