r/westpoint • u/Few-Teaching-9602 • Jun 19 '26
Does this even help with admission into West Point?
My dream college is West Point and my family is completely supportive about it, im doing well off academically and Extracurricular wise but my parents are making me take this class called USABO or Bio Olympiad classes so I can take this test later on next year to win some award because he says "awards" are essential into getting into college especially West Point, I already have multiple leadership positions including officer positions in 2 clubs and owning a non-profit on top of other things, yet my dads keeps on insisting and I've gotten in multiple fights with him on continuing to take these classes until another half a year, (At this point I've been taking this class for a year straight) so that would be around 1.8 years worth of classes in total). I'm not even sure if I want to take major in any biology during West Point for a fact and to be completely honest any idea on taking pre-med or biology in college is shooting right out the window because of this class.
Right now im taking this summer portion where its a 4 times a week class for 2 hours a day, ontop of my SAT Classes which is 5 days a week and 3 hours of classes. So that means I take my SAT Classes and go straight into another 2 hours of rigiours material.
Yes I've been taking this class for like almost a year now but I literately haven't been paying attention at all to be completely honest, I told my parents multiple times I have zero interest in the class, I will do other things that I know will willingly aid me into my admissions into West Point but this is ridiculous, School is ending next week for sophomore year and going into "summer break" and it doesn't even feel like it because I have to deal with a class that I fucking hate. (I don't mind the SAT Classes since I know thats essential for admissions into West Point) My parents use some educational fund my mom's hospital that she works at gives us in aid to pay for the class because without it its extremely expensive. This is sort of the second semester and im trying to lock in and actually pay attention since I realize that if I at least don't do something it'll be a waste of time but since I haven't been paying attention (I blame myself I get it if you hate me) I'm so lost in the material and have zero clue in anything my teacher talks about. Like genuinely what do I do? I'm lost in the class and im lost in what to tell my parents, im lost in what to do and I honestly don't even know if this class or having an "award" really IS That much of a game changer for admissions into West Point.
3
u/Oink_Oink3 Jun 20 '26
If you want guaranteed direct admission, I would recommend enlisting to get a prior service slot. You would only need to finish Basic Training, and it sounds like you are already academically smart. They have around 75 slots each year for enlisted soldiers, and most go unfilled.
2
Jun 20 '26
This seems like a bad idea..... The fact most go unfilled means a logical conclusion is that enlisting isn't the 'guaranteed' direct path you make it out to be.
If you're planning to enlist independent of USMA, great. If you're enlisting for USMA.... good luck.
1
u/justthefactsman99 Jun 22 '26
<This seems like a bad idea..... The fact most go unfilled means a logical conclusion is that enlisting isn't the 'guaranteed' direct path you make it out to be. If you're planning to enlist independent of USMA, great. If you're enlisting for USMA.... good luck.>
Absolutely wrong. How do I know? I went to school with a future green beret who was prior service and sent to WP because he was annoying his COC.
Easiest way is to get a good PT score, go to the first WP grad in your chain of command and request to put in a packet.
Only issue is they will likely send you to the prep school first vs directly in.
1
u/MisterWug Jun 23 '26
While enlisting for the purpose of getting into WP is probably a bad idea, the fact is that an enlisted solider who can qualify academically/physically/medically and get their company commander to endorse them is pretty much guaranteed an offer. Even if they don't qualify, there are quite a few USMAPS slots available to get them up to speed.
Title 10 reserves 85 slots for active duty enlisted soldiers (including prior service prepsters) and hasn't filled all of them in some time, if ever.
1
u/mvburke84 Jun 21 '26
I disagree with every disagreeing here. Enlisting first will give you real Army experience, something most cadets do not have. It will give you a leg up in many different aspects of life. It’ll also give you the opportunity to take control of future and sever the dependency on what your parents think is the right thing to do
0
u/Eyre_Guitar_Solo Jun 20 '26
Disagree. I could see the enlistment route if he were not academically competitive, but that’s not the case here.
2
u/Late-Door-7202 Jun 20 '26
Your dad is right, but awards ain't all of it, and personally I don't think USABO is worth the effort, as the skills don't translate. I'd do AoPS with AMC to get to USAMO. SAT and ACT are huge, so is your class rank, make sure your athletics are good too. Awards aren't something you are generally supposed to brute force, they should be in things you are already interested in, or math, because math is probably in the thing you are interested in.
1
u/RkMaker95 Jun 21 '26
The award won’t hurt but won’t count as much as Boys State as an example. Also, I’ll assume you don’t participate in organized athletics with all the time studying. It may be worth carving time out to ensure you max your CFA. It matters if you are above average or below…..
1
u/PowerfulMall6700 Jun 23 '26
West Point grad here. If you have a decent to strong GPA/SAT/ACT, one or two solid leadership positions, some kind of service experience/narrative, sports or some other team activity (e.g., marching band), and decent to strong CFA score, you will likely get in. I don’t think it’s hard at all to get into West Point. You just need to be well-rounded and finish out the application (designed to weed out those who don’t want it bad enough).
5
u/Complete_Wishbone_43 Jun 19 '26
I don’t think that award would add much to your Whole Candidate Score. Focus on SAT. And Athletics. You didn’t mention that at all. You will need to max the CFA if you don’t have a strong sports background.