Am I Competitive?

Y

You

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Sep 22, 2020
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I'm a senior and I'm applying for all of the ROTC scholarships and all of the service academies. Unfortunately, I'd never even heard of the service academies until the end March, so I kind of had a late start compared to most. I was just wondering if I would be considered a competitive candidate or not, and what I should work on for next year's application. Here's my resume:

GPA: High School: 3.78, College: 3.68
SAT: 1270 (I'm taking it again in December; if anyone knows any good SAT prep stuff, please send them to me! I'd like to get at least a 1300 on my next try)

Extracurricular
National Honors Society President (1yr)
National Honors Society Treasurer (1yr)
National Honors Society Member (3yrs)
Teen Advisory Board Secretary (1yr)
Archery Team*
Future Farmers of America (4yrs)
Prom Committee (planned prom, not royalty; most people get them mixed up) (2yrs)
Drama Club (1 yr)
Phi Theta Kappa (2yrs)

Work Experience
Stable Hand (1yr)
Mathematics Tutor (4yrs)

Miscellaneous
Animal Caretaker (4yrs)
Babysitting (2 yrs)
Will graduate with my Associates of Arts and high school diploma at the same time

Awards
Greenhand Degree (FFA)
President's List
Honor Roll
Academic Honors (college)

*Going for Captain, but no one knows if we're going to have a team this year. I don't know how other sports choose a Captain, but we usually vote on it because we're kind of like a mix between a club and a sports team.

Please be honest, I'm looking for anything and everything that I could at college to make me more competitive for the service academies, USMA specifically.
 
We used Prepscholar SAT for our cadet and younger sib, worked out well for both. No need to get the private tutoring. Only did the basic package and it helped to increase their score by 160 points for one and 200 points for the other. It all depends on how many hours you are able to login for the program. But if you are not able to do that, even do practice exam would help. Just be sure to use the older tests put out by the College Board. Practice exams from other publications were not very effective for our older child. Good luck to you!
 
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I did the free Kahn Academy SAT prep and got a 1520 but I studied everyday on it and usually 10+ hrs/week for a couple months. I'd say go ahead and start that if you're willing to put the time in for it but if not you might want to try something more specialized.

I think the Kahn Academy Prep is really good though because you get to take free practice tests with in depth feedback which is used when you practice to help you in weaker areas.
 
You can get a high score without paying extra money for tutors, although that might expedite the process. I have always had a suspicion that they are (maybe only) marginally better for hundreds of dollars more. If you're willing to put in a few hours a day though the Khan academy is godsend. I did 4200 questions (not sure how many hours that would be but definitely a large number), and got a 1560. In hindsight 4200 questions may have been overkill, but I can rest assured that if I get rejected from any schools it won't be because of the SAT.

Also agree with @ParadiseMom3, if you take practice tests make sure its from the ten or so that are official and released by CollegeBoard, others may not be as good preparation.
 
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My credentials: Received Letter of Assurance (LOA) to USMA, Awarded 4-year AROTC scholarship to Harvard/Princeton/Cornell. Scored SAT 1560.

Application: IMO, I would advise only focusing on one branch of the military as your entry into the military (Army if you are aiming for USMA). Applying to all would not only be time-consuming, but will not necessarily demonstrate yourself to be a dedicated candidate. Better to focus on a few things and succeed rather than pooling into everything and still only have minimal chance.

Good job on the extracurriculars, though. Your dedication will take you very far.

SAT: https://www.reddit.com/r/SATACTprep/comments/eti4i7/40_official_sat_practice_test_pdfs/
You MUST practice to score well on the SAT. Also, I highly advise focusing on the math section since it is the easier of the two to improve. Print these OFFICIAL College Board previously-administered tests and time yourself. Give yourself pressure to do well. Good luck and Go Army!
 
All excellent advice. As everyone is saying here: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. I went from a 25 on the ACT to a 30 using the official ACT prep book, just taking the practice tests on there, and printing free tests off the internet. This took me about six weeks to do in between official tests. It can be done, it just requires dedication and determination.
Good Luck, I hope you achieve your goals!
 
ParadiseMom3 said:
We used Prepscholar SAT for our cadet and younger sib, worked out well for both. No need to get the private tutoring. Only did the basic package and it helped to increase their score by 160 points for one and 200 points for the other. It all depends on how many hours you are able to login for the program. But if you are not able to do that, even do practice exam would help. Just be sure to use the older tests put out by the College Board. Practice exams from other publications were not very effective for our older child. Good luck to you!
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It looks wonderful, but a little out of pay grade unfortunately... Thank you, though! :)
 
TheAmericanDefender said:
My credentials: Received Letter of Assurance (LOA) to USMA, Awarded 4-year AROTC scholarship to Harvard/Princeton/Cornell. Scored SAT 1560.

Application: IMO, I would advise only focusing on one branch of the military as your entry into the military (Army if you are aiming for USMA). Applying to all would not only be time-consuming, but will not necessarily demonstrate yourself to be a dedicated candidate. Better to focus on a few things and succeed rather than pooling into everything and still only have minimal chance.

Good job on the extracurriculars, though. Your dedication will take you very far.

SAT:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SATACTprep/comments/eti4i7
You MUST practice to score well on the SAT. Also, I highly advise focusing on the math section since it is the easier of the two to improve. Print these OFFICIAL College Board previously-administered tests and time yourself. Give yourself pressure to do well. Good luck and Go Army!
Click to expand...
I'm starting to realize that, with all the deadlines getting closer... Would it reflect poorly on me if I decided to drop some of them? I was afraid to drop the ones I was less interested in because I thought it would damage my chances of receiving an appointment to USMA or receiving an AROTC scholarship. Thanks for the feedback!
 
bt18 said:
All excellent advice. As everyone is saying here: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. I went from a 25 on the ACT to a 30 using the official ACT prep book, just taking the practice tests on there, and printing free tests off the internet. This took me about six weeks to do in between official tests. It can be done, it just requires dedication and determination.
Good Luck, I hope you achieve your goal
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Thank you!
 
You said:
I'm starting to realize that, with all the deadlines getting closer... Would it reflect poorly on me if I decided to drop some of them? I was afraid to drop the ones I was less interested in because I thought it would damage my chances of receiving an appointment to USMA or receiving an AROTC scholarship. Thanks for the feedback!
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Absolutely not. Show that you are material to USMA or AROTC because you are!
 
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I am a 2025 applicant and haven't gotten in anywhere yet, so keep that in mind when assessing my 2 cents. I agree with all of the above posters on test prep. There is a lot out there to help you prep, even very effective low-cost or free options.

For me what made your resume interesting was your Future Farmers of America, stable hand and animal caretaker jobs, and Greenhand degree. I assume that you live in a more rural area? Anyway, I found it helped you stick out from the crowd, though I'm a city boy so maybe this might not stick out in the same way for others. I don't know how athletic one needs to be to participate in such activities, but the athletic piece of your portfolio seems weak (though I think archery is cool). Can you use your agriculture experience to put more context on your athleticism? Do you expect to do well on the CFA?

I was also confused by your reference to "next year"? Are you planning on applying for 2026 rather than 2025? If that's the case, are you planning to go to a 4-year college next year? If so, obviously grind away to get top grades. Could you participate in ROTC even without the scholarship? Maybe you can also find a leadership opportunity in college, again perhaps in something that has to do with your solid experience with ag matters?

If you are planning on 2025, yes, you are pretty late in the game. But as others have noted, you can't win if you don't enter the contest. And the experience of going through the very complicated and multi-faceted application process this year will make it easier for you next year, assuming you don't get in.

Good luck.
 
I'm also applying, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I think your leadership and extracurriculars look good. I would agree with everyone else that having a high SAT score is very important. I am using Khan Academy's SAT prep. It has so far increased my score by 120 points. I also read the SAT Black Book. It has lots of strategies and ways of thinking about the SAT that helped me alot. Good luck!
 
DeepWaters said:
I am a 2025 applicant and haven't gotten in anywhere yet, so keep that in mind when assessing my 2 cents. I agree with all of the above posters on test prep. There is a lot out there to help you prep, even very effective low-cost or free options.

For me what made your resume interesting was your Future Farmers of America, stable hand and animal caretaker jobs, and Greenhand degree. I assume that you live in a more rural area? Anyway, I found it helped you stick out from the crowd, though I'm a city boy so maybe this might not stick out in the same way for others. I don't know how athletic one needs to be to participate in such activities, but the athletic piece of your portfolio seems weak (though I think archery is cool). Can you use your agriculture experience to put more context on your athleticism? Do you expect to do well on the CFA?

I was also confused by your reference to "next year"? Are you planning on applying for 2026 rather than 2025? If that's the case, are you planning to go to a 4-year college next year? If so, obviously grind away to get top grades. Could you participate in ROTC even without the scholarship? Maybe you can also find a leadership opportunity in college, again perhaps in something that has to do with your solid experience with ag matters?

If you are planning on 2025, yes, you are pretty late in the game. But as others have noted, you can't win if you don't enter the contest. And the experience of going through the very complicated and multi-faceted application process this year will make it easier for you next year, assuming you don't get in.

Good luck.
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Yes, I live in more rural area, and I'm hoping that will help stand out a little bit more. I'm working on the CFA, but I'm not quite where I want to be. I'll get there (I'm kicking my own butt in my workouts), it just might be a little later than most applicants.

I'm applying for the class of 2025, but if I don't receive an appointment this year I will be applying again for the class of 2026. I'm planning on going to ASU next fall, so I'll be taking ROTC there. However, I'm not entirely sure they have an ag club... I'll definitely be looking into that!

Thank you for your help, and good luck with your application! :)
 
emberglow said:
I'm also applying, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I think your leadership and extracurriculars look good. I would agree with everyone else that having a high SAT score is very important. I am using Khan Academy's SAT prep. It has so far increased my score by 120 points. I also read the SAT Black Book. It has lots of strategies and ways of thinking about the SAT that helped me alot. Good luck!
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Thank you! I'll see if I can find a copy of the SAT Black Book.
Good luck with your application!
 
The SAT Black book is great; it is a detailed answer key to 4 actual SAT exams. Someone verify - you could download the exams, but we splurged and bought the hardcopy book that has 8 actual exams in it. They make for excellent doorstops afterwards.
 
HCopter said:
The SAT Black book is great; it is a detailed answer key to 4 actual SAT exams. Someone verify - you could download the exams, but we splurged and bought the hardcopy book that has 8 actual exams in it. They make for excellent doorstops afterwards.
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That's amazing! I just downloaded a PDF copy of it, guess what I'm doing over the weekend?
 
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