Opinion needed from BGO or parent of midshipman please

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user_1938

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Feb 10, 2019
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I have been contacted by a parent who has a daughter interested in the academies. This potential candidate is appears qualified on paper (great grades, volunteer, girls state, two sport athlete and letter-winner, etc). This potential candidate has said that she wishes to quit her spring sport as she has lost her passion and motivation for it. Instead she would like to volunteer for a disabled child during church, volunteer at our local hospital (she has expressed an interest in medicine), volunteer for an organization that helps special needs children workout, improve her ACT scores, become more involved in key club and National Honors Society, and start working at a job after school. She has lettered Fr. and So. year, and is also a team award winner. Her parents believe this may impact her application negatively. Any suggestions on if this potential candidate should quit or any suggestions on what she could do instead that would look better than one season and one letter? Thank you in advance for your time in helping me help this candidate.
 
I have been contacted by a parent who has a daughter interested in the academies. This potential candidate is appears qualified on paper (great grades, volunteer, girls state, two sport athlete and letter-winner, etc). This potential candidate has said that she wishes to quit her spring sport as she has lost her passion and motivation for it. Instead she would like to volunteer for a disabled child during church, volunteer at our local hospital (she has expressed an interest in medicine), volunteer for an organization that helps special needs children workout, improve her ACT scores, become more involved in key club and National Honors Society, and start working at a job after school. She has lettered Fr. and So. year, and is also a team award winner. Her parents believe this may impact her application negatively. Any suggestions on if this potential candidate should quit or any suggestions on what she could do instead that would look better than one season and one letter? Thank you in advance for your time in helping me help this candidate.
 
I have been contacted by a parent who has a daughter interested in the academies. This potential candidate is appears qualified on paper (great grades, volunteer, girls state, two sport athlete and letter-winner, etc). This potential candidate has said that she wishes to quit her spring sport as she has lost her passion and motivation for it. Instead she would like to volunteer for a disabled child during church, volunteer at our local hospital (she has expressed an interest in medicine), volunteer for an organization that helps special needs children workout, improve her ACT scores, become more involved in key club and National Honors Society, and start working at a job after school. She has lettered Fr. and So. year, and is also a team award winner. Her parents believe this may impact her application negatively. Any suggestions on if this potential candidate should quit or any suggestions on what she could do instead that would look better than one season and one letter? Thank you in advance for your time in helping me help this candidate.
 
If her record is good enough without it - drop it.

My son would never have dropped anything until his appointment. And he has a lot of activities with leadership roles, 9 varsity letters for sports he started, etc.

Stress that it could hurt her in that other candidates will have equal or better records and she needs to stand out. Let her make the decision.

If she doesn’t like it - she shouldn’t do it to “build her resume”. She should find replacements that helps her WCS.
 
I am not a midshipman or related to one in any way but I feel as if though I can answer this question from a candidate’s perspective. There are instances where a child loses interests in sports and doesn’t want to pursue them anymore and USNA won’t penalize you for that. The fact that she is still playing another sport will show that she is still improving herself as a teammate an athlete. The only negative connotation to this decision is that you are losing all of the leadership opportunities as a Junior and Senior which would look better on the application. I say that she should do what she wants to do because her volunteer service is showing her selflessness by helping disabled children. If she does truly spend the amount of time becoming more involved in clubs, increasing ACT scores, working on the CFA, and volunteering instead of playing her spring sport, then I believe it would go a long way on her applications.

Good Luck and Go Navy!
 
My son is Mid athlete and took a whole year off of sports. Didn’t hurt him in the least to take a long break. In fact it helped him enjoy his sport more. He’s still enjoying his sport at the Academy and plans to stick with it.
 
My suggestion would be to inform the candidate and parent about this forum so she can read posts and ask questions to help herself.
 
My usual guidance to candidates is to follow their passions and not simply engage in activities just in hope they might just increase one's WCS. It appears that she is replacing the sport with another meaningful EC and has a second sport to show continued athletic engagement. I would also suggest that she also train in order to do well on the CFA.

That said, I do not have a seat on the selection board so my opinion and $6 might buy you a decent cup of coffee.
 
So, is she a junior? IF she is junior she should stay the course and do the spring season. She can volunteer during the summer.
For her USMA application and her Army ROTC application they will ask what she did during each year of school.
STAY THE COURSE.
 
@user_1938: There's a lot of info in your post I want to breakdown:
  • The young lady is interested in the academies buy you didn't mention if she wants to become an officer; the SA's are just one of the career paths to become a commissioned officer. Does she wish to become an officer? I am asking because some can focus on just getting into a SA, but haven't completely thought thru that there's a minimum 5 year commitment (9 yrs for DR. I think) after graduation. Just a thought.
  • There is a sticky thread on sports on the USAFA Forum you may wish to read. She does have some sports; are they team ones? The SA's like team sports. They like leadership positions in team sports but look at leadership positions in other the activities mentioned.
  • I would like to stress that you only get one chance in life to be in High School. If she has lost her passion for her Spring sport (why??, bad team, tired of the private lessons? Intense parent? Disclaimer: I was one of these. And I learned the hard way that your kid should be the one running to the car door to go to practice, not you.) Burnout in general? Is she a Junior? My DD would fall asleep as soon she got into the car her junior year of HS.
  • I really like all the activities the young lady mentioned. It's better if she obtained a leadership position 1-2 them. It's her High School life & I would support these choices. When you look at the incoming SA class profiles, you see the academic rigor the "average" cadet has so working on ACT's is the way to go.
  • I like the Girls State plan. I like the after-school job as well.
  • If she's interested in a career in medicine, ROTC may be a better fit since <10 slots/SA graduating class go on to med school.
  • This is a good time for all to stop, take a breath & see where it all shakes out in the next 30-60 days. She seems to have hit a wall. After all, she wants to do a lot after school & there's only 24 hours in a day!!
  • As a parent, I would go with the ACT improvement (get a tutor if needed), continue working on CFA physical test, Girls State, & let her figure out all the other activities listed. The summer will be here soon enough. And it's a good time to let her take the lead...let's see where she goes. Parental support will boost self-confidence which is always a good thing for young women.
  • There are books on how to get into the SA's; her or her parents may want to get one. I bought the one by Sue Ross for USAFA.
  • Lastly, the "Search," function if you haven't already accessed, has a ton of info. Please keep us posted, Good Luck!:thumb:
 
Just be prepared with an amazing answer to explain the dropped sport asked during Moc or academy interviews.
 
boatsfordays said:
Just be prepared with an amazing answer to explain the dropped sport asked during Moc or academy interviews.
Click to expand...
This is my experience with a similar situation:


I switched from playing golf to running cross country. Both were varsity. Maybe it’s because golf isn’t very “athletic” and cross country is perfect USNA prep, but no one really cared that I switched even though I was pretty close to making states senior year in golf, I didn’t like the sport. Lots of nasty attitudes. I told my BGO just so I could say that I was made captain of both (Golf as a Junior, XC as a senior) just because I wanted to put that out there ;) he didn’t even ask despite having my activity record.

And my MOC interviews only asked about my leadership positions and motivations.

Maybe it’ll be the reason I don’t get in, but I doubt it. Either way I enjoyed cross country this year and loved my team. I didn’t know how much I could love running 3.1 miles. Life isn’t all about getting into the perfect school, you need to enjoy some of it! There’s plenty of ways to commission if that’s her dream...

Best of luck to her.
 
As a fairly good athlete in high school many years ago, I must say I struggle hitting that little white ball accurately and consistently ... and consider that to be one of the hardest things to do in sports. ;)
 
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