<p>Krieger,</p>
<p>While there will be no interest in a sob story, Admissions will look at your individual circumstances. By being direct about your experiences and describing them factually rather than emotionally, you can create a compelling story. It sounds like you’re doing a lot of the right things. A few tasks you may want to begin are:</p>
<p>1) Prep for the PSAT as it is used to determine invitations to SLS.
2) Read everything you can on usma.edu. Then read books like Absolutely American, Duty First, Battle Dress (lighter fiction, but fun look at Beast). You’ll also find quite a bit of valuable information in the posts here on cc.
3) Depending on your state and congressional district, some are highly competitive. You may want to reach out to Admissions to let them know of your early interest.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>