Preparing for the Naval Academy

srozansky

5-Year Member
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May 30, 2010
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I am a sophomore at my high school and dream of being an officer in the Marine Corps. one day. My goal is to go to the USNA and I am very determined to get there. I was wondering what steps I should take to prepare myself for going there? Is there any people I should talk to, or meeting I could attend? Also, does being involved in JROTC help for being accepted? thanks.
 
I am a sophomore at my high school and dream of being an officer in the Marine Corps. one day. My goal is to go to the USNA and I am very determined to get there. I was wondering what steps I should take to prepare myself for going there? Is there any people I should talk to, or meeting I could attend? Also, does being involved in JROTC help for being accepted? thanks.

It's great you are starting early. The biggest problem a lot of people run into is finding out about the service academies second semester of their senior year!

As far as tips go, here are a few I can offer. (no particular order)
-Get involved. Don't join 100 clubs. Join a few activities you take great interest in, then began working towards leadership postitions. Looks like you are already involved with JROTC, this is good. JROTC is viewed favorably, but you aren't necessarily going to have a competitive edge (admissions wise) over someone who hasn't had JROTC. Get involved in a sport if you haven't already, a huge percentage of midshipmen had varsity letters in HS.
-Community service. Try to get involved with an organization that interests you. This will make community service much more meaningful to you.
-Work hard on keeping your grades up.
-Take the SAT/ACT several times. If you can afford it take an SAT/ACT prep class. I am not a good test taker, but the class raised my SAT score by 170 points.
-Read these forums...they offer a lot of good advice.
-Stay physically fit. Since you are interested in the Marine route, you will probably also be applying for NROTC-Marine option. The PFT weighs in as a larger percentage for NROTC-Marine option than fitness tests in other services, so aim high. While you don't need a 300, if you start now...there is no reason why you wouldn't be able to max out with 20 pullups, 100 situps, and an 18 minute 3 mile run.

Good luck!
 
I am a sophomore at my high school and dream of being an officer in the Marine Corps. one day. My goal is to go to the USNA and I am very determined to get there. I was wondering what steps I should take to prepare myself for going there?

Study.

Work out.

Study.

Participate in sports.

Study.

Participoate in ECA's, especially in leadership roles.

Study.

Stay out of trouble.

Study.




See a pattern? :thumb:
 
I am a sophomore at my high school and dream of being an officer in the Marine Corps. one day. My goal is to go to the USNA and I am very determined to get there. I was wondering what steps I should take to prepare myself for going there? Is there any people I should talk to, or meeting I could attend? Also, does being involved in JROTC help for being accepted? thanks.

Contact your BGO. Study. Don't procrastinate. My parents always threatened me with syaings like "grades like that won't get you into the Naval Academy", I got my appointment and will be reporting 1 July, but its not because of my grades.

Good Luck!
 
I was under the impression that you are not assigned a BGO until you fill out your application to the USNA and receive a candidate number. Again, I could be wrong and I am sure that others on this site will have more up to date info. It might be advised to contact the USNA admissions department. Go on the USNA website as there is all kinds of great info for you! Good luck! :thumb:
 
In most cases the BGOs are assigned by high schools, so there is a chance your guidance office will know the BGO you should contact. If not, go to www.usna.edu/Admissions and search out the Area Coordinator for your area. AC's are assigned by ZIP Codes, so all you need is your ZIP. When I served as AC, I fielded the inquiries from prospects and participated in college fairs, career days, MOC Service Academy events, etc, so my BGOs could focus on working with their assigned candidates. You also might want to look into the visitation programs such as STEM and NASS or the sports camps listed at navysports.com. Otherwise take the advice above and do your best to maximize the advantage you have by determining early that you are interested in attending a service academy. There is a lot you can do to put yourself in a prime position for an academy. You might also contact your nominating sources and advise them of your interest so they can alert you to any events they are sponsoring. Best wishes.
 
If you are involved in JROTC, great. If not, get involved. The class is a wealth of information regarding the military and a stepping stone for you. If you show interest in an academy, the JROTC instructors will help you with information, BGOs, etc. They don't 'get you in' but they assist you in understanding the process. As many people as you can get on your side is always a good thing.

My son's school offered NJROTC for the first time this year. He signed up for it even though he was a senior. He figured if he didn't like NJROTC in high school, he definitely wouldn't like ROTC in college or even an academy. So, it was a trial balloon for him. He loved NJROTC and it opened him up to the idea of USNA. He hadn't planned on applying to USNA until this last fall. All said, he's reporting July 1st to Annapolis, so I guess NJROTC made quite an impression on him!
 
HS Math Track Advice Sought - IB Diploma Influence

As a incoming HS sophmore, we visited USNA last week. From the admissions briefing it is highly recommended to acheive the IB Diploma. With that said, my academic counselor is recommending this math track: Pre IB -Alg II/Trig , AP Statistics , IB Math SL , AP Calc BC . In the same briefing, it was recommended to take all calculus and engineering classes, which I would interpet the track as Pre IB Alg II/ Trig, Honors Pre Calc, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC. At this point Math comes easily to me (A, A+). If I was to pick today, I would pick Applied Math as a major. From a USNA Admissions stand point, could someone with knowledge of the IB program weigh in on the best track for admissions favor?

Second Question: I understand the recommendation that we take classes with the highest rigor. Do IB subject certificates hold the same value in the admissions process as the IB Diploma.
 
The pre-cals, calcAB, calcBC path appears to be more rigorous. So long as you are capable of maintaining at least a B average (preferably A's), I would recommend that route. If the various BGOs on this site disagree, listen to them.
 
As a incoming HS sophmore, we visited USNA last week. From the admissions briefing it is highly recommended to acheive the IB Diploma. With that said, my academic counselor is recommending this math track: Pre IB -Alg II/Trig , AP Statistics , IB Math SL , AP Calc BC . In the same briefing, it was recommended to take all calculus and engineering classes, which I would interpet the track as Pre IB Alg II/ Trig, Honors Pre Calc, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC. At this point Math comes easily to me (A, A+). If I was to pick today, I would pick Applied Math as a major. From a USNA Admissions stand point, could someone with knowledge of the IB program weigh in on the best track for admissions favor?

Second Question: I understand the recommendation that we take classes with the highest rigor. Do IB subject certificates hold the same value in the admissions process as the IB Diploma.

heres a little catch with IB diplomas- u dont get them until well after graduating HS

THIS MAY VARY BY SCHOOL SO DON"T COUNT MY WORD FOR IT
most ppl i know that recived their ib diplomas done so after graduation (1-4 months later)

Therefore i doubt any college will know whether you received it at the time of admissions (in fact when u take ur IB finals, its already been past April 1, at least at my school

It makes sense that in this given timeline, college admissions are only going to know which IB subject diplomas u earned.

What USNA and any other college can tell is whether you are likely to complete the program which is still quite an accomplishment (i began in MYP in 7 grade with over 100 classmates, now entering my junior year, i have 29 classmates)

I'm applying for class of 2016
how USNA handles IB stuff i don't know- some of the other guys are the experts on that
I'm just weighing in my logical perspective based on IB timeline

other tips
complete MYP
apply to STEM sometime next February - STEM has to be the best thing i have found from this site so far (i applied, got accepted, and attended it- loved it)
 
Exactly what navy2016 said.

You won't get the IB diploma until a month or two after graduation. I attend an IB school as well, chose not to do the program because it didn't allow me to take all the classes I wanted. Things like TOK and other requirements are a waist of my time IMO. I can still take any class from the IB program I want, but don't have to do some of the rediculous requirements. Others love it, not for me. The funniest thing to me about the IB program (atleast at my school) is that very few actually do what one of the intentions of the programs are---go international for university! The way IB works for an overseas uni is that lets say a school like Bristol (in the UK for those who don't know it), will give you a conditional offer. The conditional offer is dependent on you scoring something along the line of 39+ in IB. You obviously won't know this until mid to late summer after your senior year. In the past 5 years at my HS, guess how many went international? One--to Canada. Funniest part of all is that overseas universities accept AP's from american students very regularly. And if you take the 4-5 AP exams junior year (even if they are self-studied), you can get an unconditional offer from one of the overseas unis. My school tries to sell the overeseas university idea to IB students---that it's the only way you can go overseas--and all the rising juniors get all hyped up about going to cambridge, oxford, etc. Guess how many people actually apply to these schools by their senior year? None.

With that aside, I would just take the most challenging classes offered at your HS. If IB doesn't allow you to take the most challenging classes, then just complete some of the classes in the program and combine it with AP, etc. You'd be accepted/rejected before you even got you IB diploma, so it really doesn't do anything for you. Typically IB HL and AP are viewed the same (atleast at my HS). IB SL is dependent on subject. I know for a fact, atleast at my school, that all the AP classes are harder than SL. And since you can only take 4 HL classes, AP would be the better route for the challenge. Also IMO, an IB HL language class is more difficult than most AP languages. But then I'm just getting technical with it. In the end admissions at most schools, including USNA, will tell you that AP and IB are given the same wieght.

This is just my opinion. I'm only a candidate, so what the heck do I know?
 
Exactly what navy2016 said.

You won't get the IB diploma until a month or two after graduation. I attend an IB school as well, chose not to do the program because it didn't allow me to take all the classes I wanted. Things like TOK and other requirements are a waist of my time IMO. I can still take any class from the IB program I want, but don't have to do some of the rediculous requirements. Others love it, not for me. The funniest thing to me about the IB program (atleast at my school) is that very few actually do what one of the intentions of the programs are---go international for university! The way IB works for an overseas uni is that lets say a school like Bristol (in the UK for those who don't know it), will give you a conditional offer. The conditional offer is dependent on you scoring something along the line of 39+ in IB. You obviously won't know this until mid to late summer after your senior year. In the past 5 years at my HS, guess how many went international? One--to Canada. Funniest part of all is that overseas universities accept AP's from american students very regularly. And if you take the 4-5 AP exams junior year (even if they are self-studied), you can get an unconditional offer from one of the overseas unis. My school tries to sell the overeseas university idea to IB students---that it's the only way you can go overseas--and all the rising juniors get all hyped up about going to cambridge, oxford, etc. Guess how many people actually apply to these schools by their senior year? None.

With that aside, I would just take the most challenging classes offered at your HS. If IB doesn't allow you to take the most challenging classes, then just complete some of the classes in the program and combine it with AP, etc. You'd be accepted/rejected before you even got you IB diploma, so it really doesn't do anything for you. Typically IB HL and AP are viewed the same (atleast at my HS). IB SL is dependent on subject. I know for a fact, atleast at my school, that all the AP classes are harder than SL. And since you can only take 4 HL classes, AP would be the better route for the challenge. Also IMO, an IB HL language class is more difficult than most AP languages. But then I'm just getting technical with it. In the end admissions at most schools, including USNA, will tell you that AP and IB are given the same wieght.

This is just my opinion. I'm only a candidate, so what the heck do I know?
u are very lucky ur school allows u to select classes from the IB program

at my school IB us history and IB cal are both also AP

I have heard so many rumors that AP counts more, but I'm pretty sure that is not true.

for the past 9 years at my school, every 3 years someone (out of the 3 dozen students left) with go to a service academy. therefore, taking IB classes is obviously beneficial. My district thought it would help to put the IB/MYP program at the worst school to bring up the school average (nevere worked). As a whole, the school is pathetic- 44.7 percent first time graduation rate. However, colleges do seem to value the IB program despite the overall performance of the school (I am from SC- ranks near the bottom for education)- we have ppl each year accepted to various top 25 schools.

as for this thread, take the most rigorous classes allowed
in my case that would be staying and completing the IB program. If honors is as hard as ur school offers, stick with with it.
 
My goal is to go to the USNA and I am very determined to get there. I was wondering what steps I should take to prepare myself for going there?

Download the CFA booklet, become familiar with it, and start a training program. There is no reason with this much lead time that you could not deliver a killer CFA!

Many posts in the forum on training programs to get you ready.

I'd suggest getting help from a family member and do a practice CFA. It will be harder than you think! Record the scores as your baseline, and compare them to the averages. You will want to be significantly above the averages, and with this much lead time you should be able to max some of them.

You can improve your candidate score more with this than any briefing on the application process you will attend.

The same applies to SAT/PSAT. I'd start using practice programs now, there are some tricks. PSAT/SAT gets you on the radar for Summer Seminars.

A good PSAT score will also help with civvy colleges as it's used to determine National Merit Scholars & runner ups. This will help with any of the academies and for some civilian colleges it's automatic acceptance & scholarships.
 
"The funniest thing to me about the IB program (atleast at my school) is that very few actually do what one of the intentions of the programs are---go international for university!"

Goldfarb -

Please understand that I am a parent with my second child of four in an IB diploma program. First one, graduated this year, second aspires to be in the USNA class of 2016 just like you. Having six years of experience as an IB parent I think you have it wrong on this one, an IB school's intentions have very little to do with where you attend university. It does have everything to do with why we know what we know and how we got the knowledge we do have. Also the development of the "whole person", a phrase you will see quite a bit as you read more about the USNA, is very important within the IB program. For reference, look here: http://www.ibo.org/mission/

Maybe taking more time to review outside resources, or questioning you school admins about why anyone would want or need to go to an international university would have been helpful. But the whole program works, and works well.

Going back to the OP, Zaphod said it best: 5 out of 9 things you can do to maximize your attractiveness to the USNA is to study. (Being in a non-competitive district doesn't hurt either...)
 
I am a sophomore at my high school and dream of being an officer in the Marine Corps. one day. My goal is to go to the USNA and I am very determined to get there. I was wondering what steps I should take to prepare myself for going there? Is there any people I should talk to, or meeting I could attend? Also, does being involved in JROTC help for being accepted? thanks.

Besides all the good advice you've already received about getting prepared; I would also recommend educating yourself in the application process. It is far different than applying to a civilian university.

I would strongly recommend reading the Naval Academy's admission catalog. It is available online at http://www.usna.edu/Catalog/

Also, find out who your nominating sources are (at a minimum, both your senators and congressman) and look over their nomination requirements. This information can be found at their websites. They all have a "service academy" link.

Knowing the application process will also give you some guidance in "what it takes" to be successful.
 
"The funniest thing to me about the IB program (atleast at my school) is that very few actually do what one of the intentions of the programs are---go international for university!"

Goldfarb -

Please understand that I am a parent with my second child of four in an IB diploma program. First one, graduated this year, second aspires to be in the USNA class of 2016 just like you. Having six years of experience as an IB parent I think you have it wrong on this one, an IB school's intentions have very little to do with where you attend university. It does have everything to do with why we know what we know and how we got the knowledge we do have. Also the development of the "whole person", a phrase you will see quite a bit as you read more about the USNA, is very important within the IB program. For reference, look here: http://www.ibo.org/mission/

Completely understood. Point taken. However, that is why I made it very clear that this is just what I see at my school and not meant to be used as a generalization. Go to any of the IB info sessions at my school, and I guarantee 3-5 minutes will be spent on going international for uni.

If we're really going to look at why IB was created and how it meshes with the "whole person" concept...First I would say an AP/Honors student is no less a "whole person." Quite frankly, most of the requirements/classes taken are the same. The only real exception is going to be the extended essay and TOK. But out of everything one takes in their HS career, this makes little difference. Sure the community service/EC requirement is there, but most people who are honors/AP students are going to be doing some form of community service/EC/work anyway. With that aside...IB was created in response to the European way of learning, which is very course specific. By the equivalent of high school, European students have already specialized their education and narrowed their courses down to three to four. This is the fundamental difference between the European (specifically British) way of learning and the American way of learning; European's emphasize specialty, while American emphasize liberal arts. IB was created so the British, for example, wouldn't have to take A-levels and thus get a more "whole person" approach to education.

Obviosuly it's purpose is different nowadays than it was back in '68. Few British and other Europeans actually adapted and A-levels are still the predominant form of education. It's mainly seen at American schools, international schools, and a few other schools (relatively compared to the original form of education in the respective country) here and there throughout the world.
 
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