Writing Winning Essays for West Point

The most important thing that needs to come across in your application is your desire to be in the ARMY - not just that you want to go to West Point, or how awesome your high school accomplishments are. Service should be an inevitability - West Point is your most desired path, but not the end-all be-all. I chose to add this message to the essay section of this platform because this component of the application is where the academy gives you the clearest opportunity to convey your interest in the service. I would not recommend writing your essays until you have seriously considered the passages below.

Ultimately, West Point is looking for individuals who are not only going to survive the forty-seven-month experience and the subsequent five years of service, but rather for individuals who are going to excel and love their job as a leader of soldiers in the Army. The number one reason I saw other cadets drop out of West Point is that they simply discovered that the Army was not the right fit for them, and they couldn't see themselves in the military for the next seven years. Nothing against these individuals - I have close friends who left for various reasons - however, it is important to recognize that this is any service academy's worst-case scenario. They spent time, energy, resources, and, more importantly, an admissions slot on someone who is not going to serve. Keep this dynamic in mind throughout your application.

As with the rest of this page, I can't tell you exactly what to do or guarantee admission, but I will share what worked for me and the aspects I felt were most important in my application success.

The easiest way to dispel concerns about being West Point's “worst-case scenario“ applicant is by showing overwhelming and undeniable interest in your long-term career in the Army (I know, Duh, but keep reading). When applying to West Point, I had a single-minded focus on serving in the Army. I wanted to join the 75th Ranger Regiment by any means necessary. I applied, and fortunately, received the National Army ROTC scholarship, and had intentions of trying my hand at enlisting and going to Officer Candidate School (OCS) if I did not gain a scholarship or admission to West Point. As I saw it, West Point was the “hardest“ of these three options, and thus I felt it would prepare me the best for the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP).* I was so drawn to the idea of officership, particularly in elite units, because not only did that mean you met the standards of an already harsh environment, but you were competent and confident enough to lead individuals of such a high caliber. I could tell you anything about the Ranger Regiment, where they were located, how long RASP I and RASP II were, the difference between them and Green Berets (I got asked this multiple times), etc etc… Five years later, I can still write this section with complete certainty of its accuracy because of how viscerally I remember my thoughts.

It is for this reason that it always baffled me when people would apply to all three service academies. While not impossible, I could not imagine having the same fervor for three different branches of service. I wanted to be on the ground, dealing with soldiers in a combat environment - barring extenuating circumstances in other branches, that is a much less common occurrence. If I were asked to pitch why I should attend the USNA, I could have put together a half-baked answer about joining the SEALs or USAFA, and another about being a PJ/TAC-P, but would it really have the same impact without the genuine passion behind it? Unless you are the special case where you are really genuinely torn between two completely different professions (in which case, carry on!), I would HEAVILY suggest taking a hard look at what you really want the next decade of your life to look like.

Telling West Point (or other academies) you want to take one of their limited commissioning slots because you want to challenge yourself or because you believe it will somehow set you up for life years in the future is not enough. You run the risk of appearing to the academy like someone who may be capable of handling the rigors of the school, but how gives little guarantee that you are going to decide to stick it out and stay with the Army for years to come.

*This is not necessarily a true statement, but it captures my mentality at the time