USAFA Waiver

Eagle15

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Jan 5, 2016
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My DS was medically DQ'd back in the fall, however received Nomination a few weeks ago from our Congressman. There were 3 others that received nominations in our District. Our Congressman presents an even slate and so there are no principal nominations. Will DS be overlooked by Admissions if the other 3 Nominees are 3Q or is he still in the running against the other 3? Is there anything he should be doing to be proactive in terms of a waiver or does he just wait to hear from SA?
 
He will need to wait on the SA. USAFA admissions will decide whether to put him forward for a waiver and the USAFA surgeon general will determine if a waiver will be granted. You should receive an email or letter from USAFA Admissions telling you if they have decided to put him forward for a waiver. A code in your DoDMERB portal does not necessarily mean you have been put forward.

Have you received such a notification from USAFA Admissions?
 
He will need to wait on the SA. USAFA admissions will decide whether to put him forward for a waiver and the USAFA surgeon general will determine if a waiver will be granted. You should receive an email or letter from USAFA Admissions telling you if they have decided to put him forward for a waiver. A code in your DoDMERB portal does not necessarily mean you have been put forward.

Have you received such a notification from USAFA Admissions?

I have received waivers to USMA and USNA but am still pending at USAFA.. I have 2 nominations to USAFA as well. Will I likely receive a waiver given that the other academies gave me one? Thanks!
 
I have received waivers to USMA and USNA but am still pending at USAFA.. I have 2 nominations to USAFA as well. Will I likely receive a waiver given that the other academies gave me one? Thanks!

Not necessarily. Each SA is its own waiver authority. No evidence that they consult with each other. Have seen USMA approve and USAFA reject on same issue. Hang in there.
 
He will need to wait on the SA. USAFA admissions will decide whether to put him forward for a waiver and the USAFA surgeon general will determine if a waiver will be granted. You should receive an email or letter from USAFA Admissions telling you if they have decided to put him forward for a waiver. A code in your DoDMERB portal does not necessarily mean you have been put forward.

Have you received such a notification from USAFA Admissions?
Thank you Falcon A. We have not yet received such a notification.
 
You might consider having him respectfully inquire with USAFA Admissions if they have put him forward for a waiver or if they intend to put him forward for a waiver since he now has a nomination, and if not, what he can do to improve his record so they will. The answer may be nothing at this point. While that would not be welcome news, best to know early so can add focus to Plan B should that become necessary. Best of luck. Was there last year with USMA on the need for a medical waiver with my DS. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss further.
 
You might consider having him respectfully inquire with USAFA Admissions if they have put him forward for a waiver or if they intend to put him forward for a waiver since he now has a nomination, and if not, what he can do to improve his record so they will. The answer may be nothing at this point. While that would not be welcome news, best to know early so can add focus to Plan B should that become necessary. Best of luck. Was there last year with USMA on the need for a medical waiver with my DS. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss further.
Thank you for sharing.
 
We were initially all over DS's need for a waiver. We lobbied the USNA Medical folks to see if they could review his case now. But recent feedback DS received from USNA Admissions has caused us to stand down. Admissions communicated that a waiver will automatically be considered AFTER the Academy's Admissions Board has decided to extend an offer of appointment. Admissions further insisted that the Admissions Board will have no knowledge of the need for a waiver when it makes its decision to extend an offer. Reading between the lines, I think they were trying to tell DS that the odds of receiving a waiver would improve once the school has decided that it wants DS, and after they have expended a ton of time, energy and resources to reach that conclusion. Conversely, if the waiver request was considered earlier in the process, the school might decide not to waste more time on DS in favor of a similar candidate who doesn't need a waiver. By waiting until the end of the process, that other candidate may no longer even be in the mix. With all of this in mind, we've chosen to let the waiver issue lie and not concern ourselves with it until Admissions has made its decision. It is frustrating to sit and do nothing, but it seems the wisest course at this time.
 
Admissions further insisted that the Admissions Board will have no knowledge of the need for a waiver when it makes its decision to extend an offer.

Interesting. That is very different from our experience with USAFA and USMA.
 
We chose the same course...wait. Issue we have is if ds doesn't get appointment and tries next year to then get appointment but then no waiver. Ouch. That's one time consuming life lesson.
 
My DS called his Counselor on a few items and mentioned he received a Nomination and asked if there was anything he could do to be proactive with waiver. Counselor advised he would advise person in charge of waivers and that person would review and determine whether competitive enough to start waiver process. I believe it is a good idea to follow-up as I am sure they are innundated with paperwork etc., however not a good idea to become a nudge.
 
Our DD started her USAFA process last May. In June she did her DoDMerb and received a DQ for a wrist issue. Her Dr did another exam and gave his dx of her wrist in September. In that report he wrote her weight and that ended up getting red flagged and a permanent DQ was placed on her until she met USAF body Measurments. After submitting her 220 form 4 times she finally got to the requirements (last week). Yesterday she received a letter that USAFA is requesting a waiver process for her wrist. OK OK OK with all that info....She is not at the competitive ACT/SAT score for her Math. For everything else I would say she probably exceeds their requirements. So is there a possibility that they are interested in her even with out being competitive for her Math score?
 
IMHO, if they are pursuing a waiver, then they are interested.

"Competitive" is relative thing. Her ACT must be above the minimum score line they have drawn, or else they would not have found her to be "qualified academically" -- they would not pursue a waiver if she wasn't qualified academically. Best wishes and good luck.

One update -- they may want her but offer Prep School depending on how low her ACT Math score is . . . if she gets the medical waiver
 
I truly think it's Prep...

She has a 3.97 GPA
480hrs Volunteer Work
ASB Council (seat 1) Officer 2 yrs
3 sports (not varsity)
CFA (She scored Max)
Leader of Feed the Children (a local fundraiser)
She created a food and toiletries pantry for local youth
58.5 College Credits (3.65 GPA and currently enrolled in 4.5 units to receive her AA)
Works with an Autistic lil guy who she has been teaching Sign Language to (1 1/2 years)
I think there are a few other high lights ????
ACT Scores
Only the Math (23) is way way bellow
 
Mom_CHgn, did anyone direct your DD to be reevaluated or did you do that on your own? Wondering if I need to take my DS to Dermatologist for exam and have report sent and be proactive. We haven't received notice of request for waiver yet, although his SAT CR score is a little low.
 
DD spoke with Mr. Mullen and he had suggestions. She made the appointment for her wrist to clear it on her own and to get more concrete evidence she was not currently or had been in need of medical care for her wrist. DD saw a specialist in April to make sure she didn't have any significant issues with it and that BCT would not cause further damage, those records were what was originally submitted with DoDMerb paperwork. Anything like that DoDMerb would red flag for USAFA to ok. So her Dr. (Ex Navy Dr.) wrote up a nice letter in support for her having no medical issues. He added her weight and this flagged a problem to them. She is probably one of the most fit kids I know (3-4 days a week Crossfit, 3 days a week swimming, 2 days a week personal trainer and runs daily). Her Muscle mass has changed and for that reason it threw off her weight. Now that is a process!
 
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DD spoke with Mr. Mullen and he had suggestions. She made the appointment for her wrist to clear it on her own and to get more concrete evidence she was not currently or had been in need of medical care for her wrist. DD saw a specialist in April to make sure she didn't have any significant issues with it and that BCT would not cause further damage, those records were what was originally submitted with DoDMerb paperwork. Anything like that DoDMerb would red flag for USAFA to ok. So her Dr. (Ex Navy Dr.) wrote up a nice letter in support for her having no medical issues. He added her weight and this flagged a problem to them. She is probably one of the most fit kids I know (3-4 days a week Crossfit, 3 days a week swimming, 2 days a week personal trainer and runs daily). Her Muscle mass has changed and for that reason it threw off her weight. Now that is a process!
Thank you. Good luck to your DD!
 
Thank You and all the luck to your DS!

As for going to get a second opinion or thinking going and getting his DQ resolved....I advise to be incredibly cautious! Do NOT and I repeat DO NOT let the medical provider add anything (and I mean anything) to their Dx other than what is pertinent to his DQ. Our DD has had to fight tooth and nail to get her weight down (7 lbs) and thinking when she met the weight requirement that was it...NOPE....It ended up being heavily weighted (no pun intended) on her measurements. She stopped Crossfit for 3 weeks (and she is a Crossfit junky) to get her muscle mass measurements to decrease.
 
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