Six or seven APs?

Thanks for all of the info. My school doesn't do JROTC. What is sea cadets? I keep hearing about them. My school has already started track, which made me think more about doing it. I do intend to max my CFA (I'm halfway there on most events, not sure about my shuttle run, mile, or basketball throw). When should I start practicing the basketball throw? I think it's a little too soon right now, but I may be wrong. Should I go ahead and meet with my counselor to get some dialogue started and figure out when and where I can practice for the basketball throw? Oh, yes, and a question from long ago: I consider myself exploratory, curious, an autodidact- I am largely self-taught. I won't take the credit for my education, but I know far more than people think. Is this something I could put in my application, maybe on an essay?
 
Sea Cadets: http://www.seacadets.org/ also recommend you look at Civil Air Patrol if that's your thing: www.gocivilairpatrol.com. Heads-up: look up Stew Smith and he has some great advice for the CFA. The basketball throw is harder than it seems, so a few practice throws to gauge where you're at might be a good idea. You can practice it almost anywhere, I'm sure you can find a gym/parking lot/field and borrow a basketball.
 
Here's a video about Sea Cadets, kind of long but gives a good glimpse. Every battalion is a little different, ours has drill once a month on weekends, plus a few other events throughout the year. After you've gone to Recruit Training you can attend other trainings (during summer and school breaks). My 3 cadets have been to trainings such as scuba, sailing, field ops, and winter survival, to name a few.

 
Andromeda,

West Point candidate evaluation is 60% academic, 30% leadership, and 10% physical. There is no short cut or if you do one thing well that other areas will be overlooked. There are candidates that are #1 in their class or score almost perfect on their SAT/ACT, super leader that holds many leadership position, OR 12 letter varsity athlete (notice I use "OR'). Candidates that eventually earn appointments are well rounded. I have seen it many times on this board and as FFR, how candidates focus on their strength and hope and wish their weakness will be overlooked/overcome. You can take 30 AP classes, but taking them alone won't do anything for you unless you do good and helps you with your class ranking. Setting a goal to max your CFA is good, but don't contradict yourself by saying "not sure about my shuttle run, mile, or basketball throw."

You have to give 100% and your efforts should be prioritize for 60/30/10. Don't ignore leadership or preparing for CFA because you are taking 6 or 7 courses. Don't spend extra effort on CFA to a point where your grade suffers.
 
Andromeda said:
My school has already started track, which made me think more about doing it.
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Talk to the coach. I know very few coaches who would turn down a newcomer who wanted to join the team, even if practices have already started. There is no roster limit and you won't be taking a spot from anyone. If you want to do this you need to get going and make a commitment.

Stealth_81
 
Andromeda said:
I was considering joining track and cross country next year, but there's no crew team. No water. But if I do this, I will have to train until cross country try outs next year. I'm also kind of limited as to training (and will be much more next year). But I'll do my best, sees what happens, and go along with it, unless it is absolutely necessary that I play a varsity sport. I was viewing the class profile the other day and very few cadets had not previously played varsity sports. I suspect that these are minorities. Does not having a sport significantly reduce my chances of admission to the Academy?
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Yes, I think it does. Cross country is a great sport that typically doesn't make cuts, even if you don't run varsity. I think what folks are trying to get you to understand, is that if you take 7 AP classes and that course load prevents you from participating in athletics and leadership activities, it might not be a good move as far as getting into the Academies.
 
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