Aiming for the top, am I liable to miss?

Chance Me / Match Me!
#1

Hello,

I’m a soon to be Navy veteran that’s looking at getting back to my education. Much to the confusion and sadness of my chain of command. It’s been about six years since I’ve set foot in something academic so I’ve been canvassing opinions. More than a few people have said that I could be a serious contender for an Ivy League school, and while I think otherwise, the idea’s stuck. So I’m looking to the internet to tell me whether or not I’m gonna get even a chance.

GPA: 3.8 cumulative (Caveat: Almost all A’s, 1 F, and a B, B, C)
AA in Business Administration, Summa Cum Laude
Valedictorian, Valley Forge Military College c/o 2009
SAT: 6 years old, scores were 750 reading, 550 math, 720 writing

And that’s my academic record to speak of. As you can see, no much to say.

My service record is pretty good, at least among my peer group. This is the first time I’ve looked cumulatively at what I’ve done so I haven’t had a chance to demilitarize the terms yet. If you need some clarification as to what it is I will be more than happy to provide it.

Rate/Grade: Aviation Structural Mechanic, Petty Officer Second Class
Time of Service: 6 years, 2 deployments (Currently on one)

Awards: Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist, Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, nominated Junior Sailor of the Quarter 3Q 2015, probably nominated Junior Sailor of the Year 2015 if the hints people are dropping don’t stop

Qualifications: Collateral Duty Inspector in 2 work centers, Collateral Duty Quality Assurance Representative in 1
Leadership positions: Corrosion Control Program Manager, Work Center Supervisor of 2 work centers, Emergency Reclamation Team Leader

Volunteer work: I have about 150 hours tutoring, teaching, and providing help for people attempting to become naturalized citizens.

The schools I’m aiming for in no particular order:
-Yale
-Cornell
-Georgetown
-Stanford
-GWU

Like them for their strength of economics/business programs, GWU and Georgetown have a great location for my pipe dream career of being an FSO.

So that’s me in a nut shell, I appreciate anything that you can offer.

#2

As a military vet you are in an entirely different category of applicant. Your math SATcore needs to come up a bit but otherwise you are an intriguing applicant

#3

@Wje9164be Thanks for your assessment. I understand I’m in a pretty niche strata as an applicant, just trying to get a gauge of whether or not I’d get more than a look and laugh.

Perusing through the SAT Prep forum now, but what are your suggestions? I have the blue book coming in next week and I plan on taking the March exam. At about the same time as my First Class exam now that I think about it.

#4

Remember that you are surrounded by people who have never set foot on an Ivy campus and know little about college admissions. Complete your SAT prep and see how your scores go. But remember that there are thousands of four year colleges in this country. Many can provide a great education. Your list is very reach-heavy right now.

#5

You can drop Stanford and Yale, but Georgetown is a good choice, as is GWU.

#6

The best thing to do for standardized tests is practice, practice, practice. My D took some thing like 15 practice ACT exams over the course of a bout 3 months and it helped her immensely. Being s military veteran is a positive thing, particularly since it sounds like you will have a very good service record. To get a feel for this Google “military veteran” and some of these selective schools. If you find articles about the efforts they are going to attracting veterans, you might find more success at these schools.

#7

Thank you @intparent, this list is primarily for aiming purposes, I’m still looking into completing it. Factoring everything I need from my education and the way forward after I separate, these six are dollar for dollar the best I can see.

Would you mind terribly if I asked you what you would recommend? I’m looking to get into a good economics or business program with an international focus if they have it.

#8

We can’t make any meaningful suggestions without test scores. I also don’t know too much about what education benefits you may have accrued, the rules for applying them, and how your military status affects you in-state/out of state status for public universities. All of that will likely impact your list. I agree that given your goals, GWU may be a fit on your list, but no idea whether the finances would work out there if you get in. Georgetown SFS is a VERY difficult school to get into, very low admission rates.

#9

Look into George Mason. A VA public school not far from DC.

#10

Have you acquired even an elementary background in some “critical” language(s)? (Arabic, Urdu, Turkish…)

Should we assume that you’re now 24 or so?

In any case you’d be eligible for College of General Studies at Columbia.

Are you a man or a woman?

#11

An interesting organization to look into is “The Posse Foundation.” Their sole mission is to help veterans get into good colleges. The colleges that are involved with the Posse Foundation at least pretend to have some interest in admitting veterans

#12