Community College to USNA

[isch518]

Hello I am a current junior rising senior in the Fall of 2022 with hopes of attending the Naval Academy or any other service academies. I applied for both USAFA, and USNA's summer seminar and SLE and getting rejected in all 3 of them. I guess its kinda delusional for me to say I want to attend the service academies with grades and scores like this. I have a current weighted gpa of 2.5 as well as not doing well academically as a student as well as not having to take both the SAT or ACT. I do a lot of community services and try to stay involved in outside organizations. I have a year of high school yet but I decided on myself to attend my local community college and then apply after a year or 2. Im still looking at options such as ROTC attachments in my local cc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I'm wondering if its delusional to spend time on this.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

Nothing against Community Colleges, they provide a valuable service in the structure of the educational system, but I don't think that is the best route if your goal is to attend a Service Academy. All of the Service Academies are going to want to see a demonstration of your ability to perform in the most rigorous academic environments, and Community College isn't necessarily going to do that.

The only certainty in the Application process is that 100% of those that don't apply don't get in. That said, it appears you have a pretty big hole to dig out of. Service Academies are looking for a combination of academics, activities, leadership, athletics and service, and you will be competing with Candidates that have all of these in droves. You need to consider what it is that makes you better than all of them, and focus on those strengths so you can sell yourself to Admissions.

Finally, your email above doesn't address a critical questions -- why do you want to attend a Service Academy ?

 

[IronmanDaremo]

If you are looking to apply as a college student, your college classes should mimic what one might see in the first year of a service academy, and you will need to knock it out of the park for grades. You will also need to take some sort of standardized testing and also crush it. So, perhaps sign up for test taking tutoring/prep classes.

If it is something you REALLY want, then it is time to buckle down. Crush your senior year, do volunteer and leadership activities. And take an active roll in proving that you really do want to pursue this.

Read the sticky on re-applying at the top of the forum. It probably has all you need to know about applying after high school.

 

[Small Team Bacsi]

If you were mine I’d be saying that with a 2.5 gpa you don’t have a prayer .

Not unless mine was a top level sports recruit. And then there would be a year at prep school.

Would you have a better chance with STEM courses at a community college for a year or two with a 4.0 gpa? Others with experience can tell you about cc. I’d certainly be impressed to see that sort of improvement.

You could self fund at a military type of prep school for a 5th year of HS and blow the doors off the grades? That would be two straight HS years if 4.0 gpa. Then hope for the best.

You could enlist, prove to be a cut above, apply for a SA as a prior enlisted and then hope for the best.

There are 3.8 + gpa HS students with significant leadership activities not being admitted

 

[Physicsguru]

1. Step one is to get your grades up. Don't worry about the courses you've already taken. That ship has already sailed. Instead, work to learn the materials the best you can.

2. Math, math, math. The academies will want you ready to take calculus in your first year. This means get the best math prep you can in the time you have. This may also mean taking summer school to catch up on any math deficiencies.

3. Take the hardest courses you can place into and do the best you can in them. Learn the materials, don't chase the grade. If you chase grades you're aiming for a minimum. If you are striving to learn you're aiming for a maximum, because there's always something more to learn in any class.

4. Apply to the academy. As Old Navy BGO stated, you can't get in if you don't apply.

5. Look into other commissioning options. The majority of the officers in the Navy and the Air Force do not come from the academies. ROTC, officer candidate programs, and even direct commissioning programs may be an alternate path.

If you think your path is to go to a community college, make sure your schedule mirrors a schedule from the academy. This means math, english composition, and a lab based science or two.

Prep schools may be an option. The military junior colleges award transferable college credit. Several are prep schools for academy alumni foundations (Falcon Foundation, AOG, USNA Alumni Association).

 

[isch518]

1. Step one is to get your grades up. Don't worry about the courses you've already taken. That ship has already sailed. Instead, work to learn the materials the best you can.

2. Math, math, math. The academies will want you ready to take calculus in your first year. This means get the best math prep you can in the time you have. This may also mean taking summer school to catch up on any math deficiencies.

3. Take the hardest courses you can place into and do the best you can in them. Learn the materials, don't chase the grade. If you chase grades you're aiming for a minimum. If you are striving to learn you're aiming for a maximum, because there's always something more to learn in any class.

4. Apply to the academy. As Old Navy BGO stated, you can't get in if you don't apply.

5. Look into other commissioning options. The majority of the officers in the Navy and the Air Force do not come from the academies. ROTC, officer candidate programs, and even direct commissioning programs may be an alternate path.

If you think your path is to go to a community college, make sure your schedule mirrors a schedule from the academy. This means math, english composition, and a lab based science or two.

Prep schools may be an option. The military junior colleges award transferable college credit. Several are prep schools for academy alumni foundations (Falcon Foundation, AOG, USNA Alumni Association).

Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate the guidance and step by step guides and I am working hard to get there.

 

[isch518]

Nothing against Community Colleges, they provide a valuable service in the structure of the educational system, but I don't think that is the best route if your goal is to attend a Service Academy. All of the Service Academies are going to want to see a demonstration of your ability to perform in the most rigorous academic environments, and Community College isn't necessarily going to do that.

The only certainty in the Application process is that 100% of those that don't apply don't get in. That said, it appears you have a pretty big hole to dig out of. Service Academies are looking for a combination of academics, activities, leadership, athletics and service, and you will be competing with Candidates that have all of these in droves. You need to consider what it is that makes you better than all of them, and focus on those strengths so you can sell yourself to Admissions.

Finally, your email above doesn't address a critical questions -- why do you want to attend a Service Academy ?

Thank you for the advice. I will make sure to keep these points in mind.

 

[Don't Give Up the Ship]

You could enlist, prove to be a cut above, apply for a SA as a prior enlisted and then hope for the best.

While this is possible, it's not likely.

Look at the 2025 Class Portrait that says:

" *This figure includes 21 who entered directly from the Fleet (19 Navy, 2 USMC), and 55 from the Naval Academy Prep School (44 USN, 11 USMC)." This represents 1.7% of the Class of 2025-direct from the fleet and 4.6% are former Enlisted who attend NAPS. If you want to be a Naval or Marine Corps Officer, have a strong Plan B (as pointed out by others above). Also, "...hope for the best." is not a plan. Actions steps (as recommended above) is more like a plan.

 

[usna1985]

For the OP . . . need to start by assessing what you want and why you want it. Is your primary desire to be in the military, to be an officer or to attend a SA? I ask b/c not all may be possible. Being brutally honest, there are lots of people who want to attend a SA who simply aren't sufficiently competitive to do so. Most are terrific young men and women are in this position -- just a victim of the numbers.

There are many threads about applying to USNA from the enlisted ranks. The consensus is that it's not a winning strategy. However, you may want to enlist because s/he wants to serve and there may not currently be the academic rigor to do that as an officer. If you are interested in enlisting, talk to your local recruiter . . . just don't expect it to be a path to a SA.

If you want to be an officer, consider OCS. It's a great program in its own right. Talk to an officer recruiter. Finish 4 years of college super strong and then apply.

Community college is typically not a great path to becoming an officer either through a SA, OCS or otherwise. Others have explained why it's not a great approach for USNA. For OCS, you need to have a college degree so would still need 2 more years at a "regular" college. If it's a financial issue (totally understandable), you may want to enlist to earn money for college (and the GI bill) and then attend.

There are lots of options that are really specific to you and beyond the scope of this forum. But some options / paths for you to explore.