"Evaluation of Candidate"

[JHORNET44]

The English and Math teacher "Evaluation(s) of Candidate" are supposed to be current or from the previous year. I will be a senior this upcoming year, so I assume this means that the teachers must be from junior or senior year.

I had Math and English teachers my sophomore year that both know me very well. Because of this I feel it is more appropriate for them to fill out the Evaluation. Fortunately, I will have them both senior year as well.

Here's my question: Because I am on summer break now, I officially won't have them as teachers until August (because the Evaluation is supposed to be from the current or previous year), but would like to complete my application before then.

Is it acceptable to have them fill out the Evaluation during the summer?




Thanks,
J

 

[osdad]

On one hand - it probably matters more what they say about you than when they learned it, provided it was a high level class. (But who knows?)

On the other - if the directions are to do one thing and you do another, what does that say?

 

[Whistle Pig]

Short answer on this one ... call USNA admissions. Technically, doing so would be evaluating you on your performance and interactions with these 2 teachers in your sophomore year. My understanding is that clearly that is NOT what they are seeking. Nor are they seeking to know what your sophomore instructors in whatever lower level math think about having you as a student in the upcoming year. Presumably you ... and your instructors have changed.

Mine is speculation and were I you, I'd render little consideration to mine or others' opinion on this one. The issue is not how did you do in your sophomore year. It is how did you do as a junior and senior. Imo, yours is understandably wishful thinking that might not fly well. My understanding, and I hope someone will correct or confirm such, is you are expected to use the teachers from each during your junior year ... not soph, and not even senior. For doing so would require waiting some time before they might reasonably assess your performance in your senior year. Be certain USNA is not vague about this instruction nor the information desired. They've seen and heard every spin on their instructions conceivable to man or woman.

Don't mess with this one. Get it from the horse's mouth. And if there's any temptation to interpret instructions to fit your circumstances, resist. One of the assessments here is simple ... can a candidate understand AND follow directions precisely. Best wishes.

 

[usna1985]

According to what USNA tells BGOs, USNA wants your junior teachers, whether you liked them or they liked you or whatever. Maybe they've changed this to allow senior year teachers as well, but I've not heard that is the case. Even if senior teachers are acceptable (and I don't know if they are), to get a decent recommendation on your senior year performance, you're going to have to wait until well into the semester, and that will delay your application. USNA doesn't want to know how you performed as a sophomore -- they're looking for recommendations from more recent coursework -- so for the OP, your senior teacher recs about your 10th grade performance won't help you much.

There are rare exceptions where USNA will accept a rec from a different tacher, such as, for example, if your teacher has died or can't be located, etc. However, they are exceptions and are rare.

It is also important to follow instructions.

If there is some legitimate reason that you can't use your junior teacher, contact your Regional Director (not your BGO), explain the situation, and ask if you can substitute a different teacher. Do NOT just do it on your own.