How do I stack up for the USMA?

cmccollum93

cmccollum93

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5-Year Member
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Jun 23, 2009
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I'm a rising junior, so I haven't got all of the requirements for USMA just yet(SAT, ACT). But as of now I'm ranked somewhere in the top 5 of my class out of around 250. My unweighted GPA is 3.95, and my weighted GPA is 4.55. I am the vice-president of my class, captain of the Academic Challenge Team, President of my county's Young Republican chapter, member of the Beta Club, will be a member of the NHS when I am a junior, member of Civil Air Patrol, FBLA, and Students of Promise(volunteer club). I also run cross-country and swim for my school. I've got around 130 service hours so far. So do I stand a good chance of being accepted?

It would help if anyone could help me with my other question http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=7006
 
Based on the information you've given you're competitive.

A few tips:

1) Practice your push-ups and pull-ups. Cross country and swimming is great but they tend to help mainly for stamina. You will need to be able to do push-ups and pull-ups for the CFA which you will take later on.

2) Becoming captain of one (or more) of the sports your involved in will help with leadership. I know it's too early to be given that position (most schools allow seniors and some juniors) just work hard so when you reach that point you can get it.

3) When you get in the NHS try to become an officer in it.

4) Keep up the volunteer service.

5) Remember to take the SAT/ACT more than once.

6) Top 5 is really good. Keep it up and if possible try to become #1.

None of these are required but just are a few things I saw that would help.
 
Thanks, what are some things that you think you did to put you through?
I think I'll be a cross-country captain btw when I'm a senior. Our cross-country team does a lot of push-ups, sit-ups and more core workouts too, but i'll do more than just that so I'll be prepared.
 
cmccollum93 said:
Thanks, what are some things that you think you did to put you through?
I think I'll be a cross-country captain btw when I'm a senior. Our cross-country team does a lot of push-ups, sit-ups and more core workouts too, but i'll do more than just that so I'll be prepared.
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Well I never asked admissions but I would guess all my extracurricular activities (since pretty much everyone else that was competitive had good grades and SAT).

This forum also helped me. Getting input from others helps a lot.

One thing that I know helped was my essays. English is one of my best subjects and I invested large amounts of time on making the essays as unique and proffesional as possible.

My recommendation letters were written by either military personnel and english teachers. They also knew me for a long time personally as well as proffesionally.

You will find that extra things are what will help you the most. Everyone has the basics. Just don't spread yourself too thin.

You will soon find other candiates who are embarking on their application as soon as us 2013'ers leave in 6 days. Make sure to read their questions as they are likely the same ones you will have later on. :thumb:

Good luck!
 
A huge piece of the appointment puzzle is where you live. Some states are very difficult to get nominations from, while others are not as difficult. For example, Virginia is very competitive because of the number of military/ret. military who live there whose children are applying. Up until a few years ago, our part of Georgia was able to get all who qualified onto at least one academy slate. The numbers have increased so much recently that this is no longer the case. Your accomplishments thus far are impressive. However, if you are from a very competitive region, you need very impressive credentials. Not that you can be a slacker in other regions, but you might not have to shine quite as brightly as someone there might.

One other area to look at to help you get in would be your athletics. Are you fast enough in CC or swimming for Div I? If you are, then you'll want to contact the coaches. They have some say in the admissions process. Best of luck to you!
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys! Hopefully I'll be at Westpoint in a couple of years! As for the nominations, my state, NC, has one republican senator; I know him personally and see him a lot at our county's republican meetings, so I'll be sure to talk to him personally about it and I think I'll be able to get his nomination. He's not running for re-election until 2010, and I think he'll win, but if he doesn't he'll still be senator by the time I send my application in.
 
Oh, America's finest, do you mind telling me whaat your HS GPA was? weighted and unweighted? Just so I can get a ballpark figure of what to shoot for.
 
Please know: it does not matter whether you or your family know your senator or congressman/woman. Additionally, the process is non-partisan.
 
Non-partisan means that the MOC is charged with putting a slate together of nominees. They do not ask your political affiliation (or your parents). It does not come into play. For example, my son applied for both senators. For senator X, we included a picture of him taken with the senator when son was 11 at a fundraiser his scout troop attended (the president was a guest; the scouts did the flag ceremony). We thought it would be fun for the senator to see the old picture and would give my son a tie-in. He did not get an interview with that senator. He ended up getting the nom from our other senator and our congressman. In our area, they are all of the same political affiliation as us, but they also nominated several I know of from the other side. It doesn't matter; they are looking for the best students from your state.
 
It is also likely your senators and congressmen will not be directly involved with your interviews and the slate selection process. Our senators and our district congressional rep had selection panels who met with the interviewees. The only real involvement the nomination sources had was the fun part: calling and congratulating the candidates after they had been selected!
 
anonagron said:
The only real involvement the nomination sources had was the fun part: calling and congratulating the candidates after they had been selected!
Click to expand...

It was especially fun for me because I was out of the house when my Rep. called. My sister answered the phone and thought it was a prank call so she hung up. :shake:

Fortunately my Rep. called back and explained it wasn't a prank call and left her personal phone number for me to call back. I can't say I was much better on the phone because I could barely speak two sentences without saying Thank you over and over again.
 
icelander27 said:
It was especially fun for me because I was out of the house when my Rep. called. My sister answered the phone and thought it was a prank call so she hung up. :shake:
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That is TOO funny!:yllol:

Each senator and rep has his/her own requirements for applying for a nomination. So, in addition to your app for USMA, and other SA's you may be applying to, civilian colleges, scholarships, etc., you will have 4 nomination applications as well: 2 senators, 1 representative, and the VP.
  • The VP is simple - submit your basic info;
  • In our state, one senator required online application (including essay), photo, transcript, ACT/SAT, and three letters of recommendation all due by October 15;
  • The second senator required application, photo, transcript, ACT/SAT, essay, counselor's recommendation all due by December 5, with interview callbacks;
  • Representative was more low key (smaller pool) and required application form, photo, transcript and personal essay due around mid-November
In the end, DS got his nom from that first senator and the representative and did not get an interview from the second senator. The Oct 15 deadline was hard to meet, but maybe that helped since there could have been fewer applicants. I also wondered if the second senator wanted to see who the first senator chose so as not to duplicate their efforts to give the most opportunities to applicants from our state.

We also found making a spreadsheet for all of this helpful!
 
Icelander, that is hilarious! Our son's nominating senator called our high school principal and arranged a time to call our son back when he could be in the office. The principal had to make up an excuse for our son to leave his AP Euro History class to "come down and chat a bit about how the process was going". Then the principal called me and my DH at work and asked us to sneak into the conference room, and when the call came through, the principal signaled for us to come in so we could witness the call. The look on our son's face was priceless! :shake:
 
I think I'll definitely be able to get a nomination from my congressman, but if i got one from my senator, would that look better?
 
It does not matter, nor does one source "look better" than another. You just need one.
 
Expand your horizon

If you are interested in the Army, becoming a 2LT, and earning an Ivy League education there are other options. Contact me if you are serious about serving your nation in the Army.

sea74@cornell.edu
 
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