How competitive do I look for the class of 2023?

NE2023

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Joined
Mar 6, 2018
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65
I know it was said not to ask this, but it is gnawing away at me and I want to get any feedback from anyone who has had any connection with the academy.

I am 17 and a rising senior, white and a male, and I am from Eugene Oregon. It has been my dream since I was a child to attend the USNA, and everything I have done in High school has been in an effort to receive an appointment.

My GPA is a 4.0 unweighted, and I'm not sure about weighted because my school doesn't do that. Class rank is at least top 10%, probably higher but again, I don't know for certain because my school doesn't rank students either. I am an IB diploma candidate, and have taken 5 IB courses and will take I believe 5 or 6 more this coming year.

My SAT was a 1220, but I am retaking it as many times as I can until my application is due, and I am confident that I will greatly increase my score. (I know this is my weakest area.)

For sports, I have lettered in football since my Sophomore year, I am the starting quarterback and the team Captain as voted on by my teammates. For baseball, I have lettered since my freshman year, and have been a Team Captain this year as well. I also received all league honorable mentions in both football and baseball last year, and I am hoping to work towards first team all league quarterback this year.

Extra curriculars include:
"Boys To Men" Club years 10, 11 and 12, I've given 10 plus speeches in front of over a thousand people.
Church group member years 10, 11 and 12
approximately 150 hours of community service (Not sure if this is a lot compared to other people) throughout high school.
Sea Cadet member years 10 and 11, achieved the rank of Petty Officer Third Class, graduated from POLA (Petty Officer Leadership Academy) in August of 2017, and have been the ALPO and LPO of my Division.
Worked for a week in a support role under active duty CPOs and POs at the Armed Forces Career Center near my high school through the Cadets, and learned a lot about leadership from them all.
National Honor Society member, years 10, 11 and 12
Associative Student Body Treasurer, year 12

Work Experience: McDonalds Crewperson, year 11. Worked for about 3 months in the offseason for between 10 and 20 hours a week.
Jordan Kent Skills Camp Youth Coach, summer going into my Junior year.

I attended STEM in 2016 and went to the Summer Seminar this year, and loved it! below are my CFA scores.

basketball throw: 79 feet
pullups: 10
pushups: 49
situps: 81
Mile Run: 6:10

Also, some other misc things that I included on my Candidate Activities Record but don't know if it will help me:
I run a history page on Instagram called @warpixs with almost 5600 followers, and I am writing a novel, currently at about 40,000. words.

I am nearly complete with my application except for my official interview (which is scheduled for the 6th of August) and my Medical Review which I am working on right now.

Again, sorry for the long post, but given all of this, would you say that I make a good candidate to the Academy or at least NAPS? By the way, I am also applying for NROTC and will attend either the Citadel or Texas A&M if I am not accepted the first time. Thanks for reading, and any responses would be greatly appreciated!
 
Ill also add that I have never had any drug use in my life or drank ever, no criminal record and I have no medical condition that will DQ me that I am aware of
 
No one on this forum can “chance you.” Which is why you see it often posted to not bother asking. Some with credentials better than yours don’t get appointments, and some with credentials worse than yours do get appointments. Look up the Class of 2022 profile on the USNA website and you’ll see how you measure up on paper. Beyond that, no one honestly knows, especially when there’s also the matter of securing a nomination. Best wishes to you.
 
I should add that, on paper, you’d be a great asset to USNA. I say that without knowing anything about your rationale, desire or character. But congratulations on building such an impressive record. Also work on Plan B — NROTC, I’d presume — because you just never know.
 
I should add that, on paper, you’d be a great asset to USNA. I say that without knowing anything about your rationale, desire or character. But congratulations on building such an impressive record. Also work on Plan B — NROTC, I’d presume — because you just never know.
thank you! That's honestly all I was hoping to hear. I appreciate the feedback :)
 
Not sure how competitive Oregon is, but your resume looks very good-my son was IB- also take AP classes if offered when an IB class isn't an option - AP Calculus etc, work on those pushups for the CFA- and if you can get your mile below 6 min would help greatly - my son is now a plebe when he went to SS he could only do 2 pull ups - before he headed off to Plebe Summer he was up to 10- Plebes have to run everywhere so run run run.
 
Work on your SAT score and your upper body strength (increase those pull ups and push ups). Find out Plan B and Plan C. Also, work on your "Why?" answer. If you get asked in an interview why you want to go to the Academy and your reply is simply "Because I've wanted to since I was a child," then you're going to get passed over. Please don't tell them what you think they want to hear, the interviewers will be able to sniff that out pretty quick. Be genuine, and you'll get a genuine result. Good luck.
 
NE2023. I like the tone of your maturity and commitment to service. I like you based on what you presented on this post. I like the fact that you started the process early. And you are getting feedback from parents who already have their children at USNA 2022 including I.

I would like to also add that you continue to work on your upper body strength. I think your running time is fine. Stamina is what you need so you can keep up with your Company. I honestly think you can do better on upper body strength given the sports you are doing. Perhaps you are on the thin side for a football player. Do get the test scores up higher. Focus on Verbal / English and Math on SAT and ACT. Get past 700 or 31+ on sections. I’m not worried about your Nom. Make sure no major medical issues you cannot fix, that’s the skunk in passing DODMERB. Finish the NROTC Scholarship as soon as you’re done with USNA App. It is quite comprehensive and a lengthy application. Plus the interview. I would try to knock that out too in August/early Sep.

Your best aptitude is that you are ready to respond to our inputs. I wish you luck son.
 
I believe I can be some help to you! I just (mostly) completed plebe summer, even though plebe summer never ends - it’s the last day of parents weekend, and I am from Oregon too. I believe 9 people from Oregon made it this year which is actually rather low (I think it was 14 last year) and from what I have seen you honestly have a pretty good shot.

My advice to you:
- Your CFA looks great. However if you have time to retake it before sending in your package I would suggest doing so, only because there is always room for improvement. Try to do more pushups if you can, but otherwise you look pretty good, and you have a pretty competitive mile time. Also, don’t try to exceed the maximums, because they don’t really care about that. Remember that the most important components (the parts that are weighted most heavily) are pushups, situps, and the run. For example, don’t try to max pullups because then you’ll tire yourself out for push-ups. Keep all that in mind.
- It looks like you already know you could do better on your SAT, and I agree. Try to get in the mid to upper 1300s or higher if you can. And remember, they super-score so shoot for about 700 in reading and math (I think the average for reading last year was just over 600 and the average for math was closer to 700). If you take it once and do amazing in the reading, take it again and focus primarily on the math, but don’t completely trash your reading score because you can always do better! I have heard that the class of ‘22 had the highest average SAT score, but the admissions board looks at who is most competitive among their own class. Just aim high, and try to take the ACT if you haven’t already, just in case, as I also know that most people tend to do better on one of the standardized tests (SAT or ACT) than the other. Personally, I had a pretty low ACT so I only sent in my SAT score because it had become competitive after many attempts. I don’t know how the process works behind the scenes, but I can tell you that it probably looks really good to have taken the SAT or ACT multiple times with gradual improvement because that’ll show your dedication to success.
- Apply to every nomination source you can. I applied to both senators, my district representative, and the VP. The Vice Presidential is extremely competitive and you’ll have a better chance with the senators and state rep, but the important thing is to apply everywhere possible so that you have the best chance of receiving a nomination.

I’d like to stress one last time that this is my personal advice as far as admissions goes - it worked for me and it worked for many of my peers. Remember that some people who are better qualified than you will not make it, and that some candidates less qualified will. It’s just all part of the process. It sounds like you’ve set yourself up very well, so now, assuming that your application is 100% complete, keep up the grades and hard work, and never forget why you applied, whatever that reason may be. Furthermore, for me as well, I think most things I did in high school was in an effort to receive an offer of appointment, but in the process I had an amazing time and met some wonderful people. Some of my best friendships were made doing things to better myself for the Academy, so be sure to recognize that and just enjoy high school while it lasts, because no matter what path you end up going, you could really miss it.

I wish you the absolute best of luck in the admissions process, keep your chin up, stay strong, and as always BEAT ARMY.
 
Wow, thank you for the response! As far as the sat goes, I just retook it yesterday, and I've done probably 10 plus practice tests leading up to it and have been consistantly scoring in the 1400s, and I believe I scored this on my sat as well. I just went through my medical exams about a week ago as well, and now the only thing I have to do for my application is wait on my scores to get released for the sat and then do my nomination interview. My BGO went pretty well I would say also, he said that he believed I would be an asset to the Academy. (I know this doesnt mean much for my application, but still cool nonetheless!) So I'm trying to be confident but not overbearing, keeping in mind that nrotc is still a wonderful plan B. But your reply gives me hope! So thank you for the response, and congrats on "finishing" plebe summer!
I believe I can be some help to you! I just (mostly) completed plebe summer, even though plebe summer never ends - it’s the last day of parents weekend, and I am from Oregon too. I believe 9 people from Oregon made it this year which is actually rather low (I think it was 14 last year) and from what I have seen you honestly have a pretty good shot.

My advice to you:
- Your CFA looks great. However if you have time to retake it before sending in your package I would suggest doing so, only because there is always room for improvement. Try to do more pushups if you can, but otherwise you look pretty good, and you have a pretty competitive mile time. Also, don’t try to exceed the maximums, because they don’t really care about that. Remember that the most important components (the parts that are weighted most heavily) are pushups, situps, and the run. For example, don’t try to max pullups because then you’ll tire yourself out for push-ups. Keep all that in mind.
- It looks like you already know you could do better on your SAT, and I agree. Try to get in the mid to upper 1300s or higher if you can. And remember, they super-score so shoot for about 700 in reading and math (I think the average for reading last year was just over 600 and the average for math was closer to 700). If you take it once and do amazing in the reading, take it again and focus primarily on the math, but don’t completely trash your reading score because you can always do better! I have heard that the class of ‘22 had the highest average SAT score, but the admissions board looks at who is most competitive among their own class. Just aim high, and try to take the ACT if you haven’t already, just in case, as I also know that most people tend to do better on one of the standardized tests (SAT or ACT) than the other. Personally, I had a pretty low ACT so I only sent in my SAT score because it had become competitive after many attempts. I don’t know how the process works behind the scenes, but I can tell you that it probably looks really good to have taken the SAT or ACT multiple times with gradual improvement because that’ll show your dedication to success.
- Apply to every nomination source you can. I applied to both senators, my district representative, and the VP. The Vice Presidential is extremely competitive and you’ll have a better chance with the senators and state rep, but the important thing is to apply everywhere possible so that you have the best chance of receiving a nomination.

I’d like to stress one last time that this is my personal advice as far as admissions goes - it worked for me and it worked for many of my peers. Remember that some people who are better qualified than you will not make it, and that some candidates less qualified will. It’s just all part of the process. It sounds like you’ve set yourself up very well, so now, assuming that your application is 100% complete, keep up the grades and hard work, and never forget why you applied, whatever that reason may be. Furthermore, for me as well, I think most things I did in high school was in an effort to receive an offer of appointment, but in the process I had an amazing time and met some wonderful people. Some of my best friendships were made doing things to better myself for the Academy, so be sure to recognize that and just enjoy high school while it lasts, because no matter what path you end up going, you could really miss it.

I wish you the absolute best of luck in the admissions process, keep your chin up, stay strong, and as always BEAT ARMY.
 
NE2023. I like the tone of your maturity and commitment to service. I like you based on what you presented on this post. I like the fact that you started the process early. And you are getting feedback from parents who already have their children at USNA 2022 including I.

I would like to also add that you continue to work on your upper body strength. I think your running time is fine. Stamina is what you need so you can keep up with your Company. I honestly think you can do better on upper body strength given the sports you are doing. Perhaps you are on the thin side for a football player. Do get the test scores up higher. Focus on Verbal / English and Math on SAT and ACT. Get past 700 or 31+ on sections. I’m not worried about your Nom. Make sure no major medical issues you cannot fix, that’s the skunk in passing DODMERB. Finish the NROTC Scholarship as soon as you’re done with USNA App. It is quite comprehensive and a lengthy application. Plus the interview. I would try to knock that out too in August/early Sep.

Your best aptitude is that you are ready to respond to our inputs. I wish you luck son.
Thank you so much for the kind words! My medical exams went well, ( I would presume) and I believe my sat went very well also. (I'm thinking I scored in the 1400s.) Youre right about the nrotc application also, Im shooting to have it done by mid september, same time that im aiming to submit my academy application. Either option would be a great path, but of course it is Academy first and foremost!
 

I simply could not resist.
If you want to be an Officer in any branch, you're going to need a sense of humor. ;)
 
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