Leadership Requirement

How many leadership positions do you need to get into the USNA

  • 1

    Votes: 1 11.1%
  • 2

    Votes: 2 22.2%
  • 3

    Votes: 4 44.4%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • >4

    Votes: 2 22.2%

  • Total voters
    9

MichaelW22

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2017
Messages
50
I know this post falls under a "how qualified am I" type of post; however, I was wondering if anyone has/had experience with how much leadership is enough for the USNA. Currently am VP of a club, team leader at an international conference, captain of the wrestling team, and peer leader/mentor for freshman. Not sure if that seems like its enough or if I should seek out other outside school leadership positions.
 
I know this post falls under a "how qualified am I" type of post; however, I was wondering if anyone has/had experience with how much leadership is enough for the USNA. Currently am VP of a club, team leader at an international conference, captain of the wrestling team, and peer leader/mentor for freshman. Not sure if that seems like its enough or if I should seek out other outside school leadership positions.
That looks enough to me;) You have the leadership so do just as well on grades & testing!
 
The more leadership that you can have while receiving A's in challenging courses, the better. I am on the USNA Wait-List with the following leadership positions: team captain of wrestling team, assistant coach of high school wrestling team, assistant scoutmaster, eagle scout, quartermaster, den chief, assistant senior patrol leader (2 terms), senior patrol leader (2 terms), section leader (band), and tutoring.

all of these leadership positions helped, but my ACT is hurting me (average ACT) (the application is 60% academics 30% leadership 10% fitness). Grades and ACT are more important than leadership, but you should still take as much leadership as you can get.
 
When it comes to leadership...it matters more about quality than quantity. Certainly, a few leadership positions are great, but too many can indicate that you are not really focused on any one activity. This is one area that USNA Admissions relies on the BGO to help amplify through the candidate interview. You should expect to be asked what you do in your leadership positions.

Edit: Also, do not think you have to be in a leadership positions in EVERY activity. It is certainly acceptable to be "just" a participant in some.

The Admissions process is focused on the whole person...to say it simply, you have to be good in many areas (academics, athletics, leadership, activities, time management, etc.), but not necessarily "perfect." In the military we sometimes refer to this as a "mile wide, inch deep." I wouldn't worry so much about the percentages, stated above as strict figures (although -- academics is typically a very important piece), since the Admissions Board can change the candidate multiple and their decision to give the nod on the Admissions Board qualification might not directly be tied to the multiple.
 
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Edit: Also, do not think you have to be in a leadership positions in EVERY activity. It is certainly acceptable to be "just" a participant in some.
.[/QUOTE]

Agree, with one caveat -- Don't participate in an activity solely because it looks good on your resume. I see this frequently , not just with USNA applicants. Choose activities that you are truly interested in and contribute to them. If you are passionate about the activity and fully participate, the leadership opportunities come. Again, its about quality, not quantity.
 
And sometimes it is those "unique" (non-check-in-the-box) activities that make a candidate standout in a positive way.
 
Adding my agreement. As a BGO, I often ask candidates to describe what they actually do in their leadership role. You'd be surprised at the number who say, "Not much really. It's just a title." Conversely, I have had candidates with zero leadership "titles" describe how they led a project or took on some other leadership role in a club, with a sport, in an outside of school activity, in a job, etc.

The summer before your senior year is a great opportunity to do this. Find an activity that you enjoy and figure out what you can do to make it better, create a new project, etc. Do NOT waste your summer, especially if you feel you may be weak in leadership.
 
Success at Boy's State is nice leadership and helps the application....I'm not an American Legion member but know my son had great success at BS and it was noted in his Congressional and Senatorial interviews.
 
On paper you have a number of leadership roles. The question you will be asked is what have you done with them that made a difference?

Below is an example of some excellent leadership skills from one of my BGO interviews:

"XXXX is a natural leader and has a track record of academic and athletic leadership that goes back to his middle school days. XXXX demonstrated extreme leadership ability when he started the Space and Astronomy Club at XXX High. To start a new club required passing many hurdles including, initial support from a Vice Principle, getting 100+ signatures on a petition of interest, recruiting officers in multiple grades, and finally presenting his case to the XXXX High leadership board for their approval. XXXX is the current two term president for a school club that now has over 45 full time members and 3 officers to lead them in future years."

That said this kid did not get an appointment because the district was super competitive this year. As other BGO's have stated it's about quality of leadership not quantity.

Best of luck and think about how you can accomplish something significant with the leadership roles you already have.
 
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