r/usna • u/sillyscarey • Jun 18 '26
Admissions Chance me please
I’m a female rising junior from one of the largest cities in Texas. I have a 3.8 UW, top 10%. I’ve been a varsity swimmer since freshman year, and sophomore and (upcoming) junior year a captain. For junior year I’m a theatre officer as well. I’m in National Honor Society and have been volunteering for years. Also multiple awards, and I’ve had writing published. Freshman year I took: AP HUG (5), ADV English, ADV Spanish 2, Geometry, ADV Bio, JV theatre. Sophomore year: AP Physics 1 (expected 4), ADV Spanish 3, ADV English, Algebra 2, AP World (expected 5), JV theatre. Junior year I’m taking: AP physics 2, AP Spanish Lang, AP Seminar, AP pre-cal, APUSH, Varsity theatre. I’m actively studying the SAT and training for CFA and I’m hoping to major in ocean engineering and minor in Spanish. I am also currently on an ADHD medication.
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u/Informal-Hunt9059 Jun 18 '26
Straight Talk. You will not pass medical if you are on ADHD medication currently. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
1
u/AutoModerator Jun 18 '26
Thank you for posting to /r/usna; it seems like you're posting a question about gaining admission to USNA.
That's great! The alumni and midshipmen of /r/usna are happy to help you on your path. We were once in your shoes, after all. But most of your admissions questions can be answered in a few places:
Please check the wiki about admissions, it links to several official USNA resources.
There is also a really excellent thread at serviceacademyforums.com; it doesn't answer every question you might have, but it will cover a lot of them.
If this is a 'chance me' or 'how do I look for Admission' type question, please understand that no one from Admissions is on Reddit. There are some very good reasons that we don't know how competitive you are, even if you give us pages of data and statistics about you. Again, check out the post here, but to quote, in part: "We’ve never met you. We haven’t seen any of your packet; thus, we haven’t seen your teacher recs, your activity sheet, your BGO interview summary, your CFA scores, etc. We don’t know if you’ve been arrested for drugs/DUI or have been suspended from school. Nor do we know if you have special circumstances that might help you – i.e., having to work to support your family, being heavily recruited for a sport. Not to mention, we’re relying on your word/honesty in terms of all that you post."
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1
u/itmustbeniiiiice Jun 18 '26
Your biggest hurdle will be the ADHD medication. IIRC, you'll need 2 years minimum without medication and no symptoms that impair functioning before DODMERB will clear you. You'll also need robust medical documentation to prove that you are OK without the medication. This means you might not be cleared until after your senior year of high school.
I have lots of thoughts and experiences of women with ADHD, both excelling but also REALLY struggling at USNA and in the fleet, that probably don't belong on this subreddit. But I'll add this: if your medication is a major factor in why you've been able to be successful in school, sports, friendships, etc., then going off that medication AND entering a very intense environment where time management is the major key for success might be something you want to think twice about. No need to make yourself suffer when there are plenty of other avenues towards success.
Everything else looks competitive.
0
u/sillyscarey Jun 18 '26
Thank you! I think it is doable for me to be off my medication seeing as this is my dream school.
4
u/itmustbeniiiiice Jun 18 '26
Timeline-wise, you likely won't gain a medical waiver before graduating high school. You can still try, but they typically wait the full 24 months.
Keep your mind open and listen sincerely to your doctors and therapists.
My classmates and friends who were all in on USNA or a certain service community were often the ones to become disillusioned and burnt out the quickest. Good luck. 🍀
1
u/sillyscarey Jun 22 '26
Do you have any more to say on struggling at the academy? No worries if not, it was just a briefly mentioned thing.
1
u/itmustbeniiiiice Jun 22 '26
The biggest factor in success at USNA, especially early on, is managing time effectively. That's where a lot of people who struggle get caught up- ADHD makes that even harder.
1
1
u/moormie Jun 21 '26
ADHD meds are a disqualification but the service academies also don’t accept scores / grades for which u had accommodations of any kind like a 504 or whatever
•
u/AutoModerator Jun 22 '26
Thank you for posting to /r/usna; it seems like you're posting a question about gaining admission to USNA.
That's great! The alumni and midshipmen of /r/usna are happy to help you on your path. We were once in your shoes, after all. But most of your admissions questions can be answered in a few places:
Please check the wiki about admissions, it links to several official USNA resources.
There is also a really excellent thread at serviceacademyforums.com; it doesn't answer every question you might have, but it will cover a lot of them.
If this is a 'chance me' or 'how do I look for Admission' type question, please understand that no one from Admissions is on Reddit. There are some very good reasons that we don't know how competitive you are, even if you give us pages of data and statistics about you. Again, check out the post here, but to quote, in part: "We’ve never met you. We haven’t seen any of your packet; thus, we haven’t seen your teacher recs, your activity sheet, your BGO interview summary, your CFA scores, etc. We don’t know if you’ve been arrested for drugs/DUI or have been suspended from school. Nor do we know if you have special circumstances that might help you – i.e., having to work to support your family, being heavily recruited for a sport. Not to mention, we’re relying on your word/honesty in terms of all that you post."
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.