Is there a chance i can get in to the USNA?

[Hayden_DeDear]

Up until about the beggining of my junior year's second semester I was always the slacker and just went for the bare minimum and early february I decided to actually do something with my life and deci ded if I was going to do it I was going to do it right and be the best I could so I started working hard. My GPA is about a 99, 72nd out of about 270 (not good but I've raised it about 10 places in the last semester) Also my SAT scores are pretty low (600 math; 510 CR; 470 Writing; 8 essay)but I plan on taking every single SAT and ACT from now till I get an answer back. I have been in SADD for 3 years (officer one year) and band for my seventh year. I have 12 hours of TJC (local junior college) credit and my senior year I will earn another 9... and I am taking AP physics AP Calculus and Spanish III Honors (most difficult language course my school offers). I was put into the the Nat. Honor Society my junior year, but my real question is do I have a chance to get into the USNA, will they just see my previous grades mixed with my new grades that are just decent together or will I have a chance to explain my new found drive for excellence to them?

 

[osdad]

Yes you have a chance to get in but only if you apply. There's zero chance if you don't.

You do have some issues as you well know. The NA will demand recommendations from your 11 grade math and English teachers. Do these teachers appreciate the turnaround you made? Your SAT scores are not where they need to be. But just retaking the tests is unlikely to raise your scores very much. Study, get tutoring, take a review class...commit to improvement. Your TJC classes can help show that you're capable of doing college level work - that's good but how much it might help is a guess and, I suspect, depends a lot on the classes and the grades you earned.

Clearly you have an up-hill climb but you can earn that appointment if you're dedicated to that goal.

 

[Whistle Pig]

osdad's counsel is wise.

You see the issue as USNA; it's your goal, your hope.

As noted, at present your profile and even your progress do not come close to meeting the USNA's profile and expectations of successful tradtional candidates. And there is monumental competition, many of whom do meet and vastly exceed the profile.

All of this might be a stark wake-up call. My thought is to take heart.

It has come later in your career, but you have seen the light and it seems you are running toward it. That light is bright and can lead and illumine a brilliant, grand future for you. It may or may not lead you to USNA. It could readily lead you to leadership in USN. And THAT should be your real target in all of this. That is a very attainable goal for you.

One anecdotal thought for your consideration re: USNA possibilities:

Explore and consider applying realizing that your chances, no matter how much progress you make in the ensuing year, are not good. Apply with the idea of queuing up, setting the ball on the T, for the NEXT go-round. Then recalibrate with this background going to as competitive a school as you can get into ... ASSUMING you are not offered a foundation or NAPS slot ... and getting all A's in all the right courses.

And what if that should fall short? Have you failed? Of course not! You are now on the fast track toward that light, having literally transformed your life from ho-hum to "here I come!" And it may or may not have something, anything to do with USNA.

Remember, God works in ways we don't "get." Get what you can. Do what you will. You will win, promise!

Remember what the jailer told Cool Hand Luke! "You've got to get your mind right!" Well, it seems like you're doing that. And in Shawshank Redemption the complementary line was, "Get busy living. Or get busy dying." I'm betting your mind's "right" and you are "busy living." Stay the course! Don't give up, run hard. Your finish line is not even in sight.