Where can I improve?

Junior2021

New Member
Joined
May 20, 2020
Messages
7
Leadership:
  1. Class Vice-President
  2. Junior Classical League President
  3. Newspaper Editor
  4. Latin National Honors Society President
  5. SAT Prep Club Founder/President
  6. Debate Team Officer
  7. I train other bussers at the restaurant I work at.
  8. LEO Club, over 60 hours of community service
  9. Organized running fundraiser, raised 120$ for The Wounded Warrior Project.
  10. Applied and was accepted to Boys State, later cancelled.
  11. Minor class representative role
Academic:
  1. AP Chemistry: 90
  2. AP English Language: 94
  3. AP Comparative Government: 96
  4. Honors Latin IV: 97
  5. AP Calculus AB: 93
  6. Naval Science/JROTC: 94
  7. Honors Ecology: 97
  8. SAT Reading Prep: 100
  9. SAT Math Prep: 100
  10. SAT SCORE: 1360, 750 Math, 610 EBRW
  11. Sophmore/Freshman GPA: 4.4
  12. Junior GPA: 4.9
  13. Unweighted GPA: 3.9
  14. 95 ASVAB
  15. National Honors Society
  16. National Science Honors Society
  17. 3x Academic Excellence Award
Athletic:
  1. 3 Years Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Blue Belt
  2. 2 years Wrestling, 1 varsity letter
  3. 1 year Track and Field
  4. 1 year Sports Team Manager, 1 varsity letter
  5. I plan to run XC, Wrestle, and run track in my senior year and continue BJJ.
  6. All CFA scores are above average
 
Last edited:
Looks pretty good to me. Just try to become a team captain for one of your sports, work on your SAT to maximize your chances, and just keep plugging on the CFA.
 
Of course there is the obvious two. These being the SAT/ACT score and improving your CFA as much as possible. I know nothing about your school or how it works. What I do know, is that in my school and a lot of schools around my area the student body president vice president etc is a sham. The first thing I'd be looking at is "what have I done in my leadership roles and what have they taught me". When you are in your nomination interview this style of question is sure to come up. The board wants to know that these are not just paper achievements and resume builders. I am not saying that you didn't display real leadership in these positions I am just saying you should be 100% confident to answer any questions that they ask of them. Another area that would be perfect to work on right now would be volunteering. Don't just volunteer to check a box, find something you are passionate about and would be willing to put a lot of hours into this summer. Just my two cents.
 
Thank you for the feedback!
Looks pretty good to me. Just try to become a team captain for one of your sports, work on your SAT to maximize your chances, and just keep plugging on the CFA.

How important is a Team Captain position? I will ask my coaches, but I don't think it is likely I will be one as I just started playing sports my sophomore year beside BJJ, whereas most captains have been playing since they were young.
 
Of course there is the obvious two. These being the SAT/ACT score and improving your CFA as much as possible. I know nothing about your school or how it works. What I do know, is that in my school and a lot of schools around my area the student body president vice president etc is a sham. The first thing I'd be looking at is "what have I done in my leadership roles and what have they taught me". When you are in your nomination interview this style of question is sure to come up. The board wants to know that these are not just paper achievements and resume builders. I am not saying that you didn't display real leadership in these positions I am just saying you should be 100% confident to answer any questions that they ask of them. Another area that would be perfect to work on right now would be volunteering. Don't just volunteer to check a box, find something you are passionate about and would be willing to put a lot of hours into this summer. Just my two cents.
Thank you for the feedback! I will try to improve my SAT (if/when) I take it again with the covid nonsense going on, and will definitely consider your words about meaningful leadership rather than resume builders.
 
Practice Interviews for Congressional and Academy.

Examples:
-Why West Point over ROTC
-Why West Point over any other academy
-What can you offer
-What is your motivation
-3 Strengths and 3 Weaknesses
 
Practice Interviews for Congressional and Academy.

Examples:
-Why West Point over ROTC
-Why West Point over any other academy
-What can you offer
-What is your motivation
-3 Strengths and 3 Weaknesses
Hm. These are definitely questions I should have an answer well thought out for and prepared before I go in. I will look more into these types of questions!
 
Have you possibly considered the ACT? I received a 1350 my first exam, and my score actually went down the second time I took it. I had heard that usually students do better at one or the other, so I decided to try the ACT. After two attempts, I received a super score of a 34 (32 on both exams, just with different scores on each of the parts) and was appointed for the Class of 2024.

If you have all of the other qualities of a successful leader, strong athlete, and outstanding student (as it definitely seems!!), all a higher SAT and/or ACT score will do is improve your candidate score and move your application higher up in the ranks. Good luck!
 
Make sure your teachers know they will be evaluating you in an online form. It will be sent to their email. It is not a traditional letter of recommendation.
Are you applying for other options, such as ROTC or NROTC or AFROTC scholarships? Do you have your resume in order, has it been peer/teacher reviewed?
The questions asked in nomination interviews are no joke, nor were the NROTC interview questions.
Example our DS gave me that was difficult:
"Name a time you had to step back and not work on your own success for the benefit of others. Discuss."
"why do you want to branch aviation and why could you be of service as a pilot as opposed to surface warfare". You better know what each role does and how you will be a leader in either role, how you will contribute to the service and protection of the fleet.
Practice interview, no soft lob questions. Practice being comfortable in uncomfortable situations, keep your composure. It is okay to take a pause, and say, "may I have a moment, please?".
Be honest every time, our DS had an interview in Sept. Later, in November one of the panelists was one of the interviewers from Sept. He literally said, "I am going to ask you the same question I asked and you answered in Sept. and see if you can answer it the same". Had our son bluffed his way through it, falsely elaborated or basically bs'ed his answer, it would have been clear. Tough interviews do weed out the ill prepared.

As others have said, being a resume builder is sniffed out by panelists right away. You have to be able to demonstrate where you lead, what changes you implemented, how you left a club or team better.
 
solid math SAT - focus in upping the verbal. There is no magic score that will solidify your chances, but obviously the higher - the better. Because they super score, you really can focus on verbal and not worry about the math in my opinion - unless an 800 is a personal goal.

Grades - good - seek to maintain
Standardized Test - low verbal, but still likely above true minimum requirements.
Extracurricular - good - seek to find opportunities for examples of demonstrated leadership to use in personal statements and interviews
Fitness - above published averages is great - always room to continue improving there
Athletics - good

As others suggested, mock interviews for USMA and NOM would be beneficial steps. To coordinate these, you want to seek out someone who:
1) has ideally held the role of the interviewer for USMA or even a hiring manager from a company.
2) you don't know to give you an unfamiliar feeling

I would suggest both a 1-on-1 scenario and then a panel scenario. Prior to your mock interviews, you should scour this website for sample prep questions and write out paragraph style responses to them. Have a trusted adviser review and EDIT your answers. Invite the constructive criticism and remember that this team is actually on your side, and that they are seeking to make you better (like a sports coach who corrects your technique). In the end, you should have crisp answers that draw in relevant life experiences demonstrating your maturity and preparedness to take on a service academy challenge. You will not prep for every question, but having prepped to this extent, you will likely shine with an ability to quickly draw on the references you did prep for and provide a solid answer. Just like sports, practice like you want to play and the rest will take care of itself.
 
You got some great advice from the people above.

So, what are you doing now? Are you being idle and waiting for things to die over? Or are you exercising and working? Or maybe even volunteering and helping your community out. Call your community outreach centers, police departments, fire departments, county offices, and ask if there's anything you can do.

Also, plan your plan A, B, and C. ROTC, Direct Commission, OCS, Green to Gold, and a whole bunch of way to become an officer. Look at other branches as well.

Good luck on all your endeavors.
 
Back
Top