About Bill Taylor Expertise I can answer questions about admissions to West Point; about the history of West Point; about how to travel to West Point, where to eat, where to stay, etc.; and about West Point`s alumni organization, the West Point Association of Graduates.
Experience I am a 1970 Graduate of West Point. I served six years on active duty and another 8 years in the active reserve. I have been actively involved as a Field Admissions Representative for over 15 years and have participated on my Congressman's Academy Selection Panel for over 20 years. I am actively involved in West Point Alumni affairs, serving in roles both with the West Point Association of Graduates and the local alumni chapter in Annapolis, MD. I also have two sons who graduated from West Point in 1995 and 2001. Both are veterans of the Iraq war and continue to serve on Active Duty in the Army.
Question Mr. Taylor,
I have written you once before last year, and have greatly appreciated the advice. I now have a new question. I realize that the most important part of Academics to West Point is rank in high school class. On that subject, my freshman year I made low B's. My sophomore year I made high B's. And now, my junior year, I have solid A's as this first quarter has ended. I am reasonably confident that I can keep it up throughout the year. I am worried that my overall rank in high school class, and GPA for that matter, will be distorted by my carelessness my freshman year. Will West Point notice my improvement in Academics? Or have I lost my chance in Academic competitiveness.
Thank you very much,
Stephen.
Answer Hi, Stephen, it's good to hear from you again. I apologize for the delayed response as I have been slammed with work.
While rank in class is the proven best predictor of academic success at West Point, Admissions clearly looks at what they call the "Whole Candidate"; that is, everything that you report in your accomplishments. That includes, on the academic side, SAT/ACT test scores, GPA, teacher evaluations, etc. They will clearly not the improvement in your grades and your rank in class as you matriculated through high school. So, in my opinion you have not necessarily lost your academic competitiveness.
The best thing to do at this point to improve your academic competitiveness is to take BOTH the SAT and ACT as many times as you can stand it to increase either or both of your verbal and math scores (Admissions does NOT consider the writing score). They take the best individual score in each category no matter how many times you take the tests.
