Summer Dilemma: Girls' State vs. Army Sports Camp

prospective2019

USMA 2023
5-Year Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2017
Messages
782
Hello,

When I started plotting all of the tentative dates for things I am trying to do this summer, I noticed that the dates for Connecticut Girls' State overlap with the Army Women's Lacrosse Camp that I had originally planned on doing. I am super bummed out about this as both were things that I was excited to do.

If I choose to go to Girls' State (assuming I am accepted--I applied Feb. 1 but have not had any correspondance) I know it will increase the competitiveness of my WCS. I do have other leadership aspects--current captain of a sport and likely to be a captain of at least one more if not two, likely president of Student Government next year, band section leader, etc. However, I am concerned that not having Girls' State will hurt my chances. I also am genuinely interested in Girls' State, as government is a path I would like to follow.

If I choose to go to the Army Lacrosse Camp, it will likely be my best and only good shot to get in front of the USMA coaching staff. I contacted them a while back to introduce myself but have not received any correspondence. Lacrosse is something that I want to pursue, however the later it gets in the game the lower my chances are. I was All-State second team last year (as a sophomore) and will probably improve a lot before the camp. I'm afraid that if I don't go to the camp I will have virtually no chance of playing at West Point as I no longer play club. Please note that I would not likely be a blue-chip recruit so it will probably not have any effect on admissions, and that I will try to walk on if I am not recruited.

What I need advice on is what I should pick. What would you do if you were in my position? Would you give up a good shot to get in front of a coach or sacrifice a boost to the WCS? I should add that I have already been accepted to SLE and that it will not conflict with any of my other plans. If you have any questions about my situation or need me to clarify anything please ask.

Thank you, Beat Navy.
 
I personally would go for the Lacrosse Camp, you said you have leadership positions already so you will be okay if you don't go to girls state. Also, the Lacrosse camp would keep you in shape and may even guarantee you a spot to play on the team in the future and meet friends who just like you want to go to Westpoint and play lacrosse. I have never gone to girls state nor no much about it but if you do go maybe think about things you would be learning there verse learning at a Lacrosse camp. Just a thought, don't take me for word, good luck on your decision :)
 
My DD enjoyed Girls State and I believe it held some weight on her WCS. (We only have 3 congressional slates per year in our little state and all three were won by young women and all three attended Girls State) Keep in mind most sports also have 1 to 2 single day ID camps per year as well. These are specifically used to ID prospective athletes who cannot attend the week long camp. I would reach out to the coach, get them your recruiting sheet and inquire about any upcoming ID camps(most are held in the collegiate offseason of that particular sport) Explain your situation and I am sure they will take a close look at you at the single day ID camp if you are a D1 level recruit. You can make it to West point in 3 to 4 hours from most points inside of Connecticut so geographically you can do it with maybe one overnight stay involved. This way you get both girls state and exposure in front of the coach. My daughter did both the summer for a week during her sophomore year and just did an ID camp her senior year. She actually received more information about the team and expectations during the ID camp.
 
Hello,

When I started plotting all of the tentative dates for things I am trying to do this summer, I noticed that the dates for Connecticut Girls' State overlap with the Army Women's Lacrosse Camp that I had originally planned on doing. I am super bummed out about this as both were things that I was excited to do.

If I choose to go to Girls' State (assuming I am accepted--I applied Feb. 1 but have not had any correspondance) I know it will increase the competitiveness of my WCS. I do have other leadership aspects--current captain of a sport and likely to be a captain of at least one more if not two, likely president of Student Government next year, band section leader, etc. However, I am concerned that not having Girls' State will hurt my chances. I also am genuinely interested in Girls' State, as government is a path I would like to follow.

If I choose to go to the Army Lacrosse Camp, it will likely be my best and only good shot to get in front of the USMA coaching staff. I contacted them a while back to introduce myself but have not received any correspondence. Lacrosse is something that I want to pursue, however the later it gets in the game the lower my chances are. I was All-State second team last year (as a sophomore) and will probably improve a lot before the camp. I'm afraid that if I don't go to the camp I will have virtually no chance of playing at West Point as I no longer play club. Please note that I would not likely be a blue-chip recruit so it will probably not have any effect on admissions, and that I will try to walk on if I am not recruited.

What I need advice on is what I should pick. What would you do if you were in my position? Would you give up a good shot to get in front of a coach or sacrifice a boost to the WCS? I should add that I have already been accepted to SLE and that it will not conflict with any of my other plans. If you have any questions about my situation or need me to clarify anything please ask.

Thank you, Beat Navy.
When we visited West Point, they said if you have to choose between West Point's Summer Leadership Experience (SLE) and Boy's/Girl's State, chose Boy's/Girl's State. So I would choose it over anything else. DS did boy's state and got an appointment yesterday class of '22
 
Hello,

When I started plotting all of the tentative dates for things I am trying to do this summer, I noticed that the dates for Connecticut Girls' State overlap with the Army Women's Lacrosse Camp that I had originally planned on doing. I am super bummed out about this as both were things that I was excited to do.

If I choose to go to Girls' State (assuming I am accepted--I applied Feb. 1 but have not had any correspondance) I know it will increase the competitiveness of my WCS. I do have other leadership aspects--current captain of a sport and likely to be a captain of at least one more if not two, likely president of Student Government next year, band section leader, etc. However, I am concerned that not having Girls' State will hurt my chances. I also am genuinely interested in Girls' State, as government is a path I would like to follow.

If I choose to go to the Army Lacrosse Camp, it will likely be my best and only good shot to get in front of the USMA coaching staff. I contacted them a while back to introduce myself but have not received any correspondence. Lacrosse is something that I want to pursue, however the later it gets in the game the lower my chances are. I was All-State second team last year (as a sophomore) and will probably improve a lot before the camp. I'm afraid that if I don't go to the camp I will have virtually no chance of playing at West Point as I no longer play club. Please note that I would not likely be a blue-chip recruit so it will probably not have any effect on admissions, and that I will try to walk on if I am not recruited.

What I need advice on is what I should pick. What would you do if you were in my position? Would you give up a good shot to get in front of a coach or sacrifice a boost to the WCS? I should add that I have already been accepted to SLE and that it will not conflict with any of my other plans. If you have any questions about my situation or need me to clarify anything please ask.

Thank you, Beat Navy.

Did you hear back about your laurel girls state acceptance yet for Connecticut because I applied the first hour it opened and the woman in charge of my district said acceptances weren’t out yet which was nearly a week ago!
 
Well, my son chose SLE over Boy's State (they were the same week). He is currently a cadet at WP, so no, not everyone 'needs' Boy's/Girl's State to get into WP. He had leadership in other areas. Once you max out the number of available points in the leadership category, adding more leadership to your resume doesn't gain you any more points in this category. If you have a Field Force Rep, I'd encourage you to chat with this person for advice.
 
Did you hear back about your laurel girls state acceptance yet for Connecticut because I applied the first hour it opened and the woman in charge of my district said acceptances weren’t out yet which was nearly a week ago!

I applied within the first couple hours, I haven’t heard anything yet, not even a confirmation. Hope that helps.
 
Well, my son chose SLE over Boy's State (they were the same week). He is currently a cadet at WP, so no, not everyone 'needs' Boy's/Girl's State to get into WP. He had leadership in other areas. Once you max out the number of available points in the leadership category, adding more leadership to your resume doesn't gain you any more points in this category. If you have a Field Force Rep, I'd encourage you to chat with this person for advice.

That’s what I’m thinking. I have a lot of leadership stuff elsewhere in sports and clubs, but I’m still hesitant. I’m planning on emailing my FFR about it this week to see what he says.
 
best Answer to this question comes from your FFR or your RC. My 2019 cadet was offered SLE and boys state. Based on his leadership profile in his application packet his RC advised him to attend SLE. So it is all dependent upon the candidates strengths
 
best Answer to this question comes from your FFR or your RC. My 2019 cadet was offered SLE and boys state. Based on his leadership profile in his application packet his RC advised him to attend SLE. So it is all dependent upon the candidates strengths

Thank you! I was wondering if it was too pushy to immediately contact the RC with this question but this helps me a lot.
 
Hands down go to Girls State if any conflict. All others don’t add any points to your WCS. If you’re a Girl Scout Gold or Venture Summit that adds additional big points to your WCS. Unfortunately, SLE and summer camps don’t add any points. Good luck and enjoy the summer. SLE if can go please go. My DS loved it.
 
Thank you! I was wondering if it was too pushy to immediately contact the RC with this question but this helps me a lot.

Your RC is there to help you. I’d actually recommend talking to him over your FFR, as he has the best access to your portal and will be able to tell you if you’ve already maxed the EAS.
 
I'm trying to figure out how to write this without sounding cruel.
What I'm going to write is a general observation and does not apply specifically to West Point.
If you are not being recruited by other schools or come from a top notch, well respected club, going to a sports camp is a long shot and I would pick Girl's State so you get some application credit. If you are good enough to get noticed at the sports camp, then you will be good enough to walk on.
If you want to play at West Point the best thing you can do is make sure the coach knows who you are and they see you play in tournaments. Perhaps have coaches reach out to them.
If you don't have coaches reaching out to you by the end of your sophomore year then you are being overlooked for the D1 level. This does not mean you will not be able to play at the D1 level, just that coaches do not yet think you can and it will require redoubled effort on your part to make it. My DD was in this boat but in soccer. When she realized she was not being recruited she worked harder. She ended up as an invited walk on at a D1 program and made it, played a bunch as a freshman. That's key- even if a walk on you want to be an invited walk on.
I'm not trying to quash your dream of playing for West Point if that is a goal of yours. Just want you to be realistic. Having written all of that I don't know anything about you aside from what you have written. I don't know you level of play- the only ones who can really give you feed back on that and should be are your coaches.
Good luck. Hope to see you playing at USMA.
 
I'm trying to figure out how to write this without sounding cruel.
What I'm going to write is a general observation and does not apply specifically to West Point.
If you are not being recruited by other schools or come from a top notch, well respected club, going to a sports camp is a long shot and I would pick Girl's State so you get some application credit. If you are good enough to get noticed at the sports camp, then you will be good enough to walk on.
If you want to play at West Point the best thing you can do is make sure the coach knows who you are and they see you play in tournaments. Perhaps have coaches reach out to them.
If you don't have coaches reaching out to you by the end of your sophomore year then you are being overlooked for the D1 level. This does not mean you will not be able to play at the D1 level, just that coaches do not yet think you can and it will require redoubled effort on your part to make it. My DD was in this boat but in soccer. When she realized she was not being recruited she worked harder. She ended up as an invited walk on at a D1 program and made it, played a bunch as a freshman. That's key- even if a walk on you want to be an invited walk on.
I'm not trying to quash your dream of playing for West Point if that is a goal of yours. Just want you to be realistic. Having written all of that I don't know anything about you aside from what you have written. I don't know you level of play- the only ones who can really give you feed back on that and should be are your coaches.
Good luck. Hope to see you playing at USMA.

No worries on being to harsh; I always appreciate honest criticism. My end goal is an appointment--whether lacrosse is a part of that or not. It may be more realistic for me to attempt to walk on during CBT, or it may not. I need to do an honest assessment of my skills, particularly following this spring season, and go from there. Specifically to West Point, their program is very new, only having been moved from club to NCAA two years ago. This does not mean that their program is not of high caliber, but they will not attract most of the top recruits (like say, Maryland, BC, Navy). A lot depends on how much I improve this coming season, what my RC says on my leadership resumé, etc. Thanks for the response!
 
No worries on being to harsh; I always appreciate honest criticism. My end goal is an appointment--whether lacrosse is a part of that or not. It may be more realistic for me to attempt to walk on during CBT, or it may not. I need to do an honest assessment of my skills, particularly following this spring season, and go from there. Specifically to West Point, their program is very new, only having been moved from club to NCAA two years ago. This does not mean that their program is not of high caliber, but they will not attract most of the top recruits (like say, Maryland, BC, Navy). A lot depends on how much I improve this coming season, what my RC says on my leadership resumé, etc. Thanks for the response!

That’s a realistic assessment of the program.

So here’s the deal.

Going to Girl’s State is guaranteed to get you extra points for the admission process.

Going to the lacrosse camp does not guarantee you becoming a recruited athlete.

The latter, being a recruited athlete, helps more in the admission process. But coaches only get a limited number of slots that they can use.

Being an invited walk in may also help.
 
So here’s the deal.

Going to Girl’s State is guaranteed to get you extra points for the admission process.

Going to the lacrosse camp does not guarantee you becoming a recruited athlete.

That's what I'm thinking. If I can get the extra points on the WCS that could potentially be a difference maker in admissions, I would have the opportunity to try and walk on. If I end up with a TWE, I'll never get the opportunity to even try. If I skip Girls' State and don't get an appointment offer I know I'll end up kicking myself in hindsight, even if it is just a small piece to the whole application.
 
You are right on track by asking your RC. Your RC will have the best insight into your application and can best steer you in the direction that you need to go. If you could use the leadership points then girls state is awesome. If your leadership qualifications are very well rounded your RC may steer you in a different direction. It is all dependent on individual qualifications. Best of luck
 
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