ROTC improvements

[PhilaMan23]

So my main goal is to go to a service academy, if that doesn’t work out ROTC is my backup plan. This is basically my application resume, if anyone has any suggestions on what i can improve or has any other value information it would be much appreciated, thank you!

GRADES
SAT-1110
ACT- 24
GPA- cumulative 4.61/6 weighted
CLASS RANK- 62/200



SPORTS
Varsity Baseball
Varsity Golf (Captain)

EXTRACURRICULARS
President of Ambassadors
President/Founder of Fishing Club
Rho Kappa National Honors Society
Healthcare Academy Officer
Philadelphia Police Survivors Fund
Chapel Sacristan
Philadelphia Korean War Memorial volunteer
Naval Academy Summer Seminar Attendee
Keystone Boys State Attendee-Honor City

 

[BJD16]

So my main goal is to go to a service academy, if that doesn’t work out ROTC is my backup plan. This is basically my application resume, if anyone has any suggestions on what i can improve or has any other value information it would be much appreciated, thank you!

GRADES
SAT-1110
ACT- 24
GPA- cumulative 4.61/6 weighted
CLASS RANK- 62/200



SPORTS
Varsity Baseball
Varsity Golf (Captain)

EXTRACURRICULARS
President of Ambassadors
President/Founder of Fishing Club
Rho Kappa National Honors Society
Healthcare Academy Officer
Philadelphia Police Survivors Fund
Chapel Sacristan
Philadelphia Korean War Memorial volunteer
Naval Academy Summer Seminar Attendee
Keystone Boys State Attendee-Honor City

You didn't list your year in school or your demographic info, so I am going to assume you are a white male in the class of 2024. Unfortunately, you have virtually no shot at the service academies for class of 2028, unless you are a recruited athlete. You might have a shot at class of 2029 by attending one of the prep schools.

Your GPA converts to a 3.1/4.0 scale, and that is weighted, and would not be competitive for ROTC or the service academies. Unweighted is the GPA that is normally used to compare students nationwide. For example, 3.5 GPA unweighted with 10 honors or AP courses; the school will take the honors or AP courses into account. ACT score is better than your SAT score, so I would try to bump that up to 27. I would make sure you have 4+ years of credits in English, Math, Science, History, and Foreign Language with Calculus, Chemistry, and if possible Physics. Since you are from Philadelphia and start school later than most of the country, you still have time to change your schedule for the fall.

Best of luck, but I would focus on the prep school route or a regional state university with Army ROTC.

 

[Academician]

Keep working, and let's see the results. You have six more opportunities to raise your scores. I recommend to all of my students to put together a Plan A - B - C.

"A," as you noted, is one of the SAs; Plan "B" is one or several ROTC scholarships; and then, "C" is the set of civilian universities that you apply to as part of the ROTC application process. I have had three students who won a scholarship or simply joined ROTC on campus (as part of Plan C) and then won an appointment (3 of 3) the following year. One of the students graduated last June, USAFA C/O '23. Some 25 - 30% of all cadets at the SAs did not come directly out of high school as many attended a prep school, or a year or two of college, prior to becoming cadets.

 

[Aglahad]

Love those sports (I was a baseball player and golfer in HS).

I agree with the other poster that a SA is a very low probability.

I’d retake the SAT and or ACT.

You can’t drastically change your class rank or GPA much at this point. Could consider doing a CC for a bit?

I’m confident you’ll find a way!

 

[PhilaMan23]

You didn't list your year in school or your demographic info, so I am going to assume you are a white male in the class of 2024. Unfortunately, you have virtually no shot at the service academies for class of 2028, unless you are a recruited athlete. You might have a shot at class of 2029 by attending one of the prep schools.

Your GPA converts to a 3.1/4.0 scale, and that is weighted, and would not be competitive for ROTC or the service academies. Unweighted is the GPA that is normally used to compare students nationwide. For example, 3.5 GPA unweighted with 10 honors or AP courses; the school will take the honors or AP courses into account. ACT score is better than your SAT score, so I would try to bump that up to 27. I would make sure you have 4+ years of credits in English, Math, Science, History, and Foreign Language with Calculus, Chemistry, and if possible Physics. Since you are from Philadelphia and start school later than most of the country, you still have time to change your schedule for the fall.

Best of luck, but I would focus on the prep school route or a regional state university with Army ROTC.

I’m a little confused on how my GPA would be a 3.1 out of 4 on that scale. I’ve never had a final grade under 85, only 4 classes have ever been under 90 and they were all honors classes. Most my grades are high 90s. I have 8 honors and when I graduate will have 14.

I understand my academics are subpar but I believe that comes from my freshman and sophomore year I didn’t have as advanced classes, and had to work towards getting moved up to honors.

I understand that the prep schools will be my most likely chance. I am not giving up and am planning to take both SAT and ACT as many times as possible.
Thank you for your assistance

 

[PhilaMan23]

Keep working, and let's see the results. You have six more opportunities to raise your scores. I recommend to all of my students to put together a Plan A - B - C.

"A," as you noted, is one of the SAs; Plan "B" is one or several ROTC scholarships; and then, "C" is the set of civilian universities that you apply to as part of the ROTC application process. I have had three students who won a scholarship or simply joined ROTC on campus (as part of Plan C) and then won an appointment (3 of 3) the following year. One of the students graduated last June, USAFA C/O '23. Some 25 - 30% of all cadets at the SAs did not come directly out of high school as many attended a prep school, or a year or two of college, prior to becoming cadets.

Thank you. I do plan on applying to Army and Navy ROTC for any other college choices. I’m extremely dedicated to this process and am working harder than ever.
I will definitely input a A - B- C plan aswell.
Thank you

 

[PhilaMan23]

Love those sports (I was a baseball player and golfer in HS).

I agree with the other poster that a SA is a very low probability.

I’d retake the SAT and or ACT.

You can’t drastically change your class rank or GPA much at this point. Could consider doing a CC for a bit?

I’m confident you’ll find a way!

Thank you, SAT and ACT are my main concern with increasing right now, I hope to attend a prep school at the very least. ROTC is definitely an option but my goal always has been SA

 

[Ihavenoidea]

I understand my academics are subpar but I believe that comes from my freshman and sophomore year I didn’t have as advanced classes, and had to work towards getting moved up to honors.

Don't let research into service academy admission averages and looking on this forum make you think that your academics are subpar. They are far from subpar. Yes, your SAT's and ACT's need to get higher, but that can be done with study and maybe just take them each a few times. Khan Academy has some great free learning stuff to help with this. There are SAT prep classes online that take just a month before a SAT that work really well. My DS did one and it helped alot, but it does cost money. Will people have higher academics than you yes, but there will also be some with same or lower academics that might get a appointment.

Your GPA could be high enough. Your EC's are great. A higher SAT could makes you a great candidate with the possibility of appointment. If you get that nomination, then you do have a chance to get a SA. Stay positive and keep working on all options.

 

[PhilaMan23]

Don't let research into service academy admission averages and looking on this forum make you think that your academics are subpar. They are far from subpar. Yes, your SAT's and ACT's need to get higher, but that can be done with study and maybe just take them each a few times. Khan Academy has some great free learning stuff to help with this. There are SAT prep classes online that take just a month before a SAT that work really well. My DS did one and it helped alot, but it does cost money. Will people have higher academics than you yes, but there will also be some with same or lower academics that might get a appointment.

Your GPA could be high enough. Your EC's are great. A higher SAT could makes you a great candidate with the possibility of appointment. If you get that nomination, then you do have a chance to get a SA. Stay positive and keep working on all options.

Thank you, I appreciate the positive feedback. I honestly think it’s just my maths score that needs to be improved. Once I get that I think I can make it work. Thank you for your response I truly appreciate the support

 

[Iwutke]

So my main goal is to go to a service academy, if that doesn’t work out ROTC is my backup plan. This is basically my application resume, if anyone has any suggestions on what i can improve or has any other value information it would be much appreciated, thank you!

GRADES
SAT-1110
ACT- 24
GPA- cumulative 4.61/6 weighted
CLASS RANK- 62/200



SPORTS
Varsity Baseball
Varsity Golf (Captain)

EXTRACURRICULARS
President of Ambassadors
President/Founder of Fishing Club
Rho Kappa National Honors Society
Healthcare Academy Officer
Philadelphia Police Survivors Fund
Chapel Sacristan
Philadelphia Korean War Memorial volunteer
Naval Academy Summer Seminar Attendee
Keystone Boys State Attendee-Honor City

GPA is 4.61 / 6. Is the 6 a typo? I’ve never seen a 6 before, only 4 or 5.

 

[kinnem]

GPA is 4.61 / 6. Is the 6 a typo? I’ve never seen a 6 before, only 4 or 5.

The max of 5 or 6 depends on how the high school weights their scores. As I recall, the distinction is between Honors and AP score. Been a long time since my kid was in high school though, so my memory may be fuzzy

 

[BJD16]

I’m a little confused on how my GPA would be a 3.1 out of 4 on that scale. I’ve never had a final grade under 85, only 4 classes have ever been under 90 and they were all honors classes. Most my grades are high 90s. I have 8 honors and when I graduate will have 14.

I understand my academics are subpar but I believe that comes from my freshman and sophomore year I didn’t have as advanced classes, and had to work towards getting moved up to honors.

I understand that the prep schools will be my most likely chance. I am not giving up and am planning to take both SAT and ACT as many times as possible.
Thank you for your assistance

If the 4.61 / 6 is a typo? If the denominator is 4 or 5, then whole new ball game. I still recommend you use unweighted GPA. Just improve the ACT score!

 

[PhilaMan23]

The max of 5 or 6 depends on how the high school weights their scores. As I recall, the distinction is between Honors and AP score. Been a long time since my kid was in high school though, so my memory may be fuzzy

I may be wrong, but my school does everyone out of 6. Its a Catholic school so it may be weird because of that. AP classes get weighted on a 6.0 scales. Honors 5.5 and CP 5.
Since I never taken an ap class i think mine technically should be out of 5.5, so maybe 4.61/5.5 if that make sense. Because we have a new app I just checked that told me it’s 3.41/4. Little confusing

 

[MidCakePa]

GPA is largely irrelevant, exactly because of this very demonstrated confusion. There’s no national standard. The denominator can be whatever the school wants. And there are different levels of grading rigor.

The powers that be will look at your entire transcript — the classes, the rigor, the grades, the trend line. They’ll make a decision based on all those inputs, not simply the nebulous number called GPA.

 

[BJD16]

I may be wrong, but my school does everyone out of 6. Its a Catholic school so it may be weird because of that. AP classes get weighted on a 6.0 scales. Honors 5.5 and CP 5.
Since I never taken an ap class i think mine technically should be out of 5.5, so maybe 4.61/5.5 if that make sense. Because we have a new app I just checked that told me it’s 3.41/4. Little confusing

Sorry to cause so much confusion around the GPA, but the scale your school uses just doesn't translate well to other high schools or colleges. The 4 point scale is the national standard, with no consensus on weighting, so that is why unweighted is preferred by colleges. I recommend you figure out your grades on the 4 point scale, without plusses or minuses. A 4 points (90-100), B 3 points (80-90), C 2 points, D 1 point. With the number of advanced classes you have, a 3.5 on the 4 point scale will make you competitive excluding your test scores. Study and increase ACT ASAP.

 

[Ihavenoidea]

@PhilaMan23 the confusion about the GPA is why getting higher on SAT and/or ACT is so important. In my opinion, schools and SA's may give alittle more weight to those scores because they show where you are in the national average for that year. I know alot of schools say you don't need it to apply anymore, but good scores only help you. It is also something that you can control in the short term. REALLY hard to increase a GPA in the short term, but you can increase the SAT and ACT with study and repeating tests.

 

[PhilaMan23]

Sorry to cause so much confusion around the GPA, but the scale your school uses just doesn't translate well to other high schools or colleges. The 4 point scale is the national standard, with no consensus on weighting, so that is why unweighted is preferred by colleges. I recommend you figure out your grades on the 4 point scale, without plusses or minuses. A 4 points (90-100), B 3 points (80-90), C 2 points, D 1 point. With the number of advanced classes you have, a 3.5 on the 4 point scale will make you competitive excluding your test scores. Study and increase ACT ASAP.Ta you,

Sorry to cause so much confusion around the GPA, but the scale your school uses just doesn't translate well to other high schools or colleges. The 4 point scale is the national standard, with no consensus on weighting, so that is why unweighted is preferred by colleges. I recommend you figure out your grades on the 4 point scale, without plusses or minuses. A 4 points (90-100), B 3 points (80-90), C 2 points, D 1 point. With the number of advanced classes you have, a 3.5 on the 4 point scale will make you competitive excluding your test scores. Study and increase ACT ASAP.

Thank you, I will talk to my councilor about trying to put mine to a 4.0 Scale. By the time I graduate I’ll have about 14-15 honors classes, because i didn’t get them until about junior year. I’m taking a prep class for SAT this upcoming week before I take again on August

 

[BJD16]

Thank you, I will talk to my councilor about trying to put mine to a 4.0 Scale. By the time I graduate I’ll have about 14-15 honors classes, because i didn’t get them until about junior year. I’m taking a prep class for SAT this upcoming week before I take again on August

Your 24 ACT is much higher than your 1110 SAT, so if you choose SAT you have more work to do. An 1110 SAT only converts to 22 ACT. Your 24 ACT converts to an 1180 SAT. If you counselor didn't tell you that, then you need to find outside help. High school counselors are really to make sure kids graduate and transcripts are correct and sent to colleges in a timely manner. I would get outside help for college selection, especially since counselors usually know very little about ROTC.

 

[PhilaMan23]

Got it, Thank you

 

[FastFood44]

Overall, good advice.
I will echo previous comments;

-SAT/ACT grade needs to be improved. If it helps, focus on one. I took both, did terribly on one, and focused all efforts on my other one. Helped so so much.
- As many have said, on a 4.0 scale, your grades are simply not where they need to be for what I've seen other MIDN have coming in. Work on ACT/SAT and this will help balance it out.
- Your EC are great. Lean on these during the officer interview. At this point, there is only so much you can do about your HS grades, as you will be submitting an app soon. Crush those SAT/ACT! Good luck.