Thin white letter arrived

Colleges & Universities United States Naval Academy (USNA)
1

<p>My daughter received her thin letter last week and I want to share her experience and hopefully those currently applying can learn a thing or two about the process. My daughter’s dream was USNA. In Feb of her Jr year she applied to NASS and was accepted, she thought she had won the lottery! Immediately thereafter, she made contact with her BGO. Her BGO gave her frequent advice at every step . She made my daughter send her essay and then encouraged her to revise it at least 5-6 even 7 times. My daughter consulted her for everything USNA related. She thought she was getting solid advice and had a false sense of security. These are the harsh lessons she learned along the way.

  1. Accepted to NASS-won the lottery…… NOT! : If you go-be prepared to do well on the CFA This was perhaps my daughter’s downfall. Every NASS participant is given the CFA at SS. Their scores can tank and they WILL be recorded as their 1st results. My daughter did not do well but was encouraged because she was told you ‘can always resubmit them.’
  2. SAT scores. Now with the new College Board Option, BE SELECTIVE as to which scores you send. Like the CFA results, once they record low scores it is not easy to be looked at a second time. Up until this year, ALL score were sent so even if you improved your scores over time, you will have a hard time being academically q’d . They could see the low scores on record. Despite her 94GPA, NHS and great EC’s
    Despite her resubmission of passing, actually excellent CFA scores in NOV and SAT scores of M/660 and 720/V, and she was DoDMERB q’d she was never given triple Q. Her admissions counselor told her BGO that the board did not consider her to be up to the academic challenges despite the subsequent success on her SAT’s.
    Here’s the message: Don’t be over anxious and have a false sense of security with all the contact you may or may not have with BGO’s and USNA. Heres whyIronically, with the exception of a 15 min interview with her ALO- she was offered a full appointment to USAFA, with no contact she was offered a full appointment to USMMA and USCGA (she did not apply to USMA). Although she had a lot of contact with USNA, the old adage ‘less is more ‘ seems to be very pertinent. Contact is good, but make sure you have passing scores before you but numbers on record.
    The two most important lessons my daughter learned, 1- she should have skipped NASS as she was not there yet physically. A wonderful experience yes but it clearly does not give you a leg up UNLESS and IF you are already in top physical shape and 2-should waited to send her scores until she had scores which met USNA standards M/600/V/600. Once the board reviews you and gives you the red mark, it is next to impossible to get them to accept improvements.
    She has not decided yet where she will go, is visiting USAFA this month. She is a wonderful young lady who will serve her country proudly, just not at USNA! Best of luck to all and hope this post message will help others who have a dream of attending Annapolis.</p>
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<p>Thanks for courageously sharing your observations and perceptions. Interestingly, they seem to differ significantly from others that have been shared over the seasons, and fly in the face of what USNA admission policies indicate. Surely they’d not violate their own honor code. It’ll be interesting knowing if your assumptions and opinions about the “why’s” indicate changes in traditional policies and procedures. </p>

<p>So sorry it did not work out for your dd, and here’s hoping her experience, wherever it may be, will be fabulous. She sounds like she’ll make it such. Painful as it can be when a plan A doesn’t come together, often times B can be equal or ever-better.</p>

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<p>Thank you I also know she will be successful. When the kids have a dream, sometimes they need to sit back, breathe deep and not be too overanxious. If it is meant to be it will happen.</p>

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<p>The Air Force is more “family friendly” than the Navy. </p>

<p>This is not due to any deficiency in attitude or morality on the part of the Navy as compared to the Air Force. It just has a different mission and is subject to more constrained duty conditions i.e. deployment on ships.</p>

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<p>I concur. </p>

<p>There are a lot of assumptions, conjecture, speculation, and general misinformation in that first post.</p>

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<p>What is in the first post is one applicant’s experience. If it can help another candidate be successful than so be it. We all have to remember that this is a forum, not the USNA website where ‘factual’ information is peddled. This is where individuals share their own personal experiences. Every post includes assumptions, conjecture, speculation. You can’t say that one’s experience includes ‘misinformation’ if it was their experience. It is just that - their reality. BGO’s share their advisees experiences and often share speculation as to why things happened. After all, no one on this forum sits on the USNA selection board no do they??</p>

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<p>Just to point out, the term is “scholastically qualified”, and not “academically qualified”, as many people on this forum have stated. Your daughter’s grades might have been fine, but maybe she lacked leadership in her EC’s. Idk.</p>

<p>However, the “Less is More” thing was true with me also. I applied to both USNA and USAFA. USAFA send me TONS of stuff, brochures, catelogs, bumper stickers, a promo DVD, etc. The only thing USNA had for me was I personally knew my BGO. I was rejected from USAFA, and givin an appointment to USNA. The only difference is USNA was my #1 choice over AFA. I’m sorry for your daughter, but she will probly make the most of her college experience wherever she goes.</p>

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<p>Both USAFA AND USNA superscore–that is they take the best scores from each section. Re-taking the ACT and SAT is never a negative at a civilian university or SA–they DO look at and consider updated scores. The Summer Seminars are a definitely an issue though. They are a great opportunity and I know some individuals who have done poorly on CFA’s, retaken them and been appointed and some that have done very well and not received an appointment. There are other things they evaluate during the summer and while it can help a great deal, it can definitely work against you. Both schools look at whole person scores–the airforce is more formulaic based on their admissions literature–but both look at a lot if intangible qualities and this year was very tough at USNA they had a record number of applicants so there probably was not much that separated appointments from that “TWE”.
USNA was where my journey began, but I will be attending USAFA. I was invited to a CVW, received robust recommendations from my BGO and had all the elements (or so I thought), and while I have not received my Navy rejection officially in the mail, my sense from speaking to my BGO, that at this late date, it is on the way. I am not bitter though, it is what it is, and I am looking forward to challenge of USAFA and serving in the Air Force.</p>

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<p>So what does the thin white letter say? I want to prepare myself. “Rancher’” input from his BGO is more fuel to my fear that “at this late date, the official rejection is on the way”</p>

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<p>I suspect that applies to my app and was not a general statement. I started this process very early–completed everything by the end of July. Nominated in November. I think he was just attempting to prepare me given the amount of time with no contact.</p>

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<p>It’s extremely difficult for anyone on this forum to comment knowledgeably about an individual case as none of us really knows all of the details. However, as someone who’s been a BGO for many years, the comments of the OP don’t square with my experience.</p>

<p>It IS true that acceptance to NASS does NOT mean you are more or less likely to receive an appointment. We keep saying it b/c it’s true. NASS is a recruiting tool; thus, spots are often given to students from schools or geographic areas that have been historically underrepresented at USNA. Being accepted is nice but really doesn’t have much bearing on whether you’ll be offered an appointment.</p>

<p>As a general rule, how “well you do” at NASS is also not a major factor in your chances for admission. There are exceptions. Those include people who don’t try, people who indicate they are only applying to USNA b/c parent or someone else wants them to, etc. If the evaluation from NASS is consistent with the views of teachers and the BGO, it may carry some weight. In isolation, it really doesn’t.</p>

<p>You should show up at NASS in shape. However, many candidates are unhappy with their CFA scores and resubmit them. I’m not aware of any situation where someone has significantly improved his/her physical fitness during the summer/academic year, submitted a new CFA, and been “punished” for poor NASS CFA scores.</p>

<p>I cannot imagine that consulting frequently with your BGO would hurt your chances. That said, consulting frequently will not, in and of itself, improve them. BGOs are there to help candidates navigate the admissions and nomination processes. We do a single interview. In my experience, it is extremely rare for an interview to be so “bad” as to have a negative impact on the application. Again, there are exceptions, but they are very rare. In the 9 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve only “dinged” 3 people – and that’s out of nearly 100. In most cases, I try to provide information to CGO that will help the candidate be appointed.</p>

<p>Please, please do not stay away from your BGO under some mistaken impression that asking questions and getting advice will hurt your chances. However, please don’t think that b/c your BGO suggests something and you do it, that means you will be accepted. USNA is a very, very competitive school and this year was particularly competitive given the higher-than-usual number of applications.</p>

<p>USNA only considers the best math and verbal SATs/ACTs. So there is no downside in submitting all of your scores. However, more important than scores are the courses you take in h.s., the grades you receive, and your class rank. As has been posted many times, USNA wants to see students taking high level math and science courses along with English, History and advanced language – taking AP where possible, and getting As and Bs in those courses. </p>

<p>I know that a rejection letter is terribly disappointing. However, please don’t assume that the entire process is flawed. It’s not perfect – no college admissions process is. But my experience has been that it’s generally a fair process and have seen no evidence to the contrary.</p>

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<p>USNA has received over 15,000 applications for the class of 2013. More applications, more time needed to review. Still only 1240+ seats available, thus, more competetion.</p>

<p>Admissions is working hard to complete the selection for the class of 2013. Over 1,000 appointments have already gone out, and the rest will be out over the next 10 days. For those of you waiting, hang in. </p>

<p>If the appointment comes, great- celebrate (carefully) and then start running.
If it doesn’t, then you have some choices to make. Celebrate the other offers you have. USNA still the goal? Consider whether or not you will toss your hat into the ring for the Class of 2014. As many as 1/3 of the incoming class have a year of post-high school studies under their belt.</p>

<p>It is hard to reconcile why some get offered appointments, while other great candidates get turned away. It is clear, with the number of applicants, that the selectivity is going up.</p>

<p>The academy is clear on several things, the first being that your HIGHEST sat/act math and verbal score is the one considered. There is nothing to be gained, or lost, by not submitting scores.</p>

<p>As for NASS, it is a good idea to go in ready for the activities of the week, meaning, get into some physical shape before reporting. What one has to remember is that the academy experience is a very physically demanding one. One needs to know that up front. Do you have to be in perfect physical shape for NASS? No. Can you turn in improved CFA scores? Absolutely. Will an improved score be considered? Absolutely. Will it hurt you if you are dead last in the run? It may. Go prepared.</p>

<p>Best of luck to all of you, successful or otherwise. Congratulations to you that you even considered a service academy in the first place, and had the persistence to complete the application and nomination process. If your goal is to become an Officer of the United States Navy (which is the mission), there are other ways of getting to the same place. </p>

<p>Will echo the advice USNA1985 offered above re: BGOs. Advice, when and if offered, is worth taking.</p>

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<p>Quoting the OP: “…lessons my daughter learned, 1- she should have skipped NASS as she was not there yet physically.”</p>

<p>IMO, there is just no reason why anyone should skip NASS in fear of the CFA. Presumably, anyone who is even considering attending a SA should already be participating in sports and be generally active. Two full months of hard training (from NASS application to start of NASS) specific for the CFA should be more than sufficient to be able to earn at least a passing score. </p>

<p>NASS is certainly not “the real thing,” but it is a great opportunity to meet a number of current Midshipmen, to learn more about USNA, and (via “mini-Sea Trials”) to learn more about yourself than you probably have before. It’s an experience that for some, like my daughter, cemented her desire to attend USNA. Others find it’s not right for them. Either way, the experience has had the intended result. </p>

<p>So, for those who are planning to attend this year, or who hope to attend in later years, get yourselves in shape. No excuses!</p>

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<p>One final note . . . NASS doesn’t give you a leg up EVEN IF you are already in top physical shape. If you attend NASS or one of the other SA summer programs (doesn’t matter which one), you will typically get a very small “bump” in the admissions process on the theory that you have some experience regarding what a SA is like and still want to attend. However, that “bump” is the same as you will get for being a military brat, being an Eagle Scout, doing JROTC, being a team captain, taking AP science courses, having an exceptional teacher rec, etc. There are many, many things that improve your odds of being accepted – NASS is only one line item on that very, very long list. </p>

<p>Bottom line: it is not a huge advantage to have attended NASS just as it is not a negative in any sense if you don’t attend. </p>

<p>NASS exists primarily for your benefit – to help you decide if a SA is right for you and, hopefully, to go back to your school and community and share your experiences. However, as the above posters have said, it is prudent to arrive mentally and physically ready for the program.</p>

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<p>the admissions office combined NROTC and USNA applications to look like USNA had 15,000 applicants. in reality, there were plenty of NROTC applicants who had no interest in going to USNA.</p>

<p>i could be wrong, but that’s how the facts were presented to me.</p>

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<p>^^^ that doesn’t really make sense to me. i had to fill out 2 separate applications. the NROTC app didn’t even mention USNA.</p>

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<p>according to what i’ve heard, this is the first time USNA has done this. but yes, NROTC applicants were considered USNA applicants as well.</p>

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<p>Don’t the incomplete applications count too? I think that anyone who received a candidate number is included in the count even if they didn’t complete the application process.</p>

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<p>The “imcomplete applications” are a wash, since they count those every year. I believe undercover may be correct and thus the number could be misleading and perhaps inflated. </p>

<p>Still, our speculating about which apples and oranges are being counted makes no difference. The message has not changed … It is extremely competitive to gain an appointment to USNA and sister SAs. That is what we know for sure.</p>

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<p>Son also had to fill out two seperate applications. It was my understanding that NROTC applicants were contacted by USNA and “asked” if they wanted to apply for USNA. They basically shared mailing lists. NROTC applicants, unless they began the process with USNA, were not assigned candidate numbers, BGO interviews, etc.</p>