Do I academically fit

H

hopefull2022

usafa/uscga 26' applicant
Joined
May 22, 2021
Messages
102
Hi guys I’m applying to the academy this year and was wondering how I stacked up academically. I know that it’s more than Academics, but just focused on this aspect right now. Also I know navy is the hardest to get into so was wondering if these scores are good enough to be considered.

1460 sat
Class rank 1/175
4.3 gpa
Transcript (only ap classes)
-ap gov
-ap lit
-ap econ
-ap Physics 1
-ap enviro
-Ap comp sc
 
SAT Personally looks good, so does the GPA, but as other threads state, and what I learned from personal experience, no one can accurately chance you, with this data or not, we are not admissions, this may not be the answer you want, but it is whats reality unfortunately.
 
SAT and GPA in a vacuum looks great, but they need to see what else you do. "Anybody" could have good academic metrics if they only do that and nothing else. Do you practice 20+ hrs a week on a varsity team, do you work or volunteer all weekend, or do you have to baby sit your 3 younger siblings all afternnon/evening all week? IE what hindrance are you challenged with to still achieve those scores?
 
Statistically, USCGA is the hardest to get into.

Your academic resume is more than sufficient. This isn't to say you will receive an appointment, but if you did not get in -- academics would not be the cause. You check the needed boxes here, but the entire body of work will tell the whole story.

People of all types get in each year - Athlete, Mathlete, and Band kid. In the admissions game, you want to have solid Physical Fitness, Leadership, and Academics. All three need to be good but one should be remarkable.
 
shiner said:
Statistically, USCGA is the hardest to get into.

Your academic resume is more than sufficient. This isn't to say you will receive an appointment, but if you did not get in -- academics would not be the cause. You check the needed boxes here, but the entire body of work will tell the whole story.

People of all types get in each year - Athlete, Mathlete, and Band kid. In the admissions game, you want to have solid Physical Fitness, Leadership, and Academics. All three need to be good but one should be remarkable.
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I’m a two sport letter winner also, but my biggest concern is community service. I put so much time into sports it doesn’t leave a lot of room for other activities. My freshman year I went on a trip to Dominican Republic but due to covid it’s been cancelled last two years. I’m thinking of starting a fundraiser and trying to raise money for Dominican orphans, but mainly just because I wanna help.
 
hopefull2022 said:
I’m a two sport letter winner also, but my biggest concern is community service. I put so much time into sports it doesn’t leave a lot of room for other activities. My freshman year I went on a trip to Dominican Republic but due to covid it’s been cancelled last two years. I’m thinking of starting a fundraiser and trying to raise money for Dominican orphans, but mainly just because I wanna help.
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Take your Dominican Orphan cause (which is community service) and run with it. Take a leadership role and make a difference for them. This obviously is a good cause and your passion fits with the culture of the USCG. Theres a lot you can do with that .... don't be timid in touting your horn about that work! Practice Leadership be engaging adults, peers, coaches, athletes, church groups in the cause. You have a great opportunity to help some Dominican kids and yourself. Make it hapen!
 
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hopefull2022 said:
I’m a two sport letter winner also, but my biggest concern is community service. I put so much time into sports it doesn’t leave a lot of room for other activities. My freshman year I went on a trip to Dominican Republic but due to covid it’s been cancelled last two years. I’m thinking of starting a fundraiser and trying to raise money for Dominican orphans, but mainly just because I wanna help.
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There's certainly a need for helping Dominican orphans, apparently.

I stopped counting the Dominican orphan related organizations after five pages on my favorite search engine.
 
You gotten some great advice already. But have a backup—ROTC? And then have another backup?—reapply after a year? My DS got appointments to USNA and USAFA but not uscga. He also got admitted to Harvard but not Notre Dame. There is no right answer.
 
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If you can do this, there is a very good chance that the Board will create space for you in Annapolis.

.
 
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hopefull2022 said:
I’m a two sport letter winner also, but my biggest concern is community service. I put so much time into sports it doesn’t leave a lot of room for other activities. My freshman year I went on a trip to Dominican Republic but due to covid it’s been cancelled last two years. I’m thinking of starting a fundraiser and trying to raise money for Dominican orphans, but mainly just because I help.
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Community Service is NOT a requirement for USNA admissions but your Congressman/Senators may use that in their nominations process. One again, USNA is NOT looking at Community Service except possibly for leadership which you can show in many other ways.
 
hopefull2022 said:
I’m a two sport letter winner also, but my biggest concern is community service. I put so much time into sports it doesn’t leave a lot of room for other activities. My freshman year I went on a trip to Dominican Republic but due to covid it’s been cancelled last two years. I’m thinking of starting a fundraiser and trying to raise money for Dominican orphans, but mainly just because I wanna help.
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Can you give somewhat realistic feedback on how good you are and in what sports?

One way to make the trip to the academy easier is to be good enough that the coaches of one sport or another will have some interest in you even if you are not a top nationally recruited player.
 
Small Team Bacsi said:
Can you give somewhat realistic feedback on how good you are and in what sports?

One way to make the trip to the academy easier is to be good enough that the coaches of one sport or another will have some interest in you even if you are not a top nationally recruited player.
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I’m being recruited by top level d3 schools for basketball and in track my numbers match d2 schools. So pretty good for highschool but not really d1
 
D1 schools run the gamut from really good programs to really not good programs.

the fact you are or will be recruited by D3 and D2 schools should give you some hope along this line.

assuming your HS coaches agree with you assessment I’d have at least one maybe both send a note and your stats to the respective USNA coach.

along with a note——-this is a really great kid , a great leader and student, and he really wants to serve In the Navy Marine Corps.

It can’t possibly hurt.

And even if you are not one of the truly high recruited players, just having a coach in your corner even a little, may make some small difference.

Especially if everything else like grades, test scores, etc works in your favor. And your grades etc certainly do measure up.

if you were my kid I’d say don’t worry so much about community service get those track times down or that 3 point shot improved.

not both needed. But at least one of those.
 
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shiner said:
Statistically, USCGA is the hardest to get into.

Your academic resume is more than sufficient. This isn't to say you will receive an appointment, but if you did not get in -- academics would not be the cause. You check the needed boxes here, but the entire body of work will tell the whole story.

People of all types get in each year - Athlete, Mathlete, and Band kid. In the admissions game, you want to have solid Physical Fitness, Leadership, and Academics. All three need to be good but one should be remarkable.
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How do you figure that? USNA acceptance rate is 8% and USCGA's is 20%.
 
mommydoc said:
How do you figure that? USNA acceptance rate is 8% and USCGA's is 20%.
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Beyond the physical number of seats on the bus being 1/3 that of USNA, this is my opinion based on watching years of admissions cycles and my personal exploration of the public data. When you break down the math for how USCGA uses its limited slots, the percentage chance of acceptance is quite small. I love the conversation and the data and would invite anyone to present a compelling counter argument. When you consider the number of slots used for their prep program (20% vs USNA 17%), their gender composition goals (40% vs USNA 30%), and their diversity goals (35+%) - the math for first-time applicants is very small.

For discussion sake, if I am a white male who applies to both USNA and USCGA as a HS Senior (first time applicant) - basing the following on appointments offered vs class size to present the minimum requirement of just receiving an appointment.

USNAUSCGA
Appointments Offered1426368
Prep School seats24477
Appointments Left1182291
Historic Minority Appointments473 (40%)102 (35%)
Appointments Left709189
Gender Split(71%)(60%)
Appointments Left503113
TOTAL OFFERS1426368
Slots for this demographic503113
% makeup for this applicant35%31%


The true USNA acceptance rate is not 8%. The published figures factor in literally anyone who opened an account within their portal. It does not represent completed applications nor does it represent those who truly met minimum requirements. This is not unique to USNA - every college will report numbers in this manner because it sounds more prestigious.

Let's break it down by using USNA's current published stats for the most recent class:
Applications Opened15699
Appointments Offered1426
TOP LINE ACCEPTANCE RATE9%

www.usna.edu

Class Portrait

Class Portrait page for Admissions at USNA.edu. Updated Sun Apr 21 04:34:10 EDT 2024.
www.usna.edu

However, if you dig deeper, the number of completed applications is lower and the number of people the school considers "qualified" is way way lower.

I do not see the figures publicly posted for USNA, so let's dive into USAFA who does post it all in black and white (Class of 2024):
USAFA c/o 24USMA c/o 24USCGA typical
Applications Opened1066915901
Appointments Offered1416
Admitted1232
TOP LINE ACCEPTANCE RATE13%8%
Candidate Pool (completed applications)91971853
Appointments Offered1416368
POOL ACCEPTANCE RATE15%20%
Qualified Candidate Pool25882065
Appointments Offered14161232
BOTTOM LINE ACCEPTANCE RATE55%60%

https://www.usafa.edu/app/uploads/Class-of-2024-Info-Sheet.pdf
https://s3.amazonaws.com/usma-media/inline-images/about/g5/Class_2024_Profile_v2.pdf

At the end of the day, the number you have in your brain for the acceptance rate of a Service Academy will be a derivative of the candidate pool you consider your competition.

1) Do I consider my competition to be anyone who opened an application? If so - 9%
2) Do I consider my competition to be anyone who actually completed the full application? If so - likely 15%
3) Do I consider my competition to be the pool of people who actually were considered qualified for the school? If so - likely 55%
 
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shiner said:
Beyond the physical number of seats on the bus being 1/3 that of USNA, this is my opinion based on watching years of admissions cycles and my personal exploration of the public data. When you break down the math for how USCGA uses its limited slots, the percentage chance of acceptance is quite small. I love the conversation and the data and would invite anyone to present a compelling counter argument. When you consider the number of slots used for their prep program (20% vs USNA 17%), their gender composition goals (40% vs USNA 30%), and their diversity goals (35+%) - the math for first-time applicants is very small.

For discussion sake, if I am a white male who applies to both USNA and USCGA as a HS Senior (first time applicant) - basing the following on appointments offered vs class size to present the minimum requirement of just receiving an appointment.

USNAUSCGA
Appointments Offered1426368
Prep School seats24477
Appointments Left1182291
Historic Minority Appointments473 (40%)102 (35%)
Appointments Left709189
Gender Split(71%)(60%)
Appointments Left503113
TOTAL OFFERS1426368
Slots for this demographic503113
% makeup for this applicant35%31%


The true USNA acceptance rate is not 8%. The published figures factor in literally anyone who opened an account within their portal. It does not represent completed applications nor does it represent those who truly met minimum requirements. This is not unique to USNA - every college will report numbers in this manner because it sounds more prestigious.

Let's break it down by using USNA's current published stats for the most recent class:
Applications Opened15699
Appointments Offered1426
TOP LINE ACCEPTANCE RATE9%

www.usna.edu

Class Portrait

Class Portrait page for Admissions at USNA.edu. Updated Sun Apr 21 04:34:10 EDT 2024.
www.usna.edu

However, if you dig deeper, the number of completed applications is lower and the number of people the school considers "qualified" is way way lower.

I do not see the figures publicly posted for USNA, so let's dive into USAFA who does post it all in black and white (Class of 2024):
USAFA c/o 24USMA c/o 24USCGA typical
Applications Opened1066915901
Appointments Offered1416
Admitted1232
TOP LINE ACCEPTANCE RATE13%8%
Candidate Pool (completed applications)91971853
Appointments Offered1416368
POOL ACCEPTANCE RATE15%20%
Qualified Candidate Pool25882065
Appointments Offered14161232
BOTTOM LINE ACCEPTANCE RATE55%60%

https://www.usafa.edu/app/uploads/Class-of-2024-Info-Sheet.pdf
https://s3.amazonaws.com/usma-media/inline-images/about/g5/Class_2024_Profile_v2.pdf

At the end of the day, the number you have in your brain for the acceptance rate of a Service Academy will be a derivative of the candidate pool you consider your competition.

1) Do I consider my competition to be anyone who opened an application? If so - 9%
2) Do I consider my competition to be anyone who actually completed the full application? If so - likely 15%
3) Do I consider my competition to be the pool of people who actually were considered qualified for the school? If so - likely 55%
Click to expand...
Your info is spot on, and much appreciated, but still only partially tells the story. Acceptance rates really don't apply to service academies as kids don't compete for admission spots outside their state or even districts for that matter. It's been posted several times before that certain states have higher academics than others. That is, California will have more National Merit Finalists than S. Dakota, so their standards will be much higher, yet they are not really competing against one another. To the OP, your grades and achievements look great. How that compares to the rest of the applicants in your district, nobody knows. But you can compare your test scores vs your state PSAT or SAT numbers. You can also look up past accepted candidates from your own district, and compare them with your info. But, the best thing to do is reach out to your field force representative and just ask them. They will know every applicant from past years, and your current competition. My own district varies each year and also by academy. Some years we have less than 10 nominations for all the academies and last year we had close to 19. But, digging deeper, several nominees were listed two or three times, one for each academy they applied to. Numbers don't always tell the whole story.
 
VasilyZaytsev said:
kids don't compete for admission spots outside their state or even districts for that matter.
Click to expand...
This is not accurate. The admissions cycle is Hunger Games style multi-round elimination tournament. The first few rounds are limited to geographic boundaries and nomination slates. However, as the cycle continues, we transition over to an at-large round with the remaining participants on the National Wait List or qualified candidate pool. This is not limited to applicants who have an nomination, but rather, it is limited to those who to meet the true minimum academic and physical requirements of the school. As the admissions cycle nears an end, they begin offering appointments to the most qualified applicants remaining on the NWL. If needed, they can assist in getting a NOM for last minute appointment offer. Mine came in June....
 
shiner said:
This is not accurate. The admissions cycle is Hunger Games style multi-round elimination tournament. The first few rounds are limited to geographic boundaries and nomination slates. However, as the cycle continues, we transition over to an at-large round with the remaining participants on the National Wait List or qualified candidate pool. This is not limited to applicants who have an nomination, but rather, it is limited to those who to meet the true minimum academic and physical requirements of the school. As the admissions cycle nears an end, they begin offering appointments to the most qualified applicants remaining on the NWL. If needed, they can assist in getting a NOM for last minute appointment offer. Mine came in June....
Click to expand...
thank you for the clarification. i didn't realize they had "at large" students. makes sense tho.
 
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