How do I stack up so far, academically?

J

js536792

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Jun 30, 2021
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I am about to be a high school senior. I know that academics aren't the ONLY thing that gets you into USAFA, but I want to know how competitive I am academically. So far, my GPA has been a perfect 4.0, and that's with honors courses and a few AP classes, and I plan to take more AP classes next year. My official class rank won't be available until school starts next year, but my counselor said that my rank will either be 1 or 2, and my class size is a mere 48 (I know that class size is very low, but that's what you get for being in a small town.) My ACT so far is a Composite of 29, with Math being 29, Science 27, English 35, and Reading 24. I plan on taking it 2 or 3 more times. I can't take the SAT because no school around me, let alone my own, has the SAT, only the ACT. I know the average last year was 30-31, so I am wondering if my GPA and class rank will make up for it. Please let me know if you think I am academically fit so far for USAFA.
Thanks.
 
js536792 said:
I am about to be a high school senior. I know that academics aren't the ONLY thing that gets you into USAFA, but I want to know how competitive I am academically. So far, my GPA has been a perfect 4.0, and that's with honors courses and a few AP classes, and I plan to take more AP classes next year. My official class rank won't be available until school starts next year, but my counselor said that my rank will either be 1 or 2, and my class size is a mere 48 (I know that class size is very low, but that's what you get for being in a small town.) My ACT so far is a Composite of 29, with Math being 29, Science 27, English 35, and Reading 24. I plan on taking it 2 or 3 more times. I can't take the SAT because no school around me, let alone my own, has the SAT, only the ACT. I know the average last year was 30-31, so I am wondering if my GPA and class rank will make up for it. Please let me know if you think I am academically fit so far for USAFA.
Thanks.
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First off what AP classes matter. AP Physics vs AP American history. I took both but one was clearly more important to usafa than the other. Second off how you did in those classes, you can have perfect 4.0 and got a B.
Third off don't ever put yourself in the scenario where you need to make up for stuff. You're ACT looks good other than the reading which you can easily improve on. If you can afford it, you can dedicate one whole test to just reading. By this I mean you take the full ACT but really on focus on the reading and another section. I actually did this with English and math. USAFA superscores so they'll take your best scores from multiple tests. Not really ideal but spending 60 dollars on a test versa thousands on college.

Lastly we can't tell you everything because we don't know everything or even how admissions makes decisions. You're scores were better than mine I can tell you that but people with those score haven't gotten in and people with those scores have. It's how you stack against those in your region.
 
There are intangibles. The teacher evaluations, the essays. And the dreaded interviews. Practice and master with a hard crowd the intangibles. That is within your control. You are competing with super stars and little things no one on this forum can predict or see, may be of impact. Do your best. Always. Leave it all out there. The rest is out of your control.
 
Volunteering in your community and leadership will make a difference in your “resume”.
 
Unless you're a recruited D1 athlete or desirable demographic I'd say your odds are long - if your goal is to commission and serve there are multiple paths from here to there - good luck
 
txfwindian said:
Since your post is just about academic feedback, I would suggest improving your ACT score. There is good room for improvement in that field.
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doesn't USAFA cut off the GPA and Test Scores fairly early in the process?
 
It all depends upon when your application closes. For my DD, the application window closed Nov 30 and so she had to get everything in before that date. However USAFA may ask to upload latest transcript later in the process.
 
TLS73 said:
Volunteering in your community and leadership will make a difference in your “resume”.
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Leadership involvement will always add points to your candidate score. However, service/volunteer hours by themselves are not counted nor do they add any points to the WCS for USAFA. Leadership roles while doing the volunteering will be useful.

Stealth_81
 
phil61526 said:
Unless you're a recruited D1 athlete or desirable demographic I'd say your odds are long - if your goal is to commission and serve there are multiple paths from here to there - good luck
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Would you consider a rural Alabama area to be a desirable demographic?
 
js536792 said:
Would you consider a rural Alabama area to be a desirable demographic?
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Generally, when someone is talking about desirable demographic for Service Academies they are talking about race and/or gender
 
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