Going to Visit USCGA

No1Fanof2

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2015
Messages
263
Hello,
New to the forum but been part of the search pool of parents supporting their kids with ambitions to attend a service academy or go the ROTC route.

What happens on the visit? My dd was invited by a coach. We are traveling from half away across the Unites States and have limited time for the visit.

Any help would be great. What specific things would you ask about? Do you suggest to apply for summer program?

I was looking over the thread for 19s incoming class. Wow what an impressive incoming class. It makes me nervous for my daughter. I sometimes doubt if I supported the kids in the right way to be competitive. Did I give them the right advice when she was forming the history for the resume? IMO, or at least I thought it was a good opinion I see her as being very well rounded. Her grades are decent but she is not in the top 10%. 1st SATs were ok but will retake to improve. ACTs she will take during the summer. She has great ECs with top leadership roles. Countless community service hours. No problems for recommendations. How are each of these things weighted from important to least important? What were the lows on test scores and gpas?

The most important question...Where do you suggest to have a great dinner?
 
Hello,
New to the forum but been part of the search pool of parents supporting their kids with ambitions to attend a service academy or go the ROTC route.

What happens on the visit? My dd was invited by a coach. We are traveling from half away across the Unites States and have limited time for the visit.

Any help would be great. What specific things would you ask about? Do you suggest to apply for summer program?

I was looking over the thread for 19s incoming class. Wow what an impressive incoming class. It makes me nervous for my daughter. I sometimes doubt if I supported the kids in the right way to be competitive. Did I give them the right advice when she was forming the history for the resume? IMO, or at least I thought it was a good opinion I see her as being very well rounded. Her grades are decent but she is not in the top 10%. 1st SATs were ok but will retake to improve. ACTs she will take during the summer. She has great ECs with top leadership roles. Countless community service hours. No problems for recommendations. How are each of these things weighted from important to least important? What were the lows on test scores and gpas?

The most important question...Where do you suggest to have a great dinner?
 
My daughter, currently a senior in high school, received her appointment to the scholars appointment on Friday. She has known she wanted to attend the academy since she was in the 9th grade.

My suggestion would be to spend as much time on the campus visiting with the cadets as possible. Chat up anyone who is willing to chat. Sophie's SAT scores were a bit low and her GPA wasn't what she had hoped for but she is a pretty decent sailor with and the coach was very helpful in the process.

I would have to say that if there is an opportunity for an interview it is incredibly helpful.

As for dinner, there are a number of restaurants in New London, on Sunday we went up and had lunch in the Dry Dock Snack Bar in celebration :)
 
For dinner recommendations, a local not-very-well kept secret is Paul's Pasta, across the river in Groton. Also, you can find lots of good places to eat in nearby Mystic, CT, which is about a 10 minute drive from the CGA. S&P Oyster Co. is very good. Where will you be staying and when will you be visiting?
 
For dinner recommendations, a local not-very-well kept secret is Paul's Pasta, across the river in Groton. Also, you can find lots of good places to eat in nearby Mystic, CT, which is about a 10 minute drive from the CGA. S&P Oyster Co. is very good. Where will you be staying and when will you be visiting?
 
I was given a list of local hotels. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We tentatively will be there 3rd week of March. Just waiting on confirmation with the academy and flight arrivals.
 
My daughter, currently a senior in high school, received her appointment to the scholars appointment on Friday. She has known she wanted to attend the academy since she was in the 9th grade.

My suggestion would be to spend as much time on the campus visiting with the cadets as possible. Chat up anyone who is willing to chat. Sophie's SAT scores were a bit low and her GPA wasn't what she had hoped for but she is a pretty decent sailor with and the coach was very helpful in the process.

I would have to say that if there is an opportunity for an interview it is incredibly helpful.

As for dinner, there are a number of restaurants in New London, on Sunday we went up and had lunch in the Dry Dock Snack Bar in celebration :)
Thanks michelle. Congratulations for your dd!! I hope to read more about her future:) hopefully my dd will meet up with her at the academy as well. She is a junior.
 
Good luck to her, Sophie will spend the first year at Prep school (either the Marion Military or Georgia Military), her first year at the Academy will be 2016. We only live about an hour and 15 minutes away from New London so sadly I don't have any restaurant or hotel recommendations for you. We have visited the Academy many times over the past 4 years for regattas (high school and college), attended the open house, went for an interview and even traveled up just to purchase a sweatshirt!
 
There is this sushi restauraunt called singapore's in New London -- I went during Genesis and it was really really good. It's worth checking out if you have the chance.
 
I highly recommend having your daughter apply to AIM! It's a fantastic program and provides a totally different prospective from what you'll see in March! Best of luck to your daughter!


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I was given a list of local hotels. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We tentatively will be there 3rd week of March. Just waiting on confirmation with the academy and flight arrivals.

The Springhill Suites Mystic Waterford (It's actually located in Waterford within feet of the New London city line) is probably the closest to the academy. The accommodations are nice and the cost is reasonable. For food, there is a Chili's within easy walking distance. The Comfort Inn Mystic is also good, though it is about 10-15 minutes from the academy (2 or 3 exits on I-95). It's rates also are reasonable, plus it has the advantage of being close to neat attractions such as Mystic Seaport and Aquarium , Mystic Village as well as the town of Mystic itself, which all can be fun. It's not hard traveling between Mystic and the CGA. There are lots of places to eat in the Mystic area to satisfy a wide range of tastes and budgets (from McDonalds and Friendly's to high-end seafood restaraunts). There certainly are other good hotels in Mystic as well as Groton, though I have no experience with them.
 
Hello,
New to the forum but been part of the search pool of parents supporting their kids with ambitions to attend a service academy or go the ROTC route.

What happens on the visit? My dd was invited by a coach. We are traveling from half away across the Unites States and have limited time for the visit.

Any help would be great. What specific things would you ask about? Do you suggest to apply for summer program?

I was looking over the thread for 19s incoming class. Wow what an impressive incoming class. It makes me nervous for my daughter. I sometimes doubt if I supported the kids in the right way to be competitive. Did I give them the right advice when she was forming the history for the resume? IMO, or at least I thought it was a good opinion I see her as being very well rounded. Her grades are decent but she is not in the top 10%. 1st SATs were ok but will retake to improve. ACTs she will take during the summer. She has great ECs with top leadership roles. Countless community service hours. No problems for recommendations. How are each of these things weighted from important to least important? What were the lows on test scores and gpas?

The most important question...Where do you suggest to have a great dinner?

Lucky you, heading to USCGA to visit. We loved the time our oldest spent there, but the cross country flights were not fun :).

I'm not sure of exactly what the visit will look like, but I'm guessing she will stay with a 4/c in Chase Hall, go to class and watch practice. I'm sure coach will lead the discussion, but expressing the desire to attend AND continue competing is key. Just tell her to be herself, and I'm sure she will be ok.

As for the application, common "knowledge" is that math is weighted more heavily (2x?) and the threshold for SAT/ACT is pretty darn high. If you are not yet at 700s, I'd not feel comfortable. Even then...the competition is steep. We've been told the coaches of some sports have more pull than others, and that they can tip an applicant in if they hit the minimums, but counting on that might be very short sighted. Do well, and then do better ;-). I think the importance is definitely skewed towards academics/testing and then leadership experience.

Now the fun stuff...we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, Groton. 5 min door to door, and a good cooked to order breakfast. ( although we often hit up Dry Dock in Leamy instead. Great breakfast sandwiches and a nice view of the Thames ( btw, pronounced like it's spelled, not like the British pronunciation of "Tems"). Plus you get to observe cadets. Fun stuff.

Food....not a pasta fan, so Paul's was ok, but the cramped quarters for our large party was not impressive. If you head to Mystic (15 min up the hwy) there's a quaint old time seaport. Fun to walk around, and our fave Japanese restaurant is in Mystic, Peking Tokyo. Also a good fish place "Go Fish". For breakfast, try The Broken Yolk, right near the academy--quirky and quaint. Mystic Pizza is fun, and despite it being touristy, we liked the pizza. We never made it to Mr G's next door to USCGA, but it's a favorite haunt of cadets on libo (http://www.yelp.com/biz/mr-gs-restaurant-new-london).

Good luck, and have fun.
 
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There are hotels to the Coast Guard Academy. Some are nice. Some aren't. There are a few near the New London Mall (near Chilis) (or maybe that's actually Waterford? If it is, my mind was just blown). Red Roof was close, but not especially nice.... although it has changed names a few times since, so maybe it is nicer now.

My family and I stayed at the hotel down town, near the train station, when I reported in 2002. It was walking distance to some dining options in New London. New London doesn't have much to offer in the way of entertainment, so I wouldn't expect to have a great time walking around town.
 
When we did a drop off at AIM about two years ago we stayed in New London and found quite a few restaurants downtown, some on the water (which might not be a draw in March). Check out Trip Advisor. I can't remember the little cafe we had dinner in but it was quite good.

For the pickup we stayed at a B and B in Mystic. That was nice too but in March you may not have nice walking around weather. Mystic had tons of sailboats and a nicer waterfront and of course, lots of restaurants there too.

Howard
 
We've been staying in the Holiday Inn downtown. The side facing the street can be noisy, but rooms on the back are pretty quiet. They have a CGA rate, as do most of the hotels on the NL side of the river. They don't have the free breakfast, so we usually have breakfast at Muddy Waters on the waterfront. We have stayed at the Holiday Inn in Mystic, which is a few more $, and no CGA break. But free breakfast and nice restaurant next door though.

What year is your dd? If a junior, then apply to AIM. If she qualifies but isn't chosen, don't worry.. In general she sounds like my son, who was offered CGAS, and is now 3/C. Looking at the class stats can be intimidating, but CGA looks at a lot more than just grades.

Don't hesitate to ask questions!
 
So much great info thank you. Last summer we just plugged in the address on the GPS and went for it. We hit some sketch places..believe it or not red roof wasn't the sketchiest place. I just don't want to do that again.... ;) I think we hit 7 schools all out of state at various times during the summer. Her and her sister hit another 3 with their teams.
 
Red Roof had a reputation. The last time I was in New London, for my class's reunion, I think it had become a Holiday or Hampton Inn. It certainly wasn't sketchy, but it wasn't nice. It was a "I have no other options" kind of place.

UPDATE: I just googled it.... looks like it's the Red Roof Inn again. Ha!
 
We've been staying in the Holiday Inn downtown. The side facing the street can be noisy, but rooms on the back are pretty quiet. They have a CGA rate, as do most of the hotels on the NL side of the river. They don't have the free breakfast, so we usually have breakfast at Muddy Waters on the waterfront. We have stayed at the Holiday Inn in Mystic, which is a few more $, and no CGA break. But free breakfast and nice restaurant next door though.

What year is your dd? If a junior, then apply to AIM. If she qualifies but isn't chosen, don't worry.. In general she sounds like my son, who was offered CGAS, and is now 3/C. Looking at the class stats can be intimidating, but CGA looks at a lot more than just grades.

Don't hesitate to ask questions!


THANK YOU!! You got my really thinking of questions. I just read up on the CGAS. Dd is a junior. I might be missing some key points. How long is the prep school is it 10 mos, 1 school year?What happens if you don't get selected for academy?

Are you retaking classes from high school or are you taking college credit courses to supplement the ones you already completed and passed in high school?

If you have taken ap classes received a passing grade and passed the ap exams with a 4 or 5 are you just trying to get a better gpa and a better sat or act score?

What is the expected course load at the prep school? I imagine you will also take military science courses?

From what I am reading prep school is a good thing so i have no qualms. I know sports and music are biggies at the academy so i would think the student would want to continue while at the prep school.

Can you compete in a sport at prep school if you already competed in hs for 4 years.

Is prep school college or high school?

Prep schools..there are 2?

Sorry for all the questions. IMO it's a good thing but I have to wrap my head around it. I can so see my youngest (freshman) a potential for CGAS.
 
“THANK YOU!! You got my really thinking of questions. I just read up on the CGAS. Dd is a junior."

She should get on the Academy website, under admissions is the application for AIM. It closes 1 April. She would need to create and account. The application process is pretty involved, and similar to applying for college, including grades, scores, essays and recommendations. So if she is interested, she needs to start now.

“I might be missing some key points. How long is the prep school is it 10 mos, 1 school year?What happens if you don't get selected for academy?”

The decision as to whether to extend an appointment to CGAS as opposed to CGA directly depends on many things, and is made by Admissions. I won’t speak for them. CGAS is 10 months, during which you are enlisted and paid as such.

“Are you retaking classes from high school or are you taking college credit courses to supplement the ones you already completed and passed in high school?”

It is college credit, which is transferrable to another college if not successful in getting an appointment to CGA. If you successfully complete the prep school year and receive and appointment, you are required to accept it.

“If you have taken ap classes received a passing grade and passed the ap exams with a 4 or 5 are you just trying to get a better gpa and a better sat or act score?”

Not sure I understand this question, at least as it refers to CGAS. Again, if Admissions offers a CGAS appointment, it is because they see something in the applicant that they like, but feel that CGAS would help that applicant.

“What is the expected course load at the prep school? I imagine you will also take military science courses?”

I can’t speak to GMC, but at MMI the course load is similar to the first year at CGA. English, Math, Chemistry, Physics (which is usually 2nd year at CGA), some kind of military science, some take ROTC as well. Full load, and they might as well get used to it.

“From what I am reading prep school is a good thing so i have no qualms. I know sports and music are biggies at the academy so i would think the student would want to continue while at the prep school. Can you compete in a sport at prep school if you already competed in hs for 4 years.”

I think the answer is yes, but… At least at MMI the Scholars were “encouraged” to concentrate on school work. Band and sports are available. If your applicant is in contact with a coach at CGA, and receives an appointment to CGAS, that coach will usually maintain contact with that Scholar and advise on training (my high-level overview).

“Is prep school college or high school?” College level.

“Prep schools..there are 2?”Yes
“Sorry for all the questions. IMO it's a good thing but I have to wrap my head around it. I can so see my youngest (freshman) a potential for CGAS.”


Notice I used the word “usually” a lot. I hope Objee corrects anything here I’ve gotten wrong.

Thank you Michelle Moore for the links to the prep schools. MMI has a separate section on their website addressing their Service Academy Program.
 
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