Latest Poop
First, THANK YOU House06 for your thoughtful response. I share your sentiment on our state of our youth.
Futurepilot22...here's what I know:
I attended the Diversity Conference @ USMA 2 weeks ago and a Donor Recognition event TODAY (Thursday). The thrust on the admissions front is on the size and "quality" of candidates/appointees. USMA can't stop taliking about it. I've seen the PPT slide time and again. Last Friday night evening (at the Union League Club in NYC) the Comm said that next year they will raise the bar higher (candidate point system) to issue an LOA. Clearly understanable in light of the kids that will be applying; no reason to believe that it will be significantly different.
Today the DEAN said that acceptance rate of LOA this year was about 86%, up from 81% last year and 68% on a "normal" year. Today they are still over 100 LOAs more that the planned class 2014 size. There are about 725 on the NWL. Do the math.
I'm not with admissions and nor do I claim to fully understand their policies and practices, but it would appear that they need over 100 declinations to LOA (that they currently don't know about) between now and R-Day before they even look at the NWL.
One of my classmates got the call on the night before R-DAY! While Forbes, ESPN, Obama, et al has given USMA exceptional press this year, I don't think that the 30% increase in applications is entirely attributable to these factors. I believe that the cost of education, coupled with the jobs losses and college savings plans that were hammered (50%) by Wall St ., are factors that weigh on these figures.
My take: You may see last minute "cold feet" by kids (or by their parents) who decide "may I can the college loan thing work without risking time in Iraq, Afghanistan, IRAN, N. Korea, etc..." These kids who applied to USMA, primarily financial factors, will bail just before R-Day or after plebe year. The latter group will get at least 1 (maybe2) year of free college education while the economy recovers and the wars end (as promised by Obama). Retention statistics for 2014 will be interesting to see.
First, THANK YOU House06 for your thoughtful response. I share your sentiment on our state of our youth.
Futurepilot22...here's what I know:
I attended the Diversity Conference @ USMA 2 weeks ago and a Donor Recognition event TODAY (Thursday). The thrust on the admissions front is on the size and "quality" of candidates/appointees. USMA can't stop taliking about it. I've seen the PPT slide time and again. Last Friday night evening (at the Union League Club in NYC) the Comm said that next year they will raise the bar higher (candidate point system) to issue an LOA. Clearly understanable in light of the kids that will be applying; no reason to believe that it will be significantly different.
Today the DEAN said that acceptance rate of LOA this year was about 86%, up from 81% last year and 68% on a "normal" year. Today they are still over 100 LOAs more that the planned class 2014 size. There are about 725 on the NWL. Do the math.
I'm not with admissions and nor do I claim to fully understand their policies and practices, but it would appear that they need over 100 declinations to LOA (that they currently don't know about) between now and R-Day before they even look at the NWL.
One of my classmates got the call on the night before R-DAY! While Forbes, ESPN, Obama, et al has given USMA exceptional press this year, I don't think that the 30% increase in applications is entirely attributable to these factors. I believe that the cost of education, coupled with the jobs losses and college savings plans that were hammered (50%) by Wall St ., are factors that weigh on these figures.
My take: You may see last minute "cold feet" by kids (or by their parents) who decide "may I can the college loan thing work without risking time in Iraq, Afghanistan, IRAN, N. Korea, etc..." These kids who applied to USMA, primarily financial factors, will bail just before R-Day or after plebe year. The latter group will get at least 1 (maybe2) year of free college education while the economy recovers and the wars end (as promised by Obama). Retention statistics for 2014 will be interesting to see.
