Am I Too Far Gone?

[AllAmerican75]

I am currently going into my senior year in high school and it is an understatement to say that there is nothing more I would like to do than to attend the United States Naval Academy. The problem is, my grades are far from spectacular. I just barely have a 3.0. My SAT scores are okay as I have a 1220, but they could be better. My only saving grace is that I am a leader on my high school football team and am involved in Civil Air Patrol. I just recently got a letter back from the academy saying that I wasn't competitive and am not worthy of candidacy, unless I raise my grades and SAT and ACT scores. What I'm wondering is, am I too far gone to be accepted or should I do what I plan on doing which is to raise my grades and scores and apply again within a couple of months?

 

[Fezz CB]

Which is more important? Becoming a Naval Officer......or which school you go to? Its a cold-hard fact that not everyone will get into USNA no matter when in life they felt it was a "dream." I'm not trying to shoot your hopes or anything, but trust me, Ive applied many a time (3 times actually). But now look, I'm a mere one month away from my commissioning ceremony. I realized that getting accepted into ANY commissioning program is good enough for me. I went the NROTC route and have no regrets whatsoever.

Dig deep inside and think about your options. You dont have to go through USNA to become an officer/aviator, etc. But hey, thats my $.02

 

[gregsivers]

Seriously man, once you're a naval officer, it doesn't matter what school you come from. And trust me, you'd rather go to a civi school with ROTC than the boat school. I have plenty of friends from said school, but your time will be better spent at a civi school with ROTC. Fezz hit it right on, once you're in, you're in. Don't give up just 'cause you didn't make USNA, give ROTC a shot, thats how I went and had a blast, and I went to a military school.

 

[bart27]

Have you looked into BDCP assuming its a program still being used by the Navy? I wish I knew of it while in college. I went the OCS route w/ no regrets.

 

[makana]

Fezz and Greg are right on, don't hold your breath for USNA! That's like being a pilot and banking on jets. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Try to improve your grades and scores but apply for NROTC now. The end result is still the same and you will have more fun and the full "college experience" in NROTC. I did this very thing while on OHARP (called USNA applicants and convinced them to increase their chance of becoming an officer through NROTC) and you honestly are pretty far gone for USNA. Just being honest. You are competing against kids who have over 4.0 GPAs, 1300-1400 SAT, community service out the wazzoo, etc, etc. In fact, NROTC is pretty competitive so you need to bring that GPA up for that, too.
I'm not saying give up on USNA by any means, but like I already said, the end result is the same.

 

[BigIron]

NROTC is the way to go. You can still have fun in college and still get a scholarship. No one cares how you got your commission once you're in.

 

[jmcdonn2]

Yes you are too far gone, from getting into the academay. However, there are so many pathways to get a commision. Go to school, enjoy college life, and get GOOD GRADES! The point is... The men you lead can care less where you went to school, the just care about how you lead them. I have many friends that went to the academies, or military schools for college. They never got La*d, they all became geeks, and it didn't put them ahead of thier peers militarily. Good Luck.
Jesse McDonnell

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Getting into the Academy is definitely NOT out of reach for you. I'll qualify that by saying your present status (as you've explained it) does not make you very competitive for admission at this time, however. As some have already aluded to, you will most likely not be offered admission straight out of high school. But that doesn't mean your chances are shot. I don't know what your financial situation is, but you may be in the position where you can't really afford to pay for college. In any case, you need to ask yourself what your goals are. You don't need to figure out the rest of your life (hell, even I can't seem to get that one right yet). But you do need to be able to figure out a general direction. You didn't say why you wanted to go to the Academy, but that is something you need to know. You may think you have to go to the Academy in order to have a good shot at flying. That rumor still persists and is untrue. But for you, graduating from the Academy may be a goal into and of itself. I don't know what your reasons are, but you need to know because they may determine other options that are available to you.

I'm going to assume that going to the Academy is a goal into and of itself. As I've stated, getting there straight out of high school is most likely not going to happen.

You will either need to:

1) enroll in a community college and do well in all your classes, and then apply for a transfer to the Academy (taking the hard sciences -- calc based physics and calculus will be a must)

2) get admitted into a 4 year institution and do well in all your classes, and then apply for a transfer to the Academy (again taking the hard sciences -- calc based physics and calculus will be a must)

3) enlist in the Navy or Marine Corps, do well, and apply for admission to the academy

It's the 4th Quarter of the CIF state football championship, your down by 6 with 63 yards to goal, 8 seconds left remaining. What are you gonna do?

 

[Circle K]

You are probably too far gone to get into the next class (2010). That by no means excludes you from ever getting into the Academy. There are plenty of pathways into the Academy, just like there are plenty of pathways to become a naval officer. If your goal is to be a naval officer ASAP, the Academy probably isn't for you. On the other hand, if you want to go to the Academy, don't throw in the towel yet. You can search other threads in the "Academy" topic and look for information about NAPS, foundation prep school, appointments reserved for prior enlisted and reservists, etc.
The Academy is by no means as fun as an NROTC school, I went there and you won't hear any arguement from me. However, that is not a reason to rule the place out. There are a lot of reasons that the Academy is a great place, they are not girls and parties, but if you are willing to look both can be readily avalible.
Just trying to give you a perspective that comes from someone who actually spent four years inside the walls. It's pretty hard to understand the place if your experience relating to it comes from talking to other people who went there. I would never say that it is better than other routes, because it's not, but it isn't worse that other routes either.
My advice is to keep your options open, apply to NROTC, apply to BCDP if you can, and call the admissions office at USNA and talk to someone about your dreams, all of those routes are more than willing to help you get where you want to go.

 

[phrogdriver]

Where's "pre-appointee" Integer when we need him? I have a feeling this thread alls for his insight.

Second some of the earlier posts. If you want to specifically go to the Academy because your grandpa did or something, do one of Steve's suggestions. If you want to be a naval or Marine officer, get with an officer recruiter ("OSO" in the Marines, something else in the Navy) and discuss your options.

 

[AllAmerican75]

Where do I find an officer recruiter?

 

[bunk22]

My first two years of high school were spent playing baseball and not much else (2.2 GPA). I started to work hard my last two years (3.7) but it was to little to late for a good school or a scholarship for anything. My SAT score left a lot to be desired as well (1000 even), which didn't help. Ended up going with the NROTC college program out of UCLA, picked a 2-year scholarship and the rest is history. Earned my comission in 93 and wings in 96. There are success stories everywhere. This was also during the big drawdown/cut-backs of the early-mid 90's.

 

[RHPF]

Go on the any services website and hit locate a recruiter, it then usually has a check box or seperate search to locate an officer recruiter. Your location says Los Angeles, there is for sure a recruiter here in Irvine for the Navy. I know there is an AFO recruiter in Long Beach.

 

[saltpeter]

Hey this guys a top football player. What about NAPS. It's the altheletes front door to the Academy.

 

[beau]

Yeah I think we all had the Academy dream at one time or another...but I can honestly say I'm am so Glad I did not go there.....sure the guys are just fine coming out of there....but from what they had to say about it....I'm gald I went NROTC. Having a life out side of the military was well worth it.....I saw some guys from the academy do very poorly in Flight training because they were trying to Make up for what they missed in college...but in Flight school....not a good time to start partying....that being said, it is a great school...but know what you are getting yourself into. A Commission is a Commission is a Commission.