Howdy from TX

C

CCattyoff

New Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2026
Messages
7
Hi, I’m new-ish here and son is beginning the service academy application process. DS is attending NASS this summer and then goes straight to Boys State, so he is skipping the June SAT. He has already taken the SAT twice, and while his scores are not bad, they likely are not as competitive as he would like for service academy admissions. He plans to take the CLT in July and retake the SAT in August and September.

We’re trying to understand how that testing timeline fits with nomination and academy deadlines, and whether waiting until late summer for updated scores could put him at any disadvantage. Looking forward to learning from others who have been through this process!
 
What are his current scores? Waiting until August/September is pushing it. Is he taking the May 2 exam?
 
Hi there, USNA recently published their 'formula' here, and the SAT is a whopping 28% of the score, higher than any other element. Improving the SAT (or whatever test you guys land on) will have proportionally huge benefits:
www.usna.edu

USNA's Whole Person Concept

Explanation of USNA's Whole Person Concept and how the Whole Person Multiple (WPM) is calculated
www.usna.edu

Before reading SAF posts, it never occurred to me a kid would take the SAT 10 times. There are successful posters here who kept studying and retaking, and on that 10th time, got the score they felt reflected their best possible.

We didn't know any of this beforehand. Similiar to your son, dd took the September and October SAT's her senior Fall. Her October score worked out well for nominations in our state since it luckily turned out that our state MOC's run the process later than others. If we were in say, Texas, it might have been too late. I believe Senator Cruz's nominations already opened (2 weeks ago!) for the next cycle.

Taking the CLT is a great idea, and I hear that the ACT can sometimes be better for some kids as well. Taking these tests early and often, studying aggressively is worth it based on what they have now published about their 'formula' for evaluating candidates.

I hope your kiddo has a great time at NASS and Boys State! DD had fantastic experiences. And make sure he takes a garbage bag to pack out all the wet smelly stuff after NASS!!!
 
Welcome! I am also from Texas.

Super smart taking the CLT. As a homeschooling mom, I've heard of it for years, but am more interested now that it is being accepted more widely. I have one more ds who will apply to SAs in a couple of years and I'm going to have him take the CLT along with the SAT. I don't know.much about it yet, but will be learning this summer.

The August SAT will not be an issue with TX senators for the nomination app. The Sept one could be. Their deadline is hard at the beginning of Oct (Oct 2nd this year if IRC) and they will not accept scores that are received by them after that date. Your Rep will depend on the district. Ours had a deadline of Oct 31st so the Sept SAT would not have been a problem.

As far as SA apps, fall SATs are fine. USAFA has rolling deadlines so those could affect your SAT options. My boys all had November deadlines. They all took their last (of several) SAT in August. They could have taken September, but they were over testing by then and working to meet early ROTC deadlines.

Good luck!
 
chaidrinker said:
Hi there, USNA recently published their 'formula' here, and the SAT is a whopping 28% of the score, higher than any other element. Improving the SAT (or whatever test you guys land on) will have proportionally huge benefits:
www.usna.edu

USNA's Whole Person Concept

Explanation of USNA's Whole Person Concept and how the Whole Person Multiple (WPM) is calculated
www.usna.edu

Before reading SAF posts, it never occurred to me a kid would take the SAT 10 times. There are successful posters here who kept studying and retaking, and on that 10th time, got the score they felt reflected their best possible.

We didn't know any of this beforehand. Similiar to your son, dd took the September and October SAT's her senior Fall. Her October score worked out well for nominations in our state since it luckily turned out that our state MOC's run the process later than others. If we were in say, Texas, it might have been too late. I believe Senator Cruz's nominations already opened (2 weeks ago!) for the next cycle.

Taking the CLT is a great idea, and I hear that the ACT can sometimes be better for some kids as well. Taking these tests early and often, studying aggressively is worth it based on what they have now published about their 'formula' for evaluating candidates.

I hope your kiddo has a great time at NASS and Boys State! DD had fantastic experiences. And make sure he takes a garbage bag to pack out all the wet smelly stuff after NASS!!!
Click to expand...
I agree with everything said here. I am a poor test taker, but took the SAT 11 times (and basically spent all my money from my part-time jobs) to get a score I was happy with.
 
obsessedcadet said:
What are his current scores? Waiting until August/September is pushing it. Is he taking the May 2 exam?
Click to expand...
He's sitting right at 1200, planning on taking test prep for the Aug test. He is in the middle of track is the reason he wasn't committed to taking May's test and then with AP testing and the NASS June's just fell weird. So the CLT, and Aug, Sept, and prob a couple last ditch efforts in late fall for admissions. But i think he is mainly concerned with nominations. I really appreciate y'alls help!
 
CCattyoff said:
But I think he is mainly concerned with nominations.
Click to expand...
It's a valid concern. Texas is quite competitive. I focus my Texas students on the Senator's deadlines of early October (i.e., the 2nd this year). Quite a few Congressional representatives in Texas use an October due date, too. I recommend keeping these dates in mind as your son plans his testing. His Representative is the most likely source of a nomination so scoring well prior to her/his deadline will be important. If your son is invited to the Rep's interview, then he may want to bring his latest/best scores with him to present to the interview board. Good luck!
 
Academician said:
It's a valid concern. Texas is quite competitive. I focus my Texas students on the Senator's deadlines of early October (i.e., the 2nd this year). Quite a few Congressional representatives in Texas use an October due date, too. I recommend keeping these dates in mind as your son plans his testing. His Representative is the most likely source of a nomination so scoring well prior to her/his deadline will be important. If your son is invited to the Rep's interview, then he may want to bring his latest/best scores with him to present to the interview board. Good luck!
Click to expand...
We were also told by the Cruz/Cornyn Staff members that they don't even look at applications if SAT isn't 1440 or above so my son didn't even try for their nominations, which we didn't agree with but understand his point of it wasting his time and he focused on the other areas to maximize those and also took SAT prep classes. His score did come up some but not 1400s good. We are still on the wait list for AFA.
 
txmomusafa30 said:
We were also told by the Cruz/Cornyn Staff members that they don't even look at applications if SAT isn't 1440 or above so my son didn't even try for their nominations, which we didn't agree with but understand his point of it wasting his time and he focused on the other areas to maximize those and also took SAT prep classes. His score did come up some but not 1400s good. We are still on the wait list for AFA.
Click to expand...
Wow! Good to know since those are my senators too!
 
txmomusafa30 said:
We were also told by the Cruz/Cornyn Staff members that they don't even look at applications if SAT isn't 1440 or above so my son didn't even try for their nominations, which we didn't agree with but understand his point of it wasting his time and he focused on the other areas to maximize those and also took SAT prep classes. His score did come up some but not 1400s good. We are still on the wait list for AFA.
Click to expand...
Two of my ds's got noms from Cruz with lower than a 1400. One was a 1360 so I'm not sure how accurate that is.
 
txmomusafa30 said:
We were also told by the Cruz/Cornyn Staff members that they don't even look at applications if SAT isn't 1440 or above so my son didn't even try for their nominations, which we didn't agree with but understand his point of it wasting his time and he focused on the other areas to maximize those and also took SAT prep classes. His score did come up some but not 1400s good. We are still on the wait list for AFA.
Click to expand...


I really don’t agree with this. At all. USNA has noms they control that they can delve out. Additionally, your application to USNA also opens opportunities to a NAPS/ Prep offer.

To future applicants: don’t NOT APPLY if you want it. And don’t listen to gouge. Apply!! It really doesn’t take much additional work to submit to a nom source. Including VP nom.
 
justdoit19 said:
I really don’t agree with this. At all. USNA has noms they control that they can delve out. Additionally, your application to USNA also opens opportunities to a NAPS/ Prep offer.

To future applicants: don’t NOT APPLY if you want it. And don’t listen to gouge. Apply!! It really doesn’t take much additional work to submit to a nom source. Including VP nom.
Click to expand...
I agree! Apply!! If my ds had heard that you needed to have over a 1440 to be looked at for noms in TX, that would have been a huge blow to him. Instead he got the nom and a USAFA LOA with his 1360. You don't know unless you apply. Test scores are only part of a candidate's story.
 
99Gold said:
I agree! Apply!! If my ds had heard that you needed to have over a 1440 to be looked at for noms in TX, that would have been a huge blow to him. Instead he got the nom and a USAFA LOA with his 1360. You don't know unless you apply. Test scores are only part of a candidate's story.
Click to expand...
I got Sen Cornyn’s nomination with a 1330 SAT. I remember sitting down for 7 hours straight doing the questionnaire last fall semester- and before that I spent 3 on my resume. I made sure that they knew I was relentless in getting an appointment! Have good stories and knock their socks off being a well rounded candidate and you can get nominations!
 
CCattyoff said:
He's sitting right at 1200, planning on taking test prep for the Aug test. He is in the middle of track is the reason he wasn't committed to taking May's test and then with AP testing and the NASS June's just fell weird. So the CLT, and Aug, Sept, and prob a couple last ditch efforts in late fall for admissions. But i think he is mainly concerned with nominations. I really appreciate y'alls help!
Click to expand...
I saw your original post, talking about Boys State. I am a Texas Junior taking the June 6th SAT and then going straight to TX Boys State. If he's still stuck at 1200, I could definitely give him some tips or help him out. I'm sitting at a 1360 on my school mandated SAT (March 4th) even though I only had 1110 on the PSAT. I've been doing a lot of prep to and am projecting 1450-1500 for June. If I do see him during TX Boys State I would love to help out in person as well.
 
Last edited:
goarmy30 said:
I got Sen Cornyn’s nomination with a 1330 SAT. I remember sitting down for 7 hours straight doing the questionnaire last fall semester- and before that I spent 3 on my resume. I made sure that they knew I was relentless in getting an appointment! Have good stories and knock their socks off being a well rounded candidate and you can get nominations!
Click to expand...
I would still apply for Senator Nominations. I remember stressing out doing Cornyn+ Cruz nominations with what I thought was a sub par SAT 1390. If I were to repeat the process I would have been a whole lot more diligent and detailed like my fellow incoming classmate when doing my nomination application. That said, it wasn’t the end of the world as I learned from my mistakes and received nominations to USMA, USNA, and USAFA from my congressman. Definitely spend a lot of time on the nomination applications, specifically from your respective congress member.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top