Parents at the USMA interview with the ALO

usmcmass1 · 09-30-2005, 08:35 AM

Are the parents truly invited to the ALO interview or is this just courtesy. If not, can anybody relay their experiences with their parents at the interview and what transpired? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

hdhouse3rd · 09-30-2005, 09:16 AM

To be honest my son just had his interview with his Air Force ALO. It was only preliminary, in that he can not start the application process until after the first of the year. But we were present the entire time, in fact he seemed to encourage our participation. I think he used it as an opportunity to get to know the family, maybe to better determine the character of my son. At the conclusion I informed him in the future we will let the primaries alone to conduct business while the parents will become scarce. If they need us for something they can find us.

Though I will admit from all I have read that this is a rare situation.

aspen · 09-30-2005, 10:29 AM

Subsequent to our son's ALO interview last year, I have had the opportunity to visit with our ALO at a couple of WP Parents' gatherings.

He indicated that parents are genuinely invited to the ALO meetings so that the parents can get any questions they have answered, and for the ALO to get a sense for the parents' support for the candidate's interest in USMA.

Certainly the primary purpose of the ALO interview is to have a dialogue between the ALO and the candidate. However, the academies realize that parental support is a vital component of the admissions process.

Our time with the ALO was about 15 minutes with the remaining one-on-one interview lasting about an hour or so.

momoftwins · 09-30-2005, 09:50 PM

Aspen is right, of course. I have heard exactly the same from our ALO as we have seen him and talked to a few others in recent months.

Our format was just a little bit different. The interview took place at our house. It began with all of us and offered an opportunity to ask questions. Then the interview with our daughter lasted about an hour. After that we were asked to return so that we could be informed about the rest of the process, including how long we would have to wait for the results of the nomination interviews.