10th Grader - what should we be doing now?

I have seen a couple posts on this thread that the CGA is the most difficult to get into? I have not heard that. Why is that? College scholar has them ranked as in order of difficulty as USNA, USAFA, USMA, USCGA, USMMA.
 
Size wise USCGA is super small in comparison to other SA. They graduate approximately 200ish officers per year in comparison to other SA which numbers are at least 4 times that amount. In addition, Coast Guard has fewer options than other SAs to commission as an officer, while there are some slots through OCS, a much higher percentage of officers in CG went through the academy verses other military branches. I think this also leads it to being more competitive.
 
The geographical imperative that nominations impose on the other SAa don't hold at CGA either, so if no one from South Dakota measures up this year they don't have to save a spot for them. The idea that you just have to win your slate isn't a thing.

And there are no D1 athletes to find a place for. If you're an academics-first sort of person then they drag down the average at the larger SAs, but if you're a pro-D1 person then it's a different way to excel where CGA's D3 recruited athletes don't measure up. YMMV.

That said, I think the larger sized classes are more or less offset by similarly larger application numbers, and the extra layer of effort the nominations require do put up extra barriers to scale on your way in. I think one thing that CGA values that might set it a little apart is that they do seem to search for those candidates that specifically do want to serve in the Coast Guard. Not exclusively, of course, but in the words of my DD's AO, "The Coast Guard wants people that want the Coast Guard." I think there's a little less of the shotgun, broad stroke "serve my country" there, but that is more feel than fact. At any rate there's no easy side door to any of them, so the discussion is probably not going to get anywhere substantial.
 
I have seen a couple posts on this thread that the CGA is the most difficult to get into? I have not heard that. Why is that? College scholar has them ranked as in order of difficulty as USNA, USAFA, USMA, USCGA, USMMA.
Quantifying the "toughest" to get into is hard. Most schools usually resort to their admission rate to brag how selective they are. But the numbers for an individual applicant are always more nuanced than a single statistic. For CGA, size, and the lack of a geographic mandate increase the difficulty of admission. You don't have weak candidates from rural (or urban) districts winning a congressional slate and getting admission at CGA. The 50+% of slots going to athletes makes it even tougher - those are slots you have no chance at ever getting if you arent a recruited athlete. Remove those slots, and the slots for the gender you don't belong to, and the minority/majority race you don't belong to, and the actual # of slots you are competing for gets smaller and smaller - but the total number of appicants doesn't. For CGA, if the average # of completed applications is 1850, but 135 of those were recruited athletes who will accept their appointment at an overwhelming rate, there are now roughly 1700 applicants for the remaining 130 appointments, meaning the acceptance rate just got cut in half. And that average GPA/SAT test score you see? Typically (although certainly not without exception) athletes and minorities will bring the average down, which means that if you arent one, your grades and test scores had better be WAY above average.

This is all true at the "The Big Three" academies as well, but to a lesser degree, since athletes represent a smaller percentage of the entire student body than at CGA, and the geographic appointment process.
 
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And musicians aren’t recruited at CGA and aren’t included in the 50% athlete number.
You can be a "recruited" musician and it carries equal weight to the coaches recommendation for atheletes (just one piece of the admissions puzzle). If you look at the stats from the last couple of years there are a small number of "rated performing artists".
 
I remember reading on here somewhere that the numbers are difficult to compare because CGA only reports admissions based off the number of COMPLETED applications. But USNA, as an example, uses the number of applications STARTED, even if they are not completed. This number also includes all that have applied to Summer Seminar, because that is the beginning of the application process for those students.

If this is true, it means that USNA would be reporting a far greater number of applicants compared to number of admissions. Which makes them appear more selective.

Disclaimer: I did not look into this before posting this. I remember reading this on this board. Perhaps someone could confirm or correct.
 
You can be a "recruited" musician and it carries equal weight to the coaches recommendation for atheletes (just one piece of the admissions puzzle). If you look at the stats from the last couple of years there are a small number of "rated performing artists".
How many? And where are you getting your info that that it carries equal weight to athletic recruits, because that has never been reported before by anyone associated with admissions. CGA releases a list of all the recruited athletes for each sport every year - I’ve never seen one for “band recruits”.
 
How many? And where are you getting your info that that it carries equal weight to athletic recruits, because that has never been reported before by anyone associated with admissions. CGA releases a list of all the recruited athletes for each sport every year - I’ve never seen one for “band recruits”.
You don't have to believe me, but this is the information my now cadet was told during the application process by their Admissions Officer. They were encouraged to contact the director of bands and submit a band resume. If you look at the class of 2024 statistics provided at Day 1, it lists 16 "rated performing artists" in the line directly below the 156 Recruited Athletes.
 
You don't have to believe me, but this is the information my now cadet was told during the application process by their Admissions Officer. They were encouraged to contact the director of bands and submit a band resume. If you look at the class of 2024 statistics provided at Day 1, it lists 16 "rated performing artists" in the line directly below the 156 Recruited Athletes.
We also were told in a briefing that both coaches and performing arts directors give input into a student’s record. A student receives an APR: Athletic Potential Rating and/or a MPR: Music Potential Rating. They didn't not say how much weight either of these contribute to admissions consideration.
 
Quantifying the "toughest" to get into is hard. Most schools usually resort to their admission rate to brag how selective they are. But the numbers for an individual applicant are always more nuanced than a single statistic. For CGA, size, and the lack of a geographic mandate increase the difficulty of admission. You don't have weak candidates from rural (or urban) districts winning a congressional slate and getting admission at CGA. The 50+% of slots going to athletes makes it even tougher - those are slots you have no chance at ever getting if you arent a recruited athlete. Remove those slots, and the slots for the gender you don't belong to, and the minority/majority race you don't belong to, and the actual # of slots you are competing for gets smaller and smaller - but the total number of appicants doesn't. For CGA, if the average # of completed applications is 1850, but 135 of those were recruited athletes who will accept their appointment at an overwhelming rate, there are now roughly 1700 applicants for the remaining 130 appointments, meaning the acceptance rate just got cut in half. And that average GPA/SAT test score you see? Typically (although certainly not without exception) athletes and minorities will bring the average down, which means that if you arent one, your grades and test scores had better be WAY above average.

This is all true at the "The Big Three" academies as well, but to a lesser degree, since athletes represent a smaller percentage of the entire student body than at CGA, and the geographic appointment process.

Strictly speaking admissions chances, would it benefit me as a white male to check the box that says “decline to answer” when it asks about my race?
 
Nothing you’ll be at USCGA or another service academy in a couple years and wish you spent more time with your family. Trust me.
 
Swim. Even if you think you are a good swimmer, take some tutored lessons and swim.
 
Swim. Even if you think you are a good swimmer, take some tutored lessons and swim.
The swimming test at CGA is remedial. Seriously, as long as you don’t drown, you pass. Advanced swimming skills and ability serve no purpose.
 
The swimming test at CGA is remedial. Seriously, as long as you don’t drown, you pass. Advanced swimming skills and ability serve no purpose.
That is surprising. That is not the case at USNA.
 
Swim. Even if you think you are a good swimmer, take some tutored lessons and swim.
The swimming test at CGA is remedial. Seriously, as long as you don’t drown, you pass. Advanced swimming skills and ability serve no purpose.
I think this kid has swimming covered
Last summer he earned his rescue diver certification, CPR, First aid. In November he will get wreck diver specialty and then we will work on a few more.
Those certifications are no joke. Given that this is CGA, all else being equal, I'd take a Certified Wreck Diver over a middle linebacker who rocked the "remedial" swim test any day.
 
That is surprising. That is not the case at USNA.
I know it isn’t. There’s a joke in there somewhere about the average depth of coast guard patrols. Or navy’s navigation and ship avoidance skills.
 
Thanks everyone for all the information. Super helpful.

Read a lot of this out loud to my son and he agrees that running spring track is something he will do…. Honestly - if he does get in it will help him be physically prepared for the summer anyway!

Just to respond to a few point… someone made a point about him being too young to become a scuba instructor - that is correct… under PADI rules you have to be 18… he can work toward becoming a master diver - but that requires 50 dives so its a pretty expensive proposition. Only way he has a chance of getting there is doing like a multi-week program next summer.. and they run about $10k - not even including flights!

yeah - well - white male problem… it is what it is - I honestly have no problem with any Academy trying to better mirror the diversity of the country it represents and helping drive officer ranks to better mirror the enlisted men they lead.

Youth programs - great idea… we have started looking at a few options… both ongoing and summer experiences.

why the coast guard… well that was a mix of “mom - I think I want to be a police officer and help people” and “mom - I love the ocean and sea life and want to protect it” - good way to combine 2 passions into one career.

thanks again everyone! Good luck to everyone applying this year!!!
 
Thanks everyone for all the information. Super helpful.

Read a lot of this out loud to my son and he agrees that running spring track is something he will do…. Honestly - if he does get in it will help him be physically prepared for the summer anyway!

Just to respond to a few point… someone made a point about him being too young to become a scuba instructor - that is correct… under PADI rules you have to be 18… he can work toward becoming a master diver - but that requires 50 dives so its a pretty expensive proposition. Only way he has a chance of getting there is doing like a multi-week program next summer.. and they run about $10k - not even including flights!

yeah - well - white male problem… it is what it is - I honestly have no problem with any Academy trying to better mirror the diversity of the country it represents and helping drive officer ranks to better mirror the enlisted men they lead.

Youth programs - great idea… we have started looking at a few options… both ongoing and summer experiences.

why the coast guard… well that was a mix of “mom - I think I want to be a police officer and help people” and “mom - I love the ocean and sea life and want to protect it” - good way to combine 2 passions into one career.

thanks again everyone! Good luck to everyone applying this year!!!
Point him toward an exploration of the NOAA Commissioned Officers Corps. They are one of the uniformed services but not an armed service. They have ocean-going and riverine ships and boats, do cool research, wear Navy-style uniforms (insignia are different, ranks same, benefits similar). Sea-land-air environmental science and stewardship.
 
Just chewing the cud here. Has anyone ever seen a candidate run track or serve as treasurer of the ABCD club for a year with no other athletics or leadership, and have it be impactful on the admission of said candidate?

I’ve coached football at one and baseball at three of the high schools I’ve taught. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the recommendation to run track to get in shape for baseball or ‘rassle to get in shape for football. Not one track or ‘rasslin coach I’ve ever asked has said they operate a charity for kids who need to get in shape or put a check in the box for admission somewhere. The handful of coaches I’ve asked about this know it happens and told me the kids never stick around past the first week of the season.
 
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