Here are some points to ponder rather than specific scores. This is a summary of what has been posted previously. I encourage all potential applicants to review the wealth of posts earlier on this forum. They were quite helpful to my son, as well as to my wife and I.
My son is an appointee to the class of 2014:
- My son opened his file in the Spring of his Junior year
- He did not apply to SLS since it conflicted with sports and his finals
- His school does not provide class rank, does not have NHS or participate in Boy's State. Science fairs and ISEF are big deals, though.
- He played varsity soccer, and is a captain of his varsity lacrosse team. He broke his thumb during the spring of his junior year, so missed playing in the last half of the lacrosse season, though did play in a club league over the summer once the cast came off and he was cleared to play. He took his DoDmerb physical shortly after the cast came off, and had to complete a remedial before being cleared - primarily a paperwork follow-up with many, many records requests. HIPAA is a barrier, and Larry Mullen was an essential help to take care of the final clearance. He was not a sports recruit; he wanted to get in on scholastic/academic merits combined with his sports participation and community service.
- During summers he did community service and club sports, and worked on service projects as this was also a high school requirement for graduation.
- He completed his file in September after the application opened in August of his Senior year
- He had letters of recommendation from his teachers and his coach
- He attended the Academy information meetings during his Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years. He attended both the Oregon as well as the Washington sessions as there were conflicts with sports, travel, and testing. The regional admissions coordinator for USMA is the same for both states. At the meetings, he made sure he talked to each speaker - cadet quests, MALO, and the admissions people. He xplained details about his school and his desire to attend the academy. He made sure to get the name and or business card from each person he talked to, so he could send a thank you email afterward is the same.
- He was introduced to his MALO who handled many of the high schools here in Oregon, and after exchanging several emails in the Jun/July timeframe, his MALO visited our home to personally meet with all of us. THere were conversations first between just the two of them, then with all of us together. He offered one key piece of advice that was very helpful - a semi-regular email to both him, as well as our regional admissions contact with periodic developments during the summer and the school year - ACT/SAT test scores, special school and sports achievements, injuries, and even traffic violations.
- During the summer, he informed all his teachers and coaches of his need for letters of recommendation, as well as a target date for completing them. He wanted to make sure his file was completed in September.
- Also during the spring of his Junior year, he contacted his senators and congressional representative to determine what their nomination requirements and schedule. This resulted in several different letters of recommendations and essays.
- His application file added several more information requests in August of his Senior year. He provided the requested information and contacted each of his teachers to make sure they completed the information in a timely manner. He also had to work with his counselor to get his school profile and personal profile written ahead of the normal school schedule. He explained that this was just like an earlier deadline for the "early decision" schedule many colleges have. He also explained to all of them the rolling admission process of West Point. His counselor also prepared a personal profile which was sent along with his transcripts and school profile. The school profile identified the type of school that my son attended, the number of graduates who went on to college and what colleges they went to, and a summary of the courses offered. As mentioned previously, no class rank is provided, so my son estimated his class rank at the 80 percentile. Note: 99% of the graduates go on to college. The latter 1% usually take a gap year.
- He started taking the ACT and SAT tests in the Spring of his Junior year, and took them every opportunity he could. His scores went up and down over that period for a variety of reasons - sport injuries the day before; other test stresses; homework stresses; etc. Since West Point super scores, his overall results were very good, but definitely not at the top.
- During high school, he took honors or AP versions of his core classes - history, math, and science.
- He acknowledged every letter or email he got as quickly as possible. He never phoned West Point Admissions or his regional admissions officer; he did speak by phone a few times with his MALO and our state coordinator, but that was rare.
- He enlisted his dad (me) as his XO or project manager. I took care of making copies of everything, and getting things to the post office or FedEx office. He asked me to review everything he sent to check for errors, or missing items.
- He prepared a nomination packet for each of his senators and his congressional representative. Each was slightly different. My son personalized each one. While most letters of recommendation were the same, there was also an opportunity to include a unique one for each due to different requirements.
- Due to sports, he is in very good shape. He still however practiced the CFA when he could. In fact, during one of the practices near our home, a passing motorist stopped. Turns out he was a West Point graduate who lived nearby. We all talked for quite awhile, and he offered his helpful advice and shared his experiences at the academy. (He wrote to thank him, too). On one of the West Point many forms my son completed, he was sure to add this graduates name, as well as other cadets and graduates he had met at one time or another. During some of his practice CFAs, he was below average - this prided motivation to do better. When he finally neared the above AVE to MAX scores during practice sessions, he contacted his PE instructor to administer the official CFA to turn in.
I think that covers the most important points.
The reward for all the effort was an LOA and nomination in November that resulted in an appointment.
To summarize:
- meet your local state and region contacts to help with the admission process
- follow-up with everything by letter or email. Be sure to keep copies of everything
- review all the good info here on the forums, especially the posts from previous years
- take the SAT/ACT tests every opportunity you can, to improve your scores
- work with your college counselor, and let them know the timeline you want for your application by the end of your Junior year. Aim to complete everything you can by October 1st. Make a schedule of deliverables, milestones, and dates. Review every week to make sure you are on track.
- get your parent, guardian, or counselor to help manage the logistics of the process. Complete everything you can early. Use the information that is available at the USMA admissions website, and the contact information provided.
- don't be afraid to ask for help
- always do the best you can at the time
We were told by someone in the process that there are indeed a lot of details to take care of. The complexity of the admissions process is part of the applicant screening. Completing every step accurately and timely demonstrates your desire to attend the academy.
I hope this helps.