rolling admissions?

WP hopeful

USMA 2015 appointee
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How does that work, exactly? I mean, I've found that those who have LOAs get their appointments like a month-ish after sending everything in which is cool but for those who don't have LOAs and send everything in, do they also get a reply in that month-ish range or does West Point send out a mass acceptance/rejection letter in march or something?
 
How does that work, exactly? I mean, I've found that those who have LOAs get their appointments like a month-ish after sending everything in which is cool but for those who don't have LOAs and send everything in, do they also get a reply in that month-ish range or does West Point send out a mass acceptance/rejection letter in march or something?

Unfortunately if you're in the National Pool meaning qualified, nominated and passed the CFA, you might/may have to wait till May and beyond to be notified. There is no rhyme or reason either, it's just how the appointed respond with declines or acceptances.
 
Okay, so basically there's going to be a big mass of letters sent out in roughly the same time period (perhaps may) telling candidates in the national pool (those w/o LOAs?) that they're either accepted or not accepted? If that's the case, then how does rolling admissions come into play?
 
That's really not the case. Before the national pool, you're competing with the other candidates on your MOC's slate. The reason that most appointments come out in March is that it's shortly after the application deadline. Each MOC can nominate 10 people for each slot they have, but only one will get the appointment (at least charged to that MOC). If a principal nomination, they will be offered it as soon as their file is complete and they're qualified. On a competitive slate, the academy chooses the most qualified candidate, which they can't do until all 10 applications are complete. So even if your application is done and you have the nom in November, the academy can't compare you to everyone else until they're all done - which has to be done by March 1. Assuming time to process, this is why so many appointments come out in the "mass mailing" then.

If you're not the most competitive on your slate (or are on a slate with a different principal nomination), then at this point you'll go on to the National Waiting List. According to my MALO training, WP at least MUST take a minimum of 150 off the NWL, in WCS order and offer them appointments. After that, to fill the remaining slots, it says they MAY take them in WCS order or not. So if they have 50 more slots (I have no idea on this next number) and want another person from NJ or a tennis player or a Pacific Islander or whatever - at that point they can fill by preference. The first 150 are by WCS score though.

So during this same time, if you're nowhere near the top of the NWL (ie would have no real shot in getting an appointment), you would then get a rejection letter. If you have a reasonable WCS score, you probably wouldn't get anything. If your score is low, but you're high on your slate, you probably still won't get anything while they wait to see what the #1 person does.

This is where people talk about hearing in May/June (my WP roommate was notified less than a week before R-day). This comes about as a result of someone who was offered an appointment waiting until the deadline (May 1) and then turning it down. Or getting injured after that day. Or whatever reason. They then offer it to the next person - off the slate if they were charged to a MOC or off the NWL if they were from there.

Rolling admissions simply means that if they can offer you an appointment (ie you have an LOA or all 10 applications are complete or whatever) that they do it right then, not wait and send them all out in March.
 
ooooh, okay thank you that was really informative and helpful.
 
Sorry on the belated reply - were out skiing yesterday.

This is interesting because the powerpoints I have (my husband and I are doing the MALO training right now) make it sound like you won't know if you're on the NWL and are part of that first 150 batch (along with all the primary senator/rep appointees) - that those would go out at once and the only people told they were on the NWL would be after this point (ie not until late March and then they'd be waiting for the slots created by people turning down their appointment).

From what I read on the Navy boards last year it seemed like for them at least, it worked that way. If you read the whole thread on those forums "April is a Great Month" (you can link to it from the bottom of the home page of this board - under "hottest threads"), these are all people still waiting in April to hear anything. Most of them get rejection letters, a few are told they're being placed on the NWL.

However, from what I'm reading on the WP forums this year, it seems this may not be the case. If you look at the 2014 Appointments thread, there is someone there saying they were already told they were on the NWL and has subsequently gotten an appointment from the NWL! Seems really early for that so I'm not sure how that worked, but evidently you're right - you can find you're on the NWL much earlier than I thought!

Good luck to everyone and I'll keep you informed as we learn any more about this process!
 
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