BGO

[ChrisWilder07]

I am a rising high school junior and I was wondering when
would be the best time to contact my BGO. Once I have contacted
my BGO, will s/he provide information about the next steps in the USNA application
and when those should be completed? (CFA, DODMERB, etc.)

 

[Spanky58ggpt]

DS initiated contact during sophomore year, for information and advice. His HS has a very active and dedicated BGO, above and beyond IMO. During junior year closer contact was maintained in both directions. BGO provided excellent guidance and followed up which encouraged DS to aggressively pursue appointment. DS offered appointments to USNA, USAFA, and USMA. LOA's received for USNA and USAFA in October of senior year, appointments came in December and January. Accepted USNA late January or early February. Now working hard as a plebe at USNA.

Starting early doesn't guarantee an appointment, but apparently did not hurt. Best of luck, get in touch with your BGO, see what advice you get from him. At least you will be on his radar when school starts.

 

[ChrisWilder07]

Thank you very much. Your response was very clear
and answered my question. I do, however have a few
more questions: Since your DS (what exactly does this
stand for?) has experience with applying to multiple service
academies, how would I go about doing this? Do you have
to contact a BGO-like official for each service academy and
take multiple DODMERB and CFA tests?

 

[1964BGO]

You will have to register for each academy in which you are interested, and you will work with a different liaison rep for each school. It would be wise to make contact with the BGO assigned to your school early so you can get advice on what you should be doing to get maximum benefit from the time you have available between now and April 15 of your senior year. Your job one is to make yourself the very best candidate you can become, and there is lots of work to be done. Personally I would recommend you start studying for and taking the SAT and ACT exams and continuing to take them until you are satisfied that you have compiled the best scores you can.

If you haven't already done so, you should visit www.usna.edu/Admissions to learn what you should be doing and to determine who is your Area Coordinator if you don't know who your BGO is.

Best wishes to you in your efforts.

 

[ChrisWilder07]

Thank you for your response; It was informative and gave me a direct answer. Thank you for your encouragement!