Admissions process questions

Y

YES

New Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2017
Messages
1
I have a DS who is a high school freshman. What are the steps to be taken to best fulfill his goal of attending USNA?
 
Few easy steps: Tell him
1) Get the best grades in challenge classes
2) Leadership and be of good moral character.
3) Athletics, makes sure to strive in his events
4) Get good test scores
5) Stay in good shape
6) Community service( Get involved in the community)
My personal, tell him to live by this codes( Honor, duty, respect, loyalty, integrity, selfless service, personal
courage
7) Be Focus, committed, determined, and have the sheer will to make it.
 
It is hard for a young man or woman to know what they want to do as the get older. Our hats off to him for deciding this is a dream to pursue. I see many young people talk about the academies and really have no idea what that means. In my opinion, your DS needs to understand the mission of the service academies and where that may take him. The Naval Academy's mission it to provide leaders to the Navy. A new graduate will most likely end up in three places; assigned sea duty where he support the fleet, become an Marine officer who will lead marines or become a Naval Aviator. The other academies have similar mission but their graduates may have different roles after graduation. All of those roles will carry a significant responsibility. If this is something he remains committed to do, then the advice will be the same. Seek out challenging endeavors in academics, athletics, and extracurricular activities and excel at them. Any advanced college preparatory program will meet the requirements of the academies. The other piece of advice is to let his passions drive him through the process. I see candidates ask questions about joining another team or club to help their application. He should join these activities if he enjoys them or wants to be exposed to something different. Their is no one perfect answer to gaining admission; the academy wants talented and well rounded young men and women to train as leaders. The good news is that these things are not just for admissions to a service academy, they will open many other doors should his goals change through his high school years. He has a long journey ahead of him, be supportive and don't forget to stop and smell the roses sometimes.
 
USNA admissions says they want well rounded candidates. Academics, leadership, and athletics. Being involved at the high school globally is better than being the shining star in only one thing. I know it's difficult for a freshman to step up because of social fears but I promise you upperclassmen love freshmen who want to help. Those are the ones who get the leadership positions junior and senior year. Academically it is better to pull A's than B's or C's because everyone wants to know your GPA and class rank. So choose honors over AP unless you know he'll excel in AP courses. My DD did honors freshman and sophomore year and college dual enrollment junior and this (senior) year. She only goes to the high school for student government class, clubs and sports. She's a great athlete and does 5 varsity sports a year but isn't the star of any of her teams. But the star in volleyball doesn't play soccer, and the soccer star doesn't run cross country, etc. The one thing we didn't do that I recommend is test prep. DD's SAT/ACT scores were above average but not stellar. Khan Academy online is supposed to have free test prep but from the scores, we wouldn't know. LOL

Here is the thing though.... with my DD all of the above was organic. She had never even heard of USNA until a year ago. Now it's all she wants. I'm afraid if she had planned this all along and was constantly maneuvering to get appointed to USNA it would have taken a lot of the fun out of her high school experience. Just a thought.

Best wishes! I hope you are in the waiting hell that we are now in four years! It really does go by so fast for us.... for them, not so much. ⚓
 
Welcome!
Establishing an account here is a good start. Think of this forum as a great place to "fill in the blanks" and answer gray area questions.

A couple of basic helpful items:
  • Thoroughly read the admissions website for USNA backwards and forwards. They essentially tell you what they are looking for!
  • Get the book by Sue Ross "The Naval Academy Candidate Book." It's is highly informative and practical.
  • Read the "sticky" notes at the top of the USNA forum.
  • Visit USNA if at all possible.
 
USMA 1994 is spot on. My DS (USNA class of 2021) had been laser focused on USNA since he was tiny. I will say though, his attitude has always been service first. That cannot be stressed enough. There are plenty of resources far more qualified than this mom. Good luck!

GO NAVY! BEAT ARMY!
 
YES said:
I have a DS who is a high school freshman. What are the steps to be taken to best fulfill his goal of attending USNA?
Click to expand...

Have not posted for quite a while. Vitalzt is correct but as your DS is a freshman I'd keep it simple for him.

1. Grades are the #1 thing he can control for the next 3 years. Focus on STEM courses and by senior year he should be taking Calculus, phisics and chemistry. Preferably mostly AP course if possible.

2. Leadership - Find school clubs, sports teams, church activities that your DS is interested in and get involved. The key is not how many activities but taking on leadership roles such as President, VP, treasurer etc. Most importantly what did your DS actually do in the leadership role that made a difference by leading the group.

3. The rest will just flow naturally. If possible visit the academy during the summer or when he is a junior apply for the NASS program.

A lot can change over the next 3 years for your DS. This is something that he may decide is not for him or he may really get into it. Either way be supportive and let him find his way.
 
YES said:
I have a DS who is a high school freshman. What are the steps to be taken to best fulfill his goal of attending USNA?
Click to expand...
All of the academies use a similar formula to determine who receives appointments. Understand the process early on, and focus on the big picture. Although there is a lot of discussion about a lot of factors, some are much more important than others. Your son shouldn't live his life just to get admitted, but he should be sure to work hard, without any low momentum periods, on academics. Most difficult classes he can handle, and he should be disciplined in his studies, not just to get good grades, but to learn the material well enough that he has an edge on the ACT/SAT, tests which he should take early and often. USNA only counts Math and English scores for the ACT. Other academies consider all subscores, but math and English are still by far the most important. The tests scores are, in my estimation, the single most important factor, and a kid can improve his/her superscore by a lot over the course of time with study, and even just good luck.

Encourage your son to enjoy his high school experience, and be involved in a lot; particularly team sports, and student council and/or NHS. Other organizations and clubs certainly count, but those are the biggies. If your son stays involved in those groups he can put himself in a position to become an officer in student council or NHS. President or VP in those organizations score big points. Varsity athletics are very important, and multiple varsity letters in multiple varsity sports should be a goal. If he is able to become a captain, that is huge on the leadership component.

Have him always maintained good relationships with his teachers, which is always good policy, but it could help him later in the admissions process. He should maintain good fitness. And stay out of trouble, which isn't too tough for most of these kids.

I would encourage him to consider other services and academies. They all lead to becoming leaders in our armed forces, and all are exceptional schools. Maybe visit the academies you can get to.
 
WonderGirl1965 said:
Drank the kook-aid... LOL.... I think smashing a jar of Skippy on her forehead and having it splatter during NASS lunch did it for mine.
Click to expand...

ktnatalk said:
View attachment 864

Like this while yelling "Beat Army, Sir!"?
Click to expand...

This just got me thinking about a kid at my USNA summer seminar that accidentally yelled Go Army! Beat Navy!.
The whole room got dead quiet.


Now for the real stuff. Here is the link for what USNA says they want.
https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Steps-for-Admission/General-Advice-for-Grades-9-12.php
Also if your local congressman holds an academy day try and go. You will be able to meet their staff and talk to representatives from each academy. I went for two years before I applied and when I had my interview I was put at ease by knowing some of the staff.

Good Luck!
 
Playing sports is important because it's a team actively and every thing about USNA is team focused. That said playing multiple varsity sports does not mean much in itself. What is key is being a captain or co-captain on a team sport. Your whole person score will be better playing 1 sport but you were the captain and demonstrated true leadership than if you played 5 sports with no leadership. Play sports because you want to not because you have to. Along that line, it's ok to play a sport and have fun with no leadership but find that leadership experience somewhere else in the form of a club, student government or other activities.
 
NotCollege said:
This just got me thinking about a kid at my USNA summer seminar that accidentally yelled Go Army! Beat Navy!
The whole room got dead quiet.
Click to expand...
You should have seen at the last Army Navy Game Ball Run sendoff: an exchange wp cadet yelled beat navy in formation in T court, everyone got quiet and Billy the Goat was trying to find the kid!
 
ktnatalk said:
You should have seen at the last Army Navy Game Ball Run sendoff: an exchange wp cadet yelled beat navy in formation in T court, everyone got quiet and Billy the Goat was trying to find the kid!
Click to expand...
HAHAHA..ktnatalk you are the funniest person I have seen so far on this forum followed by BobbyW123, who was banned yesterday for his failure to obey forum rules.
 
All of the academies, not just USNA, want to see candidates who have a LOT piled on their plate. and proof the candidate can handle all of it. Advanced/Honors/ and or High School to College math and science classes started in junior or senior year of high school and getting top grades in all the classes, excel at at least one sport or more as team captain or co-captain junior/ senior year, community involvement; volunteer work; all while holding down a part-time job (s) when 16-18.
DS is a plebe at USNA right now. He said he got grilled, and I do mean grilled, several times, on WHY and how had he earned one C in one literature class during first semester his freshman year, what had he learned from that C, what would he do differently if he could go back and take that class again; why should HE? be appointed to USNA over someone who had earned an A or B in the same type of course , etc., etc. I told him later that I think they were more interested in seeing his poise, if he became upset , and how he handled himself during the grilling and how he answered the questions. (Side Note: He had decided in 7th grade that he "was going to go to USNA and that he was absolutely determined to go there and he was going to make sure that he was one of the kids who get in. " (end quote from his 7th grade year )

To this day I have never read, or even seen, the essay answers that he wrote for the USNA application. He didn't show them to me and I never really asked. I think that all the academies are looking for solid evidence of character, drive and future leadership. Those qualities are going to look different in every applicant.
 
Vitalzt said:
HAHAHA..ktnatalk you are the funniest person I have seen so far on this forum followed by BobbyW123, who was banned yesterday for his failure to obey forum rules.
Click to expand...

My young skywalker @Vitalzt, I try to lighten the mood as much as I can while sharing information that i believe is useful on SAF, and you compare me with the person who created an account, got angry, made 60 posts, and got banned, all in one day. :screwy:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top