Critique (Do NOT chance me) my application/stats

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goalsetter2025

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2020
Messages
18
Hi All, new user here.
I'm applying for USNA 2025. With all the delays with USNA's application this year, I'd just like others to critique my application. Please don't chance me (instead, tell me where I lack so that I can prepare for interviews in case they ask me about my application "woes").
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Current college student, and will graduate in May 2021 with a STEM bachelors at 20 years old from an Ivy League university (Low 3.?? GPA). I did 2 years of ROTC, before I was not allowed to continue due to me not having my citizenship (I was a Japanese citizen up until July 2020). I am now naturalized (first generation American), but because I did not have my US citizenship, I couldn't continue ROTC at my school. I started my packet for Navy OCS, but was recommended by my recruiter to not do so because I lacked "military experience and/or lots of professional real-world experience". Instead, both my recruiter and ROTC instructor recommended me to the academy. I did a lot of research, and I am 100% committed to do ALL 4 years of education at USNA to get a 2nd bachelors.

STATS:

SAT = 1550 (770 M & 780 R/W) and 8/8/8 Essay
Homeschooled (lived all over the World because mom/dad are field physicians with WHO). Spent last 2 years of HS at a Japanese International School.

EC's:
High School: Judo-- 2X member of the Japanese Junior National Team. Lots of Competition experience on the world-level, including 2016 Rio Olympic Qualifiers (did NOT qualify). Because of my parents, I moved A LOT, so I learned Judo in Brazil and practiced wherever I moved before making the National Team.

College: Cofounded and VP of 2 clubs, including resurrecting the judo club. Ran marathons. Physics Research. 1 finance internship at a bank in Wall Street. Continued to mainly coach Judo because I had Achilles surgery before matriculating to college. I'm now back at 100%, and have notes from 3 different doctors for proof.

CFA/Misc.
"Passed" CFA with ROTC instructors at my college. For some reason, the CFA forms haven't been emailed to them yet. CAR/HS transcripts will be sent as soon as my counselors get them. I have reached out to all my potential SOE professors (including 1 noble prize recipient), and they've all agreed to do so. I applied for nominations in my current college district which is supposedly pretty competitive.

Where I lack:
No leadership in high school. Not a lot of "varsity" sports. Possible security concern because parents are still Japanese citizens. Low College GPA.

Thank you in advance!!!!
 
Wow! Where you "lack" (in my opinion) is overshadowed by your judo. Thank goodness I'm only applying to Army, and I'm from the West, so I don't have to compete against you (haha) for noms or appointment.
If I were in your shoes, I would have a REALLY GOOD ANSWER to the "why Navy" and "why officer" questions.

-- Also, we might have met. I'm a former member of the US Junior national judo team.
 
RingPlanet111 said:
Wow! Where you "lack" (in my opinion) is overshadowed by your judo. Thank goodness I'm only applying to Army, and I'm from the West, so I don't have to compete against you (haha) for noms or appointment.
If I were in your shoes, I would have a REALLY GOOD ANSWER to the "why Navy" and "why officer" questions.

-- Also, we might have met. I'm a former member of the US Junior national judo team.
Click to expand...

Thanks. We might have. I've competed against some US athletes (all were tough and incredible), and I have utmost respect for all of them.


Also, here's my Why Navy/Officer response simplified: "As the son of 2 doctors of the WHO, I've lived and experienced many different cultures and environments, many of these countries being impoverished or developing... Originally born to American parents (of Japanese origins), I was adopted by my current parents from an orphanage in Puerto Rico. In some of the countries I had lived in, I had the chance to interact with American Naval officers and sailors. My interactions with them, and how much pride, effort, and hard work they put in to better the community and represent their country proudly made me interested in serving in the US Navy. For instance, in 2010, after the Haiti Earthquake, I relocated to Haiti with my parents (we were in the Dominican Republic) so that they could help provide medical treatment to the countless Haitians. There, I met and first-hand witnessed Navy sailors during Operation Unified Response providing both humanitarian and security support. I desired to join the US Navy as an officer. Born an American but raised as Japanese, I desired to go back to my origins to serve my birthland."

~~~ Something along those lines. Thanks :)
 
Obviously, your stats line up well. But to my (fairly inexperienced) eye the big question would be "why"? Why repeat STEM classes to get a second Bachelor's? Why not OCS since that is officer level training without taking four years of unnecessary (for you) classes to get it? I see your biggest hurdle in explaining why they would take the risk that you stick out all four years to earn a degree you already have.
Not to be negative, but why is this the best path from where you are?
 
Agree with @BrightSide , the question is why not OCS.

Your stats are very compelling. If someone asked my opinion - dumpster tool or lego rectangle? I would not hesitate to say dumpster tool.

The big disconnect is why not OCS and why a 2nd bachelors? You have no less "real world" experience than most college kids - and yours is actually probably better, given where/how you have lived your 20 years, physics research project, and especially the Wall Street internship - but of course I look at that through the lens of someone that worked at GS - it speaks to your competitiveness, academic achievement, maturity and professionalism - so again, there is a huge disconnect of why not OCS out of college. You are young - graduating 2 years "earlier" than your peers. That's the only thing I see.
 
goalsetter2025 said:
I started my packet for Navy OCS, but was recommended by my recruiter to not do so because I lacked "military experience and/or lots of professional real-world experience". Instead, both my recruiter and ROTC instructor recommended me to the academy. I did a lot of research, and I am 100% committed to do ALL 4 years of education at USNA to get a 2nd bachelors.
Click to expand...

I am not following the logic or rationale for not completing ROTC, or pursuing OCS. Someone who is currently in the Navy may be able to provide more up to date information, but my recollection is that citizenship was a condition for Commissioning, not participation in an Officer Accession program. (I had a NAPS classmate that was naturalized while in the program). Did the OCS recruiter think your package was not competitive ? If that's the case, why do they/you think it would be more competitive for USNA ? Also, Low College GPA would be a red flag to USNA Admissions,

From a practical perspective -- The Navy needs a set number of Ensigns every year. These come from USNA, NROTC, OCS (and a handful of other commissioning sources). USNA exists to produce Naval Officers , the most efficient and cost effective way to produce a Naval Officer with someone that already has a Bachelor's degree is OCS. Thus, if you want to be competitive for USNA, your personal statement will have to convince Admissions that you bring something very special and unique to the Naval Academy to justify the time and expense of providing another 4 year education.
 
I attended Navy OCS at age 20, right out of college, no military experience, only “real world” was part-time jobs on campus. Of course, that was back in the 20th c.

I applaud your desire to serve and appreciate your unusual background, and you have a vast array of topics for your essays. I assume you are working with an officer recruiter for OCS. I am not sure if the reasons he or she gave you were the full set of reasons, because OCS is designed for degreed people with proven STEM capability. OCS is a very precise officer accession point, and sometimes they are looking for candidates with certain attributes or skills, and the intake pipeline adjusts with the needs of the Navy throughout the year. This cycle, apparently, they don’t want you. Don’t lose touch with them, because a closed door right now does not mean one the next time.

Is the ROTC PNS cheering you on? Is he or she willing to write a LOR for you? Since you’re not in the unit, I do not believe you are eligible to apply for a nom from that source. Be sure to work in your ROTC experience in interviews and essays, how it impacted you and why you had to step away.

I say go for it. Yours is such a different path, it is difficult to know whether Admissions will see you as a good fit for the class or not. There are many aspects of your background that will predict success. Admissions will know how to evaluate a lower GPA from an Ivy, and how your individual STEM classes and grades stack up.

I think the key will be you understanding completely, through thorough research at USNA.edu and Navy officer warfare community websites, what your dream is and knowing what it will take to get there - and being able to articulate that with conviction and knowledge. Your college credits won’t transfer. Not one. You’ll take validation tests that will place you further along in the academic matrix, but it will be the same slog toward a B.S. You’ll be treated the same as the 17 year olds right out of HS, who will be your roommates. The maturity level will be different, though there will be other college applicants and prior enlisted in your age group. There is a lot of daily BS stuff as a plebe you didn’t have to deal with at college or your ROTC unit. You will not have freedom to do many things such as leave the USNA Yard except for certain periods, have a car, wear civilian clothes, for the first year or two. You’ll have at least one roommate the entire time. It will be a complete life re-set. There will be other put-you-on-the-spot questions you will have to address forthrightly. You’ll have to be able to deliver complete commitment to gaining a commission via this path and your acceptance of what that path will mean.

Keep us posted!

Meant to mention this. If you are offered a USNA appointment and do extremely well academically, completing all undergraduate credit requirements by December of your senior year, you can apply for a program called IGEP. IGEP is a highly competitive program whereby midshipmen apply for area post-graduate school one year programs, such as Georgetown, GWU, Johns Hopkins, UMD, etc. They continue to live at USNA, commuting to class their final senior semester, and graduate and commission with their class in May. They remain in the area to complete the post-grad degree in December of that year, then continue to their Navy or Marine Corps assignments with the last of their class.
www.usna.edu

Officer Scholarship Program

Immediate Programs page for Graduate Education at USNA.edu. Updated Tue Oct 03 13:33:07 EDT 2023.
www.usna.edu
 
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Old Navy BGO said:
I am not following the logic or rationale for not completing ROTC, or pursuing OCS. Someone who is currently in the Navy may be able to provide more up to date information, but my recollection is that citizenship was a condition for Commissioning, not participation in an Officer Accession program. (I had a NAPS classmate that was naturalized while in the program). Did the OCS recruiter think your package was not competitive ? If that's the case, why do they/you think it would be more competitive for USNA ? Also, Low College GPA would be a red flag to USNA Admissions,

From a practical perspective -- The Navy needs a set number of Ensigns every year. These come from USNA, NROTC, OCS (and a handful of other commissioning sources). USNA exists to produce Naval Officers , the most efficient and cost effective way to produce a Naval Officer with someone that already has a Bachelor's degree is OCS. Thus, if you want to be competitive for USNA, your personal statement will have to convince Admissions that you bring something very special and unique to the Naval Academy to justify the time and expense of providing another 4 year education.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Regarding ROTC, I completed the first 2 years of ROTC (which does not require a US citizenship). I started college at 16 if that helps. However, I was informed by my instructors that in order for me to continue doing my 3rd/4th year of ROTC, I must have my US citizenship in hand in order to contract beginning Junior Year (which I did not have). I received by Citizenship just before my senior year. If I had received it a year before, then I would have been able to commission via ROTC.
My major is in Physics and my GPA is a 3.3, but I've taken quite a lot of econ courses and networked (which was how I got my WS internship).

My OCS recruiter told me that I lacked "military experience" and that I would be competing against many others with both prior enlisted experience or extensive experience in the professional world. Furthermore, he also mentioned how young I would be at 20 graduating from OCS.
He mentioned that most plebes entering USNA are usually fresh out of high school or with some college experience, making the average plebe age to be 18/19. I am 20 years old, and there are also a good amount of plebes that enter in at 20/21, so I won't stand out in terms of age.

Nonetheless, I will reach out to my recruiter again to discuss this more with him.
Thank you sir!
 
It seems to me that the recruiter was pointing out that it's competitive and some items that MAY work to your disadvantage. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Why can't one pursue multiple commissioning paths at the same time and then go with the one that pans out?
 
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Try to block out a hypothetical four year academic schedule for yourself. Start by looking those courses that you will likely validate (Calc 1&2, Chem, Physics, Plebe 1st semester English, Comp Sci, Foreign Language). Then see what the pre-reqs are for your desired major in addition to the other elements of the core curriculum. See if the resulting course of study is something that you think you would be happy with.
 
8th Wing Refugee said:
Try to block out a hypothetical four year academic schedule for yourself. Start by looking those courses that you will likely validate (Calc 1&2, Chem, Physics, Plebe 1st semester English, Comp Sci, Foreign Language). Then see what the pre-reqs are for your desired major in addition to the other elements of the core curriculum. See if the resulting course of study is something that you think you would be happy with.
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Good advice here. The individual department pages on USNA.edu have the required courses, electives, validation criteria, etc.
 
Sounds like you need to talk to a different recruiter. If your recruiter doesn't think you're competitive for OCS, I don't know why they think you'll be a good applicant for USNA. USNA is a cool place, but the end goal is to commission, which you could do within the next year or so. You'd have an Ivy League degree and a whole lot less suffering in your life.
 
goalsetter2025 said:
...Born an American but raised as Japanese, I desired to go back to my origins to serve...
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I'm a tad curious how being "born an American" was not considered citizenship for ROTC scholarship. Understand from your backstory that was so 1-1.5 years ago, but seems like there should have been some work to remedy that. I don't understand the need to naturalize if you're already born an American.
 
I'm not tracking on the "Born an American" thing either.
 
Go for it!! But no one can chance or critique you bc you are a pretty unique situation. I’m following along to see what pans out for you! The one thing that any SA will look for is leadership. They need to see demonstrated leadership in you, that they can further develop into an officer. You have the academics down pat. But you also need to stand out as a leader. Your achievements academically at a young age are impressive, but that may not translate into leading sailors in the fleet. Your nominating sources, as well as usna will need to see that you have that “special sauce” inside of you.

What will you do if you don’t receive an appointment? Keep that piece on your radar as well.
 
Dad_2024 said:
I'm a tad curious how being "born an American" was not considered citizenship for ROTC scholarship. Understand from your backstory that was so 1-1.5 years ago, but seems like there should have been some work to remedy that. I don't understand the need to naturalize if you're already born an American.
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THParent said:
I'm not tracking on the "Born an American" thing either.
Click to expand...


I was born an American citizen due to my birth parents, but was changed to Japanese citizen shortly after being adopted. When I became a Japanese citizenship, my new parents dropped my US citizenship. I'm not sure if any of you tried to be naturalized, but on average, major US cities take anywhere from 17 to 30 months to finish the entire process. For me, I've lived in what the US calls "Level 4 Advisories" Countries, so it took a VERY LONG TIME for them to pass my security check. Because my parents worked for WHO, I had a special UN Passport which allowed me to live in these countries without attaining a visa or warrant. My parents have also been in contact with some people in those countries that the US does not especially like, so that came up in my security check and interview. Most people undergo just 1 interview, but I went through 3 because of security concerns. Also, I "permanently" came to the US when I started college, which was about 3 years ago, and it took me 32 months to get my citizenship.
 
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@goalsetter2025 ... man that’s complicated. Keep on pressing to achieve your goal.

My wife always complains about me never leaving the property, not even to join her and our daughter in their overseas adventures .... Why leave when you don’t have to ... it’s paradise where I am.

I take that back .... I drop the recyclables off at the landfill every Saturday, I visit the Meat and Vegetable sections at Costco once in while, and my wife never brings home Whole Milk for my cereal, so I leave to get that too.
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justdoit19 said:
Go for it!! But no one can chance or critique you bc you are a pretty unique situation. I’m following along to see what pans out for you! The one thing that any SA will look for is leadership. They need to see demonstrated leadership in you, that they can further develop into an officer. You have the academics down pat. But you also need to stand out as a leader. Your achievements academically at a young age are impressive, but that may not translate into leading sailors in the fleet. Your nominating sources, as well as usna will need to see that you have that “special sauce” inside of you.

What will you do if you don’t receive an appointment? Keep that piece on your radar as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Also, quick Update.
Yesterday, I went to a recruiter on the other side of town and also brought a letter from my former ROTC instructor to support my candidacy for OCS. The new Recruiter said I should still go for OCS (was still competitive and had other things that prior-enlisted did not have), but also apply for USNA and/or direct commissioning sources. I decided to start the OCS application with the new recruiter, so I'm busy getting that taken care of now. Ironically, 2 hours after meeting with my recruiter, I got a call from one of the nomination directors for my Congressman MOC. She said she was going through all the applications, and noticed my resume/application and was just curious as to why I was applying. Had a 1 hour phone call with her, and near the end she said that I was highly competitive for principle nom.

Anyway, I decided to go for OCS and USNA and see which one accepts me as an officer candidate before choosing.

Thanks!
 
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