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USN What else do I need to do to get into USNA

gb37

New Member
Hello, one my goals as a sophomore in high school right now is to get accepted into the naval academy. I just wanted to make this post to show a bit of a resume and ask questions, and hopefully get some good feedback so I can have more of a plan.
So, for some background the reason I would like to go to the naval academy is to become navy pilot, and no it's not because I just watched the new Top gun Movie, it's primary because my dad was a former Navy f-18 pilot, he flew for about 21 years in the navy. I'm not just trying to re-live his career, but recently have really reflected on the years of being a navy family and I'm very grateful for them, I won't go to deep into this but I want to continue the Navy tradition. I want to use a resource like this website to better my chances of not only getting into the USNA but also getting a pilot spot.
My resume is a bit different than most due to the school I'm attending. It's a hockey academy, so not exactly a "prep school", its a normal private school but my team lives in dorms on campus. I live 20 hours from my family, this in a way might be an advantage because I have learned how to be leader within myself and others, I have learned how to be responsible, and grow maturity at a young age. I haven't received any leadership awards yet, but I always get invited into different sort of projects because the "dorm head" names me among the leaders of the program. Athletics wise I'm on a very competitive hockey team, we are currently ranked #4 in the nation , we travel all across the country playing other elite programs. Navy doesn't have a NCAA D1 hockey team, but I have heard they want to push to a D1 program so that could also put me at an advantage. Academics wise I have a 4.0 gpa and take all honors classes except math, this is a little confusing but basically last year I took honors algebra II/trig as a freshman but couldn't get better than a C. So I decided to take normal Pre-calc this year, always traveling for hockey and missing school hasn't been a problem for any class except math because if you miss 1 or 2 days it can throw you off completely. I want to switch to honors calc for next year as a junior as it might better my chance for the academy. Leadership wise I don't have to much about this category, the only thing I can think of is that I'm a life guard. Should I join clubs or something like that?
Is there anything athletic/academic/leadership that I'm not doing which could help me get in?
Any other feedback?
If I do get in what should I major?
If I don't get in where else should I go?
Thank you for your time.
 

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
Along with talking to a local Blue and Gold Officer check out USNA Summer Seminar, it occurs between your junior / senior years of high school. That will give you some insider tips on USNA.
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Summer Seminar is huge. Go if you can. It helps.
 

zippy

Freedom!
pilot
Contributor
You want the interview board to know your name. Show up to summer seminar etc. I have one buddy who would call just about every day to say hello and ask if there’s anything they need from him. Yah, that kinda sounds super brown nosey but he's a super nice guy so it worked for him.
 

hlg6016

A/C Wings Here
Only advice I can give you is to stay involved with the athletics, keep your grades up and stay out of trouble! Good luck, I hope you reach your goal.
 

johnboyA6E

Well-Known Member
None
I've been a Blue and Gold Officer for years, and am currently an Area Coordinator. This is a long response, but I'm right in the middle of interviewing this year's candidates and this is top or mind. Many of these candidates would have been better of if they had thought about these things a few years ago.

It's great that you are starting this process early, lots of candidates wait till spring of junior year, and by then it's too late to make many significant course corrections.

You are correct in looking at academics/athletics/leadership as your key areas of focus. You must be strong in all three to be competitive. Of course, if you are at the very top of one category, you can slip a bit in another (ie. D1 football player etc) but generally, successful candidates are very strong in all three areas. Being a top D1 hockey prospect won't help much though, more on that below.

One area where you need improvement is Math. USNA is a STEM school, and you must be strong in math. Admissions wants to see that you do well in the highest level of classes that your school offers. So if your school offers BC Calc, then you need to get on the path to get in that class and do well. Getting a C in freshman Alg II/trig won't kill you, but you need to recover from that and do really well in preCalc this year, and get into Honors or AP calc for next year. Math performance (grades and SAT/ACT is weighted more heavily than other classes).

Also, please don't use hockey travel as an excuse for struggling in math. I don't think you meant it that way, but if you get accepted to Navy, there will be many, many conflicts and demands on your time, and you'll still be expected to perform academically. USNA wants to see that you can handle a lot on your plate and still get good grades.

As for the rest of your classes, just make sure you're doing all you can to take the most challenging courses that your school offers and get B+ or As. Grades/GPA isn't as important as class rank. Since schools use so many different grading scales, it's hard to compare a 4.0 at one school with a 5.0 at another etc. What they want to see is that you are at least in the top 20% of your class or better. They also look at that number in relation to the % of students from your school that go to four year college. So top 20% in a school where 90% go to college is better that top 15% in a school where only 50% go to college etc. Your teacher will be asked to evaluate you in relation to your peers, everything is about how you rate against your peers.

I think you have athletics covered. Even if you only play one sport, make sure you have a story that shows commitment and dedication throughout the year. In a school like yours you probably have a summer/tournament team that is "not officially" your school's but you all play together. That's great, but just being on a good team only gets you so far. You need to have a story about how you became a leader and influenced others as a leader. Being captain is great, but there are other ways to do that too. Such as coaching a youth team, running youth clinics, things that show your are passionate about something and put time into using that to influence others.

Next, the leadership category is very important. You say that you haven't had much yet, and that's expected as a freshman. Starting this year you need to seek out opportunities to lead, and then do something with the opportunity. Just having a title (president of the yearbook club) doesn't mean much. You need to be able to tell a story about why you did something, why it was important to you, and how did you influence the organization or other individuals in a positive way.

Resist the temptation to just join a bunch of clubs. It's very obvious and transparent, when a candidate has a resume full of various clubs, but didn't really do anything meaningful. What they are looking for is candidates who are passionate about SOMETHING, and channel that passion into performance and leadership.

USNA Summer Seminar is a great program and gives you a chance to spend time at the Academy during the summer before your senior year. You can apply in January of your junior year. Keep in mind, this is an Outreach Program, meaning it's intended to attract people who wouldn't otherwise know about or be interested in a service academy. Selection for Summer Seminar isn't necessarily about competitiveness, and going to NASS has ZERO affect on whether or not you get accepted. Most people who get accepted did not attend NASS, and for those that do attend, your odds do not improve. If you have the opportunity to go it's still very worthwhile.

For the summer between your sophomore and junior year, there is Summer STEM camp at USNA that you should definitely look into. This is run by admissions, and staffed by midshipmen, and like NASS, it gives you a chance to spend a few days at the Academy to get a feel for the place.

Lastly, you said you want to be competitive for a Pilot spot coming out of USNA. You have so many hurdles to clear between now and then it's not worth it to get into too much detail except to say that if you get into USNA and graduate, you have a very good chance of selecting Pilot. As long as you have decent grades, no conduct or honor issues, and are generally a good guy who shows a sincere interest in Naval Aviation, and meet all the physical requirements (vision, anthropomorphic measurements etc) you'll likely be fine.

Lastly, you asked about "what if I don't get in?" or "what else should I look at?"

If you are serious and sincere about wanting to become a Naval Officer there are other paths to plan on. It's fine to have USNA as your first choice, but you should be looking at NROTC as well. If you don't get accepted to USNA and you don't get the NROTC scholarship, you can still join NROTC as a non-scholarship student, and apply for a 3 year or a 2 year scholarship. So make sure you are looking at colleges that offer NROTC. You can also re-apply to USNA when you are a freshman in college. I know quite a few people who didn't get accepted on their first try, and were ultimately successful.

Regardless of where you get your commission, USNA/NROTC/OCS, once you get to flight school it doesn't matter. Everyone starts with a blank slate and everything from that point on is based on your performance.

Best of luck over the next few years! feel free to DM me if you have specific questions
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
USNA Summer Seminar is a great program and gives you a chance to spend time at the Academy during the summer before your senior year. You can apply in January of your junior year. Keep in mind, this is an Outreach Program, meaning it's intended to attract people who wouldn't otherwise know about or be interested in a service academy. Selection for Summer Seminar isn't necessarily about competitiveness, and going to NASS has ZERO affect on whether or not you get accepted. Most people who get accepted did not attend NASS, and for those that do attend, your odds do not improve. If you have the opportunity to go it's still very worthwhile.

I never did Summer Seminar, but I did do a "USNA weekend getaway" (my name for it) some time in the winter. I don't remember what it actually was supposed to be or how I applied, but I basically showed up on a Friday, went to some classes with a Plebe, and spent the night in Bancroft. I think there were some other things we did on Saturday.

Is that still a thing? And if so, what was it?
 

johnboyA6E

Well-Known Member
None
Yes, still a thing. It's called CVW 'candidate visit weekend'

Candidates who are relatively competitive, who have most or all of the app complete are invited during 5 weekends in the fall, starting around Labor Day.

arrive on Thu, get paired with a mid, shadow the mid for all activities till saturday morning the get cut loose, usually on a football weekend.

there are some in the spring also, for juniors or for accepted candidates who are on the fence

when my son was applying, i travelled with him for the weekend. while he was in bancroft, i met up with buds and went to McGarveys etc. on saturday, i introduced my son to navy tailgaiting and he met a ton of people and heard some good sea stories, he met some of my old squadron mates and even met an astronaut. it was definitely a game changer for him
 
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