The following is a comprehensive checklist for an applicant for the US Military Academy at West Point. The more items you can check off here, the higher your success rate will be for obtaining an appointment from West Point Admissions.

• Apply early for both the Summer Leadership Seminar and the official application. Of course, the “early bird” may not always get the worm but it certainly has a better chance than the late bird.
• Study hard and do well on the SAT or the ACT. While your high school GPA is important, the Admissions office places high value on the standardization of SAT/ACT scores among candidates. You will be hard-pressed to find West Point cadets with SAT scores lower than 1200 but it’s best if you can score 1300 and above. Get a head-start with a highly rated study book like Cracking the SAT, 2007 Edition (College Test Prep).
• Make sure you medically qualify. All of the service academies have strict medical requirements (as outlined by the Department of Defense) and will give formal waivers for a limited number and scope of problems. Go to a doctor and find out early on in the application process whether you have a medical condition that will disqualify you or require a formal waiver. We wouldn’t want you to get your hopes up for an appointment, only to find out later in your senior year that you are not able to medically qualify. Also if you end up needing a waiver, you want to find out about and apply for one as early as possible so you can prepare for backup plans.
• Be physically active and maintain your fitness. While West Point likes to see on your application that you participate in and excel in team sports, it’s not mandatory. However, with that said, being physically in shape is mandatory. The requirements are quite simple, though: You must be able to run and do sit-ups and push-ups. Start training as early on as possible to build up your capabilities in these areas. If you are late in the game, certain exercise equipment can help you quickly catch up: Perfect Pushup Bars / Shipping Included; Chin Up Bar / Pull Up Bar; Inversion Therapy - Inversion Rack.
• Keep your application paperwork organized and promptly respond to every item that comes in the mail. There are many pieces to the West Point application and nomination process, and it’s easy to miss or forget a piece of paper. The best way to do this is to create a timeline chart in Excel for each of the steps (outlined on the official USMA site) along with the respective paperwork required for each step. By creating a graphical outline, you can, at a glance, identify where exactly you stand in the process and whether you are current with your paperwork. This also helps you remind your school teachers that certain recommendations have not yet been mailed to West Point or the senators/congressmen.
• Find someone who has experienced the application process and talk to him or her. Read websites like Get Into Academy and check if there is a local USMA parents club. Or if you are feeling bold, go out and message current cadets on Facebook (a word of caution: say the wrong things and you may be a future target for hazing). The smartest thing you can do is to ask questions and benefit from the experience of someone who had been successfully accepted already.
• Read the USMA website often, especially the Admissions section. 80% of the questions that candidates ask are already answered in the USMA admissions website. The actual application process is steadily being transitioned to an online interface so keep up-to-date with the website.

The above information was contributed by aspen on College Confidential.

We also recommend that you reference A Cadet Sergeant’s Guide for a chronological year-by-year summary of preparing for West Point.

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