Whole Candidate Score....

tug_boat

10-Year Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2012
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Many of you are waiting to open your portal up and dig into the application process. Many are a year behind and will be doing the some thing next year. So lets take the mystery out of the WCS and have a better understanding how admissions formulates your WCS.

Remember GPA does not factor into the WCS.

Academics (60% of the WCS)
SAT/ACT score - 1/2 (ie 30% of total WCS)
Class Rank - 1/2 (ie 30% of total WCS)

Of course, GPA determines Class Rank but comparing a candidate's GPA at X school to a candidate's GPA at Y school would not be a fair comparison. All high schools are different and many use different scales for what an 'A' is , a 'B' is, etc. Many inflate.
Class Rank is used instead because it compares you to your High School peers with the same grade scales, grade inflation, teachers and classes. AP and IB classes are not considered since many schools don't offer these prep courses.

SAT/ACT scores are really the better comparison because everyone takes the same test. Now you know why there is such an importance to obtain the highest possible score.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
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And, if I might add to the above:

Of the 30% of WCS that is leadership:

1/3 (or 10% of WCS) is Classroom Leadership = School Official Evaluations (SOE)
1/3 (or 10% of WCS) is Athletics Leadership = sports played, letters earned, Captain, etc.
1/3 (or 10% of WCS) is all the rest = Eagle Scout, Boys State, Student Council, etc.
 
Thank you Sledge!!

The Three Pillars of Well Rounded Candidate.
-Academics
-Athletics
-Leadership

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Tug boat, I like your name :), thanks for explaining the WCS. How do they compensate for kids who go to a highly academic school? My DDs unweighted GPA is 3.973 and weighted 4.83 and she is ranked 8 out of 44 which only puts her in the top 16%. She does not have a single B, but does have 3 A- in all honors classes. If the academies are looking at the top 1, 5, and 10%, how does that work? Is this where school profile comes into play?
 
There is a formula all colleges use to evaluate high schools, public, private, prep and home schooled. This is where you need the human factor to step in and that is why there are RCs. Again ACT/SAT scores are the biggest part of WCS. Many have argued the validity of the standardized tests. Many parents will spend big bucks to have their kids study the test to get into the school of their choice.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Tug boat, I like your name :), thanks for explaining the WCS. How do they compensate for kids who go to a highly academic school? My DDs unweighted GPA is 3.973 and weighted 4.83 and she is ranked 8 out of 44 which only puts her in the top 16%. She does not have a single B, but does have 3 A- in all honors classes. If the academies are looking at the top 1, 5, and 10%, how does that work? Is this where school profile comes into play?
I have a problem similar to your daughter, except it's not as severe. I have gotten only 2 B's in high school but I am ranked in the 70s in a class of about 425. At most schools I would have a much better rank but my school is more competitive than most. About 25% of our students score a 30 or above on the ACT, and nationally only 5% of people do this. Basically, a kid that is at the top 25% mark at my school would likely be in the top 5% at the average school.

An FFR told me that USMA will likely give me a boost in my class rank to adjust for the competitiveness of my school. USMA would likely do the same for your DD if she applied, but I'm not sure if USAFA also does this.
 
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