Am I competitive?

tylerd

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2018
Messages
18
Hello Everyone, I was wondering if you guys think I am competitive enough to have a chance to get into the Academy. I understand nothing is certain and I will not know if I made it until I receive that dreadful letter. I didn't realize I wanted to attend until last night. I had a mental breakdown about after high school plans, and thats when my mother came to my side to comfort like moms do, and thats when that lightbulb went off that I want to go to the Academy.

Academics:
3.2 GPA, No AP classes, I was struggling with depression and didn't give one hoot about school, but I am all good now and regret making that terrible decision of no AP classes.

1080 SAT, I will be retaking it coming August

This coming year I am taking 6 classes, two of which are AP.
Extra Curricular:
Cal Fire Explorer, which is a program where I work with my local fire department. Me and other explorers train with the fire department, hang out with them, and run calls with them. I have ran medical aids, and I have helped saved lives.
This is considered community service and I have been doing it about a year now. I have totaled around 200+ hours in community service through the program.

I was in Sea Scouts, which is a program ran through BSA where my fellow scouts and I, and some adults and a skipper, meet every week, and we have a ship which we were able to take out on the sea and go on trips. I was an engineer so I checked on the engine every hour and reported to the skipper. I was in Sea Scout for 2 years.

I was in Boy Scouts too, but for only 6 months.

I am in my High School Fishing Club which I helped create. I am the secretary of the fishing club as silly as it sounds. We go on fishing trips, etc.

I have my State FFA degree, which is given by the Future Farmers of America, a school program which has about 700,000+ members nation wide. The State Degree is the highest possible degree available in high school. The highest degree of FFA is only obtainable in College.

I have also raised pigs throughout High School for FFA. So I have raised pigs for three years now through my school.

Sports:
Varsity Soccer - last year and this coming year.

Work Experience:
Browns Auto Parts - 6 days a week, 24 hours weekly total

I did attend Summer Seminar and enjoyed my time at the academy. I did fail the CFA due to my mile time but I have been working out everyday since, and I will be retaking it once school starts.

What do you guys think? Do I have a chance? Thank you so much!

p.s. I am not the smartest kid and hope I can rely on extra curricular to save me, but I am challenging myself.
 
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You have no chance if you don't apply. You have some unique experiences which deserve highlighting in the application and can help make you stand out. Keep at the team sports and run run run. Try sprint intervals to increase both your speed and stamina.
 
You have no chance if you don't apply. You have some unique experiences which deserve highlighting in the application and can help make you stand out. Keep at the team sports and run run run. Try sprint intervals to increase both your speed and stamina.

Haha yes thank you. I did forget to mention that I will be applying no matter what, I just want opinions. I plan on doing track and do some sort of running this year. I was going to play football this year, however I chose soccer due to the conditioning is more rigorous in the running factor, and I love playing soccer. Thank you so much! And I do hope that my unique experiences help me stand out. Thanks!
 
Tylerd: There are a lot of “change me” threads on this forum, with a lot of very good advice and a lot of recurring themes. Bottom line is, no one knows. But if you read those numerous threads carefully, you’ll know much more than you do now.

Build on the strength and determination that helped you rise from some troubles. And start working on Plan B, i.e. ROTC, SMC. You seem to have a compelling story, so pursue multiple routes to become an officer.
 
I didn't realize I wanted to attend until last night.

Why do you want to attend USNA ? How did you become aware of USNA ? Seems somewhat strange that you get a sudden realization .

Admission to USNA is very competitive, and there are plenty of candidates that have been preparing and building their resume for 3 years. I won't sugar coat it, you've got an uphill battle --but your chances are zero if you don't try.

You need grades, AP, and SAT/ACT to be competitive... it's pretty late in the game to do much about grades and AP classs, but if you can knock the SAT/ACT out of the park, and can present a compelling story about how you've gotten focus --you could have a shot, or even better for you -- get a NAPS/Foundation offer.
 
Agree it will be an uphill battle. You mentioned you attended Summer Seminar yet just now realized you wanted to attend USNA. It's not clear why you wanted to attend NASS if you weren't all that interested in USNA at the outset. For most, NASS either cements a desire to attend or makes them realize USNA/the military isn't for them.

Also, you mentioned a battle with depression. If it was physician-diagnosed clinical depression that required treatment, that could become a medical DQ. If it was situational depression (things just weren't going well), different story.

Suggest you contact your BGO now and discuss your situation with him/her (not any medical issues but your overall status). Your BGO will have a better sense about the situation in your region.
 
I didn't realize I wanted to attend until last night.

Why do you want to attend USNA ? How did you become aware of USNA ? Seems somewhat strange that you get a sudden realization .

Admission to USNA is very competitive, and there are plenty of candidates that have been preparing and building their resume for 3 years. I won't sugar coat it, you've got an uphill battle --but your chances are zero if you don't try.

You need grades, AP, and SAT/ACT to be competitive... it's pretty late in the game to do much about grades and AP classs, but if you can knock the SAT/ACT out of the park, and can present a compelling story about how you've gotten focus --you could have a shot, or even better for you -- get a NAPS/Foundation offer.
Agree it will be an uphill battle. You mentioned you attended Summer Seminar yet just now realized you wanted to attend USNA. It's not clear why you wanted to attend NASS if you weren't all that interested in USNA at the outset. For most, NASS either cements a desire to attend or makes them realize USNA/the military isn't for them.

Also, you mentioned a battle with depression. If it was physician-diagnosed clinical depression that required treatment, that could become a medical DQ. If it was situational depression (things just weren't going well), different story.

Suggest you contact your BGO now and discuss your situation with him/her (not any medical issues but your overall status). Your BGO will have a better sense about the situation in your region.

I attended NASS due to the fact that I was toying with the option of the Naval Academy. I had my heart set on going enlisted after High School, but I was wondering what it would be like to be an officer that went through the Naval Academy. So thats why I signed up for NASS. I have had interest in the military for quite awhile now, but I now just realized the path I would like to take to achieve my goal of joining the military, that path being the Naval Academy. I should of said that NASS cemented the idea of going to Naval Academy and not another route.

Depression wise, is was situational, things at home were not going too well etc. So I’m not worried about DQing.

I am getting in contact with my BGO as we speak. Thank you for the input!
 
I had my heart set on going enlisted after High School, but I was wondering what it would be like to be an officer that went through the Naval Academy.
If your goal is to serve in the Navy, you should keep in mind that there are a myriad of options and ways to get there. USNA is one, and really the focus of this Forum, but you should have Plans B, C, and D. These may include NROTC, attending college on your own and applying for OCS, and/or enlisting and applying from enlisted ranks. With your academic background, enlisting and trying to get into USNA via NAPS would be a good opportunity for you. There are a number of threads here about applying while enlisted, and without going into detail (I trust you can find them), the key to any of these opportunities is you have to give 100% and apply yourself from here on out.
 
I had my heart set on going enlisted after High School, but I was wondering what it would be like to be an officer that went through the Naval Academy.
If your goal is to serve in the Navy, you should keep in mind that there are a myriad of options and ways to get there. USNA is one, and really the focus of this Forum, but you should have Plans B, C, and D. These may include NROTC, attending college on your own and applying for OCS, and/or enlisting and applying from enlisted ranks. With your academic background, enlisting and trying to get into USNA via NAPS would be a good opportunity for you. There are a number of threads here about applying while enlisted, and without going into detail (I trust you can find them), the key to any of these opportunities is you have to give 100% and apply yourself from here on out.
Yes thank you. I do have other plan for after high school if USNA doesn’t work out. I will also be looking NAPS and OCS from civilian college. Hopefully everything works out and I get to serve my country. Thank you!!
 
I will also be looking NAPS and OCS from civilian college. Hopefully everything works out and I get to serve my country.
Why not NROTC?
Whoops I meant to include NROTC in my last reply. I will be applying for NROTC. The only problem with NROTC is that it is not offered at some of the colleges I will be applying to, and that limits my college choices if I solely focused on getting into a college with NROTC. Theres only two colleges that have NROTC out of the 6 or so that I will be applying too. But its definitely an option for me.
 
Agree with AROTC-dad. Why not NROTC? If you want to be an officer, why would you not pursue every option available to you?
 
Definitely look into attending colleges that have ROTC and remember there are many avenues to achieving your goal. Also, remember if you don't apply the immediate answer is No. If you do apply and get the TWE - you can still propel yourself to get there via other avenues. Bravo for being an Explorer with Cal Fire - they are a great agency of hard-working men & women. No doubt you have learned valuable information that will help to propel you no matter where you land.
 
Also, consider casting a wider net by being open to experiencing other branches of ROTC.

Back in 2015, my DS ended up being turned down by USNA and did not receive a NROTC/Marine Option scholarship. He ended up attending a college that did not offer NROTC, so he participated in Army ROTC.

He ended up not reapplying to any SA and earned a 3 year campus based scholarship (later extended to 3.5 year) through Army ROTC. He will commission next May.
 
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Also, consider casting a wider net by being open to experiencing other branches of ROTC.

Back in 2015, my DS ended up being turned down by USNA and did not receive a NROTC/Marine Opiton scholarship. He ended up attending a college that did not offer NROTC, so he participated in Army ROTC.

He ended up not reapplying to any SA and earned a 3 year campus based scholarship (later extended to 3.5 year) through Army ROTC. He will commission next May.
Thats awesome. I’ll definitely keep an open mind about ROTC. That reminds me that I should start the application process for ROTC scholarships.
 
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