Strength of application? Please take a look

M

Mr13652

5-Year Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2012
Messages
11
I know that no one can tell me if I will get accepted or not, I am hoping some of you can tell me how strong you think my application is though. I do not mind going to the prep school either so I would also like your thoughts on my application to both the prep school and WP.

Also, please keep in mind I come from extenuating circumstances. I won't go into too much detail about it. I have been homeless twice, once being totally on my own. I had to pay around 350-600$/month to get by, plus going to high school. I have been bounced around to multiple high schools. One high school my freshmen year, three schools my Sophomore year, two my Junior year and one more my Senior year. I wont get into much more detail than that, you get the point.

SAT: Have not received scores yet
GPA: 3.133
Class rank: 258 out of 538(?) So top 48%
(Actually pretty proud of that considering my circumstances)

-National Guardsmen, graduated Basic Combat Training at Fort Sill, OK the summer of my Junior year. Shipping back out to 68W and Airborne training next month. (I will apply to WP when I return) About to be promoted to PFC.
-PG and squad leader at BCT
-Class president sophomore year
-Church youth leader
-Lettered in football and track
-JV in basketball and cross country
-Debate team, this was my first year in the program and I broke records at my school being the only one to ever make it to regionals. I became team captain and started teaching new members coming in, to compete next year.
-DeMolay member
-I won two awards this year,

Cal Lowry Mustang Effort Award- “This award was created to
honor teacher, coach and encourager Cal Lowry. Each year this award is given to
one senior who has risen above his or her peers by demonstrating the qualities
of outstanding spirit and Mustang Effort. The Cal Lowry winner might not be an athlete, or may not have played on any field or court, but this senior always demonstrates the best in himself or
herself, and always brings out the best in others” This is the most prestigious
award my school offers. The school faculty nominates and votes on the recipient
in secret.

The Phoenix Award- “500$ scholarship presented to students who have overcome hardships during their high school years to complete graduation.”

I would love your thoughts on the strength of this application to WP and USMAPS. I appreciate all of the feedback!
 
Hey Mr.13652 I'd like to give you some feedback but FYI I am a sophomore in high school so I don't know how much you will want to hear but this is just from the extensive research I have done. First of all, USMA will love to see that you overcame all of the hardships in your life to rise to the (somewhat) top of your class. Personally I applaud you because your story is heartwarming and motivational for others to work as hard as you! The ability to overcome any obstacle in your path is essential for becoming an army officer. Anyway, your GPA is below average, but there is not much you can do about that because you have graduated. Your unfortunate circumstances might compensate for you GPA, even though it still is very good. You seem to have held some very prestigious leadership positions in your high schools which is great and it will positively affect your WCS. Your prior service is will also highly benefit you as well, thank you for your service! You've got the sports down no doubt, it would have been better to see you become a captain of a sports team rather than a debate team, but being captain of the debate team is still a great accomplishment! In the class profiles for USMA, they mention a statistic about candidates who participated in their debate team so make sure to check out the current class profile which is the sticky at the top of the forum for USMA (click on the one about "what are my chances?") USMA would have liked to see you be in the top 20% of your class but again, your circumstances might outweigh that. To summarize, you seem to have a strong application. Your strong points are your leadership, prior service, extenuating circumstances, and your sports. Your SAT scores are vital for your application and remember that USMA superscores. The awards your received are very prestigious so great job on that! Your academics are not the MOST competitive, but remember that USMA looks at a candidate as a whole rather than just the bookworm or the jock. If you believe you can get there, then you can! Push hard, Press forward!
 
Because of your circumstances, you don't line up closely with many other applicants, which makes judging your competitiveness difficult.

I will say this though: You seem like the type of guy I'd want at West Point.

Hit the ACT/SAT hard. Do your best at them. Get some good recommendation letters, preferably with one or two that can speak to your character and situation. Make sure you talk to your FFR and get to know them as well. They can help you tremendously. Outside of that, keep doing what you've been doing!

Best of luck, @Mr13652! Hopefully we can be classmates in 2016.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top