Ive been in the National Guard for 2 years now.I am a sophomore in college with a 3.1 and Im also in ROTC. I wish to apply to the West Point Prep school. I didn't become very involved in extra curricular activities until college. I cheered in high school and was captain for two years. I also cheer in college and competed in Nationals and won 7th place and am a member of a sorority. I have the highest female pt score in my unit (337) and even got offered a slot to air assault school this summer. Yet I missed the deadline for my congressional nominations.
What are my chances of even getting excepted into the preparatory school based on my credentials?
And can I get in without congressional nominations?
Thanks!
You ask multiple questions ...
1) You do not apply for Prep School. West Point Admissions offers it to you if they deem you qualified or highly competitive in every way except academically. You apply to West Point; admissions makes that call if they want to see you in a following class and think Prep School is all you need. Standardized test scores weigh heavily on their weighting of academics, and particularly Math and Reading. You can browse these boards and see what kind of ACT and SAT scores others who are applying have. Your 1580 SAT (I assume that is a MATH/READING/WRITING combined score) is fairly low by WP standards (if only MATH/READING, it is very high!). BTW, you still need SAT/ACT even for college applicants, so retake them even though you are in college.
2) You do not need a congressional nomination to apply to West Point, however you do need a nomination (congressional or other) to get an appointment. If you do not have a nomination I believe Prep School is still a possibility, as many recruited athletes (incl one from my daughter's HS) attend Prep School without a nomination. A Prepster does need a nomination to get an appointment the following year. ROTC, although a long shot as there are very few slots, is another nomination source.
3) I don't know how WP views "cheerleading" as a sport. They like team sports - which, for all I know, cheer might be considered. The fact that you were a captain will help with leadership. The fact that you have over a 3.0 in college proves you can do college level academics. However they also want to see the same kinds of classes Plebes take (Chemistry, Calculus, History) with A's and B's on your transcript. WP is fundamentally an Engineering School so even if you major in Humanities your degree will be a Bachelor of Science. NG and ROTC will help. I also recommend you talk to your ROTC Battalion Commander for advice. You will need his or her recommendation anyways.
You can be no older than 23 on R-Day. You will never know if you will get an appointment until you start the application process so I would say start now. Because it is fairly late in the application cycle, your odds are going to be long to make the 2014 admission cycle, - BUT (even if you are late this year) by starting now you can get a heads up on trying for the 2015 (CO 2019) cycle.
Keep us informed of your progress and decisions!
