What happen after you get the appointment letter?

What happen after you get the appointment letter?

So you get the appointment letter and then what happen? Is there any celebration, media announcement, formal state gathering, etc? I am just thinking ahead so we don’t miss anything. I want to enjoy every single minute of the final steps of the process. This has been a long ride and every day I keep asking myself “are we there yet?”

GO NAVY BEAT ARMY!

Some Senators, reps have recognition of various sorts. Some do nothing.
They are notified BEFORE the letter of appointment is mailed to give them the opportunity to notify the applicant. Here in Texas, one Senator notified us. Our local rep did not. I cannot imagine they wouldn't have a staffer or somebody make that call as they would reap huge good will from doing so. But many do not.

If you want a newspaper announcement, even school recognition, you need to spearhead this effort. Your BGO will often help with the school recognition, but you need to feed them information such as when recognition assembly, banquet, whatever is. Work with guidance counselor as well.

If you have a local parents club, they may have a send off picnic, etc.

Let me tell you, that while the wait drags on and on and on, once an appointment is delivered, time FLIES to I-Day. One minute you are doing the happy dance at home because they got the appt, the next they are marching into Bancroft after being sworn in and they are GONE. It is a much "harsher" (maybe that is not the right word, maybe more definite, stark, etc) separation that if DS or DD was going to "traditional college." At that point, we parents need to swallow hard, be supportive and realize our kiddos are gone and a new family (USNA, their company) is going to take the place of most of the functions we have provided for 18 years.

JennyP, thank you for your reply. As a mother having my first child going to college this has become a rollercoaster emotional experience as well. 18 years went by so fast and now is time to let DS go…

jennyp, would you mind expanding on some of the paper work and information you receive with (or following) your appointment letter?

Navymadre, I would think a family celebration is in order! Make your own party! The whole ride was about getting the appointment.
Congratulations!

It took a lot of family input to get this far and everyone has something to celebrate. Besides, as jennyp said, it goes fast from here so make this a VERY GOOD excuse to go out and have a celebratory party for the new Midshipman. They are taking a huge jump in life next summer and they'll never be the same again <for the good>.

Then get back to what you do best, keep them on the straight and narrow, out of trouble, healthy and running most of the time (if they're not already busy with sports). Then spend some more time with them.

I think this is the spot where the roller coaster peaks and your stomach sits in your throat for a bit, then WOOSH, your racing down hill into the next big sweeping curve! wow, I could almost feel it myself! Yeehaa

In our area, most schools include a presentation of the appointment certificate during your end-of-year "awards" ceremony. Your BGO will generally show up, assuming he/she is in the area. It's one of the things BGOs most enjoy doing. If you and/or your school official give the BGO plenty of notice, he/she can usually find a "replacement" to present your appointment certificate if the BGO can't attend for some reason.

In the meantime, I agree with the above poster -- make your own party!

Four years have gone by so fast. I-Day seems like it was only yesterday. Congratulations and celebrate with the whole family. Work hard at the Mid Store!

jumprope: As far as what paperwork you will receive following the appt........You get a packet maybe in early May with all kinds of stuff. Ranges from banking information, more medical information, vaccinations to get or provide proof of, lists of what to bring, etc. Also, I remember we had to fill out insurance paperwork: this is the military. You must name beneficiaries in the event of your death, primary and secondary beneficiaries. I must say that when we went through that part of the paperwork, that is when it hit me that we were not sending our son off to a "regular" college.

My husband and son sat at the kitchen table for several hours filling out, highlighting, figuring out which items needed further attention or required outside input (like getting vaccine record, getting more vaccinations, getting eyeglass/contact lens prescription copies, etc) and which had to be returned to USNA in advance of I-Day.

Seems like some also got passports if they did not have them as well. That is one thing you could do once you receive your appointment. The first opportunity you may need one is likely the summer between plebe and youngster year possibly. Although you can get them anytime, it is difficult for plebes to get away from the yard. I guess I may be out of date. You may be able to do most or even all of that process on line. But, they are good for ten years, so why not get that done BEFORE you go!

All of this is mailed out once the class is complete. If you receive your appointment in Dec, you will get this packet in May or whenever everyone else does. The important thing is NOT to lay it aside until, say, the week before I-Day, because some of the paperwork (like the vaccinations) may require a few days to get done.

However, you will NOT need to shop for comforters, pillows, lamps to make your dorm room more "homey!" No need to get junior's car serviced. In fact, we took him off our insurance after meeting with our agent who understands that he will drive when he is home a couple weeks at Christmas. You DON'T need a book bag, suitcase, mini coffee pot, pens, pencils, paper, ANYTHING!

usna1985 said:

In our area, most schools include a presentation of the appointment certificate during your end-of-year "awards" ceremony. Your BGO will generally show up, assuming he/she is in the area. It's one of the things BGOs most enjoy doing. If you and/or your school official give the BGO plenty of notice, he/she can usually find a "replacement" to present your appointment certificate if the BGO can't attend for some reason.

In the meantime, I agree with the above poster -- make your own party!

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Any candidate who receives an official offer of appointment and wishes to have their appointment certificate presented during the year-end ceremony MUST make those arrangements directly with their BGO.
Do not leave it up to the BGO to contact you and ask if you want them to attend. Many of us are working full time jobs, travel and have family commitments. If your BGO is not available the night of the ceremony we do our best to find another to attend in our place.
Please, if you wish to have a BGO present for you, contact them as soon as you know the date and time of the ceremony.

Our daughter has been in JROTC all through high school. The battalion always recognizes the Academy appointees during the end of year awards ceremony.

As a follow-up to jennyp's advice, be sure to make copies of everything and put them in a folder to take with you for I-Day. The instructions you receive will tell you what your plebe will need in the way of paperwork when they walk in the door that day, but we also brought copies of the documents that needed to be mailed back in advance of I-Day. My son, who is currently a plebe, told me that he heard of several kids on I-Day who did not have their immunization records with them, and because USNA could not locate their paperwork (it's a busy place and things do get lost or mis-filed, despite the best of intentions), they had to get vaccinated for everything.

In the words of Ronald Reagan, "trust, but verify!"

Best of luck!

is there a USNA parent club in Columbus/Ohio?

Thank you jennyp and wilson73 for the great advice.

Just to clarify, so if you receive your appoinment early (lets say december) you only receive a letter of appoitment in the envelope? All of the additional information will come a few months later once the class has been filled up?

jumprope, there will be some paper work to fill out in the Appointment BFE--the candidates acceptance paperwork, statement on bodyart/piercings, and probably most importantly a police record check that needs to be taken to all local authorities to fill out and mail in. Other than that, the bulk of the paper work will come in another BFE around April.

Thank you for the clarification. Now it is crystal clear