Questions about USCGA Admissions

spider

5-Year Member
Joined
May 10, 2011
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I am currently a Sophmore in highschool and was wondering what do I need to do to improve my chances of being accepted to the Coast Guard Academy. Here is some general information that I think would go on an application or relevant to admissions.

Unweighted GPA: 3.5 (should go up to about a 3.9 at the end of this school year)
PLAN(ACT prep test): 27-30
NHS member
Student Head of the Peer-Tutoring Program.
swam competitively for 14 years
played football for 2 years
played baseball for 1 year
won 3rd place in a national speech contest
father served in the Coast Guard for 30 years
used to be a member of Boy Scouts, achieved rank of First Class(the Troop, in a way, "dissolved" due to adult leadership problems.
while in BSA held the positions: Patrol Leader, Assistant Patrol Leader, Troop Guide(2 terms), Troop Instructor(2 Terms), Troop Scribe, Troop Chaplain, Troop Buglar and completed the BSA lifeguard Certification and executed 3 successful rescues
recieved the United States Coast Guard Certificate of Appreciation
on track to obtain Honors degree, along with AP classes
recieved award for three consecutive Presidential Fitness Awards
Red Cross Lifeguard certified, as well as Red Cross and American Heart Association CPR certified
currently federal employed( not sure if this matters, but shows them I completed the eQIP and that I'm not a drug addict or something like that)
 
I am currently a Sophmore in highschool and was wondering what do I need to do to improve my chances of being accepted to the Coast Guard Academy.

Outstanding background. My comments:
1) Register on-line on the web site (am sure you did that already if you found this forum) and plan now for your A.I.M. application requirements.
2) Stay in sports. 86% of incoming cadets earned a varsity letter in sports and 60% were team captains.
3) Volunteer in your community beyond NHS. Join an environmental work group, hospital volunteer, Civil Air Patrol, Coast Guard Aux., obtain your Eagle Scout badge, Habitat for Humanity, community food pantry, tutoring younger children after school, the list is unlimited. What are you doing with your time that makes you standout from the rest of the pack?
4) Be on your best behavior! Stay far away from the booze/dope crowd.

Hope this helps. I am sure others will offer other good suggestions. Good luck!
 
I think that BruceRTalbot's recommendations are very good. You likely already know to take the AP classes and do well on the ACT etc.

According to many people I've met throughout my application process, the aspect that a lot of applicants don't stress enough is their community service; likely because it's not asked for directly (that I can remember) in the online application. But the Coast Guard has a humanitarian mission, so it is important not to downplay this aspect in your app (for AIM or the Academy).

This year, I improved upon my previous application by making a spreadsheet detailing my total community service since I started high school along with descriptions of how I served the community and what it meant to me in each circumstance. Keep in mind that these descriptions were short and rarely, if ever, exceeded 3-4 sentences.

I recommend following this type of strategy for anything on the online application that you feel you have more to say about. I created several of these spreadsheets for different things, but generally following the same format.

At any rate, since you're still a sophomore, you should just rack up community service hours in organizations that you feel have a noble mission or ones that you believe in. And honestly, it's probably a good idea to keep those spreadsheets up to date even before the application, just in case an employer wants to see your hours.

-Andrew
 
thanks for the advice, do you know of any good clubs that I should join?
 
I really sugguest you find another troop and join so you can get to Eagle. Most councils have records so you should be able to hand in a list of what you already done and pick up where you left off.
 
thanks for the advice, do you know of any good clubs that I should join?

The simple act of "joining" something does little (if anything) for your appointment prospects.

What the CCEB wants to see is leadership.

Taking a leadership position in a club or activity (or sport) or start some new "club" or activity or service and LEAD it.
 
The simple act of "joining" something does little (if anything) for your appointment prospects.

What the CCEB wants to see is leadership.

Taking a leadership position in a club or activity (or sport) or start some new "club" or activity or service and LEAD it.

Well said!
 
The simple act of "joining" something does little (if anything) for your appointment prospects.

What the CCEB wants to see is leadership.

Taking a leadership position in a club or activity (or sport) or start some new "club" or activity or service and LEAD it.

right, I guess it just kind of came out wrong. I mean what clubs to have a leadership role look good or better than others? A friend of mine got accepted to West Point and his dad did say leadership is very important, if not the most important, but his exact words were" even being a leader of the dumb(butt) club impresses them" I really didn't think it was to that extent, is it?
Also, thought it was a little funny, I think this forum has some luck to it or something. In the last two days since Ive posted this thread, I've been nominated the the most prestigous youth development program in my area and two school ambassador programs.
 
Members of this forum are also statistically more likely to win the lottery than individuals who have never seen it :rolleyes:
 
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