Where am I lacking? + a couple of admissions questions.

Sevastopol79

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Sep 16, 2020
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25
Hello, Junior here.

Before I get into my stats, I wanted to ask if there's a "best time" to take the ACT. Will USMA look at my application differently if I wait until my senior year to take it? And what's the difference between an FFR and an RC?

(I of course know that the only people who know my chances of getting an appointment are the admissions team, but I just want to know where I should improve)

ACADEMICS:
PSAT: 1160 or 89% percentile. (Took it my sophomore year fairly early.)
GPA: 3.67 2nd Sophomore semester. It's currently much better than that, but as the semester hasn't ended yet, I'm going off what's set in stone.
CLASS RANK: 1/20
HOBY Leadership essay winner

EXTRACURRICULARS/LEADERSHIP/WORK:
Freshman class president
I help out at my local church
National Honor Society
Did Football my sophomore year
JV + Varsity Scholar's Bowl team captain (since Freshman year)
Worked at a pharmacy, but the hours were very irregular
Freelance writing for some time


Thanks in advance to those who look through my post.
 
First, welcome to the forums! What are you doing this year? With what you have posted, my opinion is that you are behind in academics, athletics, and leadership when compared to historically successful applicants. The good news, is that you have 3 semesters to demonstrate academic proficiency through your ACT or SAT. The score is the score. All of the SA super score so you are incintivised to take them as often as you want to try for higher scores. You also have 3 semesters to prep for and crush the fitness assessment, and you have time to secure a leadership position and demonstrate impact for the organization. Depending on what you did as the class president or scholar bowl captain, there may be something to work with there for resume bullets, but you really want to show continued growth into ever increasing responsibility and accomplishments.

Everyone's resume is different, but successful candidates tend to be good in all three areas but stellar in at least one of these areas. You have come to the right place for advice and knowledge of the process. Spend some time right now formulating a plan for the student resume. Going to a small school has both positives and negatives. You may need to seek out opportunities outside of school if there is not much you can dig into there.
 
First, welcome to the forums! What are you doing this year? With what you have posted, my opinion is that you are behind in academics, athletics, and leadership when compared to historically successful applicants. The good news, is that you have 3 semesters to demonstrate academic proficiency through your ACT or SAT. The score is the score. All of the SA super score so you are incintivised to take them as often as you want to try for higher scores. You also have 3 semesters to prep for and crush the fitness assessment, and you have time to secure a leadership position and demonstrate impact for the organization. Depending on what you did as the class president or scholar bowl captain, there may be something to work with there for resume bullets, but you really want to show continued growth into ever increasing responsibility and accomplishments.

Everyone's resume is different, but successful candidates tend to be good in all three areas but stellar in at least one of these areas. You have come to the right place for advice and knowledge of the process. Spend some time right now formulating a plan for the student resume. Going to a small school has both positives and negatives. You may need to seek out opportunities outside of school if there is not much you can dig into there.

To start, thank you for being honest! This year, I'm planning on doing baseball and Boy's State over the summer, and I've started early preparing for the CFA. I did leave out a couple things because I didn't think they were very important. Do you think being in a gifted program and Junior secretary will have much weight in my application? And yes, I'm from a very small school. I'll definitely look into opportunities for improvement outside of there, as there aren't many clubs or sports.

Thanks again for your input!
 
RC = Regional Commander: The admissions officer responsible for one of five geographic regions. Normally a Major or senior Captain. Prepares file and calculates WCS scores for candidates in the region.

FFR = Field Force Representative: Alumni volunteer working under the direction of the RC. Interviews candidates and may participate in other admissions functions in the area.

Also, not as commonly seen as FFR
MALO = Military Academy Liaison Officer: A Reserve Officer working for admissions. Duties similar to FFR, but not a volunteer; MALO's work is part of Reserve duties.
 
Do you think being in a gifted program and Junior secretary will have much weight in my application?

It depends on what being in a gifted program means. If it means Honors classes that helps. If it means AP classes that helps more. It's still rather quantitative. They use your grades in these courses and your school profile to compute a new CGPA for you.
Not sure how they weight those courses.
 
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It depends on what being in a gifted program means. If it means Honors classes that helps. If it means AP classes that helps more. It's still rather quantitative. They use your grades in these courses and your school profile to compute a new CGPA for you.
Not sure how they weight those courses.

My school doesnt have AP courses, but I am doing college algebra, as its the only college class they have for juniors. What the gifted program is, you take a test and if you do well they schedule a day of the week for you to do puzzles and stuff with other students that are in it as well. Since we didnt do much at all IMO i dont think it will really count much.
 
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