Son can't finish his application because of eye exam -- no response from USNA

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farmgirl1776

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Sep 4, 2015
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44
Hey guys,

I've been lurking for many months and saw tonight that some are receiving LOAs. Congrats!

Anyway, my son wanted to enter his application early, but he is stuck in Never-Neverland on the eye exam. Weeks ago, he asked for a change on Dodmets because the optometrist assigned to him said they no longer do eye exams. (Say what?!) No response from Dodmets, so he submitted another request. No response.

Awhile back, he contacted his admissions counselor regarding the issue. No response there either.

He has contacted his Blue and Gold officer several times too. No response.

This is my first experience dealing with the military, and God forbid, that my son be injured and need a response....and I'm second guessing sending my son to the military. All the work and effort he has put into this (Summer Seminar, finished jumping through all the hoops, etc), and he can't get the eye exam.

Maybe this is a sign. I don't know... He has a full free ride at any in-state college, where they are sending daily letters and phone calls trying to recruit him, it kind of feels insulting that nobody will give him the courtesy of a reply at USNA. I hate to steer him away, as USNA is his dream, but this is pretty ridiculous.

Any advice?

I think we will just give up on the application. Not sure what else to do....
 
Did you try calling USNA or DODMETS or just email?
(1) If your son hasn't picked up the phone to both, then you haven't done all that you could do. (2) If you did call and didn't get the response you were looking for or left a voicemail and didn't get a call back then you need to call back until you do.

It doesn't necessarily excuse the lack of communication, however, you have to remember how many candidates are communicating with DODMETS and USNA, so sometimes things slip through the cracks. If your emails aren't being responded to in an appropriate time, call until you actually get a voice on the other end (that is the candidates' responsibility). I guarantee if you become persistent someone will eventually resolve the issue.

This isn't a military specific issue, but a life issue...happens all the time to everyone and in many different situations.
 
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He called USNA admissions and his BGO several times, but not DoDMETS. No returned phone calls from voicemails or emails. Regarding DoDMETS, I thought we were supposed to use the change request form per the directions. But thanks-- will start calling DoDMETS on the hour, every hour.
 
There is someone always manning the main admissions line during regular business hours. I would call that number and ask for the medical staff representatives and explain that you have called multiple times (not sure if that has been tried). I have heard about an unreasonable lack of communication between a candidate and BGO, but not between Admissions and a candidate, especially after multiple attempts.
 
farmgirl1776 said:
Hey guys,

I've been lurking for many months and saw tonight that some are receiving LOAs. Congrats!

Anyway, my son wanted to enter his application early, but he is stuck in Never-Neverland on the eye exam. Weeks ago, he asked for a change on Dodmets because the optometrist assigned to him said they no longer do eye exams. (Say what?!) No response from Dodmets, so he submitted another request. No response.

Awhile back, he contacted his admissions counselor regarding the issue. No response there either.

He has contacted his Blue and Gold officer several times too. No response.

This is my first experience dealing with the military, and God forbid, that my son be injured and need a response....and I'm second guessing sending my son to the military. All the work and effort he has put into this (Summer Seminar, finished jumping through all the hoops, etc), and he can't get the eye exam.

Maybe this is a sign. I don't know... He has a full free ride at any in-state college, where they are sending daily letters and phone calls trying to recruit him, it kind of feels insulting that nobody will give him the courtesy of a reply at USNA. I hate to steer him away, as USNA is his dream, but this is pretty ridiculous.

Any advice?

I think we will just give up on the application. Not sure what else to do....
Click to expand...

The medical qualification process is separate from having an application that the admissions board will consider. Many students will go before the admissions board before their medical review is complete. So while there may still be items to complete in the sense of needing to finish the medical exam, that doesn't need to delay the completion of the part of the application that the admissions board reviews.

Also, the BGOs are not in a position to give specific council on working through the medical appointment system. Unless they are recent graduates or parents of recent applicants, they may not be very familiar with the ins and outs of the process. BGOs are told not to get involved in medical questions, both because they aren't medical professionals and because of privacy issues. So you can let the BGO there is an issue, but they won't be in a position to intercede much.

As others mentioned, the best thing is to call DODMETS and be persistent. Let the assigned USNA admissions officer know that it is a concern.
 
We experienced a similar issue. DD was originally scheduled for her vision and physical/hearing exams but then the clinic changed the time of the physical/hearing exam. All exams were completed. However, the website suddenly showed no time/date for the physical/hearing exam since the original time was cleared when the clinic made the change and DD (nor her father who was charged with helping her navigate this portion of the process realized what had happened). After 2 weeks we suddenly realized that DoDMERB had no idea that DD had completed her exams since DoDMETS website now had her listed as having yet to schedule the exams that she had, in fact, already completed. We were on vacation when we realized what had happened and so DD contacted Concorde (see info listed below from DoDMETS site). I figured we would get a recorded message and this would be an exercise in frustration (the DoDMETS website is not the most user friendly)....But miracle of miracles, a real human answered. My DD told her the problem and it was all resolved within 24 hours. The woman gave DD her direct line and the customer service experience was worthy of Apple. I was impressed.

Good luck getting it resolved. Here is the contact info from DoDMETS website:

Help
If you have any questions or trouble please call 215-587-9600. We are happy to assist you.

Who Do I Contact?

Trouble Logging In
If you are having trouble logging in, please call 215-587-9600 and someone will assist you.

Cancel or Reschedule an Appointment
If you have to cancel or reschedule an appointment, please contact your assigned provider as well as Concorde at 215-587-9600.

Missing Medical Information
If you received a call regarding missing medical information, please contact Concorde at 215-587-9600 and ask for the representative who contacted you. You may also e-mail your corrections to DoDMERBStaff@concorde2000.com. If you are e-mailing, please include your full name and last 4 digits of your SSN.

General Inquires
All general inquires can be answered by either calling 215-587-9600 or e-mailing DoDMERBStaff@concorde2000.com. A representative will get back to you within 1 business day.

Complaints or Compliments
All complaints or compliments can be forwarded to Concorde’s CEO by e-mailing Stephen.Rosenzweig@concorde2000.com.
 
My son received an LOA before all his medical exams were complete so if an LOA is your goal, this delay with the eye exam is not going to prevent that from happening. Relax and have full faith that all will be resolved.
 
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