USNA Bound: My story, and do I have a chance?

USNAismyplace

USNAismyplace

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I am a female sophomore in high school with my eyes on the prize: USNA. I have a 4.29 GPA, national honor society member, am active with community service, member of an elite tennis training squad and very strong athlete, #1 player on the school varsity tennis team and soon-to-be-captain, longtime competitive sailor and swimmer, member and potential leader of multiple ECAs (debate, Key Club, and I am starting an Environmental Club), and have received numerous awards and scholarships with my academics, as well as several awards for athletics. My uncle was a grad and along with him I have 3 other family members who were in the Navy. I live in MA, 9th district.

Questions:
1. Is MA competitive for nominations?
2. Also, I have a twin sister who wants to go to USNA and she has a competitive edge against me with academics, and there is a rather arrogant boy in my grade who wants to go to Navy as well. Do twins ever go to USNA?
3. By the criteria provided above alone (not taking into consideration my competition in the last question), am I looking compatible to be in the standings for candidacy at USNA?
 
WRT twins, there have been dozens over the years, identical and fraternal. Each must be competitive in their own right, of course, and be clear they each have a desire to attend an SA and pursue an officer career. We sponsored a set of female twins, identical, who have gone on to be very successful. Another set of twins we sponsored, older twin stayed, younger twin left after one year and went to Cal Poly. Younger realized he was just in the habit of being with his twin, and he wanted to be an engineer, not serve as an officer. That is key - fun to think about doing it together, but each has to be clear on desire and motivation.

This is an old article about a famous set of twins, who both reached the rank of vice admiral.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-02-14/news/1998045006_1_john-ryan-academy-rear-admiral


Browse the Nominations forum, and search on "chance me...stats" threads to get a feel for common themes.
Plan to apply to NASS next year and look into Girls' State.
Read EVERYTHING on the usna.edu website, links, pulldowns, etc. Start your preliminary research on NROTC scholarships and schools for a parallel campaign in the coming years.
Research the physical and medical disqualifiers (plenty of threads here on SAF), so if there is anything you need to addresss early, or need to be off meds for a certain amount of time, you won't be surprised.

And if you can't do pull-ups now, get started!

WRT "competitiveness in MA" - there is zero you can do about it. You will compete against anyone else who decides they want to apply for a nom that year. Typically, the Northeast corridor has a high rate of interest for the 4 SAs in the NE. USCGA does not require a nom. Be sure to research all 5 Academies. You might surprise yourself.

Go to your elected reps' websites and look for Service Academy information sessions. Though not eligible yet to apply for a nom, you can get smart on the process.

If you are a star in your sport, look into athletic recruitment. Research www.navysports.com.
You can also look at the Navy summer sports camps - they fill up quickly. Look now.

Visit USNA, sit in on the Admissions brief, take the Visitor Center tour. The more info you have, the better decision you can make.
 
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CAPT is spot on as always. I know there are at least one set of female twins in '17 and one set of male twins in '18, and there are twins in different academy concurrently.

Admissions consider each candidate in his/her own merits - it is not necessarily both appointed or none.

If you are inspired to be a leader of consequences, go for it and apply. Best of luck!
 
ktnatalk said:
CAPT is spot on as always. I know there are at least one set of female twins in '17 and one set of male twins in '18, and there are twins in different academy concurrently.

Admissions consider each candidate in his/her own merits - it is not necessarily both appointed or none.

If you are inspired to be a leader of consequences, go for it and apply. Best of luck!
Click to expand...

Just one addition: your ACT and/or SAT scores will be very important. Schools vary so the Academies use these tests for competitive comparison (like many other schools). As a sophomore, I recommend taking the PSAT this year and use the results to guide your preparation for the SAT / ACT tests this summer and in your junior year. Good luck!
 
Absolutely on Twins.. two identical brothers in my class. Will never forget sitting in King Hall first week of Plebe Summer, filling out forms en masse. One of the twins (Twin A) is in my squad, Twin B is in the Company a couple tables over and catches the squad leaders eye. Squad leader barks out, Mr. (Twin A), do you have a brother ...? Twin A answers, and the Squad Leader laughs....and tells him he better not try switching with his brother. I don't think they ever did, but would be a fun way to twitch with the upperclass !
 
I also had a brother of an identical twin set. They were in the same battalion. So they often ran by the same folks. They would get yelled at for not greeting properly or being accused for being lost until everyone figure it out. It was pretty comical. I actually ended up with their little sister as my Plebe when I was a 3/C. Great family. We also had another set of twins in my class... not identical.
 
I had a twin on my batt staff, with brother in another batt. They were so identical, down to the voice, I routinely mixed him up with his brother. I finally begged for the secret identifier, and "my" twin revealed he had a small white scar on his chin from a childhood accident. They had fun as detailers during uniform races, blowing the plebes' minds with how fast they could apparently change uniforms...

For our set of identical sponsor daughters, one had a tiny mole near her right eye. When they were in the back seat and talking, I could not tell them apart. Now, they don't look anything alike to me, because I have known them so long.
 
It may be an old story but DD told me about detailers running a scam on Plebes. Detailer said you have to get into your PT gear in two minutes if I can do it you can. Into his room and comes out in PT under two. You now have three minutes to get into your day uniform, if I can do it you can. Under three and out he comes. Next uniform has five minutes for change. He makes it and Plebes do not, Plebes do pushups. The Detailers were twins and both walked out in different uniforms at the end Company Plebes did think it was funny after pushups. Cadre were in different Company's so Plebes never met them before.
 
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