Academy Dreams
Hamilton Hall, a brick building with a white clock tower, on a summer day

USCGA · High school roadmap

Junior year: U.S. Coast Guard Academy11th grade · The launch year

Your 11th grade checklist for USCGA, built from the official pages we track.

Hamilton Hall at the Coast Guard Academy, July 2008. Photo: US Coast Guard Academy via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Why this year matters

Junior year is when the academies' application windows open and the summer programs fill. Current juniors are applying for the Class of 2032. That cycle's exact dates are not yet published, so the timing below uses each academy's general "junior year" guidance plus the summer-2027 program dates that are posted.

Checklist for junior year

SAT / ACT

  • Test policies differ:
    • USCGA and USMMA list the SAT or ACT only23.
  • Score-send codes: USNA SAT 5809 / ACT 17424; USAFA SAT 4830 / ACT 05305; USCGA SAT 5807 / ACT 06002; USMMA SAT 2923 / ACT 29743. West Point's codes are not listed on the pages we reviewed.

Summer programs (apply during junior year, attend summer 2027)

  • Applying to a summer program can also start your admissions file:
    • USCGA: AIM participants can reuse their portal account and use their AIM fitness score1.
  • Program eligibility differs. Examples: USAFA requires a GPA of 3.0 or higher and no food allergies7; SLE requires age 16 by July 18; AIM requires ages 16–189.

Nominations: start in spring of junior year

  • Apply to every source you qualify for: both U.S. Senators, your U.S. Representative, and the Vice President, plus any service-connected categories1011. You don't need to know the official personally11.
  • Every congressional office sets its own deadline and process (essays, recommendations, interviews). Find yours at house.gov and senate.gov12.

Fitness in junior year

  • Benchmarks worth knowing:
    • No academy publishes a CFA "passing" score. Treat the averages as a target, not a minimum.

Medical prep (junior year)

  • No exam yet, but get ready:
    • Keep your medical records organized. DoDMERB looks for actual doctor's notes, and parents may need to request records for students under 1813.
    • Plan to finish orthodontic treatment before entry1415.

Key deadlines

When the academies' applications open (published pattern)

USCGA1

  • Opens: July 15

Summer programs (apply during junior year, attend summer 2027)

USCGA Academy Introduction Mission (AIM)6

  • Application window: 2027 not yet published. In 2026 it opened in early February and closed Apr. 1
  • 2027 sessions: 2027 not yet published
  • Cost: 2026 tuition was $750 in person; the virtual session was free

Dates change. Always confirm on the official USCGA admissions site and your congressional offices’ pages.

USCGA-specific notes

  • USCGA requires no nomination2.
  • USCGA's test: each of the three events is scored out of 100, and you need at least 60 in each to pass. At 60 points: women 21 push-ups / 1:30 plank / 14:15 1.5-mile run; men 37 / 1:40 / 12:0018.
  • Coast Guard hopefuls should know that "Color vision deficiency of ANY KIND is disqualifying" for USCGA15.

USCGA16; 17

  • Local representatives: Academy Admissions Partners (volunteers) plus regional Admissions Officers
  • How to connect: Contact your regional Admissions Officer

Eligibility basics2

  • Age: 17–22 on the last Monday in June
  • Other basics: U.S. citizen; unmarried; no dependents or financial debt

Sources

  1. USCGA Apply (uscga.edu)
  2. USCGA Requirements (uscga.edu)
  3. USMMA 8 Steps (usmma.edu)
  4. USNA Apply (usna.edu)
  5. USAFA Grades 11–12 (usafa.edu)
  6. USCGA AIM (uscga.edu)
  7. USAFA Summer Seminar (usafa.edu)
  8. West Point SLE (westpoint.edu)
  9. USCGA Apply to AIM (uscga.edu)
  10. West Point Nomination Planning (westpoint.edu)
  11. USNA Nomination Sources (usna.edu)
  12. USAFA Nominations (usafa.edu)
  13. DHA: DoDMERB (dha.mil)
  14. USAFA Requirements (usafa.edu)
  15. USCGA Disqualifying Conditions (uscga.edu)
  16. USCGA Partners (uscga.edu)
  17. USCGA Admissions Officers (uscga.edu)
  18. USCGA PFT Guide 2026 (uscga.edu)

Keep every USCGA date on your calendar.

Coming soon: reminder emails before applications open, nomination deadlines close and summer program windows shut.

Reminders coming soonAll deadlines