Weak areas/Areas of improvement

robinolds'mustache

robinolds'mustache

And Kill MiGs
Joined
Apr 20, 2021
Messages
35
Hi guys, I'm currently a freshman in high school, and I've been looking at the possibility of attending an SA for awhile, but particularly USNA. I know this pretty repetitive, as there's a lot of threads with a similar topic, but after being unable to get in touch with a BGO (emailed him a few times, and even worked with an admissions rep at USNA), or an ALO. I understand that these people have very busy lives, especially right now with the current admissions situation. That's why I've thrown together a brief list of my current academics, athletics, ECAs, and outside of school activities.

  • Weighted GPA /Class rank(only one my counselor has given me): 4.72, 20/512
    • All classes are honors/advanced, with the exception of an unweighted elective, and the AP Human Geo course
  • Athletics: Football, basketball, and track
  • ECA's: Debate, student council, and theatre (specifically lighting).
    • Won two awards at a regionals and area competition for lighting
    • Advanced to regionals in debate
    • Haven't been too active in student council due to time reasons, but plan to be more active.
  • Outside of school: Board member for a charity, and just received my full lifeguard certification, so I plan to do that along with football summer workouts over the summer.
    • Hosted multiple charity events
      • Most notable: Digital Combat Simulator Tournament fundraiser for veterans.
        • Served as fundraiser coordinator and commentator
        • People in attendance: 40
        • Money raised: $1,100
        • Support staff: 6
        • Other notable stats: Interviewed multiple veterans to play during the tournament.
        • All money raised went to funding for monthly local veteran's "Evening of Honor" dinners for veterans.
  • PSAT score: 1170

Other than that, the plan for the rest of the years is to see how much I can balance my plate with athletics, academics, ECA's, and more SAT studying. If I can receive the AOPA scholarship, or I can save up enough money, I do plan on getting my PPL during my Junior year.

So my questions are, what are the areas that need improvement? What else should I be looking out for/doing that would increase my "chances"? Thanks!
 
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Initial glance is quite solid. Maintaining this line-up will become ever more challenging as your course work increases in difficulty.

Academics - room for improvement on standardized testing.
Athletics - keep at it, focus on the specific elements of the candidate fitness test. Seek out leadership opportunities within your teams.
EC - seek to grow in your organizations to be offered leadership positions where you can demonstrate having an impact on the organization.

Seek to be able to quantify everything pertaining to your EC and leadership endeavors. "Hosted charity events" - get a specific number, the amount of people you led in the effort, how many attended, how much money was raised, what did it go to? The bullet statement should be crisp and not a novel.

example - "Planned and conducted 8 charity events leading 3 peers over 22 hours while running 485 Digital Combat simulations to raise $3500+ for academic scholarships benefitting children of military veterans in my community."

Everyone reading a statement like that can appreciate the scope and scale of your activity far more than a blurb without details. Compared to others who leave out the detail - this really stands out.
 
That is one thing I’m a little worried about is load management down the road, but I think if I can pull it off it’ll give me a good shot. I did buy a few books to help with the SAT, and have started the free Khan Academy study too, as I do agree that my scores are a lacking.

And for the charity bullets, that makes a lot of sense, I’ll definitely go ahead and make those edits to the charity part.

Thanks for all your advice! I’ll add those to the list!
 
So far, you look solid. As you move along through high school, narrow down the activities that you’re passionate about, stick with them, and try to get leadership positions in as many as you can. It looks like you’ve narrowed them down already. I started out as a member of about a dozen clubs my freshman year, but dropped the ones I wasn’t as interested in so that I could dedicate my time to a select few. From my experience, USNA likes to see long-term involvement in things that interest you, not scattered involvement in a ton of resume-boosters. Have a reason that you stuck with the ECAs that you did!

Definitely try to get some more community service if you can. Community service opportunities are great learning experiences and I believe mine were what boosted my application. They also gave me good content for my essays/interviews.

Overall you seem well-rounded, which is something they look for!
 
usna45116 said:
So far, you look solid. As you move along through high school, narrow down the activities that you’re passionate about, stick with them, and try to get leadership positions in as many as you can. It looks like you’ve narrowed them down already. I started out as a member of about a dozen clubs my freshman year, but dropped the ones I wasn’t as interested in so that I could dedicate my time to a select few. From my experience, USNA likes to see long-term involvement in things that interest you, not scattered involvement in a ton of resume-boosters. Have a reason that you stuck with the ECAs that you did!

Definitely try to get some more community service if you can. Community service opportunities are great learning experiences and I believe mine were what boosted my application. They also gave me good content for my essays/interviews.

Overall you seem well-rounded, which is something they look for!
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I'll definitely be sure to pick the ECAs I like, and get a leadership position in those. Also, I'll start keeping a larger eye out for community service opportunities. Thanks for the feedback!
 
You are setting yourself up with a strong foundation already in your freshman year in high school. Academically, I would say you are off to a strong start with some competitive courses in your transcript. Down the line, make sure to take some AP courses and do well in them. For a freshman, I would say your SAT score is pretty good seeing as you were in middle school not too long ago. Keep studying and you will see good results on your official SAT score. Athletics looks solid as well and definitely keep working towards getting a leadership position on the team. You are dedicated to your ECA's which admissions likes to see. Make sure to keep track of all the things you have accomplished/lead during your high school years.
 
robinolds'mustache said:
Hi guys, I'm currently a freshman in high school, and I've been looking at the possibility of attending an SA for awhile, but particularly USNA. I know this pretty repetitive, as there's a lot of threads with a similar topic, but after being unable to get in touch with a BGO (emailed him a few times, and even worked with an admissions rep at USNA), or an ALO. I understand that these people have very busy lives, especially right now with the current admissions situation. That's why I've thrown together a brief list of my current academics, athletics, ECAs, and outside of school activities.

  • Weighted GPA /Class rank(only one my counselor has given me): 4.72, 20/512
    • All classes are honors/advanced, with the exception of an unweighted elective, and the AP Human Geo course
  • Athletics: Football, basketball, and track
  • ECA's: Debate, student council, and theatre (specifically lighting).
    • Won two awards at a regionals and area competition for lighting
    • Advanced to regionals in debate
    • Haven't been too active in student council due to time reasons, but plan to be more active.
  • Outside of school: Board member for a charity, and just received my full lifeguard certification, so I plan to do that along with football summer workouts over the summer.
    • Hosted multiple charity events
      • Most notable: Digital Combat Simulator Tournament fundraiser for veterans.
        • Served as fundraiser coordinator and commentator
        • People in attendance: 40
        • Money raised: $1,100
        • Support staff: 6
        • Other notable stats: Interviewed multiple veterans to play during the tournament.
        • All money raised went to funding for monthly local veteran's "Evening of Honor" dinners for veterans.
  • PSAT score: 1170

Other than that, the plan for the rest of the years is to see how much I can balance my plate with athletics, academics, ECA's, and more SAT studying. If I can receive the AOPA scholarship, or I can save up enough money, I do plan on getting my PPL during my Junior year.

So my questions are, what are the areas that need improvement? What else should I be looking out for/doing that would increase my "chances"? Thanks!
Click to expand...
If you need help improving your SAT score Khan Academy and RV Business on youtube helped boasted my score by over 200+ points! When I did my MOC interview this year it was during covid season and my low SAT score was mentioned right away. I was able to increase my score later that year after CollegeBoard allowed students to start taking the tests again.
 
Wait... I skipped over the part where you said you were a freshman. I thought you were a junior with that profile 😳

Anyways, kudos for accomplishing all you've done this early! Not much advice I can give since I'm currently a junior in the application process, so this is more a "wow I'm impressed" post. All I can say is keep studying for your SAT/ACT, take it as many times as you need to get a solid score. Also, make sure your ECs are something you're passionate about, it'll make managing your load easier since you enjoy said ECs. Plus, USAFA likes to see consistency with ECs, it shows that you're dedicated. With your sports, try and get those team captains and varsity letters.

Anyways, great job so far! I wish I had those stats when I was a freshman. Keep up the hard work!
 
ngoogen said:
If you need help improving your SAT score Khan Academy and RV Business on youtube helped boasted my score by over 200+ points! When I did my MOC interview this year it was during covid season and my low SAT score was mentioned right away. I was able to increase my score later that year after CollegeBoard allowed students to start taking the tests again.
Click to expand...
It’s amazing the Khan Academy SAT prep is free. Glad to see it actually works haha. Thanks for the feedback!
 
fullspeedahead said:
You are setting yourself up with a strong foundation already in your freshman year in high school. Academically, I would say you are off to a strong start with some competitive courses in your transcript. Down the line, make sure to take some AP courses and do well in them. For a freshman, I would say your SAT score is pretty good seeing as you were in middle school not too long ago. Keep studying and you will see good results on your official SAT score. Athletics looks solid as well and definitely keep working towards getting a leadership position on the team. You are dedicated to your ECA's which admissions likes to see. Make sure to keep track of all the things you have accomplished/lead during your high school years.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback! I do plan to do AP Capstone, but my school does offer IB. Do the academy's favor one more than the other? Other than that, I'll certainly start making sure I'm keeping track of everything.
 
robinolds'mustache said:
Thanks for the feedback! I do plan to do AP Capstone, but my school does offer IB. Do the academy's favor one more than the other? Other than that, I'll certainly start making sure I'm keeping track of everything.
Click to expand...
The IB Diploma was not offered in my school system so I am unsure. As long as you are taking the most challenging courses and doing well, you will be competitive academically.
 
usafacellist2026 said:
Wait... I skipped over the part where you said you were a freshman. I thought you were a junior with that profile 😳

Anyways, kudos for accomplishing all you've done this early! Not much advice I can give since I'm currently a junior in the application process, so this is more a "wow I'm impressed" post. All I can say is keep studying for your SAT/ACT, take it as many times as you need to get a solid score. Also, make sure your ECs are something you're passionate about, it'll make managing your load easier since you enjoy said ECs. Plus, USAFA likes to see consistency with ECs, it shows that you're dedicated. With your sports, try and get those team captains and varsity letters.

Anyways, great job so far! I wish I had those stats when I was a freshman. Keep up the hard work!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm definitely worried about load management later on, so anything I can do to minimize that will help a lot. Thanks for the accolades and feedback!
 
This is written from my perspective as a USAFA appointee, but much of the advice should still hold. Good luck!

Advice for Future Applicants

Now that I have received an offer of appointment from USAFA, I want to do something to give back to the community on this forum. I decided to share my experiences with applying to SA’s, and so far being accepted to one. Some of you might have heard (I posted it somewhere else before), but I...
www.serviceacademyforums.com
 
KiwiBird said:
This is written from my perspective as a USAFA appointee, but much of the advice should still hold. Good luck!

Advice for Future Applicants

Now that I have received an offer of appointment from USAFA, I want to do something to give back to the community on this forum. I decided to share my experiences with applying to SA’s, and so far being accepted to one. Some of you might have heard (I posted it somewhere else before), but I...
www.serviceacademyforums.com
Click to expand...
I do hopefully intend on applying to USAFA too, so it's really helpful. That thread itself is amazing, great job, and thanks for sharing it with me!
 
As the time nears, practice interviewing. You can look great on paper, but also need to speak well, and be someone that the SA’s, and your nominating sources, can see as an Officer. Be comfortable speaking to adults, answering questions, thinking on your feet in order to answer curveball questions.
 
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