Gain Service Academy Admission

The West Point SAT score your student needs is higher than the published average if no coach is recruiting them. The class average in the profile blends two groups: recruited athletes, who are admitted on lower scores, and everyone else. If your student is not recruited, the real bar is the non-athlete average, and it sits above the brochure number. The same structure applies at the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy.

In this solo episode, LTC Kirkland opens with the question parents ask him most: a 1400 SAT, varsity letters, an Eagle Scout, and no appointment. He then shows why. A planned share of every class is committed to recruited athletes before the board reads a file, the additional appointee category lets those seats skip order of merit, and the reported SAT gap between recruited athletes and other cadets runs 100 to 150 points in the biggest sports. The figures come from retired Brigadier General Lance Betros, law professor Tim Bakken, and independent analyses, not official academy guidance, so treat them as estimates.

LTC Kirkland closes with seven moves for the non-recruited candidate, starting with the SAT target that actually matters.

If you want to know exactly where your student stands and what needs to improve, reserve a Service Academy Admissions Assessment. Link is in the description.

https://gainserviceacademyadmission.com/assessment

Naval Academy teacher evaluations show admissions how a candidate handles challenge, feedback, teamwork, and responsibility. In this solo episode, LTC Kirkland explains what the English and math teacher forms ask, how the peer-comparison ratings work, why specific written examples matter, and how the Blue and Gold Officer interview fits into the broader recommendation category.

Rob also discusses an older estimate that Official Recommendations account for about 24 percent of the Whole Person Multiple. That broader category includes teacher evaluations, Blue and Gold Officer feedback, and other recommendations. Current public USNA documents do not verify the 24 percent breakdown or a teacher-only share, so treat the number as an estimate rather than official guidance.

Families will learn how to choose a teacher who knows the student well, ask early, provide concise reminders of real classroom moments, address discipline or accommodations honestly, and prepare for the interview.

If you want to know exactly where your student stands and what needs to improve, reserve a Service Academy Admissions Assessment. Link is in the description.

https://gainserviceacademyadmission.com/assessment

West Point CFA scoring now counts for 15% of the Whole Candidate Score, up from the long-standing 10%. LTC Kirkland explains what the five-point shift means for families preparing a competitive academy application. West Point now publishes a 55/30/15 formula: 55% academic strength, 30% leadership and character, and 15% physical fitness through the Candidate Fitness Assessment. This replaces the long-standing 60/30/10 model. Source: West Point Admissions, Steps to Admission: https://www.westpoint.edu/admissions/steps-to-admission Rob also explains why removing video verification from push-ups and pull-ups creates a score-integrity concern, how West Point could improve verification, and how candidates should prepare. Train all six events in order, start months early, leave time to retest, and use an administrator who counts clean reps. The Service Academy series is hosted by LTC Kirkland and Capt Trisha Dach. This is a solo analysis from LTC Kirkland. If you want to know exactly where your student stands and what needs to improve, reserve a Service Academy Admissions Assessment. Link is in the description. https://gainserviceacademyadmission.com/assessment

The Naval Academy Whole Person Multiple (WPM) is the formula that decides every appointment, and it was just published for the first time. LTC Kirkland and Trish Dach walk through every category the Naval Academy now weights publicly and explain what families should actually change in their preparation now that the guesswork about admissions is gone.

Watch on youtube to see graphics: https://youtu.be/6qylTVlpsUE?si=rYipt1hw-uMT-tZD&t=123

This episode covers:

They also explain what the Rand recommendation study showed about score clustering, why optional letters of recommendation should come from coaches and community leaders rather than distant senior figures, how to quantify leadership impact with real numbers in the application, and the three concrete changes families should make starting this week to reflect the published weights.

If you want to know exactly where your student stands and what needs to improve, reserve a Service Academy Admissions Assessment: https://calendly.com/trish-dach/strategy

If your family is navigating DoDMERB, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is working the process the wrong way.

In this episode, LTC (Ret.) Rob Kirkland and COL (Ret.) Dr. Arthur Cajigal break down Mr. Larry Mullen’s well-known Applicant Reference Guide—the practical DoDMERB “do’s and don’ts” that help applicants and families work with the system instead of against it.

You’ll learn why the applicant should lead the process, how parents can support without taking over, what strong medical documentation actually looks like, why summary letters often fall short, how to think about DoDMETS vs. DMACS 2.0, and what families should avoid if they want to keep things moving.

In this episode:

📄 Download Mr. Mullen’s memo here:

If this episode helped, subscribe, share it with another Service Academy family, and send us your DoDMERB questions for future episodes.

If DoDMERB says "Disqualified," it can feel like the door just slammed shut. But for many competitive Service Academy applicants, that DQ is the start of the waiver review, not the end.

In this episode, LTC (Ret.) Rob Kirkland and COL (Ret.) Dr. Arthur Cajigal (former DoDMERB staff and Army ROTC Cadet Command surgeon) break down the waiver process from start to finish: who actually grants waivers, why documentation matters, what conditions tend to be waived, and what families can control to avoid delays.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

What DoDMERB does (and doesn't do)

What a waiver really is, and who decides it

Why being "considered for a waiver" is a big deal

The questions waiver reviewers ask behind the scenes (deployment risk, recurrence, monitoring, sudden incapacitation)

What "good medical documentation" actually looks like

What to do (and what NOT to do) to keep your waiver timeline moving

BOOK A CONSULT:

If this helped: Subscribe, share with a parent/applicant who needs it, and send us topics you want covered next.

If your student sees “Disqualified” on DoDMERB, that doesn’t automatically mean their Academy dream is over. 

In this episode, Former DoDMERB Physician Dr. Arthur Cajigal breaks down what DoDMERB actually does, who makes decisions, and what happens next when a candidate is marked Qualified, Remedial, or Disqualified.

What you’ll learn today: 

Next episodes in this series: We’re going deep on WAIVERS—who grants them, how services assess risk, what families can/can’t control, and why two similar cases can have different outcomes.

Drop your DoDMERB question in the comments (asthma, ADHD, vision, ortho injuries, etc.). We’ll use your questions to guide the waiver episodes.

BOOK A CONSULT:

If this helped, subscribe and share with another family navigating DoDMERB.

Military values like honor, integrity, and courage don’t matter much when everything is calm, supervised, and low-risk.

They matter when you’re tired, frustrated, authority is real, and nobody’s watching.

Today LTC Kirkland breaks down why military values only hold under pressure if they’ve been trained as habits, using Aristotle’s practical ethics as the framework. Aristotle didn’t treat virtue as a personal identity or something you “believe in.” He treated it like training: repetition, discipline, and practiced reps that show up automatically when stress hits.

We’ll also look at what military history shows happens when ethical discipline erodes over time—and why leaders don’t “rise to the occasion,” they default to habit.

What you’ll learn today: 

If this helped, subscribe for Service Academy mentorship, leadership development, interviews, and application strategy.

Are you assuming “I’m a varsity athlete, so the Athlete piece is handled”? That assumption can cost you an appointment. For the Service Academies, being “athletic” isn’t just team participation—it’s quantifiable performance, leadership, and a smart plan to crush the CFA.

In this Academy-focused episode of our Scholar • Athlete • Leader series, retired Army officer LTC Rob Kirkland and former Air Force officer Trish Dach break down how academies actually evaluate your athletic profile, what percent of your Whole Candidate Score it can influence, and how to tell your story so the board moves your score up—even if you’re not a team captain. We also cover real-world CFA strategy, timelines, and injury-proof planning.

You’ll learn:

Timestamps

► CFA score planning & practice (take a practice test this week!)