Hello everyone,
I know this may have been answered previously, but have not yet been able to find the exact answer I have been searching for. So, I am a junior in H.S and and ready to send in my preliminary application to the Naval Academy. The app asks for my highest SAT and ACT scores. What do I do if my SAT and ACT scores aren't strong enough yet? The other dates I'm taking my sat and act are in mid June and that's when candidates are notified they are "official". Also what are the minimum scores/GPA are they looking for? Do I get to update my scores if I send the preliminary app in?
Please help
Thank you
Your scores can be updated. My DS who is an incoming Plebe for Class of 2020 took ACT twice. You just have to request from the College Board to send your test score to USNA. I think there is a fee for this.
As for the test scores, I can share with you the requirements given to my son when he applied for a Congressional Nomination in our district.
The minimum requirement scores to be considered for a nomination in our district are the following:
SAT-600 Reading & 600 Math or
ACT - 27 ave. of Reading & English score; and 27 Math.
GPA of 3.5 or higher
I am not sure if these requirements are the same for USNA but this was established by the SA Advisory Board for our District in choosing their candidates for nomination.
There are a lot of steps in the nomination and appointment processes.
One of the first steps is to become an official candidate at USNA
If your SAT/ACT scores aren't high enough to get you to 'candidate' status for USNA Admissions then I would wait on the USNA application process. There is probably no penalty for starting the application with scores too low, but I don't see any advantage to it either. My recommendation is to fill it out but not hit the submit button.
If your scores are good enough to become a candidate but maybe not good enough for an Appointment, it is to your advantage to submit the scores you have as this (becoming a candidate) will initiate other activities such as DoDMERB and the BGO interview. Getting these done early takes some pressure off scheduling during your senior year.
Then hopefully your act/sat scores can simply be updated as they improve. There is no penalty for taking the ACT/SAT exams multiple times. USNA super scores.
I don't know if there is a hard floor on the standardized tests, but the scores Lukieboy06 shared from the nomination source are probably good guidelines for USNA as well
These are general rules as something truly unique and outstanding in one part of your resume might offset a weakness in other areas