Sports/add'l recs

I talked to my USAFA ALO yesterday who expressed concern over my sports background (nothing in high school until this semester when I started cross country). I understand that this is not optimal but was surprised at the hinting that I have a distinct possibility of getting my application simply trashed on account of this.

Obviously, he best way to counter this is to try to get good CFA scores, something I've been working on, and the ALO also suggested sending in a recommendation from a coach or someone who can attest to my motivation, dedication, etc - athletic skills in the absence of organized athletics.

Would it be possible to forward such a recommendation to the naval academy as well? In the same vein, what about a recommendation from an internship supervisor who I'd expect would talk about problem solving and intuition in a scientific research environment? Do sports really factor that much into the application and is there anything else I can do to make up for it?

Are you asking about USNA or USAFA? Just curious b/c ALOs support USAFA whereas BGOs support USNA.

USNA accepts up to two additional recs. However, they really should address something that your teachers and BGO can't. Your ALO is right about the CFA. You should also discuss with your BGO why you didn't participate in sports until this year.

Sports are a big part of assessment for an Academy pi ROTC. PT is a big big part of these environments and consistent participation in sports in high school is a good indicator that one can handle it both mentally and physically. That being said, they evaluate the whole person so sports throughout high school is not the be all end all. Just work on Acing the CFA, get a rec from your coach and hopefully that will cover it.

I am asking about USNA - I figure my ALO can help me on the USAFA side, but for USNA, my BGO while a nice guy, doesn't seem to be that knowledgeable about the academy. During my interview (two months ago) we did discuss sports - his attitude was that I should be good preparing for the CFA on my own and picking up cross country, which is why I was so surprised at what my ALO said.

How would I send in additional recs? A physical copy mailed to the admissions office? The CIS doesn't have a spot for anything other than the english and math teacher recs.

Contrails said:

I am asking about USNA - I figure my ALO can help me on the USAFA side, but for USNA, my BGO while a nice guy, doesn't seem to be that knowledgeable about the academy. During my interview (two months ago) we did discuss sports - his attitude was that I should be good preparing for the CFA on my own and picking up cross country, which is why I was so surprised at what my ALO said.

How would I send in additional recs? A physical copy mailed to the admissions office? The CIS doesn't have a spot for anything other than the english and math teacher recs.

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Yes mail it in. With your candidate number and name on it. I'm not sure how your school works, but I don't have any of my letters of recommendation because I decided to not see them, because it shows confidence. So I simply had my High School office send in my letters of recommendation.

As for the physical part: I am in NROTC Marine Option, and I must say a lot of newcomers seem surprised that so much physical activity is expected of them. The military doesn't need people who can't do PT. Your goals need to be the maximum possible scores, just getting minimum isn't acceptable. So if you have very little sports participation, I would suggest you get a very high CFA score. For someone who did not do a lot of sports in High School, just know that all that is going to change if you get accepted into USNA.