Hello! I'm a high school junior interested in the USMA. I apologize for the lack of introduction, but I have a question that's bothering me so much that I'm diving straight into it:
Since my parents have taken a relative hands-off approach with my academic career, I've just now come around to considering college. So, while I'm highly interested in making West Point my first-choice school, there's appears to be a pretty big problem at hand...
I have virtually no athletic history. No varsity sports, no martial arts. Nothing. My public high school is ranked #1 in the state and is among the top ten nationally, but due to an evil school board that dislikes my school's existence (it siphons off all of the high-achieving students from the other schools), the school has lackluster funding. So, there are no school-sponsored sports of any sort that I could participate in.
Furthermore, my family was/is/will be unable to provide transportation that would allow me to join a non-school sport (like rowing) or another district school's team.
From looking at the USMA class profiles, its evident that participation in sports is a quite crucial part of acceptance and nomination. So, will this be a completely disqualifying setback for me?
The only sort of sport-y thing I've done during high school is help spearhead a summer-long junior golfing program at the local golf course that helps children of less-wealthy families play the sport. I supervise, advise, and otherwise assist with the program in every way that's helpful. I have a good rapport with the golf pros who head this non-profit and they recognize me as the best and most leader-like of the 40 or so high schoolers who volunteer with the program. I'm sure that there would be no problem getting a positive letter from the main coordinator, but it certainly wouldn't describe my athletic ability.
I independently maintain a high degree of physical fitness and shouldn't have trouble passing the CFA with a little more cardiovascular stress in my workout. The rest of my application wouldn't be quite as bad:
I'm expecting the worst, so lay it on me. Sorry for the long post.
Since my parents have taken a relative hands-off approach with my academic career, I've just now come around to considering college. So, while I'm highly interested in making West Point my first-choice school, there's appears to be a pretty big problem at hand...
I have virtually no athletic history. No varsity sports, no martial arts. Nothing. My public high school is ranked #1 in the state and is among the top ten nationally, but due to an evil school board that dislikes my school's existence (it siphons off all of the high-achieving students from the other schools), the school has lackluster funding. So, there are no school-sponsored sports of any sort that I could participate in.
Furthermore, my family was/is/will be unable to provide transportation that would allow me to join a non-school sport (like rowing) or another district school's team.
From looking at the USMA class profiles, its evident that participation in sports is a quite crucial part of acceptance and nomination. So, will this be a completely disqualifying setback for me?
The only sort of sport-y thing I've done during high school is help spearhead a summer-long junior golfing program at the local golf course that helps children of less-wealthy families play the sport. I supervise, advise, and otherwise assist with the program in every way that's helpful. I have a good rapport with the golf pros who head this non-profit and they recognize me as the best and most leader-like of the 40 or so high schoolers who volunteer with the program. I'm sure that there would be no problem getting a positive letter from the main coordinator, but it certainly wouldn't describe my athletic ability.
I independently maintain a high degree of physical fitness and shouldn't have trouble passing the CFA with a little more cardiovascular stress in my workout. The rest of my application wouldn't be quite as bad:
- 229 on PSAT (so expecting National Merit)
- 2250 on SAT - 800 CR/760 Writing/690 Math (first time taking and I flubbed my bubbling on the math and did poor on the essay, so I shouldn't have a problem getting it above 2300 the next time)
- 4.0 unweighted GPA, but school doesn't do class rank
- Rigorous schedule (All honors + AP classes; Sophomore Year: AP World History and Dual Enrollment [with state college] Precalculus and Trigonometry; Junior Year: AP Calculus, AP Language + Composition, AP US History, AP Comparative Government, AP Microeconomics; Next Year: AP Statistics, AP Literature + Composition, AP US Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Psychology)
- Anticipating AP Scholar with Distinction
- National Honor Society + National Junior Honor Society
- Rho Kappa - Social Studies Honor Society (mock trial coordinator and judge for yearly school simulations)
- Mu Alpha Theta - Math Honor Society
- "Scholars for Scholars" - tutor students struggling to maintain the required 2.5 GPA
- Online School Newspaper Editor-in-Chief (junior year and will retain position senior year, + serving on paper for all four years of school, have also been Photography Editor and other minor roles)
- Teen Court Attorney (crucial role - prosecute and defend real under-18 criminals referred from juvenile court)
- Teen Court Intern (manage the program's website, prepare documents, and assorted clerical work)
- Will be interning with a judge this summer and next school year
- Too late to apply for Boys' State
I'm expecting the worst, so lay it on me. Sorry for the long post.
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