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Galvodog

As Buff81 says it is not possible to tell you why your candidate was not selected. You mentioned some very competitive stats. However, you did not mention leadership positions and physical fitness scores which are critically important.

Also, cadidates do not know their scores on interviews, teacher recommendations, and candidate essays. I think most candidates and their parents assume that their DS scored high on all of these areas but that is absolutely NOT true. When the qualifications of many candidates are very close, these items can be "tie breakers".
 
Galvodog, For what it's worth, my guess is his recommendations and leadership were top notch too, but that with the size of this year's class and the tightly controlled number of offers, another candidate from his congressional district could have beaten him out by just a few points. I've heard of point spreads between candidates in the single digits. Just heartbreaking for those who missed by just a few. My guess is your son has many fine opportunities available to him and I wish him the best of luck. Also, service is always an option through ROTC or OCS later on.
 
Also, cadidates do not know their scores on interviews, teacher recommendations, and candidate essays. . . . .

Does a field force interview equate to WCS points? My RC told me that they don't assign WCS points to field force interviews as majoirty of candidates don't get interviewed.

However, I know of a case where a bad interview made a candidate DQed.
 
MemberLG,

I think these interviews are VERY important. In my Congessional District ALL competitive candidates are interviewed by a Field Force person - almost always a West Point graduate. I have conducted many of these interiews-the final recommendation of the person doing the interview is important.

REMEMBER THAT THE PERSON DOING THE INTERVIEW IS OFTEN THE ONLY PERSON WHO SEES THE CANDIDATE IN PERSON. THEREFORE ADMISSIONS PEOPLE ARE LIKELY TO CONSIDED THESE INTERVIEWS AS IMPORTANT

I have made recomendations all the way from "get this candidate at all costs" to "I do not feel that this candidate would be a good fit for West Point-recommend that he not be admitted".

Imigine that you are on the selection committee and many candidates have very similar records. The candidates with the best interviews have an edge.
 
MemberLG,

I think these interviews are VERY important. In my Congessional District ALL competitive candidates are interviewed by a Field Force person - almost always a West Point graduate. I have conducted many of these interiews-the final recommendation of the person doing the interview is important.

REMEMBER THAT THE PERSON DOING THE INTERVIEW IS OFTEN THE ONLY PERSON WHO SEES THE CANDIDATE IN PERSON. THEREFORE ADMISSIONS PEOPLE ARE LIKELY TO CONSIDED THESE INTERVIEWS AS IMPORTANT

I have made recomendations all the way from "get this candidate at all costs" to "I do not feel that this candidate would be a good fit for West Point-recommend that he not be admitted".

Imigine that you are on the selection committee and many candidates have very similar records. The candidates with the best interviews have an edge.

My DS has never had a formal interview with WP, but his MALO was on the panel for his Congressional selection review board (where he received a Nomination) - would this count for anything?

He did also do a day visit, and met with the BOD from the Admissions office, who told him everything looked great, offering no real advice for improvement, etc. Wondering if this would count for anything re: an interview as well?

He's reached out several times to his RC for status as well, and has been told he's competitive and to be patient, etc. (he's still on the NWL) - wondering if there's anything else he should be doing at this point? Not sure where the line between being aggressive and annoying is in this context, so any advice I can pass along to him would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Interesting perspective Nick

I think these interviews are VERY important. In my Congessional District ALL competitive candidates are interviewed by a Field Force person - almost always a West Point graduate. I have conducted many of these interiews-the final recommendation of the person doing the interview is important.

I've had the impression that these interviews mainly just eliminated candidates rather than contributed to the overall strength of their file. But as you say NICK, if it is close maybe it does make a difference.

To my knowledge, my DS never had a "formal" interview with his FFR however he did talk to him several times and in various settings. He did have an interview with the Cadre as part of SLS, and DS told us, that write up would become part of his file. I don't recall a spot on the portal for a "Green" light next to an FFR interview but maybe it is there.

In contrast - DS had a BGO interview for USNA and the portal shows an official date of the interview (or the date the write-up was entered). But the BGO actually told us (as a family) that he had essentially no influence in the appointment decision.

One thing I would think is that if a candidate cannot articulate why they want a career in the military or what they hope to get from the service academy, they might not yet be ready to attend.

Appended ....

I'll highlight Nick's observation about teacher recommendations. Those certainly must weigh into the overall impression of a candidate.

Last year during an admissions brief, the BOD mentioned he had a candidate file (for CO2016) where one of three teacher recommendations was not favorable. :thumbdown: That "DQ'ed" the candidate in the academy's eyes even though the candidate was qualified in every other sense. The BOD's point was to carefully choose who you asked for recommendations.

So just to be clear, I do agree that interviews and recommendations are important but have the impression they are only decisive in certain, negative cases.
 
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Not looking for sympathy(but its nice anyway). I always read these forums and a lot of people want to know where they stand. I think its nice when people include some stats for comparison.

DS plans to reapply next year from Texas A&M Rotc. Their will be a lot of broken dreams this year and my DS is in good company. Good Luck everybody.
 
Every candidate that goes to the summer program are - in effect - interviewed. The Cadet Cadre puts in a report on each person that counts as the interview.

In addition - if a candidate has a face-to-face interaction with someone on the Admissions team -MALO, Field Force, or RC - they can and often do put a note in their file about their impression of the candidate.

Another point mentioned in a post above- many people do NOT do well in their teacher's recomendation and do not write good essays. I do not want to seem "mean" but my experience is that the vast majority of parents assume that their DS did great on theikr interview, essays, and teacher recomendations. THIS IS NOT A VALID ASSUMPTION. Performance in these area vary GREATLY from candidate to candidate.

Some actual example of things I encountered on interviews THIS YEAR:
1. Candidate shows up late
2. Candidate is in jeans and a T-Shirt
3. Candidate draws a blank when asked why they want to go to West Point
4. Candidate asks no questions during the interview
5. Candidates asks questions that show they have done no research on West Point
6. Candidate explains how important getting into West Point is to their parents
7. Candidate says the main reason they want to go to West Point is to take advantage of the free tuition
8. Candidate ends interviews because they have another commitment
9. Candidate says they have no time to take SAT classes or re-take the SAT
etc. etc.

Incidently, NONE of these candidates are going tro be in the class of 2017
 
Last comment by BigNick is a good reality check.

Here are a few things that I think helped my son:
  • Weekly update to his FFR and regional admissions officer of accomplishments; yes we viewed this as a "brag" email. This was suggested by the FFR. Observations about school work, projects, and sports highlights.
  • Took SAT and ACT tests at every opportunity
  • Essay was about chance encounter with WP graduate who stopped by when son was practicing for CFA
  • Took teacher's advice to have serious talk with active duty officer to make sure son understood what the commitment would be. Teacher submitted one of the recommendation submissions.
  • Had his coaches submit letters of recommendation to WP and to nominating committee even though they were not required.
  • Had his dad double check everything submitted to WP.
  • Attended AIM sessions in both Washington State and Oregon; attended the Washington one due to state championship game conflict. Let his region commander and FFR know, too. Learned some admissions file tips from the Washington presentations that were not mentioned for Oregon; i.e. get the application done as early as possible, and contact teachers for recommendation letters before end of Junior year of HS, informing them of the importance of getting everything done by September of Senior year.
  • At AIM, be sure to have conversation with your FFR, your admisions region commander, with visiting cadets, and with any admissions visitors from West Point. My son had an engaging conversation with the asst. Director of Admissions who visited the Oregon AIM. Don't be a wall flower. Don't be afraid to meet and have a discussion with the visitors. Get their business card, and follow-up with a thank you letter or email to everyone you meet.
  • Get to West Point for a day visit and/or an overnight visit. Again, get contact info for your host cadet of an overnight, your cadet tour guide, and any admissions person you meet. A thank you note to each is a good thing to do. When my cadet son hosted a visiting candidate, he was asked to write a short summary of how he felt about the visiting candidate, so be sure to leave a lasting, positive impression.
  • And of course, do well in academics. Son was not top of class, just well rounded. This was at a small, private high school that did not rank students, but did provide a school profile along with transcripts that explained the education philosophy, summary of colleges attended by past graduates, strength of academic program, average scores on ACT and SAT.

During the admissions process, be the student who stands out in all areas that the applicant can influence.
 
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