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• Rob was first on our podcast in August of 2019, but I interviewed him in June of 2019, so exactly, five years ago, in that interview, Rob taught us how to get aROTC scholarship and at that time, I said to Rob, will you come back to discuss service academies, well, Rob is back and Lynda asked him outstanding questions in her interview with him
• Rob starts out by giving his backstory
• Rob shares what the five service academies are and he introduces the topic of this interview, the 3 largest service academies: The Army, The Navy and the Air Force
• Rob answers the question, how does a student know whether they should select West Point, the Naval Academy or the Air Force
• What is the timeline for a student interested in exploring the Service Academies
• Rob talks about how process works to get the required Congressional Nomination that is required for West Point, the Naval Academy or the Marines
• Rob explains why the process of getting a Congressional nomination should not be a daunting experience for the applicant
• Rob explains whether a student can apply to multiple congressional academies
• Rob explains the two different ways that congressman tip the scales for who they nominate. Rob calls these the Competitive Process and Principled Process and he explains how each process works
• Rob explains what a Freedom of Information request is
• Rob explains what the acronym SAL is and how it helps with Service Academy Admissions
• Rob answers the question, “Are the Service Academ ies test optional”?
• Rob explains how the SAT/ACT scores the Academies are looking for are very different from what scores the average admit has
• Rob explains the Candidate Score that each applicant gets and he breaks down each factor and how much weight is put on each factor; this detailed breakdown of how applicants is evaluated is amazing and something that you don’t see from competitive schools that do holistic admissions
• Rob talks about whether the high school you are coming from is factored into admissions
• Rob talks about the Candidate Fitness Assessment
• Rob answers the question, “Is Calculus required” for the Service Academies
• Rob talks about the 10-12 criteria that teachers are asked to use when evaluating a candidate
• Rob explains the three teacher recs the Service Academies want to receive
• Rob explains how each congress person can ask for different letters of recommendation
• Rob explains how the Admission process is separate from the Congressional approval process
• Rob talks about the physical fitness evaluation process, how it is administered, who does the evaluation and how are the results communicated to the Service Academies
• Rob explains what 5 exercises are involved in the fitness assessment and he explains which of the 5 is the most dreaded exercise
• Rob talks about how the Service Academies view team sports
• Rob talks about what is involved in passing the medical exam and Rob shares some land mines that students have difficulties overcoming and how certain things are automatically disqualifying
• Rob talks about how the military looks at programs like C-Cadets, Young Marines, JROTC and Civil Air Patrol
• Rob talks about the service academies see a student that attends Summer Seminar
• Rob answers the question, are the Service Academies really a full ride or are there hidden costs
• Rob explains the length of commitment each student is committing to after graduation, and he explains when this length of service is even longer for some students
• Rob whether cadets get any choice in their job after they graduate from the Service Academies
• Rob explains how the order of merit works for the Service Academies
• Rob shares whether he thinks a student should also apply for a ROTC application while they are applying for Service Academies
• Rob explains what the Service Academies are looking for and he even says the SAT and ACT score a student should have
• Rob shares his advice for students’ parents and college counselors
• Rob shares the last date when the Academies will take the SAT score
• Rob talks about the transfer pathway that is available for the Service Academies
• Rob talks about what a college student can do to increase his or her chances of getting in as a transfer applicant
• Rob answers the question, if a student does transfer in to a Service Academy after their freshman year of college, do they come in as a second year student into their Service Academy
• Rob explains whether a student who was not admitted can re-apply?
• Rob shares a wealth of resources that are available to anyone who wants to learn more about the Service Academies

You can also listen on Episode 442, Episode 444, Episode 446, and Episode 448