I know that there are soooo many posts just like this, and I did a search, but here goes...I'm a high school sophomore with a's in history, English and my two languages, and b's in math and science. I plan on taking all AP sciences and calculus. I am also the only sophomore on my varsity team and lined up for team captain. Finally, I have played the cello for ten years and have performed at Lincoln center and am the president of the mock trial club at my school. Other than pumping up my math and science, any suggestions to make myself more appealing to the academy?
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becomming well rounded
- Thread starter hendrix
- Start date
Sounds pretty good. Obviously good SAT/ACT scores when the time comes. Possibly some community involvement type stuff like scouts or volunteer work could help, but not at the expense of the other stuff. I know when I did my congressional interview they (the 6 or so people interviewing me) got excited about me doing karate even though I hadn't done much and was pretty much just screwing around. I think they liked the idea of a contact sport (I was also captain of the swim team). I don't know if that's normal or if they just happened to think karate was cool.
Starting the process early, as you indicate, if great. Get the USNA Catalog. Plan on attending the one week seminar at USNA between your junior and senior year.
The Admissions Board takes into account the quality of the secondary school record, any additional studies, SAT I or ACT scores, extracurricular activities including any volunteer work, athletics, honors and awards, and employment outside school hours. The Admissions Board also considers recommendations of teachers, guidance counselors, principals, coaches, Naval Academy Information Officers and others who know firsthand about a candidate’s accomplishments, potential and motivation for service in the Navy or Marine Corps. Do not overdo it but plan on getting several recommendations. I think one pagers work best.
Best of luck.
^Good stuff.
Don't drop NROTC out of your scan either...there are a lot of great schools you can go to and still get a commission and fly. Requirements are very similar to the Academy, and they pay full tuition and books too. I was dead set on the Academy until senior year of high school, but ultimately went to a civilian college on a NROTC scholarship and have never regretted it. Pluses and minuses to each, but again, something to consider.
Isn't there a tuition cap? You would also have to pay for room and board, right?
As far as a tuition cap, nope, or at least there wasn't one when I went through. The catch is if you transfer from one school to another they only pay for whatever tuition is cheaper so if you transfer from State to Daddy Spoils Me U then you get stuck with the difference. You also have to pay room and board like you said. I went to University of San Diego (just under $30k a year for tuition) and the Navy paid for all (4.5 years+) of it. The school would also toss in half room and board so in the end you were only paying about $5k a year to go there, live, and eat.
Along these lines, the interviewers, at least, if not the school will be looking for sigins of a deep desire to serve. Applying for NROTC is a good way to help show that, and it's a darn good back up too.
You're off to a good start - keep doing what you're doing and you'll have a good shot at getting in.
Admissions looks at the "whole person" deal - that is:
-Does well in academics. Straight-A's are good, but they'd rather have someone with good-if-not-quite-perfect marks in AP, Advanced or dual-enrollment classes than a 4.0 in basket-weaving. No matter what your major, you're going to be taking a lot of tough classes in humanities, math and science at Canoe U, and they want to see that you've got all-around game.
-Athletics of some kind. To my knowledge, there's no points for one sport over another (team vs. individual, contact vs. non-contact) or for being a rocks star vs just a hard worker. I was a seriously mediocre wrestler, but that was fine with Admissions. Of course, leadership positions (like team captain) and things like All-State are nice extras to have, but what they really want to see is that you're not a couch potato and that you will stick with a physically challenging environment.
-Leadership positions. You don't have to be President or Captain of everything, but showing real leadership or management of something is a plus. Shows you stick with an activity long enough to know what you're doing and help run things.
Oh, and don't bother trying to "pad your resume" by joining a bunch of activities or clubs just to have them on your application. It doesn't impress and might backfire. Admissions would rather see someone with dedication to and leadership in a few different activities than "member of" 100 things.
-Biggest of all, they want to see that you're serious about being a Naval officer. Make no mistake, the Boat School sucks a lot of the time, and it's hard work all the time. The only way you'll get through is if you no-$hit WANT to be there. Don't go in there with the attitude of "I could go anywhere, and this is just one of my options." Do your research, show the admissions dudes and your interviewers that you know what the program's about and you're ready to take it on.
Good luck! It's a tough place to be, but a great place to be from.
Admissions looks at the "whole person" deal - that is:
-Does well in academics. Straight-A's are good, but they'd rather have someone with good-if-not-quite-perfect marks in AP, Advanced or dual-enrollment classes than a 4.0 in basket-weaving. No matter what your major, you're going to be taking a lot of tough classes in humanities, math and science at Canoe U, and they want to see that you've got all-around game.
-Athletics of some kind. To my knowledge, there's no points for one sport over another (team vs. individual, contact vs. non-contact) or for being a rocks star vs just a hard worker. I was a seriously mediocre wrestler, but that was fine with Admissions. Of course, leadership positions (like team captain) and things like All-State are nice extras to have, but what they really want to see is that you're not a couch potato and that you will stick with a physically challenging environment.
-Leadership positions. You don't have to be President or Captain of everything, but showing real leadership or management of something is a plus. Shows you stick with an activity long enough to know what you're doing and help run things.
Oh, and don't bother trying to "pad your resume" by joining a bunch of activities or clubs just to have them on your application. It doesn't impress and might backfire. Admissions would rather see someone with dedication to and leadership in a few different activities than "member of" 100 things.
-Biggest of all, they want to see that you're serious about being a Naval officer. Make no mistake, the Boat School sucks a lot of the time, and it's hard work all the time. The only way you'll get through is if you no-$hit WANT to be there. Don't go in there with the attitude of "I could go anywhere, and this is just one of my options." Do your research, show the admissions dudes and your interviewers that you know what the program's about and you're ready to take it on.
Good luck! It's a tough place to be, but a great place to be from.
Wow, that is awesome. I seem to recall when I was applying for college and ROTC, all the ROTC programs had caps that didn't make them too attractive if you were going to attend a private school. NROTC sounds like a pretty good deal now.
BlackBearHockey
go blue...
That's a nice credit to the tuition bill, unfortunately not every school does it. I know there are some schools in which the school will give A/N/AFROTC students an additional stipend that covers some or all of room/board, some don't give anything. My school doesn't, but the cost of living isn't bad whatsoever (4 BR houses for 800/mo all utilities included is the norm). Also, and I'm not sure if other schools are similar, my school calculated my MIDN stipend into my cost of living for the year which reduced the amount of loans I could take out for rent/school supplies/xbox games. Just little things to look for.
Back to the OP, it seems like you're on the right track and that the hardest part will be to keep everything at that level. You just have to remember: your grades are good, you're active in athletics and the community, and you've demonstrated leadership positions -- now you're just like everyone else that is applying!