Am I on the right track for admission? What can I do to improve my chances?

I am currently a sophomore at a Catholic college preparatory high school. I have been interested in the Army and West Point for some time now, and I am wondering how good my chances are of getting accepted, and what I can change or improve to increase my chances. The GPA scale at my school for A to B+ (my only grades) is as follows: A in regular class 4.00, A in Honors class 4.25, A in Advanced Honors 4.50, A in AP 4.75, B+ in regular class 3.50, B+ in Honors class 3.75, B+ in Advanced Honors 4.00, B+ in AP 4.25. My weighted freshman GPA, including the classes of Global 1 Honors, Biology Honors, English 1 Honors, Latin 1, Algebra 1, and Religion 1 (not counting gym or other non-academic classes) is 3.8, 3.7 unweighted. My weighted sophomore GPA for the first quarter, including only the classes of AP World, Spanish 2, Chemistry Honors, Geometry 1, Religion 2, English 2 Honors, is 4.2, 3.9 unweighted. I don't have SAT scores yet. I was on the Freshman swim team and JV rugby as a freshman, and will be on JV rugby as a soph, possibly team captain. I was part of the Officers Club as a freshman, and Yearbook Club and Student Government Officer as a soph. I have caddied the spring and summer before freshman year, the fall of freshman year, the summer before sophomore year, and the fall of sophomore year. I will be spending a week building houses for Habitat for Humanity in the summer before junior year, and will do more community service soon. I hope to hold a higher position in both student gov. and Yearbook next year, and to be a JV captain for rugby, but I don't know other ways to show leadership. We don't have JROTC at our school, and it's a little late to start Boy Scouts, so what else can I do? I plan to apply for the Summer Leadership Seminar or SLS at West Point for next summer, and I have gone to a couple of Army football games, but besides visiting, what other ways can I express my interest in West Point? Detailed answers and sources are appreciated. (I am aware of congressional nominations)

Please read the stickies at the top of the page:
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=14787

Boys' State

During your junior year, try to get selected for Boys' State. You can usually talk to your school counselor about applying; however, if your school does not select people, you can contact your local American Legion post about applying. Generally, applications start early-mid of your second semester of your junior year.

I attended Boys' State, was elected Governor, and chosen for Boys' Nation. Not only were these events amazing experiences that I will never forget, but they also look GREAT for the academies. The American Legion people that run these programs are awesome, and I can almost guarantee that you will leave with some great friends, new leadership abilities, a better understanding of government, and an unwavering want to serve. The only problem is, different Boys’ State programs will contradict with your want to go to SLS (this has no weight on your application, but I hear is an awesome experience).

Also, I would suggest trying to get a varsity letter (looks like it shouldn't be too hard for you to get one in rugby).

Thanks a lot. About activities, I am an "officer" on student government, which is basically a position lower than the president and VP, but it will be hard to get elected to president or VP at my school because we have 250 boys in our class and they just vote for popular kids. What can I do about this or what can I tell WP about the competitiveness at my school? Plus, we don't have titles in my Yearbook Club, but I pretty much do the sports section, so what can I say about that?

SF1775 said:

Thanks a lot. About activities, I am an "officer" on student government, which is basically a position lower than the president and VP, but it will be hard to get elected to president or VP at my school because we have 250 boys in our class and they just vote for popular kids. What can I do about this or what can I tell WP about the competitiveness at my school? Plus, we don't have titles in my Yearbook Club, but I pretty much do the sports section, so what can I say about that?

Click to expand...

Leadership isn't always about titles. "I'm responsible for the sports section of the Yearbook" ought to do the job there.

WP will learn of the competitiveness of your school when your guidance counselor sends along your transcript. The GC will include info describing the competitiveness of your school. Not to worry. WO knows how to determine this. They have to do it all the time for every applicant.

If you maintain an officer position in school gov and land the varsity captain spot on the Rugby team you should be fine. And I wouldn't give up on President. I would think the Rugby team captain would be a pretty popular guy at most schools.

I think you're on the right track and if you keep it up and don't overload you should be fine. Work on Boy's State on as well.