How do I stack up in leadership/character?

H

HydroJim

5-Year Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2013
Messages
42
AVIS(attitude visible in school) award 10th and 11th grade
Men's Baseball: 2 letters, 2 conference scholar athlete awards, senior co-captain
Peer Tutoring 10th, 11th, 12th grade
School Newswriter: 12th grade
Environmental Club: 12th grade. Founding member and Vice-President. Created the bio-diesel recycling program at my high school.

-In 95% of my 91 service hours I either organized or led the initiative. I started the youth baseball training program in one of my baseball organizations.

-Currently at my job at Panera Bread I work in a leadership position on the food production line. I've only been there 3 months.

-I founded my own company in 2010. I've turned profits each year. Although I'm not leading anyone, I believe this shows entrepreneurship

-I've been the captain or co-captain of my summer baseball teams for the past 4 years

-I've presented in front of crowds of 100+ people about my alternative energy products. These presentations were for national and international organizations including the ISA, ASME, and AIChE


I know a lot of my leadership is not in typical activities like student council and NHS, but I only participate in the things I like to do and not what I think will best pad my resume. I'm not sure how USMA will view all this, so I'm looking for some feedback from forum members.
 
Leadership.....

One thing to keep in mind, when you make claims can you support them. In other words, “prove it.”

In the past, I’ve posted the scoring points to develop your WCS. Many of the leadership points noted are from third party scoring who do not have a bias or emotional connection. This is why a Letter of Recommendation LOR does not carry as much weight/credibility as your SOEs. You can rationalize the importance of participating in programs but it’s difficult to score them to build you WCS.

Does this make sense?

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Everything in bold is proved through my school counselor. my employer evaluation covered the leadership aspect of what I do at work.

Would it be worth it to send in supplemental materials for the activities outside of my school? Or will they not consider these activities at all?

I can get a letter of reccomendation from my summer baseball coach that would substantiate my claims but I can't think of any other way to prove what I did.

I planned on sending in pictures and copies of awards regarding my work with automobiles and alternative energies.

That's the best I can do to prove the activities that I participated in outside of school.
 
Focus on academics also.

There is a tendency among candidates with strong leadership to do more leadership stuff, which make sense.

But for West Point, only leadership is 30% of the whole candidate score (WCS) and there is no extra credit.

Simple math, scoring high on academic (60% of the WCS) is better than scoring high on leadership (30% of the WCS).
 
Standardized Tests.....

Focus on your ACT/SAT scores to really increase your WCS.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
tug_boat,

In relation to one's WCS, how do things like, being a lead role in several musicals, lead saxophone in Jazz Band, Men's Ensemble, ballet with honors, etc. compare with being a captain of a sport? Does West Point not really care since those things aren't on their class of 20__ profile.
 
Husky...here you go....

This is how WP adds up a WCS. "Whole Candidate Score" This is part of the formula they use to grade a candidate who has opened a file.

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.

This is how WP breaks it down.

WP thinks your high school rank is more important than your GPA. However, to have a high rank (top 15%) you need a great GPA.

Also to improve your WCS, get those SAT/ACT scores as high as you can.

Again, resist comparing yourself to others. What is more important is ask yourself, "Have I Done My Very Best, How Can I Improve?"


Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Honestly I don't think you should be worried unless you do poorly on your SATs and classes. I am in 11th grade and I think I have academics locked down, going for the full IB diploma (a massive challenge in itself) and I haven't seen anything lower than a full A on an end-of-year transcript since eighth grade(all honors/pre-IB). I haven't taken the SAT yet but intend to do so multiple times and have studied countless hours for it so I think I will do well on it. My only issue is leadership/character. I am not the team captain of anything, nor do I have a varsity sport (that will change soon hopefully), though I am in CAP, have gone to encampment (hope to go back as staff), have been uber involved in everything related to my school's orchestra program since freshman, am involved in my german honors society, and NHS. I do participate in ECAs, and my week is jam packed, and I NEVER have a "lazy" summer but I'm just worried that West Point will not see it like I do. Sorry, not intending to hijack the Original Post, just hopefully I can add some insight
 
Key to success on those standardized tests is to just relax. I never studied or prepared for them once and got a 32 on the ACT the first time around and then took it again and got a 35 simply because I walked in confident and relaxed. Just like an athlete will never do well if he doubts himself.
 
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