What are my chances? (SLE for 2018)

[xyzabc123]

Hello. I am a male Asian-American high school junior currently enrolled at a competitive high school in Orange County, California. I was wondering what my chances of getting admitted to West Point SLE, given my statistics.

On a side note, I do not have any family in the military. I'm not sure if this has a positive or negative effect on my chances of admission to the SLE. Please let me know if this plays any role.

SAT: 1540 (first time, August test score)

Math: 800
Verbal: 740
Essay: 7-3-7

ACT: N/A

GPA UW: 4.00
GPA W: 4.64
Top 10% of class (estimation, school does not rank)

SAT Subject: Math II (760), plan to retake for perfect

Coursework:
- Freshman: English Honors 1, Band, Spanish 1, Alg2/TrigH, Track and Field, BiologyH, Human Geo AP
- Sophomore: English Honors 2, Spanish 2, PreCalculusH, Track and Field, ChemistryH, World History
- Junior: English Honors 3, Spanish 3, Calculus BC AP, Chemistry AP, Psychology AP, US History AP

So far, I have gotten a 5 on every attempted AP exam (Human Geo). I have also gotten all A's in every class I have taken so far. My current projection for my junior year is a 5 on the Calculus, Psychology, and US History exams and a 4 on the Chemistry exam.

Sports:

- Track and Field (2 years)
- Taekwondo (8 years, second degree black belt)

Community Service/Extracurricular

- Boy Scouts of America (4.5 years)
- Eagle Scout Candidate (currently working on service project)
- 3 leadership positions in scouts (ASPL, Librarian, PL)
- 30+ merit badges
- 40+ service hours accrued from scouting opportunity
- National Honor Society (member)
- Love of God Club (member)
- Trombone, school band (4 years)

Please give me your honest input. I appreciate your time.

 

[boy_from_cali]

Hey John,

I'm also an Korean-American also living in California. Your academic stats are stellar and I wouldn't worry about your extracurricular because they are also pretty glowing in an admissions point of view. The SLE app and West Point app doesn't care about your SAT subject scores and you don't have a place to submit your AP test scores on the file as I recall which kind of sucks because you want to highlights your strong standardized tests. Are you on the varsity team for Track and Field? Have you won any athletic awards or been selected as team captain? At this point, you should focus on improving your athletic resume because West Point values team sports more than individual sports.

In response to your other question, having no military background will have no negative effect on you, but it won't have a positive effect either. It just has no effect. Make sure you apply the minute the deadline opens as well! Good luck

 

[Maplerock]

Start packing.

 

[USMA 1994]

I would say they are pretty good, but their is more to just achievement that goes into SLE. It is used more of a marketing tool.

Remember that SLE acceptance is not necessarily a good predictor of an appointment. Most cadets do not attend SLE and attending does not impact your WCS as you compete on your nomination slate.

 

[Maplerock]

I would say they are pretty good, but their is more to just achievement that goes into SLE. It is used more of a marketing tool.

Remember that SLE acceptance is not necessarily a good predictor of an appointment. Most cadets do not attend SLE and attending does not impact your WCS as you compete on your nomination slate.

You're right in some cases, but I believe that Acceptance to SLE or Summer Seminar acceptance is a great indicator of possible acceptance. I also believe that minorities, foreign heritage students, and females get priority not only for summer, but for appointments. Just my opinion, but I feel that qualified females and under-represented minorities (pc=diversity) that successfully complete SS or SLE are usually offered appointments.

 

[eljay60]

I agree with Maplerock - start packing and checking for flights. But as a former Scoutmaster - FINISH YOUR PROJECT!!!!!! How close are you to 18 years old? An Eagle rank only comes through effort and perseverance - it takes literal years to achieve - and is one of the few things specifically named as counting for points in evaluating applicants. Okay, nagging finished....

 

[USMA 1994]

I would say they are pretty good, but their is more to just achievement that goes into SLE. It is used more of a marketing tool.

Remember that SLE acceptance is not necessarily a good predictor of an appointment. Most cadets do not attend SLE and attending does not impact your WCS as you compete on your nomination slate.

You're right in some cases, but I believe that Acceptance to SLE or Summer Seminar acceptance is a great indicator of possible acceptance. I also believe that minorities, foreign heritage students, and females get priority not only for summer, but for appointments. Just my opinion, but I feel that qualified females and under-represented minorities (pc=diversity) that successfully complete SS or SLE are usually offered appointments.

My DD is a highly qualified female, recruited athlete and LOE recipient that went to SLE. She did not get an appointment her first year. Being a minority can help but it is no sure thing as they start slotting against what is available.

The lesson here is to always do your best and have a plan B. No one knows who else you are competing against and what may happen in any given year.

She re-applied and was appointed through a ROTC nomination her second time.

 

[xyzabc123]

I agree with Maplerock - start packing and checking for flights. But as a former Scoutmaster - FINISH YOUR PROJECT!!!!!! How close are you to 18 years old? An Eagle rank only comes through effort and perseverance - it takes literal years to achieve - and is one of the few things specifically named as counting for points in evaluating applicants. Okay, nagging finished....

Thank you for your reply. I am currently 16, going on 17 in late November. I am currently in the process of my fabricating my prototype (I have completed the project proposal and plan). I should be done with the physical project by Thanksgiving break. Plus, I have all of my Eagle-required badges. Definitely a plus!

 

[xyzabc123]

I would say they are pretty good, but their is more to just achievement that goes into SLE. It is used more of a marketing tool.

Remember that SLE acceptance is not necessarily a good predictor of an appointment. Most cadets do not attend SLE and attending does not impact your WCS as you compete on your nomination slate.

You're right in some cases, but I believe that Acceptance to SLE or Summer Seminar acceptance is a great indicator of possible acceptance. I also believe that minorities, foreign heritage students, and females get priority not only for summer, but for appointments. Just my opinion, but I feel that qualified females and under-represented minorities (pc=diversity) that successfully complete SS or SLE are usually offered appointments.

Thank you for your reply. I attached the SLE brochure link, which reads that "over 40% of SLE attendees attend USMA" as incoming freshmen the next year. I was on College Confidential about a week ago to inquire about the relevance of the SLE and seem to be getting mixed messages. Though I understand that the SLE clearly has no adverse effect on admissions processes, I was wondering if the quote listed above is true due to the shared academic / motivational pedigree of the applicant pool of the USMA SLE and USMA college admissions.

https://www.usma.edu/admissions/Shared Documents/SLE.pdf

 

[MemberLG]

You're right in some cases, but I believe that Acceptance to SLE or Summer Seminar acceptance is a great indicator of possible acceptance. I also believe that minorities, foreign heritage students, and females get priority not only for summer, but for appointments. Just my opinion, but I feel that qualified females and under-represented minorities (pc=diversity) that successfully complete SS or SLE are usually offered appointments.

Asians are not considered as an under-represented group at West Point. West Point has goals for diversity, not priorities.

 

[Artillery]

Yea so I went to SLE in 2017 (hopefully going to West Point for class of 2022 ), and it's pretty clear that it's a marketing tool. They sugarcoat a lot of West Point (although I think they do a decent job at teaching you that it will be difficult at times, but I'm not a cadet yet, so how would I know).

My philosophy on it is that West Point would not waste time marketing to people that they do not want to come there. Of course, there is a fairly large pool of people who are familiar enough with West Point that they wouldn't want to waste time marketing to as well, but are confident they will come there, hence the 40%. But if you work the math out, if 6000 apply and 1000 get in, and each class is around 1200 cadets, it makes sense that those who are pretty serious going into SLE are going to get admissions. Of the 1000 who go to SLE, some may find they are medically disqualified, others may be applying to a different SA, and some may actually be turned off by SLE and not apply to West Point. Still further may actually lack something necessary further along the road - I'm sure a lot can't get nominations (i'm from a pretty competitive district, so that's my only fear, personally).

Basically, it's a recruiting tool. It doesn't help you to go in the sense that it won't give you points, but of course, it certainly doesn't hurt. They do interviews from cadets there that end up on your file (I think), and you get evaluations and such. You also get to experience a little of West Point and learn some things. All of these help as far as getting in but dont actually offer tangible points on your file. It's a good experience but not necessarily one that will guarantee you admission or offer a decent enough prediction of your admission. I think it would be safe to say that you would be, at face value, qualified for admission or at least on the road to qualification if no other factors existed (medical DODMERB, nominations, sheer luck, etc.), but it's not the end all.

 

[Maplerock]

You're right in some cases, but I believe that Acceptance to SLE or Summer Seminar acceptance is a great indicator of possible acceptance. I also believe that minorities, foreign heritage students, and females get priority not only for summer, but for appointments. Just my opinion, but I feel that qualified females and under-represented minorities (pc=diversity) that successfully complete SS or SLE are usually offered appointments.

Asians are not considered as an under-represented group at West Point. West Point has goals for diversity, not priorities.

In your opinion. Admissions is a cloudy process, and the whole picture is known to very few.

In my opinion.

 

[time2]

I was on College Confidential about a week ago to inquire about the relevance of the SLE and seem to be getting mixed messages.

There are very few regulars on CC as they have mostly moved to this site. CC mostly gets random h.s. students who act like they are experts in every topic flinging out ill-advised opinions.

 

[Maplerock]

I would say they are pretty good, but their is more to just achievement that goes into SLE. It is used more of a marketing tool.

Remember that SLE acceptance is not necessarily a good predictor of an appointment. Most cadets do not attend SLE and attending does not impact your WCS as you compete on your nomination slate.

You're right in some cases, but I believe that Acceptance to SLE or Summer Seminar acceptance is a great indicator of possible acceptance. I also believe that minorities, foreign heritage students, and females get priority not only for summer, but for appointments. Just my opinion, but I feel that qualified females and under-represented minorities (pc=diversity) that successfully complete SS or SLE are usually offered appointments.

Thank you for your reply. I attached the SLE brochure link, which reads that "over 40% of SLE attendees attend USMA" as incoming freshmen the next year. I was on College Confidential about a week ago to inquire about the relevance of the SLE and seem to be getting mixed messages. Though I understand that the SLE clearly has no adverse effect on admissions processes, I was wondering if the quote listed above is true due to the shared academic / motivational pedigree of the applicant pool of the USMA SLE and USMA college admissions.

https://www.usma.edu/admissions/Shared Documents/SLE.pdf

Well, remember that the most gifted, energetic, and even the parentally guided applicants can go to more than one one summer seminar, often two, and sometimes three! They can only attend one academy though.

 

[MemberLG]

In your opinion. Admissions is a cloudy process, and the whole picture is known to very few.

In my opinion.

You and I know what we are posting our opinions or certain facts we know, but many kids will take what they see on this forum as the truth. We should strive to be more selective on what we post to help these kids.