Getting accepted to the Academy after one or more years of college

[VMINROTChopeful]

I read a statistic somewhere on the Internet that 30% of new students at the Naval Academy have already completed one or more years of college or preparatory school.

For those of you that are in that boat, can I ask you a question? What do you feel was the secret of your success the 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) time around?

Some possibilities I've been thinking about are participation in NROTC with good aptitude scores, getting better grades in college than in high school, another chance to take the SAT's and improve your scores, having more sports activities in college than in high school, more leadership opportunities to pad the application, etc. It can't be NASS, because if you are out of highschool, you can't go to NASS.

The thing is, if you are applying to USNA just one year out of high school, your application already has to go in before you've even had a semester worth of grades in college. Maybe you can get 1st quarter grades, if you are lucky.

I've also seen some ads for preparatory schools. For example, Northwestern Preparatory Academy ( http://www.northwesternprep.com/ ). But why would a preparatory school make you a better applicant for the USNA a year out of high school, then for example going to the Virginia Military Institute and kicking some butt there and getting good grades?

Maybe a BGO could address this question also? When someone who is out of high school for more than a year applies to the USNA and succeeds (when they had failed in their application from high school), what is their typical secret?

(Maybe a book could be written about this topic! )

About me: I didn't even apply for the USNA because I thought my GPA and SAT scores were too low to get accepted and get nominations with, especially since I live in THE MOST competitive congressional district near the nation's capital. I think I will try to apply anyways next year no matter what college I end up in (VMI and Embry-Riddle are at the top of my list right now among places I am already accepted to), but I may have to change my residency though to get any nominations )

 

[pknguyen44]

VMIN, I think the deadline for the preliminary apps are closed as of right now. I am in college right now taking courses a plebe at USNA would typically take (Chem, History, English, etc). I have a 3.13 since I had to miss a few weeks due to my grandmothers passing. So if you decide to go to a college, do just that and get the best grades you can.

If you can show USNA that you can succeed at the college level, than you would have an upper hand. My BGO was very helpful, he told me that even though I didn't do so great on my SAT's and ACT's myself, I have pretty decent grades that will show them I can do college work. He said SAT's and ACT's were indicators of how one will do in college, but if you're already doing college work and getting good grades, your scores will be compared and then a decision will be made from there.

So now I'm just playing the waiting game and hopefully it turns out good in my favor. Good luck to your future endevors!!