West Point and the Homeschooler

lacey_5

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Oct 2, 2017
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I have a 7th grader currently interested in West Point and all things Army. We are a homeschooling military family. I got the distinct impression that the selection process predominantly considers those traditionally educated based off of certain criteria that could only be obtained from a public or private school setting. In short, as I understand it, my son will be behind the gun no matter how many achievements and leadership positions he has outside of school. I am very new to all things West Point, so any and all advice, guidance and information is highly appreciated! What can he do in order to set himself apart from traditional school children once he hits high school, assuming we maintain a homeschool trajectory. Currently, he is in scouts and has expressed interest in Joint Military Cadets of America. Would JROTC or Civil Air Patrol be better? How does West Point consider a homeschooled high schooler when it comes to academics? Thank you in advance!
 
My son was homeschooled completely from preschool to 12th grade. He is currently a cadet at USMA. I will explain about what we did.
My son had his sights set on WP when he began high school. We have no military background, so we had a big learning curve. We read the USMA website and each year looked as what they were looking for in an applicant. ( We started reading here: http://www.usma.edu/admissions/SitePages/Pros_Cadets_Middle.aspx)

In his sophomore year he attended a few Academy Days presentations so he knew that he still wanted to pursue WP. We also met a field force rep at one of these events and he helped my son with the CFA test. Academically, he worked hard and began county college classes during the second semester of his sophomore year - so he submitted my transcript and also a transcript from county college.
He was not in JROTC (I don't know if it was an option at our local high school) but he was in a wide variety of other things including two sports - karate (an individual sport) and hockey (a team sport). Both sports were through the Rec Dept (and this was not a drawback on his resume. He was able to be a team captain on this hockey team a few times - so that is how the met the 'Team captain goal" (I put goal in quotes because it's not required but we all know that WP likes to see it on the applications).

My son was not is scouts, but if your son is currently a scout and enjoys it, encourage him to become an Eagle. That would help him fulfill the Leadership requirement. Of course, there are other ways to do this, but scouting is a nice way to do it.

My son only did outside activities that he enjoyed and didn't do anything just to look good for WP. That said, most of the activities he did were the kinds of things that a WP applicant would be doing - lots of sports, leadership activities, service projects and he also worked.

If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them.
 
I agree with bookreader as far as the path his son took. My DD was homeschooled for several years and is a current USMA cadet. By being homeschooled it actually offered more opportunity as far as community service projects. She initated the projects, contacted, and organized the event which helps with communication and leadership. She also participated in several oratory contests such as 4-H, American Legion, and the Optimist Club; the majority of high school students do not participate in these events. If I can be of further help, let me know
 
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