Should I even try to apply?

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nerfa1234

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So here's the story.... My GPA is relatively low too, at a 3.25 UW and 4.0 Weighted (class rank is in mid 50%). My SAT score is 1500

I'm an IB student (currently a Junior), and I've also taken 2 AP's and honors with all core classes during my Freshman and Sophmore years.

I've been involved in Speech and Debate, TSA, a politics club, an internship for a political campaign, I've played Tennis for 3 years, but never in Junior Varsity or Varsity.

Over 200 hours of volunteering is also under my belt. Haven't token the fitness test, but I've been working out and getting in shape as much as possible.

Is it even worth applying, or striving for admissions to the school?
 
Of course you should apply. Highlight your positives.

The first question I would ask is why the GPA and class rank is low compared with the SAT?

One of the highest SATs in my son’s class was 1550. Grades were low in comparison. The kid was lazy - didn’t care about school. Doesn’t want to go to college. My son thinks he was one of the smartest in the class.
 
A1Janitor said:
Of course you should apply. Highlight your positives.

The first question I would ask is why the GPA and class rank is low compared with the SAT?

One of the highest SATs in my son’s class was 1550. Grades were low in comparison. The kid was lazy - didn’t care about school. Doesn’t want to go to college. My son thinks he was one of the smartest in the class.
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I guess it was my organization with studying. I have a hard time with school, especially with the advanced classes.

But with the SAT, I was able to put on some sort of study plan, and along with Khan Academy and some retakes I was able to do well on it.
 
Is your school both an IB and AP school or did you take the AP classes at another school?
 
nerfa1234 said:
So here's the story.... My GPA is relatively low too, at a 3.25 UW and 4.0 Weighted (class rank is in mid 50%). My SAT score is 1500

I'm an IB student (currently a Junior), and I've also taken 2 AP's and honors with all core classes during my Freshman and Sophmore years.

I've been involved in Speech and Debate, TSA, a politics club, an internship for a political campaign, I've played Tennis for 3 years, but never in Junior Varsity or Varsity.

Over 200 hours of volunteering is also under my belt. Haven't token the fitness test, but I've been working out and getting in shape as much as possible.

Is it even worth applying, or striving for admissions to the school?
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Yes, apply. The academies look at the whole person not just a number.
 
nerfa1234 said:
So here's the story.... My GPA is relatively low too, at a 3.25 UW and 4.0 Weighted (class rank is in mid 50%). My SAT score is 1500

I'm an IB student (currently a Junior), and I've also taken 2 AP's and honors with all core classes during my Freshman and Sophmore years.

I've been involved in Speech and Debate, TSA, a politics club, an internship for a political campaign, I've played Tennis for 3 years, but never in Junior Varsity or Varsity.

Over 200 hours of volunteering is also under my belt. Haven't token the fitness test, but I've been working out and getting in shape as much as possible.

Is it even worth applying, or striving for admissions to the school?
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Might want to look at other option.
 
Actually, if you are only a junior, you still have time to work on improving your portfolio for athletics. You can still run track in the Spring or figure out when tennis is in season.
Your test scores are fantastic. Of course you can apply but, of course, you have to want to be an Army officer. If you do not want to be an Army officer, then you should not apply.
 
Service Academy admissions is very different from civilian college admissions. Unlike civilian colleges, when applying to a service academy you really don't know who you are competing against. A couple of points:
  1. An average candidate in a less competitive district may have a greater chance of appointment than a strong candidate in an exceptionally strong district.
  2. USMA places much greater weight on factors that a civilian college does not consider or considers with much less weight. ie physical fitness test, leadership, etc
  3. You mention that you are ranked around the middle of the class - does your school report class rank to colleges? If not, USMA will build a class rank based on test scores and you will benefit substantially from this.
  4. If you do not get in and reapply as a college student, the fact that you are a re-applicant will help.
Bottom Line: Apply
 
nerfa1234 said:
I guess it was my organization with studying. I have a hard time with school, especially with the advanced classes.
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Lot of great advice above. Whether it’s worth it depends on how much you want to be a commissioned officer and how badly you want to follow arguably the hardest route to get there. Only you know what’s in your heart.

That said, should you get in, you’ll need to dramatically ramp up your organization skills and become comfortable taking advanced classes. Start working at it now and carry it through your senior year. At an SA, time is a precious commodity and time management your greatest friend. You’ll taking very challenging classes with very little time to study and prepare for them. So start building better habits now.
 
nerfa1234 said:
So here's the story.... My GPA is relatively low too, at a 3.25 UW and 4.0 Weighted (class rank is in mid 50%). My SAT score is 1500

I'm an IB student (currently a Junior), and I've also taken 2 AP's and honors with all core classes during my Freshman and Sophmore years.

I've been involved in Speech and Debate, TSA, a politics club, an internship for a political campaign, I've played Tennis for 3 years, but never in Junior Varsity or Varsity.

Over 200 hours of volunteering is also under my belt. Haven't token the fitness test, but I've been working out and getting in shape as much as possible.

Is it even worth applying, or striving for admissions to the school?
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First and foremost, you will 0% chance to get in if you do not apply. Second, yes you should apply because nobody here on the forums, I am assuming, is apart of the admissions board and can give you a definite answer. You should have a back-up option, however, because there is always a chance you are not selected your first or even second time (I'm a college re-applicant for Navy). I can't really speak for USMA, but I can tell you that I know a friend who did not get into USNA on his first chance and got in on his second with a 3.35 GPA in college and 1210 on the SAT. My friend wrestled in high school but worked a part-time job in college and joined different sports clubs to show his teamwork capabilities. Fitness can be continued to be worked upon and improved as long as you have the right mindset. At the end of the day, it comes down to YOU and how bad to YOU want it. I will be reapplying to USNA every single year I can until I'm too old to do so because I want to attend that bad and have worked hard to make it a possibility. I have no varsity sports either, but I am a boxer who has performed very well against professionals and have 6 years of experience as an amateur. There is only one you, look for things that make you unique and express them in your application to USMA. And a 1500 SAT score is a terrific score by the way. Good luck in your future endeavors.
 
Track would be a great spring activity that could help your application. DS was a wrestler all 4 years of high school but we strongly urged him to join the track team his last two years of high school. If nothing else we figured it's good prep for the rigors of PT. You don't have to wait for track season to begin to start running.
 
Great advice above! I joined track my second year of high school, helped out a ton in terms of extracurriculars and fitness. And I can attest to the bit about running before season starts, plenty of kids get shin splints/leg problems every year because they jump right in. Go incrementally, don't push yourself too hard straight away. And always give it a shot if you really want it, don't let anybody say you didn't try! That's the one thing you'll ever end up regretting. Good luck1
 
ct2023 said:
Great advice above! I joined track my second year of high school, helped out a ton in terms of extracurriculars and fitness. And I can attest to the bit about running before season starts, plenty of kids get shin splints/leg problems every year because they jump right in. Go incrementally, don't push yourself too hard straight away. And always give it a shot if you really want it, don't let anybody say you didn't try! That's the one thing you'll ever end up regretting. Good luck1
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Would joining the split soldier option increase my chances? I read somewhere that going through training makes you an official soldier which makes your chances better since they go through a different process
 
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The recruiters like to tell you that but the better ROOs tell folks not to bother. It's not bad but I wouldn't do it without discussing it with an ROO and understanding all the implications, which are many.
 
You could look at Senior Military Colleges - VMI, Citadel , University of North Georgia is army ROTC only and said to be quite reasonably priced.

By all means apply to USMA it just takes time and effort, no or not much actual money involved
 
kinnem said:
The recruiters like to tell you that but the better ROOs tell folks not to bother. It's not bad but I wouldn't do it without discussing it with an ROO and understanding all the implications, which are many.
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Got it, I'll discuss it with them but skipping my summer for it seems a little too much. I heard that once you got a nomination the 10% acceptance rate technically goes to around 50%, but that might be a false finding.

TheZooElCid said:
You could look at Senior Military Colleges - VMI, Citadel , University of North Georgia is army ROTC only and said to be quite reasonably priced.

By all means apply to USMA it just takes time and effort, no or not much actual money involved
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I'll definitely apply to some of those schools, but USMA would definitely be the school I'd go to if I got accepted.

I'll update you all on my progress in terms of the application and the results. Thanks for the responses so far, I'll definitely apply :)
 
nerfa1234 said:
I heard that once you got a nomination the 10% acceptance rate technically goes to around 50%, but that might be a false finding.
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I think the acceptance rate once you get a nomination is nowhere near 50% unless I'm reading that wrong - good luck - you're a long shot to be sure
 
The acceptance rate for those nominated is about 25%. For those nominated and fully qualified (3Q), the acceptance rate is over 50%.

But those statistics are misleading, since they are not evenly distributed across all categories of those nominated and fully qualified. The acceptance rate for a fully qualified Principal Nominee or recruited athlete with LOA is 100%, while the acceptance rate is very low for many candidates with low, but still qualifying, WCS scores.
 
I have a similar profile as yours. 3.4 GPA (school doesn't rank) and 1490 SAT score. Along with this, I wasn't physically strong and even failed the CFA at SLE. I always knew that my GPA was something that would bring me down, so I tried to compensate this by highlighting my achievements and extracurricular.

However, with all this I was still offered to attend SLE, received a LOE, received my nomination, and my 3Q (currently praying for an offer) ;).

I'm saying all this not to brag, but to show you to never give up and keep working at it. Also, remember that West Point doesn't only look at your GPA but how you would be as a future cadet and leader.

Good luck!
 
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