Hello,
I am currently a sophomore in high school. I am enrolled in the school’s JROTC program, and I have acquired a leadership position for the next school year. I will have the position of Flight Sgt., which is the second in charge of the classroom.
Usually, this position is held by sophomores, but as a result of being a new student to the school, I will be holding this position as a junior.
In my JROTC Unit, there is a group of people called “Senior Staff,” who are essentially a group of about 5-8 seniors selected through a competitive process, to oversee the entire JROTC program.
I do not know how my chances of making Senior Staff are. If I do not make it, which would be the best decision; to stay in JROTC and take on a smaller leadership role, or drop JROTC, and take an additional AP class? (I would probably take AP Biology. I would like to major in biology most likely, but I was not able to take AP, as it was not an option to take at my old school, and I needed to fulfill graduation requirements this and next year.)
Thank you for your advice,
John
What kind of college do you want to go to? Do you hope to get an ROTC scholarship for college? Do you enjoy ROTC? What do the rest of your stats look like (unweighted GPA, what classes are you taking/would you be taking in the fall if you do ROTC)?
My unweighted GPA is 4.0. Weighted is 4.17.
Next year, I will be taking APUSH, APEL, Honors Chemistry, Honors Japanese, JROTC, and Advanced Integrated Math 3. This would add up to a 4.67 weighted GPA.
I would like to go to a UC school, or possibly an Ivy League if I am ever able to make my self competitive enough. The Claremont Colleges are also very appealing to me.
I would like to get an ROTC scholarship, and will also definitely be applying to the military academies.
I can’t say as I enjoy ROTC, as in, I would not be doing it unless it benefited me. But I have learned to like it, as holding a leadership position is definitely beneficial, and I know it is worth the time.
It seems to me that if you want to get an ROTC scholarship or go to a military academy, having a leadership role (even if it is not the top one) in ROTC will be helpful. Your coursework and GPA seem strong. I would not drop ROTC for AP Biology. I assume you have other ECs besides ROTC?
I certainly do. I have been swimming varsity since my freshman year, and this year, I tried at water polo, and ended up as the JV Team Captain. I will be doing both next year, definitely varsity.
You seem very knowledgeable; what sort of thing should I focus on to improve my profile for a competitive school like a UC or Ivy League (of course the two are very different)? For now, let’s just assume I do well on my SAT 
(I am guessing that I will be scoring from 1500-1600, based on practice tests that I’ve done, and the large amount of prep I will be doing through a course this summer.