The waiting game?

BenjaminZ

5-Year Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
64
Hello all,

I have completed everything I believe:
-passed DoDMERB (visible on portal)
-passed CFT
-completed online portal & all materials forwarded
-nominated by a member of congress

So now I must ask, what else is there to do? Is this the beginning of the dreaded "waiting game"? I hate not having a date for hearing back on my application, it's very nerve racking! :)

Thanks in advance and merry christmas!
 
Hello all,

I have completed everything I believe:
-passed DoDMERB (visible on portal)
-passed CFT
-completed online portal & all materials forwarded
-nominated by a member of congress

So now I must ask, what else is there to do? Is this the beginning of the dreaded "waiting game"? I hate not having a date for hearing back on my application, it's very nerve racking! :)

Thanks in advance and merry christmas!

Keep tabs on your back-up colleges' applications and make a visit if you have not done so yet.

Study hard and make top grades.

Work out and run.

Stay out of trouble.
 
Are you the first choice of the congressman (vacancy winner) or one of the ten that he nominated? There is a HUGH difference whether your are the primary nomination or one of the 10. In either case you are nominated, but if you are the principle (vacancy winner) and are considered fully qualified by WP (3Qd) you will get an offer. If you are not the principle (first) of the ten nominated by your congressman then you will be put on the National Waiting List if you are 3Qd by West Point. However, only about 400-450 of the approximately 1700 fully qualified people on the NWL will be getting offers. Unfortunately there are far fewer slots than there are vacancies.
You are now competing for an offer with the other people on the NWL (WP ranks the people on the NWL first to last)and only about the top 25% of this list will get offers. Make sure to aggressively keep improving your status on the NWL by updating your file with ANY positive information about yourself.
I advise you to call your Regional Admissions Officer and ask him what you can do to improve your position on the list. He will not tell you your position on the list but he will probably tell you where you need to improve your file.
Good luck!! .
 
The nominations were unranked... therefore I have about a 25% chance? I don't like those odds. :(
 
The nominations were unranked... therefore I have about a 25% chance? I don't like those odds. :(

Control what you can and don't worry about the rest. Besides what others have mentioned do what you can for plans B, C, D, and E. Good luck. 25% odds is much better than many other people face.
 
With a nom from an unranked slate, part of the waiting is determining who the vacancy winner is - which can't be done until all on the slate have completed their files. You may even get a 'waitlist' letter as the vacancy is being determined.

Assume you are on the NWL and take steps to improve your ranking on that list.

According to my RC, the absolute best thing you can do at this point to improve your odds of an offer is to improve your SAT and ACT scores.
As your scores improve, so do your chances of getting an offer.
You have one more chance to take both before the file completion deadline.
 
Many congressmen nominate up to ten people and allow West Point to rank order the ten and tell the congressman (with his/her permission) which is the best candidate. That is very probable the course that your congressman took. You are competing against the other 9 nominees for the congressman's vacancy. Unfortunately, many people that are declared fully qualified by West Point (3Qd) and get a nomination from thier congressman think they are going to get an offer. Unfortunately, that is not true.
Some official stats from West Point on the Class of 2015 Profile (google West Point Class of 2015 Profile for a copy).
Nominated: 4,344
Qualified: 2,540
Admitted: 1,261
Do the math. If you get a nomination you have a 29% chance of getting in. If you are nominated and declared 3Q you have a 50% chance of getting in.
Things will be even harder this year because it appears that West Point will take about 100 less offers this year. Class size for 2016 Class is approximately 1150 people (plus or minus 25 people).
 
If you have an LOA, how are one's chances improved? I'm just curious, b/c I had an LOA (received an appointment), but I had no idea about the process of selecting candidates.
 
An LOA guarantees that if you receive a nomination you will then receive an appointment. However if you are a recited athlete then your chances are increased even further. If you do no receive a NOM from either your senator or congressman, then USMA will do everything in their power to find you a NOM. It would either be a vice presidential nomination or they will offer you admission to the prep school.
Your chances of admission with an LOA is greatly increased. Not only is the LOA process highly selective so receiving one puts you in very good standings. I could be wrong but I believe that only 100 +/- 50 candidates receive LOA's. By receiving an LOA you have shown USMA that you were able to finish your file very early and you have what they are looking for.
 
An LOA guarantees that if you receive a nomination you will then receive an appointment. However if you are a recited athlete then your chances are increased even further. If you do no receive a NOM from either your senator or congressman, then USMA will do everything in their power to find you a NOM. It would either be a vice presidential nomination or they will offer you admission to the prep school.
Your chances of admission with an LOA is greatly increased. Not only is the LOA process highly selective so receiving one puts you in very good standings. I could be wrong but I believe that only 100 +/- 50 candidates receive LOA's. By receiving an LOA you have shown USMA that you were able to finish your file very early and you have what they are looking for.

I realize that I am pretty picky with information concerning admissions but it is because I don't want there to be misunderstandings to those forum members trying to understand the process and not because I want to pick on posters trying to help others on here.

With that said - There are a lot of definitive statements in this post that should not be definitive. There are many variables in most steps of the admissions process that it is not always accurate to say that X + Y will always = z. Sometimes it may, sometimes it may not. One candidate's experience does not always cover every aspect of the admissions process.

Most of the statements in this post are generally true but may not always be true.
For example, a LOA + a nom does not always = an appointment. The candidate may be waiting on a medical waiver to be granted. If that candidate with a LOA and nom has their waiver denied, then that candidate will not get the appointment.
I could go on but I don't want to appear to be picking on the poster as their intentions were good.
 
For example, a LOA + a nom does not always = an appointment. The candidate may be waiting on a medical waiver to be granted. If that candidate with a LOA and nom has their waiver denied, then that candidate will not get the appointment.

Indeed. I've been waiting for a waiver since the beginning of November, sitting on an LOA and two noms. Hopefully I DO get that waiver, and DoDMERB has no more bones to pick with me.
 
I kind of took the DoDMERB for granted. I passed, but at the same time I didn't realize that so many qualified candidates were waiting for a waiver which could decide their admission.

So 3Q'ed + Nom, judging by the numbers, I should be pretty proud of myself for getting this far?
 
For example, a LOA + a nom does not always = an appointment. The candidate may be waiting on a medical waiver to be granted. If that candidate with a LOA and nom has their waiver denied, then that candidate will not get the appointment.
I could go on but I don't want to appear to be picking on the poster as their intentions were good.
I was not taking DODMERB into account. I was just assuming that people would understand that you need to be cleared by DODMERB.
 
Many congressmen nominate up to ten people and allow West Point to rank order the ten and tell the congressman (with his/her permission) which is the best candidate. That is very probable the course that your congressman took. You are competing against the other 9 nominees for the congressman's vacancy. Unfortunately, many people that are declared fully qualified by West Point (3Qd) and get a nomination from thier congressman think they are going to get an offer. Unfortunately, that is not true.
Some official stats from West Point on the Class of 2015 Profile (google West Point Class of 2015 Profile for a copy).
Nominated: 4,344
Qualified: 2,540
Admitted: 1,261
Do the math. If you get a nomination you have a 29% chance of getting in. If you are nominated and declared 3Q you have a 50% chance of getting in.
Things will be even harder this year because it appears that West Point will take about 100 less offers this year. Class size for 2016 Class is approximately 1150 people (plus or minus 25 people).

You really can't do the math as you don't know and control other things.

Nomination is independent of being 3Q'd
Being 3Q'd is independent of geting a nomination.
If you are in a competitive district, mor than likely more than 2 kids with nomination being 3Qed.

Numbers can be manipluated to appear whatever you want it to be, but the reality is give your 100% and wait.
 
If you have an LOA, West Point wants you and has "reserved a slot" for you IF you complete all of the conditions on your specific LOA letter. That is: in many cases the LOA is conditional on completing something (physical, police check etc etc). These conditions are specifically listed in your LOA letter. If you successfully complete and pass these conditions you have a 99.9% probability of getting a final offer.
 
I understand that USMA looks into your past, but can you elaborate on how they go about doing this.

A Police Record Check is not one of the LOA conditions but is required of all applicants who have accepted an offer of appointment.
You will receive via your portal under the 'Offered Appointment' block a document called, "Instructions for Applicants Offered Admission'.
In that document are instructions for the Police Record Check including a form to fill out to give to the police dept/sherriff's dept for each jurisdiction that you fall under. Those law enforcement agencies will return the completed form to WP.
 
A Police Record Check is not one of the LOA conditions but is required of all applicants who have accepted an offer of appointment.
You will receive via your portal under the 'Offered Appointment' block a document called, "Instructions for Applicants Offered Admission'.
In that document are instructions for the Police Record Check including a form to fill out to give to the police dept/sherriff's dept for each jurisdiction that you fall under. Those law enforcement agencies will return the completed form to WP.

Good thing my record is 100% clean.
 
Back
Top