How important are Sports?

2ndLTgray

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Nov 15, 2010
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I'm only a freshmen in High School and so far I have played football and wrestling.

Next year I will only be doing wrestling because football isnt my thing. My goal is to be on Varisty when I am a senior. I have read that West Point looks more highly on team sports rather then individual sports. Is that true?

Also, are sports just as important as anything else when trying to get accpeted? I will be still be doing wrestling, even if it doesnt help my chances of getting accpeted.
 
As a 8 year wrestler, I can assure you that wrestling is a team sport. Matches may be individual, but the team score wins the dual meet. (or tournament).
 
Team sports are important in that they show you can work with other people and offer leadership positions in being a captain and what not. Any kind of athletic involvement though is great in showing the Academy that you are active. For whatever its worth, I would probably look to pick up another sport or at least do something in your off seasons that you can show you are active all year round and not just winter season. For instance, I play soccer year round and made sure that my counselor knew that so when they saw that I had stopped playing bb and softball midway through high school despite lettering, that it wasn't because I wasn't doing anything else. Who knows, maybe you'll find something that you enjoy. Stuff that involves a lot of running (X-C, track, ultimate, soccer, etc) would be a good way to also help you with cardio leading up to beast if you are accepted.
 
In a high school I was involved 4 years in swimming and 2 years in soccer (in 11-12 classes) last year I was soccer team captain but I'm not good in SAT and would my sports activities balance SAT ? : ))
 
http://www.usma.edu/class/2014/profile.asp

I would say that sports are very important!!! If you look at the stats, you can see that only about 200 people weren't Varsity letter winners in the whole class. Over half were team captains, and I learned at an admissions meeting that the average appointee has 3 Varsity Letters.
Not saying it's hopeless if you don't have letters! But as far as I know, sports are looked upon very, VERY favorably.

Good luck!
 
In a high school I was involved 4 years in swimming and 2 years in soccer (in 11-12 classes) last year I was soccer team captain but I'm not good in SAT and would my sports activities balance SAT ? : ))

No sports do not balance out the SAT. I have 8 varsity letters 3 times captain with ACT composite of 26. Trust me when I say that you want to excel in both.
 
nor the other way around...my daughter had a 34 ACT...awesome leadership (ran a 501 C charity for youth)...tons of community service, top 2% of class, great recommendations but was a latecomer to sports...denied..
 
nor the other way around...my daughter had a 34 ACT...awesome leadership (ran a 501 C charity for youth)...tons of community service, top 2% of class, great recommendations but was a latecomer to sports...denied..

Haha me and your daughter could even out and be pretty competitive:yllol:
 
Sports

Sports are VERY important. Several Varsity letter - especially in "combative" sports such as football and wrestling are key. It is also important to be a leader - varsity captain. The stats of any West Point class will show you the importance of these activities. However, this is just one part of the overall qualifications along with academics and other activities - especially leadership activities.
 
I'm only a freshmen in High School and so far I have played football and wrestling.

Next year I will only be doing wrestling because football isnt my thing. My goal is to be on Varisty when I am a senior. I have read that West Point looks more highly on team sports rather then individual sports. Is that true?

Also, are sports just as important as anything else when trying to get accpeted? I will be still be doing wrestling, even if it doesnt help my chances of getting accpeted.

I will turn the question around, what would you be doing during fall, spring, and summer? Sports participation is an indirect way to estimate your ability to handle requirements at West Point. At West Point you have to study and do other things.

Say if you play a sport, you devote at least 10 hours a week during the seson. Would you have higher grade if you study 10 hours more? My guess is yes.

Simply put, when West Point can pick from an applicant with good grades and many sports participation vs an applicant with just good grades, who do you think they will pick.

I said this numerous times, sometimes it is not about your accomplishments, rather what your competitors accomplished. Since you don't know who your competitiors are, the only choice you have is to be the best you can and hope for the best.
 
Think whole candidate score

Think whole candidate approach. Academics is the largest chunk. You can take an average person and make great improvement in their physical abilities through a sound PT program. All summer at Beast is not going to make you academically more gifted. Leadership is the next biggest chunk of your candidate score. Sports can be a huge part of this as it is an opportunity to show dedication and perseverance while in school juggling multiple activities. Being a Team captain shows leadership. There are other opportunities to show leadership such as. Scouting, Boys/girls state, marching band, editors of publications. Be a leader and a good one in an activity that requires significant effort. Look at the last class profile and see what they included. Any sport is important. The Academy doesn’t need 1100 lacrosse players. It needs a mix of sports. The last chunk is your CFA. If you don’t earn a letter(s), make sure you do well on your CFA. That will allay any fears they have of you not being in shape for Beast.
 
You want to be well-rounded. Sports are definitely a big thing application-wise, but so are academics.

If you have a strong enough academic profile along with some sports experience, then you'll definitely have better chances.
 
I will turn the question around, what would you be doing during fall, spring, and summer? Sports participation is an indirect way to estimate your ability to handle requirements at West Point. At West Point you have to study and do other things.

Say if you play a sport, you devote at least 10 hours a week during the seson. Would you have higher grade if you study 10 hours more? My guess is yes.

Simply put, when West Point can pick from an applicant with good grades and many sports participation vs an applicant with just good grades, who do you think they will pick.

I said this numerous times, sometimes it is not about your accomplishments, rather what your competitors accomplished. Since you don't know who your competitiors are, the only choice you have is to be the best you can and hope for the best.

Spring-Basketball, Summer-Wrestling Training, Fall- Cross Country.

I'll definetly be busy with sports all year round.

I'm not going to lie, I'm extremely intimidated by all the other appicalitants that are going to be applying. I guess you could say I doubt my ablility to excel in my sports, which in the end, could be what causes me not to get a nomination. It's too early to tell though.
 
Sports

hi I am a former USMA grad and my son is headnig there soon. I am originally form Illinois and a long time wrestler, so is my son. I can tell you that a sports background will definitely help your chances of acceptance. West point looks for well rounded individuals and sports is almost a must have because of the physical nature of west point and the army.

Sports is also good because it gives you a chance to demonstrate leadership ability if you become a team captain or have some kind of leadership role. So even if you arent good enough in your sport to be a team captain, you can do things like lead a club at school or run for student counsel, or do community service in your spare time.

Please feel free to email me at smallsj50@yahoo.com with any questions and I would be more than happy to help you out and give advice. We can even talk on the phone if you want.
 
team sports

as far as team sports vs. individual sports i dont think west point has a prefereance. although i played baseball and wrestled. what they are looking for are traits like discipline (wrestling), courage (wrestling), ability to be part of a team (still wrestling), etc..etc...whatever your sport is, give 100 percent and be able to articulate that through your essays and you will be fine
 
grades

have to have good grades...but to give you my opinion, west point will pick someone with really good grades and academic potential with a strong sports background or community service background vs someone with straight A's and a perfect score on teh SAT and they are a one trick pony
 
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