What are my chances of getting in to West Point?

Coby12998

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Messages
12
I'm a junior at a college preparatory private high school and I'm very interested in going to West Point. I'm Colombian (I don't know if that makes a difference) so I'm racially diverse. I'm in all average classes, not the worst and not the best. I'm going to try to take at least one AP class next year. My overall gpa for freshman and sophomore year is around a 3.6. My first quarter in junior year is in the 3.6 range. I also do crew (rowing) and swimming. Varsity for both and I have a very good chance of being a captain next year for crew. I'm also in the national honor society and Spanish honor society. I do a great deal of community service within my school and town as well. I was in boy scouts for a number of years, but I never made it to eagle, as I am very busy with school work and sports. Because of my two varsity sports, I also have above average strength and fitness. I'm also currently looking to become a certified volunteer EMT. With all this considered, do I have a good or decent chance of being accepted? And what are some realistic things I could do to increase my chances? Also, would the summer program that West Point offers to juniors in high school be a good idea to look into? Please be honest with me, I just want to get a good idea. Thank you!
 
Last edited:
Are you an American citizen? If you are a Colombian citizen, you may need to talk with your government to sponsor you. They do have foreign cadets but they represent there country who sponsor them.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Are you an American citizen? If you are a Colombian citizen, you may need to talk with your government to sponsor you. They do have foreign cadets but they represent there country who sponsor them.

Push Hard, Press Forward

I am an American citizen. Just the majority of my ethnicity is Colombian
 
What a shame you never got your Eagle. West Point values Eagle Scout highly on candidate scores.

I would definitely do more than "try to take" an AP course next year. Please take a look at the stickies at the top of the USMA forum page and look at the recent class profiles. You will have difficult courses such as calculus, physics, chemistry waiting for you at West Point.
 
I'm racially diverse... says who? You?

I see a very large need to for leadership here, unless you are withholding something in your volunteer activities.

Also, How many AP/IB classes does your school offer? did you take the most difficult curriculum available?
 
When you or anyone else asks on SAF to "Chance Me", you must understand SAF is an advisory board. We just give suggestion and advice. The SA do the selection and have a very detailed step process. Sometimes its predictable, and other times its guess work for us . The advise given here will assist YOU on gauging how competitive you will be to other applicants from your local area.

Being a US Citizen gives us an understanding of who you are. You will need to get a nomination from one of your sources that is available in your local area, state or federal level.

However, we do know taking the highest level math courses offered at your school all four years is a must. Have you followed this? And with that, how about science? You will need to have a strong foundation in chem to just survive. A language study for two years will help you. Even though GPA is important, being in the top 10 per cent of your class will weigh on your application.

AP/IB level course as earlier suggested are good but not necessary. Many schools across the country don't offer these college level courses. But if they do, take them! Why? It will help you understand the subject better and build a strong foundation. Even if you're selected for a SA you will be in a good position for your other college goals.

During your Plebe year Math and Chem are the course that separate the "Wheat from the Chaff". In other words, these subjects have been the cause for many first year students to not continue.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
However, we do know taking the highest level math courses offered at your school all four years is a must.
Will it hurt me a lot if I didn't take a math course one year? I'm taking AP Calculus BC(which is the highest level of math at my school) this year but I didn't take a math course last year.
 
From what you stated, it largely sounds good, but in my opinion you need AP classes.... Maybe I'm wrong.... Sounds as if AP classes are available at your school if you may take one. Take them and do well. At graduation this spring my son will have gotten A's in 11 AP classes. It still might not be "enough." I'm not saying you need to take 11 AP classes, not at all, but these are the types of kids who are your competion (at least in this area). Good luck. It's great that you're thinking about this early in your junior year!
 
Regarding AP/IB/DUAL ENROLLMENT:

Take (and do well) in the most difficult courses available at your school (or in your homeschool/cyber school program). Then, go to your local CC or University, and take courses there.

the point is, it will look questionable if you took regular math and got a B (or even an A), but opted not to take the more challenging courses. It looks as if you are trying to save or enhance a gpa.
 
I'm a junior at a college preparatory private high school and I'm very interested in going to West Point. I'm Colombian (I don't know if that makes a difference) so I'm racially diverse. I'm in all average classes, not the worst and not the best. I'm going to try to take at least one AP class next year. My overall gpa for freshman and sophomore year is around a 3.6. My first quarter in junior year is in the 3.6 range. I also do crew (rowing) and swimming. Varsity for both and I have a very good chance of being a captain next year for crew. I'm also in the national honor society and Spanish honor society. I do a great deal of community service within my school and town as well. I was in boy scouts for a number of years, but I never made it to eagle, as I am very busy with school work and sports. Because of my two varsity sports, I also have above average strength and fitness. I'm also currently looking to become a certified volunteer EMT. With all this considered, do I have a good or decent chance of being accepted? And what are some realistic things I could do to increase my chances? Also, would the summer program that West Point offers to juniors in high school be a good idea to look into? Please be honest with me, I just want to get a good idea. Thank you!

Very slim chance. Every year many uber-qualified applicants are rejected with statics much more impressive than those you have cited. Your GPA and the fact that you take average classes will not impress the admissions board. You might attract attention if your ethnicity is deemed an underrepresented minority.

You never know. The academies can basically do whatever they want. Personally I think it's a shame for anyone to pass over a better qualified candidate just because their ancestors were from another country or their skin is a certain color. The government wants a well rounded, diverse academy, and sometimes that means admitting cadets/mids, with weaker credentials than other applicants.
 
The following is right from USMA.edu site concerning the type of classes needed.


What courses should I take?

To prepare yourself for the academic curriculum at West Point, you should complete four years of English with a strong emphasis on composition, grammar, literature and speech; four years of college preparatory mathematics, to include algebra, geometry, intermediate algebra, and trigonometry as a minimum; two years of a foreign language; two years of a laboratory science such as chemistry and physics, and one year of U.S. history, including courses in geography, government and economics. If your school includes a course in precalculus and calculus in its curriculum, and a basic computing course, these courses will be helpful in preparing you for your first year at West Point.



In regards to AP/IB classes, your GPA is important however, your class ranking does take precedence. These will help you will achieve a high ranking over a student who has not. All of this info is available on their web site.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Your GPA [...] will not impress the admissions board.
How do you know this? Do you work on the admissions board? Do you know where the OP goes to school? A 3.6 GPA at the OP's school might equate to being the valedictorian. The West Point Admissions Facebook page made a post that stated the following " With 60% of your assessement score (Whole Candidate Score) coming from academics (SAT/ACT scores and class rank), that is where most should spend their time becoming more competitive."
 
How do you know this? Do you work on the admissions board? Do you know where the OP goes to school? 3.6 at the OP's school might equate to being the valedictorian.

We know this because the OP said themselves that they take average classes, not the best, not the worst. If someone has a 3.6 taking just average classes, it is a pretty safe bet that they aren't a valedictorian. One doesn't need to be on the admissions board to know that, since many of us have been around the admissions process for many years. GPA plays heavily into class rank, Frenzy, so your bolded emphasis above is kind of a head-scratcher.

Stealth_81
 
Your GPA [...] will not impress the admissions board.
How do you know this? Do you work on the admissions board? Do you know where the OP goes to school? A 3.6 GPA at the OP's school might equate to being the valedictorian. The West Point Admissions Facebook page made a post that stated the following " With 60% of your assessement score (Whole Candidate Score) coming from academics (SAT/ACT scores and class rank), that is where most should spend their time becoming more competitive."

Frenzymando, I hope you get in, I really do. And I hope you keep posting after you do. It will make for some great entertainment.
 
We know this because the OP said themselves that they take average classes, not the best, not the worst. If someone has a 3.6 taking just average classes, it is a pretty safe bet that they aren't a valedictorian. One doesn't need to be on the admissions board to know that, since many of us have been around the admissions process for many years. GPA plays heavily into class rank, Frenzy, so your bolded emphasis above is kind of a head-scratcher.
Stealth_81

I bolded it just so that it would be easier to find the part I was referring to. Maplerock stated that his GPA wouldn't impress the admissions board when it doesn't seem like that's what they even look at. While GPA plays heavily into class rank a high looking GPA doesn't always equal a high class rank and a low looking GPA doesn't always equal a low class rank. A 4.0 at my school puts you at around the 50% mark.

I don't know much about the admissions process at service academies, almost everything I know is based on things I have read online, and the things I read online probably aren't always accurate. I'm sure you know much, much more about the admissions process than me, but, here is what I do know: some school's don't weight GPA(give people extra GPA for taking more difficult classes). If the OP's school doesn't weight GPA then the fact he didn't take very hard classes wouldn't impact his GPA and make it lower than people taking harder classes. I also know that some schools aren't very good. I read an article about someone who scored a 750 on the SAT out of 1600 and was the valedictorian. I agree with you that it is a pretty safe bet the a 3.6 GPA taking average classes doesn't equate to a valedictorian, but I also think(I'm not sure if you would agree me on this) it's a pretty safe bet that someone who scored a 750 out of 1600 on the SAT doesn't equate to a valedictorian. I wasn't trying to say the OP is a valedictorian, I was trying to say I don't think it can be definitively be said that 3.6 won't impress the admissions board because we don't know if a 3.6 at the OP's school is good or not. There's a school that's about half an hour from mine that uses the same grading scale as my school does. I know someone there that has a GPA half a point lower than mine and she is ranked in the top 2% of her class. I'm barely in the top 20% of my class.

There are also schools that have a lot of valedictorians. There is one school that had 96(yes, ninety-six) valedictorians in last year's graduating class.
 
Last edited:
Your GPA [...] will not impress the admissions board.
How do you know this? Do you work on the admissions board? Do you know where the OP goes to school? A 3.6 GPA at the OP's school might equate to being the valedictorian. The West Point Admissions Facebook page made a post that stated the following " With 60% of your assessement score (Whole Candidate Score) coming from academics (SAT/ACT scores and class rank), that is where most should spend their time becoming more competitive."

Frenzymando, I hope you get in, I really do. And I hope you keep posting after you do. It will make for some great entertainment.
Have no fears Maplerock, I will do my best to continue posting if I end up getting into a service academy.
 
I don't know much about the admissions process at service academies

And that's probably why you shouldn't keep posting answers to people's questions. You should be reading and listening, since you yourself are still learning.

Stealth_81
 
And that's probably why you shouldn't keep posting answers to people's questions. You should be reading and listening, since you yourself are still learning.

Stealth_81
The only information I posted on this thread about service academy admissions was copy and pasted directly from the West Point Admissions Facebook page.

I didn't answer any questions; I pointed out a flaw in someone else's answer by copy and pasting something directly from the West Point Admissions Facebook page.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top