overshadowed14

What are the odds of my being accepted into USMA with these stats:

SATm: 680
SATv: 740
SATw: 730

Total: 2150 (taken once)

ACTm: 30
ACTcr: 30
ACTscience: 35
ACTw: 29

Composite: 31 (taken once)

GPA: 2.9
QPA: 3.6 (Almost all Honors and AP courses...mostly B's and a few scattered C's...yay homework issues)
School Does Not Rank and will not estimate

Extra Curriculars:

Boys State: (Mayor of city and appointed to Governor's Cabinet)
Model United Nations: (Best Delegate and multpile award winner)
Minor leadership positions
Swimming varsity letter x2 (3 this coming year)
Baseball
Cross-Country
Over 300 volunteer hours


Does my GPA kill me here or do you think I can squeeze by?

xcpetersen

NICE TEST SCORES!!!!! wow!! your GPA may need to raise a bit, and you may want to get at least one major leadership position. good job, keep it up!

ps. why doesnt your school rank you? that odd.

Ann

It is in your best interest to get your school to estimate a class rank. if not USMA will estimate one for you.

overshadowed14

I talked to a Regional Commander in charge of my area and he told me that USMA will make up a class rank based on my SAT's, is that the same thing that you(Ann) are talking about or how else does USMA estimate one for me? My school refuses to estimate...

Ann

Well if your school has refused to estimate a class rank, and USMA has told you that they will only use your SATs to estimate your class rank it may work in your favor.....Are you sure they will not factor in your GPA?

Caitmarie

I dont know what your bad grades where in, but C grades in AP classes are better than Cs in lower level classes. I know in my nomination process though, during the interview, they asked about the lower grades in the classes I stuggled in. I explained why I struggled and what I learned from the experience. Then I explained how I will apply what I learned if I was accepted to West Point.

aspen

Overshadowed,

Your performance on the SAT/ACT certainly exceeds West Point's academic requirements. However, given your lower GPA, be ready to answer the question about why West Point should expect your performance to better match your potential if you receive an appointment to the USMA.

Based on your posting, I am assuming you have just finished your junior year and have opened a file with USMA. If that's correct, I recommend you make sure to have your final junior year transcript and SAT/ACT scores sent to the USMA admissions office as soon as they are available. Send them in even before the official application packages are sent out in August. With your strong SAT/ACT scores, you may qualify for a Letter of Assurance (the equivalent of an early acceptance).

Finally, make sure to take your DODMERB (medical physical) as soon as possible. A number of active, healthy candidates have discovered physical problems that either disqualify them from consideration or require additional time to remedy before they can become physically qualified. Either way, it's best to know earlier than later.

Good luck.

overshadowed14

Ann,
The thing is that I'm not positive whether or not they will factor in my GPA so I'm wondering if they do in fact use my GPA for the estimates, will that ruin my chances to get in based on the competitiveness of the applicants or will my SAT scores save me?

Caitmarie,
My C's were in Honors English 10, AP Chem twice, and Honors American Literature. Homework was not my strong suit.

Aspen,
Thanks yeah I've been working out for the specific physical requirements of the CFA and I plan to take that in late July but I'm not sure when or what I'm doing about the DODMERB. Also do you know who to address the transcript to for mailing it in -- I did send the SAT/ACT scores already.

Ann

Overshadowed14 - No, I do not think your GPA will ruin your chances , but you may have some explaining to do. You clearly test well, but your school grades are a bit out of sync with your standardized tests. Were your grades "low" because you struggled with time management, or because you struggled with course content, or because you had 'issues" to deal with, or is it a reflection of your schools grading policy? (you don't need to answer that question here, but USMA admissions will likely want to know the answer – so be prepared when you have your interview). USMA usually compares you to the national population (SATs/ACTS) and to your peers at your school who have been given the exact same opportunities as you have (Class Rank). It is unlikely that they will allocate the entire academic portion of the whole candidate score to your SAT score in the absence of a class rank being submitted by your school. From that perspective I imagine they will use your GPA to some extent.

Good luck!