UPDATE: My Reapplication to USNA

rjgetler

New Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2018
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7
Hello again, everyone. About two months ago, I posted My Reapplication to USNA to ask the Service Academy Forms community for their advice and opinions on reapplying should I be denied admission after being WAITLISTED. I have some new ideas and plans, but I also now have some very serious questions.
I HAVE READ THE "Reapplying to USNA (after a turndown)"AND "Previous Candidates & College Candidates" ARTICLES.
____________________________________________________________________________________
  • Naval Academy Admissions Status
    • Waitlist (As of May 1, 2019)
  • College Attending
    • Purdue University
      • Engineering
      • NROTC - Marine Option Scholarship
      • FYE Courses:
        • Chemistry
        • Physics
        • Calculus I, II
        • English
        • Programming Applications
    • QUESTIONS ABOUT MY MAJOR:
      • I am really interested in CYBERSECURITY now, so I am thinking about changing to Purdue's Cybersecurity OR Computer Science schools, BUT neither of their curriculums include Chemistry or Physics during the first year.
      • WOULD NOT HAVING CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS BE A SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR MY REAPPLICATION?
      • DO THEY REALLY CARE THAT MUCH ABOUT THE PLEBE COURSES?
  • High School Education
    • ACT
      • Composite = 31
      • Math = 33
      • English = 35
    • GPA (Unweighted) (My high school does not Weight)
      • 3.89
    • Class Rank
      • Top 12%
    • Courses
      • AP U.S. Government and Politics
      • DC Public Speaking
      • DC English 101/102
      • DC U.S. History
      • DC Chemistry
      • DC Physics
      • AP Calculus AB
    • Extracurriculars
      • Cross-Country
        • Two-Year Captain
        • All-District: "First Team" Member
        • All-Region "Second Team" Member
      • Tutoring Club
        • Two-Year President
      • KY Boys State
        • Alumnus
        • 2019 Staff Member
      • KY Governor's Scholars Program
      • Boy Scouts of America
        • Eagle Scout
        • Senior Patrol Leader
      • Python Computer Programming Certification - Udemy.com
  • College Extracurriculars
    • NROTC - Marine Option Scholarship
    • Learning Community
    • Engineering Research Club
  • BGO
    • I will respectfully request for new BGO to provide USNA a new perspective on me.
    • I will request for my BGO to hold my interview in December to allow for him/her to comment on my college experience.

If anyone were to offer their advice and opinion for my plan (ESPECIALLY THE QUESTION ABOUT MY MAJOR), I would be truly!

Thank You!
 
The majors question is a tough one to answer. They do recommend that you take chem, but it isn’t a requirement. I know of a successful reapplicant who was a poli sci major and took no STEM courses the semester he applied. But his case is definitely an outlier. Cyber is still a STEM major and if you’re taking calculus that will be helpful. It may be worth running this question by your admissions counselor.

That said, you still need to consider your future independent of whether you get accepted. Consider whether it will be a significant loss to have taken chem and not be admitted, if for whatever reason things don’t go as planned.
 
You can still take the courses if you want to especially if you have time over the summer. Computer Science with Cyber Security is still something that USNA would be glad you took and it will make you competitive when you reapply.
 
____________________________________________________________________________________
DO THEY REALLY CARE THAT MUCH ABOUT THE PLEBE COURSES?

Yes, they do. You mentioned that you read the sticky above for Re Applicants. I direct your attention once more to the third paragraph:
"Take the following courses -- calc, chemistry w/lab, English, history and, if possible physics. Get As or high Bs. I cannot emphasize this enough."
 
It may be worth running this question by your admissions counselor.

I agree with this.

1. If you were on the waitlist, that means you were already a highly desirable candidate; there just were not enough seats.
2. USNA suggests Calc, Chem, Eng/Comp, and history. Part of what factors into this is your track record in these courses -- if you took advanced STEM courses and knocked it out of the park in those courses, individually, repeating them might be less of the concern. For those that didn't do as well in H.S. Chem (for example), it might be more imperative to take College Chem to demonstrate they can succeed.
3. I also briefly looked at Purdue's CompSci/CS programs. As you mention, they require Calc and Eng/Comp in both programs, so that isn't really a concern. The question becomes what do you substitute Chem/Phys and History with? This is probably where you should try to integrate (to the extent possible) some of the more rigorous CompSci/CS program courses. The other thing to consider is attending the summer session and taking the first Calc, Eng/Comp and a CompSci/CS course, that way in the fall you are taking the second installment of Calc, Eng/Comp, and continuing with more CompSci/CS courses. Thus, your "first" semester transcript will reflect 2 Calcs and Eng/Comp classes.

So...I would look at how you can roadmap your CompSci/CS track at Purdue to be the most challenging -- whether you would attend summer classes or not -- then call your admissions counselor, explain the situation and give them your plan on how you would wisely fill your schedule with challenging courses. Then they will tell you whether you have a plan for success or need to change some things around. The worse thing that happens is they tell you to retake Chem and History and, as stated above, that might be better for the summer so your CompSci/CS track doesn't get railroaded.

4. Definitely continue ECAs at college and, where possible, leadership roles are desired.

5. Something to consider....it might be appropriate to get an additional (short) LOR from the lead academic official for the CompSci/CS, certifying that you took the most challenging curriculum offered in the FR fall semester.

Edit:
6. Might be a way to tie your curriculum desires to your personal statement.
 
It may be worth running this question by your admissions counselor.

I agree with this.

1. If you were on the waitlist, that means you were already a highly desirable candidate; there just were not enough seats.
2. USNA suggests Calc, Chem, Eng/Comp, and history. Part of what factors into this is your track record in these courses -- if you took advanced STEM courses and knocked it out of the park in those courses, individually, repeating them might be less of the concern. For those that didn't do as well in H.S. Chem (for example), it might be more imperative to take College Chem to demonstrate they can succeed.
3. I also briefly looked at Purdue's CompSci/CS programs. As you mention, they require Calc and Eng/Comp in both programs, so that isn't really a concern. The question becomes what do you substitute Chem/Phys and History with? This is probably where you should try to integrate (to the extent possible) some of the more rigorous CompSci/CS program courses. The other thing to consider is attending the summer session and taking the first Calc, Eng/Comp and a CompSci/CS course, that way in the fall you are taking the second installment of Calc, Eng/Comp, and continuing with more CompSci/CS courses. Thus, your "first" semester transcript will reflect 2 Calcs and Eng/Comp classes.

So...I would look at how you can roadmap your CompSci/CS track at Purdue to be the most challenging -- whether you would attend summer classes or not -- then call your admissions counselor, explain the situation and give them your plan on how you would wisely fill your schedule with challenging courses. Then they will tell you whether you have a plan for success or need to change some things around. The worse thing that happens is they tell you to retake Chem and History and, as stated above, that might be better for the summer so your CompSci/CS track doesn't get railroaded.

4. Definitely continue ECAs at college and, where possible, leadership roles are desired.

5. Something to consider....it might be appropriate to get an additional (short) LOR from the lead academic official for the CompSci/CS, certifying that you took the most challenging curriculum offered in the FR fall semester.

Edit:
6. Might be a way to tie your curriculum desires to your personal statement.
.
@rjgetler says he got a TWE sometime around February of 2019 (see link below) .... Not sure how he could be subsequently "Waitlisted".
.
https://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/my-reapplication-to-usna.67043/
.
 
From everything I've heard -- including directly from Admission, a turndown is final. USNA makes absolutely sure that it's the end of the line with USNA. This ensures finality such that folks can move on to other options.
 
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