Hello, my youngest son is interested in the CGA and brings strong credentials academically, has a lot of work and community service, a variety of leadership experience, etc. With that said, one glaring thing he lacks is a varsity letter. He participated in sports in 9th and 10th grades, however he turned his attention to volunteering and work so that took the place of sports. He's physically fit and scores around 255-260 on the PFE right now. My oldest son just completed his first year at the USNA. What's interesting is my oldest son wasn't as high academically and didn't have as strong extracurricular activities, yet he was a c0-captain in football among other things so that helped him. In other words, we've seen the benefits of participating and excelling in a varsity sport in terms of service academy acceptance.
My question is for my youngest son, with such a high percentage of acceptances having varsity letters, does it even make sense for him to get a varsity letter his senior year or is it simply too late? He would be getting one only to check it off the list, and it would be in cross country or track. One stat I saw showed 86% of those in an entering class had a varsity letter so obviously this appears to be a "must have." With that said, he did gain excellent work and volunteer experiences with leadership in place of a varsity sport and his 255-260 on the PFE seems acceptable. Can the lack of a varsity letter be replaced by other activities or is it simply too much of a hurdle to overcome? I just want to set appropriate expectations for him. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!
My question is for my youngest son, with such a high percentage of acceptances having varsity letters, does it even make sense for him to get a varsity letter his senior year or is it simply too late? He would be getting one only to check it off the list, and it would be in cross country or track. One stat I saw showed 86% of those in an entering class had a varsity letter so obviously this appears to be a "must have." With that said, he did gain excellent work and volunteer experiences with leadership in place of a varsity sport and his 255-260 on the PFE seems acceptable. Can the lack of a varsity letter be replaced by other activities or is it simply too much of a hurdle to overcome? I just want to set appropriate expectations for him. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!