how to prepare for us naval academy as a 9th grader?

Old Navy BGO said:
As a starting point, my recommendation is that you try to absorb as much information as you can about the Naval Academy, and the Admissions process, starting with thoroughly reviewing the Admissions website (every drop down etc). Everything you need to know, including the answer about recommendations is available there. This Forum has some good information, but can get into the weeds with unnecessary information or a single candidates experience. Look to primary sources -- the USNA website and online candidate sessions to get information. Be self sufficient, don't ask basic questions that can be found with a little due diligence. Finally, T37 hit it on the head, the Service Academies are looking for well balanced future leaders, and Academics, Leadership, Athletics are the cornerstones. OP is looking at this at the right time -- when you have the ability to tailor your HS career to build a record that qualifies you for Admission. (PS -- that said, I will echo what I have said before repeatedly here-- don't do anything just because you think it looks good on your resume. If you focus your attention on what you enjoy , the chances of success are much greater). Good luck.
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At the bottom of USNA.edu’s primary source, are the links to their official social media sites. Good info there, too. Admissions will sometimes put on virtual sessions that you can attend.
 
momohaji said:
Should I get teacher recommendations from my teachers this year? or should I just get it from my teachers in Junior -- Senior year
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Admissions require that they be your Junior year teachers (Math/English). Just make sure that you are taking the hardest/most advanced classes available to you. Also, you should work with your guidance counselor to ensure that your academic schedule has you on track to take Chemistry, Physics and Calculus. (AP classes if they are offered.) Good luck!
 
Building on the great advice above, make sure that you dive into USNA’s website and review every page, tab, link and pulldown. In other words, get the straight scoop directly from the primary source. This will ensure that you know exactly what you’re getting into — the application process, the academy itself, active duty, etc.

This forum is a fantastic resource. But it’s still composed of fairly random, anonymous people, all with good intentions but not all fully versed in this complex ride. Many haven’t even completed the application process, either as applicants or bystanders. So make sure primary research is your core source of info.

P.S. Just saw that I pretty much repeated what @Old Navy BGO said. So I feel much better about my advice. 😉
 
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momohaji said:
Hello everyone this is my first post on this forum and i am wondering what i need to do to get into the USNA because my dream is to become a pilot in the the navy.
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I can help with connecting you with other great ppl on this forum if you need. (Just an Offer)
 
I'll make this my first post too (reply I guess). Current 1/C mid.

As a freshmen in high school my best advice is to take the things that you know you should be as seriously as you should be (say it 5 times fast). This means you need to study hard. A B or 2 isn't going to kill you but a trend of multiple C's on the transcript will. Anyone can succeed academically in high school with good study habits and work ethic. This might mean spending more time hitting the books than you're used to or want to. Talk to your counselor about taking AP or Dual Enrollment classes if they're offered. They'll help you get into the academy but they'll also just help you become a better student in general. Be aware, some AP classes are legit (see: AP Physics C, AP Chemistry, these suckers will teach you how to manage time).

Identify extra-curricular activities and sports that interest you and invest a lot of time into them. Try to network your way into a leadership position by the time you are a junior. Make your own club if you want to. There are a lot of ways to demonstrate leadership, get creative.

I think 80-90% of us mids had a varsity letter in high school. If you can, try to get on track to make a varsity sport. You don't need to be a superstar, just hustle.

Don't forget to enjoy being 15 years old, you're about to grow up.
 
momohaji said:
Hello everyone this is my first post on this forum and i am wondering what i need to do to get into the USNA because my dream is to become a pilot in the the navy.
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Go to recruiters talk to them and ask questions.
Ask questions in forms, graduates from the academy, etc.

Apply to Summer Seminar and STEM. They increase your chances of getting in.

Get good grades and try to do AP/ IB classes.

Get community service hours.

Demonstrate that you are a leader. That you create community service groups, etc. show that you have initiative!

Don’t get in trouble (or don’t get caught)

Work out, running and lifting weights.

Be in a team hopefully as a captain.
 
Juddusna said:
Go to recruiters talk to them and ask questions.
Ask questions in forms, graduates from the academy, etc.

Apply to Summer Seminar and STEM. They increase your chances of getting in.

Get good grades and try to do AP/ IB classes.

Get community service hours.

Demonstrate that you are a leader. That you create community service groups, etc. show that you have initiative!

Don’t get in trouble (or don’t get caught)

Work out, running and lifting weights.

Be in a team hopefully as a captain.
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I don't want to diminish the fire in someone who just got a NAPS appointment but you are giving out some bad gouge.
.
RECRUITERS are there to get people to ENLIST. Pilots are officers and Navy Recruiters who are very fine folks are not well
trained nor equipped to guide young people toward officer programs. I've been involved in Service Academy Admissions
for a very long time and you need to trust me on this one.
.
Secondly, Community Service Hours count ZERO in the eyes of the Admissions Board. There are "Whole Person Multiple" points for
many things and Community service groups are among them but specific hours are not recognized nor rewarded. Being a leader in a Community Service is viewed just like being a leader in any number of groups or organizations.
NOTE: SOME Congressmen/Senators DO consider Community Service in their nomination process and you should be able to find out the specifics as you research your personal nomination needs. For what its worth, I've yet to see a high school junior who has National Honor Society and/or Scouts that did not have at least acceptable (to the Congressional Committee) levels of Community Service just from those groups alone.
.
Admissions Forums are great places to ask but the USNA.EDU website has advice for prospective applicants.
Start there and Good Luck!
 
momohaji said:
Hello everyone this is my first post on this forum and i am wondering what i need to do to get into the USNA because my dream is to become a pilot in the the navy.
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I would say surround yourself with people that have similar goals as you. they don't have to be looking towards usna but they should have drive to succeed in their commitments. I found myself to build up a decent record in high school because of my friends that motivated and supported me in my endeavors because they understood what my goals were. I have a personal philosophy that you can't do anything alone, so make sure to find and value the people that understand our commitments, you'll appreciate them so much in the long run. this forum could be a way of doing that.

though college is something very important to think about, remember to cherish your high school life and have fun-

but for some serious advice if I can do high school all over again -- master time management, stay organized (!!!), study for the SAT/ACT as soon as you can (like khan academy 10-15 questions a day if you start now), be physically active YEAR ROUND, and try to be as charismatic as possible for leadership positions

good luck!

oh and make sure to stay on top of your AP classes! the pace is faster than many think!
 
Juddusna said:
Apply to Summer Seminar and STEM. They increase your chances of getting in.
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Just to reaffirm to new applicants/Prospective CO 28 that attending NASS does NOT help you get in. At the end of the day it is a summer camp for underrepresented Candidates. Do NOT worry if you can not attend NASS or are not accepted. Its for candidates to learn about USNA, more than it is for USNA to learn about/ identify them.

Summer STEM has absolutely no bearing on application in anyone's eyes. Summer ''STEM is all about exploring, creating, building, and making things better'' per USNA website. Not about admissions.

I enjoyed and attended both programs but just want to stress that from everything I've heard, candidates should not look at USNA summer camps as a boost or indication of their future applications.
 
My kid didn't want usna but wanted marine nrotc at a specific college. I made him research the "average" qualifications (NOT THE MINIMUMS!!!) Of those accepted and make a chart for where he would stand up against the "typical" successful candidate for MO NROTC scholarship and his school of choice. I then had him fill in (in pencil) where he was in reference to each category and a timeline of progress/goals in each. The categories were:

Academics: GPA, class rank, and difficulty (AP/honors, math english science, history, foreign language). USNA is heavy on STEM so don't sandbag that in high school.

SAT ACT scores: Schedule multiple tests and study/practice. This means a long-term commitment for test prep. Taking first tests as soon as you can your junior year demonstrates you actually care and are serious.

Teacher/coach evals: Are you behaved, attentive, helpful to the teacher and other students? Who will you ask for evals from?

Physical Fitness: Get in the best all-around shape you can and test yourself against whatever tests you will have to take regularly. Make fitness a part of your life. This is so important it cannot be overstated. So many kids on this forum get rejected because they didn't put in the effort or waited until the last minute to care. The military has no interest in making people like that officers so get on it! NOW!

Athletics: Play a couple of sports every year and make at least one of them a passion where you make varsity. Statistically, very, very few go to academies or get rotc scholarships without a varsity letter. If you varsity in a non-major sport, make sure you are A. The Captain, and B. Maxing your physical fitness test scores.

Leadership: Be on student council, team captain. Join jrotc or, if not available, find a civil air patrol unit and climb the ladder there. Club president or officers are nice. Boys/Girls State is nice. Reach out to fellow students you see who are having social , personal, or academic issues. Stick up for anyone being bullied. Dvelop and demonstrate active leadership.

Extra Curriculars and Community Service: be involved in a variety of activities. NHS, 4H, robotics club. Volunteer at church or fund raisers. Debate and forensics are great....they'll teach you public speaking and how to think on your feet. Have at least one interesting hobby that doesn't involve a PS4.

Social: Have wide friend groups. This means being open to kids you wouldnt necessarily instinctively seek out as friends. Stay out of trouble or being around kids who are in trouble. Seek out achievers and good kids for your inner circle. This is part of academics, too. Study with friends who can help you on topics you find difficult and return the favor to others.

Other: Have moral courage and demonstrate unflinching integrity. This matters most when it is most difficult and is a non-negotiable. Read, Read, Read! Make reading outside of school a habit. This does not mean watching videos. It will improve your test scores, your knowledge, your comprehension and lots of other good stuff. Whenever I interview someone I always ask them what is the last book they read and what are they reading now. When I get that deer in the headlights look from them it really makes my decision easier.

Practice for your interviews and take your time writing your essays. Take a couple days between essay editing/rewrites and repeat this several times. You'll be amazed how much you will improve your essay from the original if you plan multiple reviews.

Research everything you can about the process and pay attention to details. Do things early, never just "on time". Have your own administrative checklist/timeline.

Talk to your parents often and ask for their help and feedback. Teachers, coaches, mentors, too.

Ask questions and reach out for help. Find a knowledgeable mentor. This ideally is a grad of where you want to go or maybe a retired or active officer. The local recruiter and your neighbor who did two years as a private probably wont give you the fidelity you need as you seek a commission. Don't be shy and that includes the intimidating admissions liaisons who you are worried about making a good impression on. Everyone, including complete strangers, wants you to succeed!

One last thing. We all have strengths and weaknesses. You have to honestly and often painfully evaluate yourself. It is super easy to focus on our strengths and ignore our weaknesses. The real challenge and test of character is to attack our weaknesses even when it is the last thing you want to do and feels awful.

This is a lot and sounds hard. It is. That's what is expected of you. But it's worth it and if you organize yourself and have a plan, you'll get there! Best of luck!
 
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JohnMcLane said:
My kid didn't want usna but wanted marine nrotc at a specific college. I made him research the "average" qualifications (NOT THE MINIMUMS!!!) Of those accepted and make a chart for where he would stand up against the "typical" successful candidate for MO NROTC scholarship and his school of choice. I then had him fill in (in pencil) where he was in reference to each category and a timeline of progress/goals in each. The categories were:

Academics: GPA, class rank, and difficulty (AP/honors, math english science, history, foreign language). USNA is heavy on STEM so don't sandbag that in high school.

SAT ACT scores: Schedule multiple tests and study/practice. This means a long-term commitment for test prep. Taking first tests as soon as you can your junior year demonstrates you actually care and are serious.

Teacher/coach evals: Are you behaved, attentive, helpful to the teacher and other students? Who will you ask for evals from?

Physical Fitness: Get in the best all-around shape you can and test yourself against whatever tests you will have to take regularly. Make fitness a part of your life. This is so important it cannot be overstated. So many kids on this forum get rejected because they didn't put in the effort or waited until the last minute to care. The military has no interest in making people like that officers so get on it! NOW!

Athletics: Play a couple of sports every year and make at least one of them a passion where you make varsity. Statistically, very, very few go to academies or get rotc scholarships without a varsity letter. If you varsity in a non-major sport, make sure you are A. The Captain, and B. Maxing your physical fitness test scores.

Leadership: Be on student council, team captain. Join jrotc or, if not available, find a civil air patrol unit and climb the ladder there. Club president or officers are nice. Boys/Girls State is nice. Reach out to fellow students you see who are having social , personal, or academic issues. Stick up for anyone being bullied. Dvelop and demonstrate active leadership.

Extra Curriculars and Community Service: be involved in a variety of activities. NHS, 4H, robotics club. Volunteer at church or fund raisers. Debate and forensics are great....they'll teach you public speaking and how to think on your feet. Have at least one interesting hobby that doesn't involve a PS4.

Social: Have wide friend groups. This means being open to kids you wouldnt necessarily instinctively seek out as friends. Stay out of trouble or being around kids who are in trouble. Seek out achievers and good kids for your inner circle. This is part of academics, too. Study with friends who can help you on topics you find difficult and return the favor to others.

Other: Have moral courage and demonstrate unflinching integrity. This matters most when it is most difficult and is a non-negotiable. Read, Read, Read! Make reading outside of school a habit. This does not mean watching videos. It will improve your test scores, your knowledge, your comprehension and lots of other good stuff. Whenever I interview someone I always ask them what is the last book they read and what are they reading now. When I get that deer in the headlights look from them it really makes my decision easier.

Practice for your interviews and take your time writing your essays. Take a couple days between essay editing/rewrites and repeat this several times. You'll be amazed how much you will improve your essay from the original if you plan multiple reviews.

Research everything you can about the process and pay attention to details. Do things early, never just "on time". Have your own administrative checklist/timeline.

Talk to your parents often and ask for their help and feedback. Teachers, coaches, mentors, too.

Ask questions and reach out for help. Find a knowledgeable mentor. This ideally is a grad of where you want to go or maybe a retired or active officer. The local recruiter and your neighbor who did two years as a private probably wont give you the fidelity you need as you seek a commission. Don't be shy and that includes the intimidating admissions liaisons who you are worried about making a good impression on. Everyone, including complete strangers, wants you to succeed!

One last thing. We all have strengths and weaknesses. You have to honestly and often painfully evaluate yourself. It is super easy to focus on our strengths and ignore our weaknesses. The real challenge and test of character is to attack our weaknesses even when it is the last thing you want to do and feels awful.

This is a lot and sounds hard. It is. That's what is expected of you. But it's worth it and if you organize yourself and have a plan, you'll get there! Best of luck!
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Good writeup but no need to wait until Junior Year to begin SAT/ACT. When I get candidates starting early, I recommend a test during Sophomore year. The tests are not so advanced as to make it a Junior/Senior only test.
 
OldRetSWO said:
Good writeup but no need to wait until Junior Year to begin SAT/ACT. When I get candidates starting early, I recommend a test during Sophomore year. The tests are not so advanced as to make it a Junior/Senior only test.
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Totally agree. If the PSAT can be taken freshmen year, do it. I also agree that was a solid write up by @JohnMcLane. Great overall checklist.
 
OldRetSWO said:
Good writeup but no need to wait until Junior Year to begin SAT/ACT. When I get candidates starting early, I recommend a test during Sophomore year. The tests are not so advanced as to make it a Junior/Senior only test.
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Didn't know you could take tests earlier than junior year, but yes, do any and everything as early as possible missing no opportunities!
 
JohnMcLane said:
Didn't know you could take tests earlier than junior year, but yes, do any and everything as early as possible missing no opportunities!
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satsuite.collegeboard.org

The PSAT 8/9 – SAT Suite | College Board

Take the PSAT 8/9 to get early feedback on your knowledge in the areas that matter most for college and career readiness.
satsuite.collegeboard.org satsuite.collegeboard.org

Taking this one doesn’t report scores. I don’t believe PSAT does either. But it can prep you for the PSAT 11 which I believe is where a stellar score marks you as a National Merit Scholar.

There are several schools of thought. Too much testing is going to lead to a plateau score wise. I tend to agree. But if you take it early and see the format and learn testing tactics, you can reduce test anxiety and increase the effectiveness of test prep for the actual SAT.

Just my opinion.
 
JohnMcLane said:
Didn't know you could take tests earlier than junior year, but yes, do any and everything as early as possible missing no opportunities!
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My oldest son took the SAT in 7th grade as it was a requirement for a gifted and talented program. We had to schedule it the same way that
we did later when he was in High School - just went onto the site and registered and there were no issues with his age.
 
I can tell you what my DS has done to put himself in a position to be a serious candidate. He decided he was going to try to do this in 8th grade.

1. He joined the Young Marines. There are also other options I’ve heard of others doing, JROTC, Civil Air Patrol, Boy Scouts. He was the honor recruit in his initial training and to this point all of the time he put into the Young Marines has seemed to help.

2. President of a High School Club and Treasurer of another High School Club.

3. Honors, AP and dual enrollment college classes. Check with your local community college or University to see if you can get some college courses under your belt. My DS took 4 and has 12 college credits. Be careful some ROTC scholarships wonts let you apply if you have over 30 college credits.

4. Being on a sports team is really important. My DS played Hockey, Lacrosse and Football and was Captain of one of the teams.

5. My DS got a part time job as soon as he was eligible and has worked full time for the state in a local state park the last two summers. His Blue and Gold Officer seemed to be impressed during interview given his very busy schedule.

6. My DS volunteered as much as he could. One day 4 hour mobile food pantry events, training service dogs for disabled veterans on the weekends, 3 years of coaching 7-8 year old youth baseball with me, holiday toy drive events for inner city youth and many of their events with the young marines.

7. My son earned himself a leadership scholarship to a private catholic high school based on his work with the young marines. Later he decided to step it up and as junior applied to one of the most academically challenging private boarding schools in the country. He was granted admission with the condition he would have to repeat his junior year which is common in this situation. After lots of thought he decided to reclassify as a junior and moved onto to private boarding school which has not been easy. He’s been a consistent honor roll student at both schools. Now a 19 year high school senior with an AROTC under his belt, he seems ready and we wait in CPR for a decision with 2 noms.

This is some of what he has done to make himself competitive. Good luck. Don’t wait, get on it early to improve yourself.
 
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