High school juniors/seniors going through the application process

Tay

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I am a junior in high school and plan on applying (and hopefully attending) the USNA. Just looking for a high school student my age who is going through the same process so we could share information. Any additional information or advice would be extremely helpful and much appreciated!
 
Get involved in as many activities as you can handle that will wnbli you to show leadership, as well as athletics. You need to also maintain good grades and testscores. If your interested maybe apply to have an internship in your Congressmembers office.
 
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Get involved in as many activities as you can handle that will wnbli you to show leadership, as well as athletics. You need to also maintain good grades and testscores. If your interested maybe apply to have an internship in your Congressmembers office.

Did you already apply and get accepted?
 
http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Steps-for-Admission/General-Advice-for-Grades-9-12.php

If you haven't already seen it, that page has a lot of information on it that was useful to me.

I'm just a candidate right now, but my piece of advice is get everything on the application done as soon as you possibly can. Ask your teacher for recommendations early, take the CFA early, take the ACT/SAT early, everything. That way if your teacher is really slow and takes 3 months to do your recommendation, it will still be on time, and if you do poorly on the CFA or the ACT/SAT you have time to retake it instead of being forced to submit horrible scores because there is no time to retake them.

I waited until September to ask for a teacher recommendation and my teacher is taking a very long time to do it and it is still not done(and it may not get done in time). If I had asked for the recommendation in June it might be done right now which would make my entire application complete. Instead my application has been incomplete for over 2 months all because of 1 missing teacher recommendation. I took the ACT and CFA early and didn't do as well as I would have liked to do on either, but since I did it early I was able to retake both of them and get better scores. So if you can get the application done in a timely manner I think that will help you quite a bit and make the process a bit less stressful for you.
 
Tay,
Sorry not a high school student, but a parent of a HS senior going through the process.

Look into applying/attending the academy's summer seminar (NASS). You can get information from the USNA website.
https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Programs/NASS/

Look into going to Boy's State. It is looked on highly by all the academies.

Find a local "admissions day" or "congressional academy day" to get more information.

Read as much as you can on the admissions / nomination process. These forums are filled with information.

Junior year is the time to start looking into the entire process, mostly because it is not like applying to any other college or university. And the process starts much earlier.
 
I am a junior in high school and plan on applying (and hopefully attending) the USNA. Just looking for a high school student my age who is going through the same process so we could share information. Any additional information or advice would be extremely helpful and much appreciated!

Here is one tidbit of advice (among many) that I like to pass onto candidates.

Obviously, you have to earn a nomination before you can be considered for an appointment. It's a parallel process - you are applying to the Naval Academy directly and, at the same time, competing for a nomination.

With regards to the nomination process: You will be dealing with the MOC's Service Academy Coordinator. This is an administrator within the MOC's office who handles the processing of all the service academy nomination applications. You will be mailing them things. You might need to email them. You may even need to have a phone conversation with them at some point regarding your file. They will most likely be in attendance when you get interviewed. You should be cognizant that this person, in all likelihood, will be making the selections for the MOC. Do you really think that a senator or congressman is going to take the time and read the recommendations, parse through the activities/grades/ACT scores of each of the candidates? Not in a million years! Interns are probably reading the recommendation letters.

So, be respectful to this individual. Be organized, neat, polite and concise with your correspondence with them. Do not dismiss them as some administrative lackey of the MOC. They hold your fate in their hands. Project yourself favorably to them in all your dealings. Every bit of contact you have with them is a "mini interview", of sorts.
 
Don't feel you have to get involved in a lot of activities. It is better to have less activities (quantity) and more of a leadership role (quality) then vice versa. You will, likely, be asked to explain your leadership roles in the activities you list at your BGO and/or MOC interviews -- so the ones you claim you are doing leadership in -- well, you better have been doing it. It is also perfectly acceptable to be a participant in certain activities, presuming you have other activities you are leading in. In other words, you don't have to be the "leader" in every single activity.
 
I am just a candidate and I may be way off base here, but from everything I have heard and everyone I have talked to it isn't just a numbers game. Yes, your scores and grades matter but it's about being a well rounded individual. No other school I have applied to takes into account intangibles as much as the academies do. Leadership, athletics, service to others, they all contribute to your character and development. I don't think there is a formula for what to do to get accepted, I think you need to develop every aspect of your life to the best of your ability and let the chips fall. Good luck.
 
I am just a candidate and I may be way off base here, but from everything I have heard and everyone I have talked to it isn't just a numbers game. Yes, your scores and grades matter but it's about being a well rounded individual. No other school I have applied to takes into account intangibles as much as the academies do. Leadership, athletics, service to others, they all contribute to your character and development. I don't think there is a formula for what to do to get accepted, I think you need to develop every aspect of your life to the best of your ability and let the chips fall. Good luck.
I don't believe that is true. USNA uses something called WCS and WCS is a number that is calculated based on all of the things you have done. For example, you will get more points on your WCS if you increase your ACT score by 5 points or for becoming the captain of a sports team or for maxing out every event on your CFA. I have read that the 150 candidates with the highest WCS on the NWL must be admitted. So I think a large part of the admissions process really is just numbers. If you have a very high WCS your chances of getting in are much better than someone that has a very low WCS.

Also, I'm not sure if this is true for USNA, but I have read that for USMA there is a point value assigned to activities. If you do the activity you get X points on your WCS for it, if you don't do the activity you don't get X points on your WCS. It doesn't appear to be all that subjective to me.
 
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I am just a candidate and I may be way off base here, but from everything I have heard and everyone I have talked to it isn't just a numbers game. Yes, your scores and grades matter but it's about being a well rounded individual. No other school I have applied to takes into account intangibles as much as the academies do. Leadership, athletics, service to others, they all contribute to your character and development. I don't think there is a formula for what to do to get accepted, I think you need to develop every aspect of your life to the best of your ability and let the chips fall. Good luck.


You are exactly right. While grades are important, ECA's are important, and standardized tests are important, the academies absolutely love well rounded applicants.

When you are lucky enough to find yourself at the Academy you'll definitely see some egg heads (in the most respectful way), but you'll be amazed at the number of "rensissance" men and women. Well rounded high achievers.

While academies like high SAT scores, the look for kids that stand out among their peers. Team captains, kids that start their own businesses, class officers, kids with jobs, etc.

Do all you can, as well as you can. Good luck.
 
Having a high multiple doesn't help if you aren't found scholastically qualified. The multiple really only comes into play AFTER you are fully qualified (triple qualified + nomination). As others have stated, well rounded is the name of the game.
 
Get involved in as many activities as you can handle that will wnbli you to show leadership, as well as athletics. You need to also maintain good grades and testscores. If your interested maybe apply to have an internship in your Congressmembers office.

Did you already apply and get accepted?
I have an LOA for USNA and will be interviewing for mic interviews. My DODMERB is in process as well.
 
I am just a candidate and I may be way off base here, but from everything I have heard and everyone I have talked to it isn't just a numbers game. Yes, your scores and grades matter but it's about being a well rounded individual. No other school I have applied to takes into account intangibles as much as the academies do. Leadership, athletics, service to others, they all contribute to your character and development. I don't think there is a formula for what to do to get accepted, I think you need to develop every aspect of your life to the best of your ability and let the chips fall. Good luck.
I don't believe that is true. USNA uses something called WCS and WCS is a number that is calculated based on all of the things you have done. For example, you will get more points on your WCS if you increase your ACT score by 5 points or for becoming the captain of a sports team or for maxing out every event on your CFA. I have read that the 150 candidates with the highest WCS on the NWL must be admitted. So I think a large part of the admissions process really is just numbers. If you have a very high WCS your chances of getting in are much better than someone that has a very low WCS.

Also, I'm not sure if this is true for USNA, but I have read that for USMA there is a point value assigned to activities. If you do the activity you get X points on your WCS for it, if you don't do the activity you don't get X points on your WCS. It doesn't appear to be all that subjective to me.
I just received my appointment to the academy, but maybe it was all numbers.
 
Having a high multiple doesn't help if you aren't found scholastically qualified.

The chances of having a "high multiple" and, at the same time, having poor scholastic credentials are not very likely. Having lots of good activities, playing sports, and good recommendations are often not enough to overcome a weak GPA, weak ACT/SAT scores, and lack of AP courses (or not having taken challenging courses).
 
It would help and simplify a lot IF USNA would actually publish their formula for WCS like WP has. Before others jump, I know THAT wont happen in my window of time of applying to USNA. Wishful thinking on how to curb a lot of stress for thousands of applicants. Dont get me going on what is needed to get a MOC nomination as it varies by MOC.

Also if you dont have the greatest grades, ACT/SAT and other factors are involved, there are also Foundation Schools and NAPS available. Neither you can apply for, Admissions recommends them.
 
It would help and simplify a lot IF USNA would actually publish their formula for WCS like WP has.
Releasing the WCS formula would probably lead to more candidates gaming the system, or doing activities for the sole purpose of increasing their WCS, at a much higher rate than they currently do. I would guess that very, very few candidates even know about the WP WCS formula anyways though. It is extremely difficult to find that information.
 
Academics (60% of the WCS), SAT/ACT score - 1/2 (ie 30% of total WCS) Class Rank - 1/2 (ie 30% of total WCS), 10% for athletics and 30% for 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. This is as of 2/2014 so it may or maynot be current.

Again I wish I could find USNA
 
Academics (60% of the WCS), SAT/ACT score - 1/2 (ie 30% of total WCS) Class Rank - 1/2 (ie 30% of total WCS), 10% for athletics and 30% for 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. This is as of 2/2014 so it may or maynot be current.

Again I wish I could find USNA
That's not a very detailed breakdown, and not really what I was talking about. There is a breakdown that is much more detailed that tells you the exact point value playing specific sports is worth(ie varsity letter in football is worth x points, varsity letter in soccer is worth y points) and the exact point value that you get from each point in each section of the ACT. It also tells you how much specific extracurricular activities are worth. I don't think very many candidates have access to this formula. The formula you are talking about really isn't all that useful imo.
 
Don't feel you have to get involved in a lot of activities. It is better to have less activities (quantity) and more of a leadership role (quality) then vice versa. You will, likely, be asked to explain your leadership roles in the activities you list at your BGO and/or MOC interviews -- so the ones you claim you are doing leadership in -- well, you better have been doing it. It is also perfectly acceptable to be a participant in certain activities, presuming you have other activities you are leading in. In other words, you don't have to be the "leader" in every single activity.
Just had this conversation with a perspective student on Monday
 
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