Tips and Chances?

Ojc011

5-Year Member
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Jan 30, 2013
Messages
4
Hey, my name is Oliver and I want to attend West Point. I'm currently a senior in high school and have already basically finished my application to West Point for fall of 2014. I honestly do not have a great gpa being that it is a 3.0. I scored ok on my ACT's with a 24 and can still retake it at this point. I have played two varsity sports (volleyball / basketball) and I was the captain on the volleyball team my junior and senior year and also have been awarded several varsity letters over the course of my athletic career. I played varsity volleyball my sophomore year and up and varsity basketball my junior year on. My academic scoring and gpa do not reflect the student that I am though, as I have improved incredibly since my freshman year which was what dipped my gpa so much. I am a US citizen and live here in New York about 30 minutes from West Point. I know this is a cliche post but Id like to hear from someone who may have some feedback for me on admissions and west point's competitiveness. Thanks!
 
Nomination Source...

Did you apply to your congress person or other nomination source? Have you received a nom?

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
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Hi Oliver! I'm close to WP too and applied. If you've seen the whole candidate scoring, 60% is academic. They will take into consideration the whole package, but academically focus on your class rank, standardized test scores, rigor of your courses, etc,.
If the reason your Gpa is low because you are doing difficult courses like AP Calculus and such, that is probably reasonable. However I know they want to see that you can still maintain a good Gpa while in hard courses. That being said, I honestly don't think any of us can really gauge where you're at so I would say talk to your field force rep! If your Gpa and scores are too low, but you qualify physically and medically, they may give you a prep school offer, civil or at USMAPS, which is better than nothing.
I'm in the same boat as you in terms of wondering about academic qualifications---I wonder if there's a cutoff. And yes have you received a nomination? That would help.

Best of luck to you! :)
 
It's getting a little late in the year to do a whole lot at this point, but you said you could retake it, so if I were you I'd work on getting your ACT score up (even if it isn't in time for West Point, it will help on your Plan B). It might be a bit low, just from what I've seen from others. If you could add at least a few extra points to that score and get it into the high 20s, I think that would make your academic portion a lot stronger.

Your athletics look good, and the fact that you were a two-year captain speaks well of you both for athletics and leadership. You didn't say much about leadership in other areas, though - clubs and elected positions, or that sort of thing.

It's January, and if I remember correctly the application ends late in February. That doesn't leave you a lot of time, so maybe focus on getting your ACT score up? I'm guessing nominations in your area are pretty competitive, so hopefully you've gotten one of those.
 
Putting your GPA aside, you really need to work on getting those ACT scores up. However, I honestly think it's too late for any further ACT testing to be taken and submitted this cycle for WP (unless you took the one in December).

The next ACT test is not held until Feb. 8th. Those scores won't be posted with ACT, at earliest, until February 24. In the case of ACT with writing (which you need to take) the scores usually take a little longer to get and may not be available until March. So, even at the earliest dates for the Feb 8th test, when you factor the time it takes for the official scores to be mailed, received by USMA and posted, it would put you over the application deadline. To be absolutely sure though, I think you should call WP and ask them about that scenerio.

Perhaps you could make the next SAT test though? You'd have to research online when the next one is held and then factor in all the above variables.

Good luck :thumb:
 
To add,
You should talk to your field force rep because if your academics are disqualifying, but you are qualified physically and medically at this point, then prep school may be an option. If they see you as a promising leader/athlete, prep school may be an offer. Express interest to your field force rep and confirm if they will bring that up to the region commander, who will then talk with admissions. I have had that done just in case even though I fair well academically, but just to be on the safe side I told my admissions rep I was really interested in prep school too and he has sent word to the region commander.
 
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