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Validating Courses

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chccurd

Registered User
Hi! I'm Chris Curd and I'm a junior in high school right now. I've wanted to go to the Naval Academy for about 6 years now and I've wanted to be a naval aviator since I was 3. Right now, my GPA is about a 3.83 (unweighted), but I'm taking loads of honors and aps and I got a 1350 on my SATs. I'm a PO2 in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps and I'm the LPO of my unit. I'm also involved in track, my school's Service Club and peer-to-peer tutoring club, do lots of community service, and I'm the Secretary of Congresswoman Eshoo's Student Advisory Board. Are these qualifications going to be competitive for the Academy? I'd appreciate any opinions or suggestions anyone has to make it more competitive, since the Academy is my first choice!

Also, by the time I'm out of high school, I plan to have completed about 8 APs (U.S. History, World History, Calculus BC, Spanish Lit, Spanish Lang, American Gov, Chemistry, and Physics). Does anyone know how many classes I would be able to validate at the Academy, assuming I earned the qualifying score and passed the exams that the Academy gives at the beginning of Plebe Summer?

Also, I want to do the Voluntary Graduate Education Program (VGEP) that the Naval Academy offers and I was wondering, would I validate enough courses to do the program?

Thanks a lot!!
Chris
 
N

NuSnake

*********
From what i understand, credits can be accepted by the Naval Academy when youre coming in, however, they do not necessarily mean anything, the way I understand it. You MUST spend 4 years there no matter what. Therefore any credits you have coming in will merely be extras when you graduate. But I'm sure it makes you look pretty good to them if you have shown that you're willing to work by getting these extra hours.
 
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chccurd

Registered User
I sure hope the work pays off!! I understand that you gotta spend 4 years there no matter what, but if you validate courses, you can start your masters during your senior year, and finish it within half a year of graduating. I was wondering if I would be competitive to gain admission to the Academy, what courses I could validate, and if I would have a good shot at VGEP. Also, any suggestions to make me more competitive would be appreciated!

Thanks a lot!
Chris
 
G

ghost

working, working, working ...
pilot
Chris,
You sound like you are very competitive for the Naval Academy, but there are a lot of different factors for admissions (including where you are from). If you get accepted, you will have the chance to validate courses when you show up for Plebe Summer. During the first few days you will be able to take tests in Chem, Calc, Physics, and English to determine what classes you are placed in. Later there is a chance to validate foreign languages. It is possible to validate 15+ classes for a few people. As for VGEP, validating classes helps, but it is possible to do so without validating a lot.
 
J

jso

Registered User
Chris,

It sounds like you are doing a lot to make yourself competitive for selection to the Naval Academy. I don't know all the specifics on the AP courses because I did not take any, but if you score high enough on the exam you will get automatic credit. If you don't, you can still take the test at the beginning of plebe summer to validate it. My advice is try to do as well as you can on the AP test, you don't want to be putting your faith in a test you have to take when you are in the middle of plebe summer. You are not going to be too worried about the test because they are going to give you a lot of other stuff to worry about. Also, if you are involved in a sport, get in contact with the coach of your particular sport at the academy. It never hurts to have the coach of a varsity sport on your side. Lastly, enjoy the time that you have left while you are still in high school. I hope some of this helps.

Jeremy Owens
USNA Class of '01
 
M

MVS26

Registered User
Chris,

You're doing everything right. Getting in doesn't sound like it's going to be a real problem for you. Make sure to do Summer Seminar in June, that's HUGE. They'll say that the program is for YOU to get a look at the ACADEMY. Trust me, for guys like you, it's the other way around. Do well at that, and your squad leader and platoon commander there will give you a good rec and you're virtually good to go.

As for validating. Your AP exam scores DON'T matter. It's actually a waste of money to sit for the exam if the Academy is the only school you're considering, 'cause they DON'T CARE. When you report for plebe summer, you'll get an opportunity to take all of the validation exams. And like ghost said, you'll take a chem exam, a calc exam, a physics exam, an english exam, and I don't remember taking an exam for it, but some people validate a semester of Western Civ. You can validate up to two semesters of calc, chem and physics, and one semester of english. As you probably already know, it is a four year program no matter when you finish your academics. Having all of your classes done will help you IF you get VGEP, but not neccessarily TO get VGEP. That all depends on how you do in your classes while you're at the Academy. Be in the top 100 in your class, and it shouldn't be a problem if that's what you really want to do. The other benefit to top 100 is that you're pretty much guaranteed a pilot billet.

Good luck with everything, dude.

Peace,
Matt
 
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