GPA

NamD

NamD

Candidate
5-Year Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2010
Messages
249
As a junior, the semester just ended with finals. Disappointingly, my grades were not what i was expecting. These are the courses that i took this semester:
piano (art credit), chemistry, AP US history, AP english, Pre-calculus, JROTC.
this semester, I think i received a 3.2- 3.3 gpa. I understand that this is very low and might not qualify me enough to go to any academy, but i just had a question. Do the academies look at the improvements that you've made over your high school career? Because as a freshman, my GPA was 3.1 but i managed to get it up this year, if not dramatically.
What are your opinions on my chances of getting in with my GPA?
thanks,
Dave
 
My high school GPA was 3.28, so don't quit. You won't find out if you don't finish.
 
GPA is just a part of your profile...there are plenty of cadets at wp who graduated w/ similar GPA's.
 
Don't worry about the actual GPA as someone taking easy classes could have higher GPA than you

The combination of your SAT/ACT, GPAs, your course load, and etc factors into your evaluation.

If you do good on SAT/ACT, good AP test scores, and many non-academics activities, not so high GPA won't be a big concern for the admissions committee.

The admissions committee is not necessarily looking for your academic achievements, rather they want to make sure you have solid academic foundation to meet the academic rigor at the academy. What makes service academies different from normal colleges are that you can't drop classes because you are busy and you don't get excuse from your duties because you have to study.

Cadets with weak academic foundation, bad study habits, and etc struggle as they can't find enough time to study, even just to pass. I believe academic failure is #1 reason for separation.
 
Well i was just concerned because Admissions told me that 60% of file was Academics. The rest were extracurricular, sport, and etc. Does the definition of "Academics" not necessarily mean the GPA but the course and classes?
Thanks for the response! much appreciated!
 
NamD said:
Well i was just concerned because Admissions told me that 60% of file was Academics. The rest were extracurricular, sport, and etc. Does the definition of "Academics" not necessarily mean the GPA but the course and classes?
Thanks for the response! much appreciated!
Click to expand...

A lot of the "academics" is put into class rank. At a cross town school from me (rigourous) the #1 student in the 2011 class has a 4.3. At my school (not known for rigor) , our #1 has a 4.8. So they really look at class rank, to see how you measure on a scale that is equal.
 
From what I understand academics include:
-GPA
-Class Rank
-SAT/ACT
-Course Rigor

One mediocre part would not, in my opinion, make or break you. My WGPA is way above a 4.0, I am 3/469, and I am taking 3 AP Courses this year and hopefully 4 next year focusing on math/science, and I have taken all honors classes (except for gym and required electives). However, I did not have close to a perfect score in the PSAT (didn't take SAT or ACT yet). My best super score was a 730 math, 650 reading, and 600 writing. Not great, but mediocre, especially in writing. I doubt that this one component of my academic package would destroy me.

Therefore, I believe that if you have just a mediocre GPA, but destroy the SAT and have a very hard schedule where you are maintaining A/B. Then, academic wise you should be found qualified and it should be ok.
 
well thats great to know..
I plan on taking AP Government, AP biology, calculus and possibly AP english next year.
my current class rank is around 40% out of 420 students at my school.
This area is primarily concern and its honestly frustrating me.
Thanks for the quick reply.
 
NamD said:
well thats great to know..
I plan on taking AP Government, AP biology, calculus and possibly AP english next year.
my current class rank is around 40% out of 420 students at my school.
This area is primarily concern and its honestly frustrating me.
Thanks for the quick reply.
Click to expand...

Why get frustrated? Can you do anything about the past? If you know a way to go back in time let me know.

I tell applicants I work with to not worry about your past accomplishments or lack of accomplishments as you can do nothing about it. Focus your energy on how the future - to get better grades (while taking hard classes).

Make sure you get in touch with your MALO, MAAR, or FFR to get an interview. Most MALO, MAAR, or FFR will interview you if you ask them for one. Most applicants don't get interviewed but if you get an interview that's a way to ensure that the admissions committee better understand your academic potential. For example, some schools rank soely based on GPA. So a kid who is easy classes could have higher class ranking than you. Nothing in your application can you say my class ranking is lower because I am taking hard classes. But a MALO, MAAR, or FFR can put such comment on the interview report.

Also, with academics, your primary concern is being qualified first. Of 10,000 plus applicants each year, only 2000 plus applicants are full qualified (a requirement for an appointment). So an applicant with high academic qualification doesn't qualify medically and physically, he or she is disqualified automatically. If you are fully qualified, your competition changes.

Again, stop worrying about the past, focus on the future.
 
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