West Point. How are my Chances?

Escapist

5-Year Member
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Dec 30, 2013
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Hello,

I am now a junior in high school. I've always wanted to be a part of the greatest military on the planet and also continue my education. I think getting into West Point is one of the highest honors a young student like myself could ever get. I was wonderinng how my chances are of getting into West Point and I want to see what I have to improve to improve my chances. Currently im enrolled in the IB program and i have taken many AP classes. My weighted GPA is 5.4 and my unweighted is a 3.5 (working on improving it). I am currently taking many AP courses as part of my curriculum. I haven't taken the SAT or ACT yet but on PSAT's i've scored between 195 and 220 (with practice i hope that translates to SAT's in the 2000's). Currently im not doing any team sports but I want to join Track and Field in the spring and I have been playing Tennis for almost a year. I also have a black belt in To-Shin-Do which i got a couple of years back (I have not been doing it recently however).. I am in the Speech and Debate club, FBLA, NHS, and a small cricket club that my school founded (i dont know if that counts as a team sport though since we dont play many matches against rival schools, it's just for fun mainly). Since I am in IB I have to volunteer a lot and do so in many places and have over 100 hours of service. I am from the country Sri Lanka, i am completely fluent in English and Sinhalese (my native language) and I am literate in Spanish and can speak it (not fluently but I know the basics). I dont have leadership positions in any school clubs yet but i will have some in my senior year.
If anyone could tell me how im doing and leave feedback that can help my chances I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank You

P.S. I am a US citizen
 
Easy killer. First of all, nobody is going to be able to tell you how your chances are anytime soon because you haven't listed test scores, which is a huge part of the process. The only thing I can say for sure is that you have a diverse profile. IB and AP are definitely a plus. Continue to work at that and do well in all classes. You REALLY need to join team sports if you can, track and field is good, but West Point wants a well rounded student. Get as many leadership positions as you can, whether it is in sports or clubs, or even your class (class president or something). They want leaders who are smart and athletic. Plain and simple.

But, until you can lay out your entire profile, such as test scores, grades, sports (and details of that), class ranks, and extracurriculars, nobody has any idea where you will be compared to other candidates.
 
As a junior, you really need to crack down on taking your official SAT/ACT scores. Those cannot be held off. Also, West Point loves varsity sports. On any class profile you can see that the majority of class participated at varsity level. I would also focus on obtaining a leadership position. Try and become president in one of your clubs. Make sure that you are applying to West Point to become an officer in the Army. That has to be your number one reason to attend. Not everyone's has that reason in mind but it should be the idea. Start practicing for the CFA not many people realize how grueling I can be to do all those events as one whole test. Build your stamina and definitely PRACTICE the basketball throw.
 
As a junior, you really need to crack down on taking your official SAT/ACT scores. Those cannot be held off. Also, West Point loves varsity sports. On any class profile you can see that the majority of class participated at varsity level. I would also focus on obtaining a leadership position. Try and become president in one of your clubs. Make sure that you are applying to West Point to become an officer in the Army. That has to be your number one reason to attend. Not everyone's has that reason in mind but it should be the idea. Start practicing for the CFA not many people realize how grueling I can be to do all those events as one whole test. Build your stamina and definitely PRACTICE the basketball throw.

+1 to that! Go on usma.edu and go look at the class profiles. Try to get involved with most of the things that are listed as statistics on there. That would be a good way to enhance your chances of getting in.

Also, on the physical fitness side of things, a2roxas28 is exactly right. You need to be in good shape, especially for the CFA. I was running a mile at 6:00, but when I got to the CFA and had not practiced all of the events back-to-back, I puked 3 times and finished with a miserable 7:34 because I had never trained for all of the events at once. If you are a natural athlete, you shouldn't have too tough of a time training and at least passing, but if you are not constantly in team sports or running, this one can be a candidate killer.
 
You REALLY need to join team sports if you can, track and field is good, but West Point wants a well rounded student.
+1 cadet85
Yes big team sports such as football or soccer are great. If you can gain a captain position in one of those two, it will help you tremendously. Don't get discouraged if you cannot manage to participate in team sports like the ones mentioned, it will not kill your chances of admission. Focus on making your profile as strong as it can be!
 
Thanks so much for the replies guys. Ill try and go into detail

Test scores: I am an A and B student with mostly A's and All AP exams i got 4s and 5s except for one in which i got a 3 in. I am in the top one percent of my junior class. Also, I expect to get in the 2000s at least for SATs (i know thats a bold assumption to make but i have been practicing heavily for it and i think i can do it :D) will a scores in the 2000 be good? I get all A's and B's on semester and Final exams and have only gotten one C one my semester report card in freshman year.

Extracirriculars: clubs as mentioned in my first post and a ton of volunteering and also tennis and track and field soon.

Sports (i guess my biggest downfall here): Tennis (almost one year now and will start competing soon); we have a cricket team at school and will most likely start playing matches against other schools, i have played soccer in the past and i have a black belt in To-Shin-Do Martial Arts. I also weight train regularly and i do cardio regularly too but those military physicals are damn scary lol so i will prepare heavily for those. Also joining Track as mentioned earlier. I dont think i can make it into football, soccer, or baseball teams because those kids focus a lot on that sport and are very good in it. I also like tennis and want to focus on that and it takes up some of my time.

Leadership: Not any positions yet. But i will most likely get some kind of leadership office in FBLA, my school cricket club, and my temple will help me organize volunteer events.

Again Thanks to everyone who replied and i want to ask if there are other activities other than sports that i can do to increase my chances and make a stronger profile.
 
I would like to add that i definitely want to become an officer in the army and i will do anything it takes to get there.
P.S. : reading about the CFA makes me nervous lol.
 
I would like to add that i definitely want to become an officer in the army and i will do anything it takes to get there.
P.S. : reading about the CFA makes me nervous lol.

Well if that is your goal, don't let anything stand in your way. YOU determine a lot of this stuff, so go do it.

P.S. Reply: you will be nervous no matter how good you are at taking the CFA, but adrenaline definitely helps you through it. You get a little wired and you just kinda go out there and kill it. But you can't help being nervous.
 
Thank you Cadet85 for the help and responses and i will definetly do anything i can to get in. Can I ask how you did overall on your CFA?
 
Not all of your leadership experiences have to come from a school related club. If you can be a leader in the community, that's is an alternative. Shoot for 650-700 in your SAT sections. Also, I would start contacting your Congressman/Senator to get ahead start in the nomination packets. See what you need to submit. Just relax with the CFA. Just like everything else, practice makes perfect. Use this winter break to implement some training for it.
 
Thank you Cadet85 for the help and responses and i will definetly do anything i can to get in. Can I ask how you did overall on your CFA?

Average:

Mile: 7:34
Pushups: 58
Pullups: 7
situps: 75
bball throw: 89 ft.
shuttle run: pretty good (can't remember, but I am quick).
 
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Train for that CFA early! Practice all of those events on a daily basis. Do a lot push ups, pull ups and sit ups daily. Work on the flexibility of your torso as well as the motion of your throw/twist. Additionally, take multiple practice tests and you will destroy the CFA.
 
Nice job cadet85! And i definetly will start practicing for the CFA.
Other than practicing for the CFA what else can I do to better my profile (other than varsity sports)?
 
Nice job cadet85! And i definetly will start practicing for the CFA.
Other than practicing for the CFA what else can I do to better my profile (other than varsity sports)?

There are three general things you can apply to pretty much every area of your profile:

-Do your best (good grades, high scores, etc.)
-Be a leader (get leadership positions in EVERYTHING you can)
-And be active (sports, exercise, get involved with your body and your mind)

You really need to focus on grades, standardized test scores (which makes up a HUGE part of your profile for USMA), and physical training. If you join varsity sports like track and field or soccer, stuff like that, then they will naturally prepare you most of the way. But take the ACT/SAT now. Keep taking them to get good scores. Some people don't realize how big that is in the college world today.
 
Apply to SLE on Jan 15th - http://www.usma.edu/admissions/SitePages/Summer.aspx

Try to attend Boys State in the summer after your Junior year. Ask your high school counselor or local American Legion for info.

+1 to that.

Like I said, go look at the class profile. The more things you can say "I did that" to, the better your profile will be. Examples are: Boy scouts/girl scouts, Boys/Girls state, Valedictorian, Salutatorian, Varsity sports Letter, Team Captains, NHS Member or officer, Class/student body presidents, Newspaper team, drama club, debate team. All these things would be big +'s on your profile.
 
All the things that you can do to "improve your file" has been listed in this thread. The ball is now in your court to execute. You know what you have to do. Now is the time to make it happen.
 
Thanks so much guys! in less than a day you have given me a ton of info and advice.
One last think i would like to ask (im sorry if im getting annoying) is if someone who is already in the academy could tell me what their SAT scores and GPAs were if its not too much of a hassle. Im just curious as to what others got in high school before they got into West Point.
 
I'm not a cadet, but I have an appointment (unofficial, 3Q'd and principal nom) and I got a 34/770 math and 26/660 reading for my highest scores. They superscore, meaning combine tests for the highest scores. GPA is 3.55 unweighted, 3.66 weighted approx 15% in class. Will be roughly 3.62 unweighted at the end of the semester.

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