To take the SAT again?

His application was complete, including BGO interview and qualified DoDMERB with no waivers, by the end of June.

There are so many kids on this site, and not, that have similar stats as my DS. In the service academy and ROTC scholarship world, his stats aren't really that incredible (although his mama thinks so!), but with the help of this site and a few awesome individuals who made recommendations on where to fill some holes in his application (vista123:thumb:), these are the things that must be done to compete in the crazy witches brew that is the Whole Candidate Score. And yet, when you mix in all the secret ingredients like competitive districts and principal (or not!) nominations and all the other things admissions uses, sometimes you still don't make the cut. But you cannot even get looked at if your application doesn't scream "I'm the one!"

At the end of the day, all you can do is ask yourself, "did I do my best?" and if you can answer yes, then you must be satisfied, because once you hit submit, it's out of your hands.
 
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usna1985 said:
Two main thoughts here:

1. Don't leave "points on the table." You want to excel in every area possible -- grades, SATs, CFA, etc. No one minor "blip" is going to kill anyone's chances, but they all add up. 660/650 SAT vs. 700/700. Regular calc and chem vs. AP. Earning 2 As and 3 Bs vs. 4 As and 1 B. Running the mile in 6:30 vs. 6:00. Each element is an opportunity for you to shine -- do your very best!

2. Even if you do all of the above, it may not be enough. The fact is that SAs have more terrific candidate's like Dial's DS than they have slots. And there is the mandated geographic repesentation that the Harvards and Stanfords aren't required to match.

In the end, you can only do your very best. Just make sure that, when the process is over, you can say you did give 100%.
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I was typing while you posted! Could not agree more! This is the advice we took to heart long ago. :thumb:
 
Appointments aren't given out just based on standardized test scores. My point was that while somone may have excellent scores, they can still get a TWE. If, for example, you teacher recommendations say something along the lines of 'very bright individual who tends to be disruptive in class and doesn't work well in team situations'...........it wouldn't surprise me to find that person does not get an appointment. Or they don't have any ECA's or sports or leadership.....or on and on. Your WCS is sum total of all of these.

Some people are also more comfortable taking standardized tests multiple times since they understand the process better and therefore have less anxiety and can concentrate better. Applying to a service academy is NOT your typical college, so articles that talk about admissions processes at civilian colleges really aren't relevant to the current discussion.

As other posters have also mentioned, the NOM process considers different factors then the USNA admissions board, so it is possible for someone to be 3Q and NOT get a NOM. There is also the issue of competative districts for NOM's having far more applicants than available NOM's. The admissions board, on the other hand, applies the same criteria to determine if someone is 3Q regardless of where they are from.
 
Thanks for all the advice, I got a 1990 composite on the june sat.
630cr/700ma/660w. Will that along with my 32 act composite suffice or should I use my summer to study and take them again in the fall? I also need to take subject tests for my plan b's in the fall.

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I'm also a 2019 candidate with a 33 composite ACT however my subscores are 35 English and 28 Math. Even if I get my math up to 30-32 on the Sept ACT will the weak math score on my first ACT count against me? Do you have any advice for getting my math score up?
 
My DS took the ACT 3 times and the SAT 3 times.Each time he did a little better.The SA look very favorably on those that take the test multiple times.They super score.Can't get any better then that.
 
its not just about sat scores, at my CVW my host Midshipmen had a 1780 on the SAT buuuuuuutttttt was also captain of various varsity teams, had a solid gap, ect ect ect
 
lizadventures said:
I'm also a 2019 candidate with a 33 composite ACT however my subscores are 35 English and 28 Math. Even if I get my math up to 30-32 on the Sept ACT will the weak math score on my first ACT count against me? Do you have any advice for getting my math score up?
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Yes. Take it again. Twice if necessary. Study just the Math now. Take practice tests under timed conditions. The math concepts tested are not that advanced. Being able to quickly recognize the question and work it quickly is the trick to better scores. Once you've done a bunch of practice tests, you'll recognize the different question formats and be able to work more quickly. March2success.com is free and has 6 or 8 practice tests with explanations. You can just take the math portions.
 
Rufus said:
The SA look very favorably on those that take the test multiple times.They super score.Can't get any better then that.
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To be clear, you don't get any bonus points for simply taking the test multiple times. You get bonus points for a higher score. Obviously, retaking the test could result in a higher score and a lower score won't count against you. So, there's no downside to retaking other than financial cost and your time on a Saturday morning. But those with high scores need to weigh the likelihood of improving significantly vs. the cost of retaking.
 
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