Your Opinion

FortX

FortX

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
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Jun 29, 2009
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Hi everyone, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate if one of you looked at my 'resume' and gave some feedback - am I competitive so far? Things I need to improve on, things I have already that will greatly aid my application, etc. Thank you for your time.
(I'm a junior at high school)

GPA cumulative: ~3.28, but last semester I received a 3.5, and my grades are continually improving

PSAT: 190 (crit. reading: 64; Math:65; Writing:61)

Community service: many volunteer events & church activities

Extracurriculars: AJROTC cadet and officer - Company Commander, Captain of Leadership Bowl team, Squad leader in the Raider Challenge Team, spent a year in the Drum and Bugle Corps, won 2nd place in the Drum corps competition and 1st place in the Raider Challenge in the San Francisco cadet brigade.
CAP cadet and element leader
Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do

Concerns: no School sports. . . will this really hurt me? I'm a part of the Raider Challenge Team which focuses on physical fitness, teamwork, and leadership, but will the admissions board see it as a big plus? And low GPA, but do you still think I can make it? Is my PSAT score decent?
 
Hi FortX,
I am still waiting for a nomination (from arguably the most competitive district) but I'll try to compare your resume with others. First, where you are for the nomination makes a huge difference. If you are from NY, NJ, Cal, TX...it will be a lot tougher to get one from there. If you have a family member in the military, you can get a Presidential nomination, and you have an easier chance of getting in overall (from my experience). I had similar PSAT scores, my SAT's did improve a bit, but you will be academically qualified if you do the same on the SAT. I know someone who got in with a 570 breakup, but they also had a nomination for a wounded/deceased veteran's son/daughter. Try to improve those test scores. You could get a nom from JROTC if your unit has gained certain recognition, but I'm not exactly sure what it is.
Your GPA seems a bit low, even though class rank matters more. I'd guess that with that GPA you are not in the top 10% of your class though. You should strive to be in AT LEAST the top 20%. Take AP classes and honor classes to get the weighted points, you can bring it up :)
The fact that you don't do school sports isn't the best, but if you add that you are a black belt, this should substitute. It would be nice if you had a little more leadership (I know you are company commander and captain of leadership bowl team, which is good, but if you can go to boys state, do that.) If you are a boy scout, get that Eagle!
As far as Raider challenge team, wp doesn't give you much room on the app to explain yourself, so they might not be aware of what that really entails, thats a problem I ran into when applying.
Overall, I don't think standardized tests will pose too much of a problem since most people improve upon their PSAT's and yours are decent anyway. Just focus on that class rank/gpa! (Start training for the CFA so you can get the max points in that as possible.) Are you going to SLS?
Good luck!
 
FortX my opinion is that people have gotten appointments with better resumes than you. Others may have with a record not as good as yours. Your lack of sports is probably what you should be most concerned about, because Admissions values participation in varsity athletics. This link can tell you a lot - http://admissions.usma.edu/moreInfo/Profile2014.pdf . Even though you say you're on your AJROTC Raiders team and that's something important to you, I put the exact same thing on my resume but didn't see it as such a big deal since it wasn't a huge time commitment. Maybe it is for you. You'll have to emphasize how committed you are to it when you apply and how much of a leadership role you had.

Yes, your PSAT score is decent. You should take the SAT/ACT to see how you stack up to the average of previous classes. A good score on either one could outweigh your not-so-good GPA.

WestPointHopeful2015 - Actually, VA11/10 are by the numbers the most competitive districts so you can stop feeling sorry for yourself :thumb:
 
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Out of the 1375 admitted for the class of 2014, 1233 played varsity sport and 1176 were letter winners. I think varsity sports plays a significant role in the admissions process.

I would take both the ACT and SAT. I took the ACT December of my junior year and then again in April. I took the SAT twice in the second semester of junior year too. I saw what I needed to improve on and did so accordingly. Take both, see what needs improvement, and then study for it.

You're in JROTC and a company commander which is good. If possible, become/apply to be Battalion Commander and if not that, XO. The USMA application specifically asks if you're BC of you're battalion, definitely a good thing to put down.

I wouldn't worry so much on GPA, its kinda hard to raise it now. Just keep getting good grades
 
akh-I meant to say arguably one of the most, because it is. At SLS, one of the guys even used my district as an example of one that's very hard to get a nom from. And I don't feel sorry for myself, I think I have a pretty fair resume, and I accept the challenge as do many other qualified students in my district. But this thread isn't about me...I was just trying to give my opinion, and I said that at first to let him know that I can't compare him with me since I don't even know if I will get a nomination.
 
Thanks, everybody for your opinions, they're very mmuch appreciated :thumb: I just hope I'll get into SLS with my resume so far and that i'll continually improve for nominations/acceptance next year. . .
 
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