Hi, I'm currently a college student at my local community college right now and I am a candidate for the class of 2017. I have been wanting to attend Annapolis since I started high school and I have been through this whole process since Junior year. Right now I am currently a sophomore in college and my file is pretty much done. All I have left to do is my CFA. But my question is this. My BGO says I'm a good candidate but she keeps insisting that I retake my SAT's. My SAT scores weren't the best, but through high school I was an honor roll student and took advanced Spanish and was in all honors and AP classes. Not to mention last semester, during my first year in college, I got a 4.0 GPA and had A's in all of my classes. Now what I am wondering is this, why do I have to keep doing my SAT's if I am a pretty good student in the classroom? Can anyone help me with why my BGO is saying that it would be the only thing stopping me if the College Application Process is different from the High School selection, or so I think.
College student in process as candidate
- Thread starter cgarc2473
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Why take ACT and SAT's again if in college
USNA admissions uses the ACT and SAT as the best way to evaluate an applicants academic ability/capability. Your current GPA/course load is subjective and depends on the actual school you're attending.
My recommendation is to retake the ACT/SAT.
USNA admissions uses the ACT and SAT as the best way to evaluate an applicants academic ability/capability. Your current GPA/course load is subjective and depends on the actual school you're attending.
My recommendation is to retake the ACT/SAT.
FlyingG
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Retaking the SAT/ACT
My son is a plebe this year. He was accepted on second try after one year at a university. He did not re-take, nor was he encouraged, to retake the SAT/ACT. These are considered predictions of how you will do. He made all A's taking plebe level courses. He also recieved the Principal Nomination, so not sure his academics were questioned as closely. Now, that said, are you taking Chem, Calc, English, History? Basically Plebe level courses? If not, then taking the SAT may not be bad advice.
Discuss reasons for re-taking with your BGO. There may be a valid reason for this suggestion. It is tough and mysterious how some get accepted and others do not. It is just the way it is.
Wish you the very best of luck.
Go Navy!
My son is a plebe this year. He was accepted on second try after one year at a university. He did not re-take, nor was he encouraged, to retake the SAT/ACT. These are considered predictions of how you will do. He made all A's taking plebe level courses. He also recieved the Principal Nomination, so not sure his academics were questioned as closely. Now, that said, are you taking Chem, Calc, English, History? Basically Plebe level courses? If not, then taking the SAT may not be bad advice.
Discuss reasons for re-taking with your BGO. There may be a valid reason for this suggestion. It is tough and mysterious how some get accepted and others do not. It is just the way it is.
Wish you the very best of luck.
Go Navy!
What was your DS's SAT score, if you don't mind sharing.
I always encourage reapplicants to SAT/ACT if their scores are not around the average scores.
Well yes I am taking similar to Plebe level courses. I am taking Physics, Calculus 2, American History in the 20th Century, and Composition and Literature 2. And my SAT scores weren't bad but yes they could have been better, I got a 530 on Math and a 560 on Reading but like I said in the classroom I'm all A's and I do so much for the community and I think I'm well rounded. Like I've said I've wanted to go there since I started high school.
And FlyingG, you said your plebe attended a university before hand. Was he doing ROTC at the University. My BGO also told me that would be a good idea to do to help maybe increase my chances. I totally get that suggestion though because I was doing ROTC at the first college I went to.
I think your BGO was being nice to you - my opinion your SAT scores are not high enough to be competitive. Some of your competitors have higher SAT scores AND good high school grades. So getting stright A's in a community college is not going to give you any advantages over some of your competitors.
You can convince yourself that you don't need to take SATs again and I will probably agree with your reasoning. But the bottom line is that your reasoning won't increase your competitiveness, only better SAT/ACT scores will.
Another way to look at it is how can you make yourself more competitive - good grades in your community college course (you are already doing it).
What else -the obivous answer is better SAT scores.
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Well, those SAT scores won't cut it. You really need to bring them up. As stated earlier, SAT/ACT are used heavily in the scoring by the Academies as they are national standardized tests that can easily be used to compare candidates as opposed to GPA.
What I'm questioning is why your questioning and resisting? You certainly have nothing to lose by retaking the tests... your scores can only go up. Why would you question the advise of a BGO who is trying to help you and has much more experience at this than you do?
No disrespect intended in these comments, but I find myself questioning if you really want this?
usna1985
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I don't know as much about you as your BGO, so I offer my advice with that recognition.
With that said . . . with all due respect, I disagree with your BGO's advice. SATs are used by USNA as a predictor of how well you'll do in college courses. The better "predictor" is how well you actually do in those courses at a 4-yr college.
If you get As in your classes, USNA will know you can handle college-level work, even with low SATs. Conversely, if you get mostly Bs (or, worse, Cs), USNA will have grave concerns about your ability to handle USNA's curriculum -- regardless of your SAT scores.
The above said, would all As AND better SATs help -- sure. But you have to spend your time and energy studying for something and that time and energy is better spent on your college classes than SATs. One other caveat -- you say you are in your second year of college. If your first year grades are "iffy" -- Bs and Cs, it might make things better to have high SATs with your new, great grades. But if I'm sitting in Admissions (which I don't), I can't see myself saying, "He has all Bs and Cs in college so far but look at those great SATs!" Or . . . "This person got all As in college calc and physics and English but his SATs are terrible so we're worried how well he'll do in college."
As an aside, I understand that USNA is now suggesting that college students have at least some college activities -- presumably to show that they can handle academics AND ECAs/sports. However, they certainly don't expect that you will be a leader in college in your first year.
Finally, USNA Admissions has said that NROTC does not increase your chances of an appointment. It may give you another nominating source, but it's not all that relevant to an admissions decision itself.
With that said . . . with all due respect, I disagree with your BGO's advice. SATs are used by USNA as a predictor of how well you'll do in college courses. The better "predictor" is how well you actually do in those courses at a 4-yr college.
If you get As in your classes, USNA will know you can handle college-level work, even with low SATs. Conversely, if you get mostly Bs (or, worse, Cs), USNA will have grave concerns about your ability to handle USNA's curriculum -- regardless of your SAT scores.
The above said, would all As AND better SATs help -- sure. But you have to spend your time and energy studying for something and that time and energy is better spent on your college classes than SATs. One other caveat -- you say you are in your second year of college. If your first year grades are "iffy" -- Bs and Cs, it might make things better to have high SATs with your new, great grades. But if I'm sitting in Admissions (which I don't), I can't see myself saying, "He has all Bs and Cs in college so far but look at those great SATs!" Or . . . "This person got all As in college calc and physics and English but his SATs are terrible so we're worried how well he'll do in college."
As an aside, I understand that USNA is now suggesting that college students have at least some college activities -- presumably to show that they can handle academics AND ECAs/sports. However, they certainly don't expect that you will be a leader in college in your first year.
Finally, USNA Admissions has said that NROTC does not increase your chances of an appointment. It may give you another nominating source, but it's not all that relevant to an admissions decision itself.
To USNA1985,
My first year did go pretty well, and actually my first year is when I did obtain my 4.0 GPA. The only reason I would ever question my BGO is because of what you stated, having to take away time from focusing on my actual coursework and put it on a test that really can't show how well I am in a classroom. I always have put my academics first and have always worked towards high marks. And outside of the classroom, I have always done community service and played sports and balanced it, actually doing better while I have an extra curricular to do. I'm not saying I wouldn't take the SAT again but I'm just hoping that the Academy will look at what I do at an actual college.
My first year did go pretty well, and actually my first year is when I did obtain my 4.0 GPA. The only reason I would ever question my BGO is because of what you stated, having to take away time from focusing on my actual coursework and put it on a test that really can't show how well I am in a classroom. I always have put my academics first and have always worked towards high marks. And outside of the classroom, I have always done community service and played sports and balanced it, actually doing better while I have an extra curricular to do. I'm not saying I wouldn't take the SAT again but I'm just hoping that the Academy will look at what I do at an actual college.
I don't sit on the admissions board neither, but above is why if I was sitting on the admissions board, I will still look at the SAT scores for applicants with some college time.
At a SA, I would say at least 4 hours a day is spent doing required non-academic activities. I would think there will be less cadets/midshipman failing out academically if insteading performing required non-academic activities (i.e. drill, intramural sports, formation) they spent that time studying. Unfortunately, that's not an option. So how do I know if a college student got A's because he or she studied 8 hours a day or a lot less.
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I would agree. Also I don't understand the argument about taking the SAT taking away from focusing on schoolwork/academics. This isn't really (IMHO) a test you study for. At most I would answer the daily questions they will email to you, if you wish, when you register... more to re-acclimate to how they ask questions. But it is what it is and OP will do whatever he/she decides - although I can't understand why one wouldn't do whatever they could to make their application look better.
Well hey, I never said I wouldn't do what it takes to get to Annapolis...I have honestly been working so hard for it since I started the process in Junior year of high school...and trust me I understand the rigors that come with being part of a military program, the obligations that entail once the school day is done or when you are on break from classes. I never said I wouldn't work hard to get what I want. All I was doing was asking why the SAT's still matter so much even for college applicants. I guess I got some of my question answered and to be honest I completely understand what it means to be a part of an institution like Annapolis, and I wouldn't waste there time or the people I have asked to write recommendations for me for the last 3 years, people who know I want this and have what it takes, if I didn't really want this.
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So instead of listening to everyone on here who "thinks" they know what would make you a better candidate....you should call Admissions and find out from THEM what would make you competitive. I presume you have been through this process a few times now...so they should be able to tell you where you need to improve.
I am actually going to call them this week. I just visited this website to see what some people had to offer on experience with my topic. Thank you for pointing out the obvious and yes I have been through this for a while and trust me, I'm not going to let someone I don't know or isn't an actual representative of the Academy tell me I'm not qualified and take their word for it. I honestly don't think the academies just hand out official candidacy to just anyone, something has to give them a reason to give it.