My name is James and I'm a sophomore at HCHS in Tennessee. I am currently in my first year in JROTC and I am now a PFC. My GPA is 3.9 and I am presently on my school's golf and soccer teams; I am also on my Raider, Drill, and the Academic side of my JROTC Junior Leadership Academic Bowl Team(JLAB). I feel like I qualify for for going to summer camps for Leadership Training, but what do my chances look like for getting a nomination to a service academy?
What are my chances of getting nominated?
- Thread starter jtl1995
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TheUnderdog
5-Year Member
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Hi James, its a little to early to tell as of right now. Big factors for a nomination are SAT scores, GPA (yours looks good keep it up!), Varsity Letters and Captainships, and Leadership positions in school clubs. Im not familiar with how JROTC effects you so I do not know how that would effect you (it is deffinitely a positive though). Best advice would to take the PSATs if you havent done so already. Shoot for Letters and Captainships on Golf and Soccer. Try taking AP courses too. Find clubs that you really enjoy and shoot for a leadership positions in that. Start preping for SATs and deffinitely apply for the summer programs (in your junior year) the academys have so you can get a taste of what academy life is like. Good luck to you man 
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None of us can really say. While your extracurricular activities do play the a large role in your interview, it will also depend on how you present yourself to your MOCs review board. You need to show them that you really want this, and that the decision is being made by you and not your parents.
The boards also want to see commitment to serving in the armed forces. If you tell them that you want to do your time and get out, you won't be a very attractive candidate.
Furthermore, it depends on the state and district you live in. You could live in a very competitive district and potentially fight hundreds of other candidates for the same slot, but drive 100 miles north and be one of seven people applying. I live in the biggest city in Kansas, and I was one of twelve people that competed for a slot on my MOCs slate. Again, there are multiple factors other than your EC activities that determine whether or not you get a nomination.
You can compare yourself to me if you want.
I'm not an eagle scout. The only sports I have is senior year varsity XC. I'm not a NHS student, because my school doesn't offer it. I didn't go to boy's sate, because I didn't know about it. I wasn't in JROTC, because my school doesn't offer it. I didn't even know service academies existed until July 2011. I barely got my nomination apps in before the deadlines!
What are my strong points? Middleschool robotics teams. STARBASE Department of Defense leadership camp. Leadership positions at church, school, drama club, and I've taken three years of high school courses online from home so that I could be a stay at home "parent" for my younger siblings while both my parents worked. (Co-chair of community service club for the online school.)
I expected myself to be a fairly easy "no," but the board that represented the MOC I got a nomination from told me that I was a very impressive candidate. In fact, after the interview, one of the board members followed me out of the room and continued talking to me and offered me his business card. Then, as the secretary showed me out the door, she told me that she hadn't seen one of the board members follow a candidate out of an interview and continue talking to them before. That gave me major goosebumps.
I don't think anyone could have predicted that. You just have to give your all and do your best.
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