Admissions Politics?

I can tell you that at the Coast Guard Academy there seems to be politics. I got in to USAFA and many other excellent civilian schools and am waiting on USNA but got waitlist on CGA?? Go figuire! I had no weakness on my application: 1 B in highschool the rest were A s, 4.2 GPA. 32 ACT composite, excellent CFA and tons of ECAs.

Remember that USCGA does not require Noms so you are competing against a national pool with a very small class size. One thing to look at is what classes you took, did you take all APs and a lot of STEM classes? I know kids with 3 or 4 B's and a 4.2 to 4.3 GPA. I am not trying to put you down, your stats are very good and you have worked hard, but I don't think it is fair to claim USCGA or any other SA is playing politics without proof.
 
I have no dog in this fight, as my son will be attending the AFA. But I have to agree that the type of classes one takes makes a difference. One can have all As in high school, while having taken mostly liberal arts type classes. When applying so a SA, that person is competing against applicants that have similar grades but have taken calculus and physics and chemistry. Considering the majority of graduates from the CGA are engineering majors, it makes sense the admission board would score the applicant that has taken the highest math and science available higher than the applicant who has not. The same thing with AP. I just cannot believe a 5 on the Sociology AP exam holds as much weight as a 4 on the Chemistry AP.
 
So true ... as I said before.. not all A's are created equal . Ask any college admissions officer or high school guidance counselor.
 
My not As being equal was really a side point :wink:

my bigger point is that there is more to the application process that we are privvy to, even with our own kid's application.

What i WOULD agree with you on though was how stressful the process was. At times this process can be overwhelming, and stressful. My son (or myself) missed a deadline, could not figure out some acronyms, lost an important document, forgot a password....etc etc etc
 
I think the admissions departments of the SAs are aware that not all As are created equal. I am not sure about USNA, but USAFA re-calculates an applicant's GPA based on their school's profile. Child #1 got his raised from a 3.9 to a 4.0 in his application based on his high school's profile.

I would like to hear if USNA does the same since Child #3 is interested in both USNA and USAFA.

Stealth_81
 
I have no dog in this fight, as my son will be attending the AFA. But I have to agree that the type of classes one takes makes a difference. One can have all As in high school, while having taken mostly liberal arts type classes. When applying so a SA, that person is competing against applicants that have similar grades but have taken calculus and physics and chemistry. Considering the majority of graduates from the CGA are engineering majors, it makes sense the admission board would score the applicant that has taken the highest math and science available higher than the applicant who has not. The same thing with AP. I just cannot believe a 5 on the Sociology AP exam holds as much weight as a 4 on the Chemistry AP.

Oh yes I have 5 AP classes now and am a National AP Scholar with Honors from my prior 3 years. I hope to achieve National AP Scholar with Distinction. Never getting anything but a 5 on my AP exams. I am wondering does USCGA scale each candidate on the WCS?
 
My son applied to USAFA, USMA and the USNA.
Received LOAs from both USAFA and USMA.
Nothing from USNA. Not a nibble of interest, not an invitation to CVW. Nothing. We "assumed' they either had better qualified candidates or his BGO evaluation wasn't as good as the others. The possibility of the problem being about politics wasn't considered. Why worry about something you can't control?

In the end it did not matter. He is now where he belongs (USAFA). I'm sure your friend will eventually find him/her self in a similar right place. If they want to be a Navy Officer enroll in NROTC. Tell him/her to take root where they are planted and move on with their life. :thumb:
 
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Oh yes I have 5 AP classes now and am a National AP Scholar with Honors from my prior 3 years. I hope to achieve National AP Scholar with Distinction. Never getting anything but a 5 on my AP exams. I am wondering does USCGA scale each candidate on the WCS?

Right. But my point was not all AP exams are created equal. 5 on Calc AP is not equal to a 5 on Literature AP. That's just the facts.
 
High School grades and rigor of the high school classes taken are one of the top considerations according my DS's admissions counselor.
 
I was told by my USMA admissions counselor that my WCS pts were maxed in the area of leadership, extracurriculars, athletics... Literally, I have no where else to gain point according to him. Not sure about USNA. My weakness is my class rank. So hopefully I will be that 'rock star' this year when I rock the plebe courses at Norwich.

As for the story of the candidate, I agree that there probably is some dark secret or untold part of the story.
 
@hardcharger.... in regards to the Yale rejection... it is in no way a reflection of your accomplishments or who you are as a person. I have many friends whose children have applied to Yale, Dartmouth and Princeton and have had very high SAT scores and perfect grades in all APs and Honors courses. Some have even been legacies ....and they are turned down.

You can only try your best and in the end you will end up where you were supposed to be. It sounds like you have a great opportuinity at USNA so good luck !! :smile:
 
On a tangent, what do you guys think of Norwich for reapplying?

My Dad is a Citadel graduate who grew up in Vermont and he didnt think much of Norwich back in the day. Of course now he says the Citadel is just too expensive for out of staters.
 
Back to the OP.

Grades, class rank, test scores, sports, EC's, fitness are pretty much objective measures as was pointed out. However, there are subjective measures involved in the decision also; BG interview, teacher rec's, and yes, (as one regular here will undoubtably point out) recruitment politics. So while the OP's resume may have indeed been stellar, its the whole person that matters and we can't know those other things.
 
Not All High Schools The Same

A reminder that not all High Schools are the same. And the Academy and colleges know it.

DS was only in top 17%, but was assured that USNA knew the school and consideration was given based upon the academic rigors of the school.
 
... not all A's are created equal. Most colleges know that an A from a state where the standards are lower is not the same as an A from a state that ranks in the top 3 in the country for education with a high school that ranks number 1 in that state.

Although I'll agree that not all A's are created equal, I don't think the grades are looked at in that general of a fashion - by state. I think there are two factors that are considered: 1) was the "A" received in an AP or Honors course? and 2) What is the record of that particular high school? (regardless of what state it happens to be in).

For instance, I live in Tennessee. Tennessee is not noted for its great schools. However, in this particularly area, the schools in the suburbs (a fairly affluent community), the schools are ranked quite high on a national scale. An extremely high percentage of the graduates go on to 4-yr colleges. How the individual school ranks trumps how the state ranks.
 
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