ROTC to USMA

I am a senior in high school. I always wanted to join the military somehow. I found out about ROTC in the fall of my senior year, and I started the application process. I thought I had no chance, but lo and behold, I received a 4 year Army ROTC scholarship.

to me, this was unbelievable. I have close to none military friends or even know people who are in the military, besides basic enlistment. I never knew that USMA was in reach if I worked hard. Well, when I had my ROTC interview, the guy told me that I could have been competitive for USMA. At that moment, it was already too late to apply.

my question pretty much is simple. is there a way to get into USMA at this point? I have never even apply to the Academy, or even have contacted the admissions. I heard something about preparatory school that you attend for one year and you can possibly get in. Are there any other ways?

thank you so much

You can apply for next year. A significant number of cadets don't come right out of HS. You can't 'transfer' to WP like you might another college. If you are accepted, you start as a plebe and go four years just as if you started right out of HS. Don't use that as an excuse to slack off during that first year of college. You will have to submit your college transcripts and admissions will want to see good performance. If you are participating in ROTC, that will give you another possible source of nomination.

The process takes longer than you might think. Get in touch with admissions soon. There probably isn't much you can do right now. Most of the your admissions work will be done THIS summer and THIS fall for admission next year.

Good Luck.

If my high school GPA and activities aren't oustanding but average, will this impair me from getting this nomination?

But yes, I will get into contact with admission as soon as possible to get some more info.

Any more info someone has here is much appreciated to.

rotcapplicant said:

If my high school GPA and activities aren't oustanding but average, will this impair me from getting this nomination?

But yes, I will get into contact with admission as soon as possible to get some more info.

Any more info someone has here is much appreciated to.

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If the interviewer told you that you would be competitive for USMA then it was for a reason. You probably make up for your average GPA with something else. Just do your best your first year of college.

Here is the admissions website:
http://admissions.usma.edu/

on the left click on "apply" and read the prospectus. If you still feel that West Point is for you then begin your application by completing your questionairre.

How you perform in college and in ROTC will trump what you did in high school. Don't worry about your high school activities. Go to college for a year, do well in ROTC, apply for all nominations which you are eligible.
Good Luck!

Thanks!! Wish me luck

Hello all again!

I've been reading some posts here and there have been some posts on "the foundation".

Now, where are these schools, how much do they increase my chance of getting in even if I did not apply originally to USMA, and how much do they cost?

Foundation scholarships are prep scholarships offered by the Naval Acaemy Foundation and the equivlalent to the West Point Preparatory Scholarship Program offered through the Association of Graduates. They are offered to candidates who for some reason can't be offered a direct appointment to West Point in the year that they apply.
One is sponsored by admissions from those who apply to the academy.

If you apply from another college, how closely will the acadamies look at your HS career?

Connor16 said:

If you apply from another college, how closely will the acadamies look at your HS career?

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It is my understanding that your high school career will not matter much. They will mostly look at how well you did on your first year of college.

They will request your high school transcripts and look at them. However, it is possible to improve your record by spending a year in college and doing well.
If you took the SAT's in high school and your scores were low then you should still take them again.
If your high school record is excellent then that will help you.

The idea is to basically prove to admissions that you can handle the academics and plebe year courses. This is why it's generally recommended that you take a schedule that mimics plebe year - Calculus, chemistry, English comp, Eng lit, History. If you excel in a foreign language you can take that as well. Other good courses to take are Psychlogy and an IT class.
If you attend a college with Army ROTC you should take that as well - you don't need a scholarship to take the class.