What might an applicant to USNA class of 2016 with a completed application expect from the first admissions board? LOA, decline, admit, conformation of receipt or nothing.
Yes to all the above. Prior to the board, administratively the WPMs on each record are tallied. Therefore the CGO has a feel for final ranking. Only the truly exceptional will normally go before these early boards. There are many who submitted this past summer who will not go before the board until Jan-Feb. Those who don't qualify will normally be one of the last few boards. Similiarly for the marginals. The board doesn't know where the cutoff is or if a record needs to be evaluated more closely because that individual is a MOCs principal nominee, so these are also retained until the end. One thing you will not see early on is rejections. Out of hundreds, the few I have seen either had glaring negative comments, they lied to the CGO/BGO, or something along those lines.
along that line of questions... if a candidate has a completed application submitted in Aug with a nom (pres) and is 3Q, and hears nothing- can they assume they will not be selected as one of the 100 pres noms? I know presidential are not competitive and DS is applying for all other types of noms he is eligible for but just am curious if the admissions board typically gives out the 100 presidential appointments early in the process.
Do not assume anything. Mostly, the only Presidentials who will be offered appointments early on are the truly exceptional, those who, had they not had a nomination, would probably have received an LOA.
Best to call and ask. Call the admissions office, they'll redirect to a candidate's regional representative, this person is probably the most knowledgeable about the candidate with regards to all things concerning admissions and, assumably, nominations.
Please please don't bother CGO with superfulous questions along these lines. The catalog states that most will hear by April 15. All you early submitters stand by for a long wait where all you can do is twiddle your thumbs.
CGO informed me that the first regular board would meet in early September.
LOAs overall, according to my RD, have decreased the past few years. The candidate pool is becoming more competitive each year. If someone bails out, there is another almost as qualified who really wants to be there to take his place. My assumption is that with the increase in the highly qualified pool and the emphasis on minorities, that a greater percentage of these LOAs will go to those truly exceptional minorities.
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