USMA without varsity sports

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recott

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Does anyone have any insight on how possible it is to into USMA without any varsity sports? I have extremely high academics and do a non-competitive sport 25+ hours of the week as well as school club positions. Also, at my high school, you can not do any clubs if you do a varsity sport as they take place at the same time.
 
Look up USMA’s Class of 2024 profile. As with recent classes, it shows that more than 90% of plebes played a varsity sport in high school. So while it’s possible to win offer of appointment without a varsity sport, it’s not common. You’ll need other parts of your application package to shine.

Know that a strong CFA is not the same thing as playing a varsity sport. The SAs value competitive athletics because they develop such traits as teamwork, leadership, discipline, resilience, persistence and time management. So you’ll need to show those traits via other means.
 
recott said:
Does anyone have any insight on how possible it is to into USMA without any varsity sports? I have extremely high academics and do a non-competitive sport 25+ hours of the week as well as school club positions. Also, at my high school, you can not do any clubs if you do a varsity sport as they take place at the same time.
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You should try to join, track&field. It’s a easy way to earn a varsity letter and USMA views it just like any sport.
 
I would say it's possible, though not common simply because a lot of competitive applicants have varsity letters.

I'm not sure what type of non-competitive sport you play, but if it's something that isn't offered at school and doing it outside of school is the only way you can do it at an elite level, then you might have a good story to tell about how the sport developed your character/leadership skills, etc. and how it will help you contribute to USMA and the Army in a unique way.
 
At an admissions briefing, my DS asked if his participation on the JROTC Raider team would “count” as a varsity sport. The admissions rep said it was better to participate in a sport and earn a varsity letter. The counselor noted some schools gave a letter for Raider teams (DS’s did not), so the rep suggested adding another sport. Though he did not state a varsity letter was a requirement, it did seem that admissions valued the earning of the letter over participation in an athletic activity. As a result DS added XC and wrestling.
 
DS was a second-degree black belt and USMA counted it as a sport and DS also was part of his school's JROTC Drill, Color Guard, Exhibition, and Raiders team and his school gave him a varsity letter for it. USMA did not count that as a sport though.
 
Have two good stories in hand: why you aren't on a varsity team at your school and what sort of activities you're doing to replace that experience. If your school forces a choice between activities and sports just stand behind your choice and roll through to question two with what you've gained from your club sport experience. The thing you want to watch for is the team aspect of it, so while a black belt displays athleticism and perseverance for example, you do need to find ways to illustrate how you can participate and lead in a team environment.

Some years ago @Christcorp wrote a sticky post on sports and your academy application that goes over this. The discussion got away from the topic pretty quickly but there's a bunch here to consider:
https://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/sports-and-your-academy-application.44076/
 
My DS was a wrestler but on a very good team and wasn’t able to wrestle enough to get a Varsity letter. But he wrestled in National tournaments up and down the East Coast with his club and his FFR rep said that would get him points because of the level of competition he was wrestling against.
 
USMA Dad 2025 said:
My DS was a wrestler but on a very good team and wasn’t able to wrestle enough to get a Varsity letter. But he wrestled in National tournaments up and down the East Coast with his club and his FFR rep said that would get him points because of the level of competition he was wrestling against.
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I think this is what some candidates don't think about when looking at the 80-90% varsity letter stat. Your DS is invested in a competitive sport. He won't be "counted" as having a varsity letter but that is not indicative of his investment. I was also one of those. I played on a traveling club volleyball team for 8 years, was on the JV volleyball team, and ran track but never earned a varsity letter. I went to a large, sports-competitive high school. However, I was invested in sports and they were part of my life. It helped me secure an appointment to USAFA and helped me with the physical aspects of attending USAFA.

My point is that while up to 90% of appointees have a varsity letter, more than that have an investment in a sport without the letter. As many have said, participation in sports is important to SAs. To the OP, 25+ hours/week in a non-competitive sport sounds like an investment to me. I would bring it up to your FFR and/or RC to see if it is worth an allocation of points.
 
It's all about the WCS points, which can be earned in many ways. Sports contribute to Leadership WCS points. If you have enough Leadership points from other activities to make up for not participating in a Varsity sport, your chances for admission are the same as if your points came from a varsity sport.

The greater question is the ability to handle the rigorous physical requirements of USMA once appointed. USMA attracts physically oriented applicants, which is why so many have Varsity letters. An athletic person without Varsity sports should do fine. A non-athletic person will struggle.
 
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