USNA Admission

[pinetree880]

I'm a junior in highschool and only recently have I made my decision to try to get into the USNA, but I’m not prepared physically. I feel like I can do well academically, as I’m in the Cambridge aice program and at the moment all of my classes are college level. I am taking part in clubs that will help with my leadership skills and community service. I also am very active with my church and like to serve and help people. I also attend to community service once a month even though I have my 100 hours. The problem is that I don’t have any high school sports. I used to do swim team for a bit in my community and still hold records, and I plan on working out and getting myself physically prepared for an event like the summer seminar if I can get, nonetheless I will still prepare to be in top physical condition. Should I be worried about not having many sports or none at all? I do plan I’m doing CrossFit soon though, after I get in some shape. Any advice?

 

[DesertCaliMom]

Kudos to arriving at a decision to join our armed services!

While sports leadership and athleticism and being able to balance grades, sports and family are all important and weighed in the decision, there's a chance you could still attend without.

But there are other methods of entry to consider, too. You could be awarded a prep school or foundation scholarship. You could enlist and show your potential that way. ROTC is also an option.

In my own son's journey to make it to Navy he remembers this: do your very best every day, and be satisfied that you've prepared as best you can - let the rest go.

 

[usna1985]

The first question is whether you enjoy sports and being athletic. If not, you're not going to be happy at USNA b/c sports is such an important and integral part of your time there. If you do like sports, you still have plenty of time to participate this year. Join a h.s. team or a community league now and in the spring. Do something during the summer. You don't have to be a varsity athlete but you should be able to demonstrate that you can handle the athletic side of USNA.

Second, you're going to need to explain why you don't participate in sports. Not to us on this forum but to your BGO and in all likelihood to your MOC's nominating committee. There aren't a lot of "good" reasons. "Bad" reasons: not liking sports, not having enough time (you'll have to find time at USNA and you'll be much busier there), not good enough to make the team (there are lots of ways to be athletic w/o being on a varsity team). Somewhat "good" reasons -- you're homeschooled; your school doesn't offer any/many sports (only somewhat good b/c there are ways to play sports even under these conditions, depending on where you live). "Good" reasons: you have to work to support your family which takes up all your free time. There are obviously other reasons, but the above are some examples.

Third, you need to do REALLY well on the CFA. You should see what it entails and start working now to do well in all areas. I can pretty much guarantee that if you max out the CFA (max every event), the lack of sports won't be a killer if your record is otherwise strong and if you can explain why you don't do sports.

 

[pinetree880]

The first question is whether you enjoy sports and being athletic. If not, you're not going to be happy at USNA b/c sports is such an important and integral part of your time there. If you do like sports, you still have plenty of time to participate this year. Join a h.s. team or a community league now and in the spring. Do something during the summer. You don't have to be a varsity athlete but you should be able to demonstrate that you can handle the athletic side of USNA.

Second, you're going to need to explain why you don't participate in sports. Not to us on this forum but to your BGO and in all likelihood to your MOC's nominating committee. There aren't a lot of "good" reasons. "Bad" reasons: not liking sports, not having enough time (you'll have to find time at USNA and you'll be much busier there), not good enough to make the team (there are lots of ways to be athletic w/o being on a varsity team). Somewhat "good" reasons -- you're homeschooled; your school doesn't offer any/many sports (only somewhat good b/c there are ways to play sports even under these conditions, depending on where you live). "Good" reasons: you have to work to support your family which takes up all your free time. There are obviously other reasons, but the above are some examples.

Third, you need to do REALLY well on the CFA. You should see what it entails and start working now to do well in all areas. I can pretty much guarantee that if you max out the CFA (max every event), the lack of sports won't be a killer if your record is otherwise strong and if you can explain why you don't do sports.

Right, I do enjoy sports a lot and I love to play some in my free time with friends, the classes I have are just very demanding and some nights I could have an hour or two of homework and then the others I could be up till 1 in the morning still trying to finish it. I’ll look around for spors clubs that are coming up, something that I seem interested in that I know I can make because I think it would be too late to try to play soccer for a club if I never played for a soccer team before. I also found the workout recommendation for the plebe summer and I was thinking of following that and trying that to get into shape. Thank you though.

 

[USNAismyplace]

do your very best every day, and be satisfied that you've prepared as best you can - let the rest go.

Love this. I also live by this as I reach for USNA (class of '23 hopeful) , and I believe trying your hardest at everything is key! I love reading all of your input