1st Semester College grades

anne99

anne99

Parent, Class of 2021 USNA
5-Year Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
196
DS is a 2nd time applicant and is at a very difficult college for engineering (Texas A&M). His grades were not as he had hoped, all B's he thinks (his transcript isn't released yet).

Do you think he should address the fact that he has learned a lot in his first semester combining the challenge academics in conjunction with the demanding schedule of Corps of Cadets somewhere in his USNA application? He is thinking of putting something in the remarks section of Schools Attended. He's written something that, while mentioning these things, doesn't make excuses or appear whining. He just stresses that he is confident that his experience has better prepared him for the Academy. Is that appropriate or should he just leave the subject alone.

He doesn't want to say anything about it in his personal statement because it was stressed that you only answer the specific questions on the statement and not stray from them.
 
Well, transcript gets released tomorrow. B's it is.
 
If I were y'all I'd let the cards fall where they may. I'm in NROTC at auburn university, and I am not writing any sort of letter, if it happens it happens. At the end of the day, both me and your son are becoming officers and that what ROTC taught me, I'm glad whether I get in or not I learned what really matters what to the US military
 
anne99 said:
Well, transcript gets released tomorrow. B's it is.
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The one thing that everyone on these forums agrees on is that the board at out service academies looks at the whole person. Your DS has a lot going for him. They seem to really like re-apps, he chose NROTC at a competitive school and he is an engineering major. I would encourage him to write something in the remarks section, not an excuse but what he has learned from this experience and highlight some of the successes he's had. IMHO he's put too much into this process to just "see what happens". Our kids need to "sell" themselves just like they would in a job interview.
 
anne99 said:
DS is a 2nd time applicant and is at a very difficult college for engineering (Texas A&M). His grades were not as he had hoped, all B's he thinks (his transcript isn't released yet).

Do you think he should address the fact that he has learned a lot in his first semester combining the challenge academics in conjunction with the demanding schedule of Corps of Cadets somewhere in his USNA application? He is thinking of putting something in the remarks section of Schools Attended. He's written something that, while mentioning these things, doesn't make excuses or appear whining. He just stresses that he is confident that his experience has better prepared him for the Academy. Is that appropriate or should he just leave the subject alone.

He doesn't want to say anything about it in his personal statement because it was stressed that you only answer the specific questions on the statement and not stray from them.
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There are plenty of Plebes at WP who aren't achieving the academic success your son is. I don't see this as a problem that needs to be explained. Frankly, I don't see Bs in first semester at Texas A&M engineering as anything but a great sign to admissions that your son has proven he can succeed at college level courses. I think you should be thrilled and should view his semester as a great sign to admissions. Well done. The paradigm that admissions is going to look poorly at someone who doesn't have primarily A's was washed away once he graduated from high school. This is college - WP has not cornered the market on challenging classes and Texas A&M is a well respected institution. Congrats on great first semester.
 
Oops. Just noticed your DS is applying to USNA. Same still applies.
 
Was any time management/daily NROTC routine covered in the BGO interview?
 
usnabgo08 said:
Was any time management/daily NROTC routine covered in the BGO interview?
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Not sure what you are asking. My son knew it was going to be tough fitting Corps of Cadets / NROTC and classes all together and he discussed it with his BGO. He didn't want to give up Corps though because it is his plan B for commissioning. You can't do ROTC without being in the Corps. Funny you should ask though, I go down to his campus quite often to teach a time management system specifically for cadets. My son was my first "customer". I got a lot of calls from frantic parents after the first round of exam grades were released.
 
jebdad said:
There are plenty of Plebes at WP who aren't achieving the academic success your son is. I don't see this as a problem that needs to be explained. Frankly, I don't see Bs in first semester at Texas A&M engineering as anything but a great sign to admissions that your son has proven he can succeed at college level courses. I think you should be thrilled and should view his semester as a great sign to admissions. Well done. The paradigm that admissions is going to look poorly at someone who doesn't have primarily A's was washed away once he graduated from high school. This is college - WP has not cornered the market on challenging classes and Texas A&M is a well respected institution. Congrats on great first semester.
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Thank you very much. I passed this on to my son and I think it helped. He was disappointed in the grades because he knew he could do better. He will be finishing up his personal statement and posting it to his application as soon as it gets reviewed by someone important to him. His transcript is probably on its way to USNA now. He really wanted to app complete before the transcript arrived. Any idea when the admissions board breaks for the holiday?
 
I was asking because if the BGO is asking about time management/NROTC routine in the interview, then it is likely to be noted in the BGO write-up (i.e. your DS's schedule is busier than the average college Joe). Therefore, it would not need to be reiterated in the personal statement/comments/etc.
The Admissions Board does not typically review college candidates until late January/February.
 
usnabgo08 said:
I was asking because if the BGO is asking about time management/NROTC routine in the interview, then it is likely to be noted in the BGO write-up (i.e. your DS's schedule is busier than the average college Joe). Therefore, it would not need to be reiterated in the personal statement/comments/etc.
The Admissions Board does not typically review college candidates until late January/February.
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Hmm. His BGO interview was quite awhile ago. I'll have to ask him if that was discussed. Interesting though.
 
usnabgo08 said:
I was asking because if the BGO is asking about time management/NROTC routine in the interview, then it is likely to be noted in the BGO write-up (i.e. your DS's schedule is busier than the average college Joe). Therefore, it would not need to be reiterated in the personal statement/comments/etc.
The Admissions Board does not typically review college candidates until late January/February.
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You are assuming all BGOs are as thorough as you are, @usnabgo08! :D
 
I recently interviewed a Candidate in the same boat..NROTC and Engineering degree/ B's in a couple courses, and I made the comment in the interview write up that his performance demonstrated his ability to handle college level academics. It is great that your son is disappointed by a B, it shows he wants to excel, but I would bet you there are a whole lot of Plebes at USNA who would just love to get their C's and D's up to a B. (I was like that !). This is college level academics, and a whole lot different than High School.
 
Ktnatalk...hence why I was asking :).

Odds are...if the BGO is asking a question on time management and routine...it probably will make an appearance within the report in some respect. However, I believe the activities record has a check box for NROTC...and USNA is well aware of the time commitments associated with it...so at the end of the day...I don't think it is necessary to explain. Lastly, recall that Admissions doesn't just look at the course grade(s) but the rigor/challenge of the courses listed on the transcript.
 
This is getting away from the original post, but while we have many many great BGOs on the forum, @usnabgo08 consistently shows us he has invested a lot of his time to help easing the application challenges to many candidates/parents and to correct misinformation. Thank you, Sir!
 
I am a second time applicant to USNA from UGA. This first semester for me yielded similar results as your son: B, B, A-, B, A. I think it is understood by the admissions board that college applicants had to keep up with their grades, while adjusting to a whole new lifestyle, on top of applying to the academies. The admissions board most likely gives extra points to the candidates whole person score to offset this adjustment, similar to how the academies give extra points to Blue Ribbon high schools to counteract for the difficulty of the curriculum. On the other hand, it is more concerning that your DS hasn't finished his application, rather than getting a B average.
 
Usnacandidate2021 said:
On the other hand, it is more concerning that your DS hasn't finished his application, rather than getting a B average.
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He hadn't finished his essay because there was someone very important that he wanted to review his personal statement. It has all been submitted now and he didn't mention anything about grades - only what he learned about time management, discipline, and persistence by being in the Corps. Now starts the waiting game. Thanks for all the helpful replies.
 
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