Nominations, gpa, extracurriculars, & 'boosting' my chances

Colleges & Universities United States Naval Academy (USNA)
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Hi! i’m a junior in high school c/o 2026 who’s been recently strongly interested in going to USNA. this is probably a disadvantage for me because i haven’t been made aware of this school until recently and this would be the only service academy i’d be interested in attending and other interested applicants have likely been interested earlier in their high school years. it seems very very competitive so if i don’t get in, i’ll likely attend my state school or figure it out. also, I really want to become a Navy doctor.

i don’t think the CFA will be too difficult for me as i’m currently preparing. I’m doing a varsity sport at school, I’m not too bad of a runner, and I work out often. my test scores are at or above the median.

i guess what i’m concerned about is how do you get a congressional nomination?

and is there a GPA average?

how do I find extracurriculars that are more “military-like”? because right now I have the varsity sport, community service, NHS, work experience, religious group/club, tutor/teacher/mentor/coach, musical activities, and school publication which I’ve seen on the composition for the class profile. However, some of these activities i’ve joined recently so this doesn’t show long-term commitment. there is no JROTC or similar military-type programs at my school but I will apply to their summer seminar and hope to get accepted. My extracurriculars also seem more of a mix of business/health though I think they want more of STEM/fitness since it’s a service academy.

If you read this and will send advice, thank you so much!

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@ChoatieMom

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The military LOVES people who demonstrate good leadership skills. I would recommend honing any ECs towards leadership skills. Can you organize a project or event, delegate tasks to others, set goals, etc.
Although it is later in the game for you as a junior - check to see if your town has anything like Sea Cadets that you could join. It will at least get you familiar with military formalities (how to salute, memorizing mottos, how to properly march, chain of command, etc).

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Are you by chance an Eagle Scout?

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Find out from your U.S. Representative and US Senators what their nomination process is.
Your Representative may have tips or an interview locally.

You could also seek a nomination from the Vice President.

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Great post.

OP- every elected Representative maintains what are called “constituent services” offices. So it’s not their main office in DC- it’s a local office, typically in a few of the big cities or major metro areas in your state. You can google for the location. That office will have someone whose responsibility it is to to help with the nomination process and they will explain it to you. You may get bounced around a little bit- the main responsibilities of these staff people are things like helping Veterans who can’t get a necessary appointment at a VA hospital, or helping someone get an emergency passport to attend a parent’s funeral overseas… But there is someone in the office who helps manage the nomination process and eventually you’ll get forwarded to him or her.

I would encourage you to keep an open mind for now about which academy. Even people who are very savvy about the armed services discover that they haven’t kept up with what each of the academies offer… so keep an open mind for now. There is a lot of overlap- particularly given the technological resources (cyber security issues, AI, etc.) so you may find that a career in a branch you’ve never considered is exactly where your interests are.

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First, read through the general advice I give to anyone considering pursuing an appointment to a service academy. I’ve included links to the nomination process in that post.

It looks like you’ve already reviewed a recent USNA class profile. The snapshot does not list average GPA, but other sources list it at 3.75 which aligns with the other academies.

“Military-like” activities are not required to be an attractive candidate. (You get plenty of them once at an academy, no need to rush.) You must be extremely fit to pass the CFA, and almost all appointees are varsity athletes, so you’re doing the right thing there. Keep at it, earn at least one letter, and become a team captain if you can as that counts heavily toward the leadership score.

The academies are not in the business of producing doctors. Their mission is to produce capable officers for our armed services. Almost all military doctors earn their MDs from civilian schools and apply to the services for a commission later. The chance of being selected for med school directly from an academy is very slim. You will need to be at the very top of your graduating class (don’t discount this difficulty) for the three or four (or fewer) slots available for medical service in any given year. You go to a service academy because you have a burning desire to serve in whatever capacity that branch needs you. Also understand that the service academies are federally mandated to branch at least 69% of each class into a combat arms role. (USMA branched 81% of our son’s class of '19 into combat arms.) You are much (much) more likely to end up in the fleet from USNA than medical school. If you really want to pursue military medicine, USU or HPSP are places to start.

Apply to USNA because you have a deep desire to serve. There are more guaranteed paths to medicine from the civilian route.

If you’re still interested in applying to serve, this article discussing the 20 things you need to know about being admitted to a service academy is still relevant.

Any other questions you have about applying to a service academy can be found on serviceacademyforums.com, the equivalent of CC for those pursuing service academy appointments.

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Apply to NASS if you want to see the academy and experience the cool town of Annapolis, but I always warn that the seminar is just a camp that bears no resemblance to the actual life of a midshipman. It’s a great opportunity to roam the post, get your questions answered by actual mids, and complete a CFA (if you choose).

Also, because the academy camps are pay-to-play and there are not enough spaces for every applicant, they cannot be considered part of the admissions rubric at any academy as the appointment process is mandated to be equally open to all applicants. So, there are no admission points or boost for attending.

Our son did not attend these camps. During his application process, both his FFR (Army Field Force Rep) and his BGO (Navy Blue and Gold Officer) told him that he could apply to them if he wanted to play soldier/sailor for a week and wanted to check out the posts, but he might not get a slot as he was not the profile the camps target, and because he had made it abundantly clear that service academies were his first choice for his college experience, the camps weren’t going to be particularly informative for him as none of the summer programs reflect the life of an actual cadet or midshipmen in the least (and now that he has graduated from USMA, he can confidently concur with that assessment). They are marketing outreach tools targeted to strong candidates who may not consider an academy or are on the fence about them, and they are also used to increase the pool of candidates for selection from under-represented groups. Also, they are designed to highlight the “cool” and not scare off participants. (If they actually reflected the life of a cadet or midshipman, no one would apply. :rofl:)

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thank you so much! I really appreciate all of this information!

My school doesn’t use class rank and no one has previously applied to USNA (at least not recorded) and very few in the school district have applied from what I saw on the college data chart website that my school district uses (though I’m not sure how accurate it is to the real number of applications & acceptances but there seems to be a pretty good number of acceptances from the number of applicants). So how would the class rank factor work in this case?

And ECAs should be more well-rounded and typically generic (i.e. sports captain, student council president, debate captain, school newspaper editor-in-chief, eagle scouts, etc.)?

I saw that USU has a College of Allied Health Sciences, but they don’t provide much information about that on their website. Do you happen to know anything about that? Or would it be better if I went to a civilian school and then applied to USU for med school?

I would serve but it’s not such a deep desire. I just want to pursue military medicine specifically for the Navy. I also wouldn’t mind all the time and service commitments because it seems to be a good life experience and purposeful. The lifetime benefits and free college also seem pretty nice as well.

Oh I see! I saw there’s a $550 program fee if one is accepted and decides to attend. Would you say that would be worth it for what the program offers?

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Many high schools don’t rank, but the academies are able to impute rank from the school profile. This question has been asked and answered in depth on serviceacademyforums.com, so you may want to search the archives there.

The RAND Corporation did a study on service academy admissions several years ago. The report lists the points awarded by USMA per EC category at the time. Though this list is specific to the WCS (Whole Candidate Score) USMA uses to rank candidates, the relative weighting appears to be similar across academies:

I am not a reliable source of specific information on military medicine other than what I posted above. Again, the SA forum is your best bet for getting answers to those questions.

Then an academy is not for you. Free college, lifetime benefits, and wanting to become a doctor will not get you past the nomination panels or through the grind of academy life which is not geared toward your goal. Also note that the service commitment for a medical degree through an academy is more than ten years after residency. (Our son’s commitment for Cyber is nine years.) You will want to pursue medicine either through the usual civilian channels or through the programs in the links I provided above. Again, specific questions about those programs can be asked of the experts on the SA forums.

Only you can answer this question but, given your goal and answer about service, I think you should skip the academy route for a more guaranteed path to medicine.

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Getting a bit dated now, but family member attended three of the four summer seminars (was accepted to all four of the five service academies which offer the summer leadership seminar week). Attended USAFA at Colorado Springs, USMA at West Point, and USNA at Annapolis. Elected to forego the USCGA seminar.

According to family member, all were quite different. USAFA did not stress physical activity due to lack of time to acclimate to the elevation. Was mostly academic, non-athletic competitions, team building, and informational.

USMA differed in that physical activity level was higher and they tested participants for reactions to sudden shock events–such as to loud sounds like cannons. Great classroom experiences. However, all were aware of the possibility of death as recent grads were killed in action overseas during the seminar period.

USNA differed in that it emphasized physical activity, discipline, and unannounced brutal training exercises at 3 am (participants were awakened by surprise unorthodox loud noises to engage in various exercises like crawling through mud under barbed wire.)

Despite what others maintain, attendance made a significant impact if the participant impressed those in charge of the seminar. (A very significant difference. I won’t share the details as the guidelines state otherwise.)

The fee was about $350 per session which was a minor expense that was gladly paid.

The experiences are likely to stay with participants for a lifetime. I remain amazed at the insights and experiences as shared by family member. Of course, the insights and impressions of one may differ from another’s understanding.

I do not know whether or not it will help regarding your desire to become a Navy doctor.

My best friend from high school went to medical school courtesy of the US Air Force (if I recall correctly). Repaid by several years service at an Air Force Base in North Dakota, then taught at the University of Washington School of Medicine for several years, and now maintains his own practice in neurology.

All test an individual participant’s tolerance for various activities and unexpected events.

In our family member’s case, attendance and competition results while in attendance, led to being pursued in a fairly aggressive, but polite, manner.

I attended a private school which was a Naval Academy certified prep school. Several of the PG athletes attended the USNA, became Navy seals, and died during service shortly thereafter.

Participants learn a tremendous amount during each week. Lots of history & strategy. Learn that odds of becoming a military pilot are better in the US Navy than as a member of the US Air Force.

Lots of intelligence gathering exercises, negotiations, weapons training, etc.

When I was a high school senior many decades ago, only two D1 universities recruited me (U Penn & the USAFA). I attended neither school, but have met several retired generals and their spouses who shared why I was so aggressively pursued.

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Could you please explain why you want to become a “navy doctor” vs just becoming a doctor?

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Agree- what is “military medicine” as you describe it?

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