High school classes

[soccmomer]

My S is a HS Jr. He is interested in the USMA, or ROTC and very much wants to play college soccer. He has not yet taken the SAT's and his GPA is around a 97. He has taken or is currently taking: Spanish 1, Algebra, Geometry, Trig, Pre-Calc (community college credit), Earth Science, Biology, Forensics, Technology 1 - 4, band, and the usual English and Social Studies (one AP)classes. My questions are: how important in the application process and in being considered, is having a 2nd year of Spanish? Also, he can either take Chemistry or AP Bio next year, which would be better? He would like to take AP Bio, but it sounds like maybe he should have the chem. And he would rather not take the 2nd year of Spanish if he doesn't have to.
Thanks!

 

[tug_boat]

High School

Nice to have some fresh questions here again! As you may know your DS junior year is very important for college goals. Right now there are some very valuable opportunities for him to apply. The first, SA are accepting application for their summer programs, which is an excellent opportunity to get a snap shot of that respective academy. Then two, again soon accepting applications is Boys State in your area. Both programs are only available after his junior year before going to his senior. Boys State is a leadership program that WP deems valuable.

Get him to start taking those darn standardize test, SAT/ACT. If he doesn’t get into WP he will need these scores for other colleges. After two or three times you will find he will plateau. This is where you’ll need to spend time and money to find a program or tutor that can help him elevate those scores. If you look at the class profiles on WP site you can find the medium scores for that class and will be your goal to strive for. Math, being the most import value.

Sorry, he will need that second year of Spanish. Most colleges require two years of a language.

He seems to be on target for the math classes, but one thing that kills plebes is chem. Try to get in to chemistry with a lab.

His soccer skills must be exploited. Take major advantage of high school and club programs to be recognized. Get his letter and get him involved in leadership and strive to be the team captain. On the WP application they ask for this.

Remember his junior year is important and try to take AP classes. This shows he can handle college level work. Protect that GPA! If he struggles in a class and can affect the GPA get him out. He needs to strive for the highest-class ranking as much as possible. WP views class ranking more important than GPA.

Also have him get involved in the forum there is a lot of good information from folks who have gone through, going through or starting the road to attend a SA. It’s all based on personal experience.



Push Hard, Press Forward

 

[tug_boat]

Follow Up....

In the past the WCS was graded on something like the following. But this year things are much different with no rolling admissions, very few LOAs and the introduction of LOEs. This is why it is difficult to predict.

Academics (60%)
Class rank (15 points)
SAT score (35)
High School Grades (10)
Extra points for Valedictorian/National Honor Society/National Merit Scholar

Leadership (30%)
School Leadership – extra points for class or student body president
Eagle Scout/Gold Star Girls Scout
Boys and Girls State
Athletic Participation – Team Captain Status
Team sports

Fitness CFA (10%)

Being a recruited athlete /Under Represented Minority/Active Service can fall in to different category pertaining to WP Class compositions.

The standardized testing is a huge part of WCS and it is important to do your very very best and take the tests multiply times. My DS has taken ACT/SAT 8 times.

Push Hard, Press Forward

 

[soccmomer]

Thanks tug! He will have completed his Eagle Scout by summer and our Boys State interviews are later this spring. His brother attended Boys State so we are hoping he will also get chosen. There are usually 5 - 6 applicants for 3 slots. Signing up for the March SAT's and our school offers an SAT review course in the Spring so that will help with the May SAT!. He is attending some soccer college ID days and we have e-mailed the USMA soccer coach expressing an interest. His cousin went to USMA, so he has been bombarding him with questions. We are meeting with his Guidance Counselor soon to plan his Senior year, so that is why we are looking for info on the importance of Spanish 2 and Chem.
Unfortunately, no SL for him as he is still in school then here in NY, and one week it is our Regents exam week which he cannot miss (and they are State exams so only given then) and the other week is the week before that, when they would be heavy duty reviewing. However, there is a great chance he will be attending the summer soccer camp.
Thanks again!

 

[hmza]

Chemistry, 2d year of Spanish AND,Calculus! Also take the SAT and or ACT as many times as possible. Must be with writing. USMA accepts your best combination of scores (superscore).

 

[USMA-2017]

What congressional district do you live in soccmomer? I also live in New York, so when I was considering SLS last year (now SLE) I asked my FFR about regents and he said students attending can take the regents at a local high school. You might want to ask your FFR and still apply to SLE just in case. Don’t have your son attend if he would rather focus on the regents scores.

They also do the regents in August over the summer, then twice his next (senior) school year.

 

[soccmomer]

Thanks USMA 2017. At this point we will skip the SLE and focus on finishing out the school year....and Boys State (hopefully!).
He is talking to his guidance counselor tomorrow about designing a Senior year that will include Chemistry and hopefully Spanish 2 in some form. He will most likely not take Calculus.