Introduction and Merit

Hello Forum Folk! I am Preston Wiley. I am currently entering my Junior year in sunny Arizona. My last semester GPA came out to about a 4.6 (3.8 unweighted). I am taking both the ACT and SAT numerous times this year, as well as prep classes. I am a novice (soon to be varsity) on my HS Speech and Debate Team. I am going on my third year of HS football, and have just finished my first year of HS Track and Field (running the mile/long distance). I am President of my HS Republican club, active in my HS Latin club (going on my third year of Latin), active in the service aspect of my HS Drama Troupe (volunteering for 2 yrs so far and hopefully managing soon), a four-going-on-five year veteran of the Scottsdale Public Library Summer Reading Program Teen Volunteers, a three-going-on-four year veteran of the Scottsdale Public Library Teen Advisory Board, a member of the City of Scottsdale Mayor's Youth Council, Vice-Chairman for the State of Arizona Branch of the National Teenage Republicans, a soon-to-be National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security Veteran, a member of Boys Team Charity, and I have over 350 hours of volunteer service. My apologies for the massive run on sentence, but this is my hello to the forum! If anyone could tell me how well I am doing on the Admissions Path (USMA preferred) please do tell!
Fun Fact about me: I decided West Point was my life goal during the 6th Grade and every step in my life to date has been directly influenced by USMA admissions. I know it sounds pretty crazy (especially after reading this to myself), but West Point is my greatest dream. So I guess this is hello to you, Service Academy Forums!

Welcome to the forum; I'm also a rising junior.

Welcome!

Take a look at the "stickies" at the top of the USMA page and you can see profiles of current/previous WP classes so you can get an idea of how you stack up. Your ACT or SAT scores will be critically important too.

There are several helpful timelines in the stickies so you can make sure you are meeting all of the West Point's admission requirements.

You make me nervous using your real name on a public forum.

This forum will be very useful! Fellow junior too!

Not too shabby on the activities!

The good this about the Service Academy Forums is, you can learn from each academy's process. What West Point looks for is generally with Annapolis, Air Force, the Coast Guard or Kings Point are looking for.

Name and Thanks

Thank you for the supportive feedback regarding stickies and whatnot. Any help is much appreciated. Also, as I am new to forums, is it really so taboo to use one's own name? I had no idea.

Also, any current, accepted, or recently graduated cadets care to give me any advice regarding my "profile"? Thanks

Best thing to do is to compare yourself to this: http://www.usma.edu/classes/SiteAssets/SitePages/2016/Profile2016.pdf.

And since this is a public forum and anyone from anywhere can read this, it generally isn't the best idea to use your name.

Pwcoyote said:

Thank you for the supportive feedback regarding stickies and whatnot. Any help is much appreciated. Also, as I am new to forums, is it really so taboo to use one's own name? I had no idea.

Also, any current, accepted, or recently graduated cadets care to give me any advice regarding my "profile"? Thanks

Click to expand...

It's not "taboo" to use your real name, just not the best idea. There are USMA Admissions officials who are members of this forum.

What sort of classes are you taking next year? AP? Honors? West Point and other colleges like to see that you have challenged yourself with the most difficult classes that you can make an A or B in.

West Point is a wonderful goal, but be practical and make a backup plan as well---apply to other colleges and apply for an ROTC scholarship.

Dixieland said:

It's not "taboo" to use your real name, just not the best idea. There are USMA Admissions officials who are members of this forum.

What sort of classes are you taking next year? AP? Honors? West Point and other colleges like to see that you have challenged yourself with the most difficult classes that you can make an A or B in.

West Point is a wonderful goal, but be practical and make a backup plan as well---apply to other colleges and apply for an ROTC scholarship.

Click to expand...

I am taking the following:
H Latin III
H English III
H trig/precalc
Football (mandatory for players)
H US History
H or Regular Physics

This year I finished with:
A Latin II
A English II H
A World History/World Geo H
A Theatre II
B Alg II H
A Chemistry

Pwcoyote said:

I am taking the following:
H Latin III
H English III
H trig/precalc
Football (mandatory for players)
H US History
H or Regular Physics

This year I finished with:
A Latin II
A English II H
A World History/World Geo H
A Theatre II
B Alg II H
A Chemistry

Click to expand...

Does "H" equal Honors?

Does your school offer AP classes? Could be helpful to take AP Physics or AP Calculus. My cadet also had AP Statistics and found it to be helpful at WP.

H does indicate Honors class.
Additional Fact: My class does not rank until senior year, and my current most recent GPA (sophomore Sem 2) compares to the Senior class rank of about top 10 percent

4.33 Weighted/ 3.83 Unweighted

My mistake here. Current unweighted is 4.33