Wondering what kind of chance my son has to get an appointment at West Point?

hoosierdaddy

5-Year Member
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May 31, 2011
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We are really new to this as my son, who will enter his senior year this fall, just recently decided, kind of out of the blue to us, that he wants to try to get into West Point. We are excited AND nervous about this. We were wondering what kind of shot he has.

One thing we were wondering about was that he has never had a "real" job so to speak. He is/has always been so involved in all 4 sports and really never has a break. therefore, we never make him get a job. Example; this morning, 7am weights, plyo work out till almost 9. then they play basketball at open gym for an hour or 2. Then he has baseball practice at 3:00pm. It's pretty much like this most every day during the summer.

He could probably have a part time job on the few weekends when there isn't a baseball tournament and a few wedged in hours during the week but he works so hard during school that it is almost a reward to him so he doesn't burn out.

During the school year, he has the toughest schedule of anyone in the school. He only gets 1 study hall every other week due to the extra things, like mentoring, drumline and student council and 6am weights 3 days per week, that he is involved in.

There are many times when he gets home from a basketball game or track meet after 11pm during the week and has an hour or 2 of homework and then has weights at 6am the next morning.

There have been many times when I try to get him to skip weights so he can get sleep but he refuses. We don't push him to do most of these things. He has chosen this schedule for himself.

In our eyes, it always seemed that along with all of his extra curriculars outside of sports, he had more than enough on his plate to justify not working a job and schools/academies would still look at this favorably;

Here is a summary of his activities:

1. All-conference in Football & Baseball
2. Conf runner up in 400 M hurdles in track
3. Team Captain in baseball as a junior this summer (will be in football as a senior this fall)
4. Basketball was 6th man as a junior and will start as a senior
5. National Honor society
6. #1-70 in class
7. 31 ACT (33 math, 32 english, 30 reading, 29 science)
8. Mentor at middle school for at risk children
9. Band/drumline participant. Drumline captain.
10. Student council/officer. Will likely be President for his senior year.
11. Youth Group participant. They have bible study and do various volunteer work in the community year round.

Obviously, there is a long process here and hopefully, there are enough openings with the various congressmen in our area to allow him an appointment.

Just curious, based on other appointees, how his "resume" fits in with others and in the opinion of those on this board, how good his chances are.

Thanks in advance.
 
His application looks strong. Make sure he applies early (usually around middle of June to early July is when application portal opens). Also, apply for all nominations sources possible. Otherwise, tell him to keep it up. And take hard classes his senior year; now is not the year to take all fluff classes.
 
Your son is a strong candidate. Can he run for president or VP of the National Honor Society? It would be one more leadership role on his resume. My son (class of 2015) only took one AP course his senior year (calc), rather than two or three, so he could spend more time in a Spanish internship. The lack of a lot of hard classes his senior year didn't hurt him.

Getting a completed application into WP early will be a huge help.
 
Your son is a strong candidate. Can he run for president or VP of the National Honor Society? It would be one more leadership role on his resume. My son (class of 2015) only took one AP course his senior year (calc), rather than two or three, so he could spend more time in a Spanish internship. The lack of a lot of hard classes his senior year didn't hurt him.

Getting a completed application into WP early will be a huge help.

Thanks for the responses. Defiinitely will check into the NHS thing. Great idea. Didn't know there was an option such as this.

He plans to apply right away on 7/1. He is applying to all the nomination options.
 
Jor-El (hoosierdaddy): Keep him away from Kryptonite and he should be fine.

Seriously, as long as his medical history has no disqualifying conditions, his resume looks as good as any candidate for any academy.
 
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Jor-El (hoosierdaddy): Keep him away from Kryptonite and he should be fine.

Seriously, as long as his medical history has no disqualifying conditions, his resume looks as good as any candidate for any academy.

A: Not sure what Jor-El is.

2: Thanks for the link and the post

C: Maybe this is something for a separate thread in and of itself. I was going to post about this at some point but wasn't sure how to address. His "kryptonite" might be this. He was diagnosed at a young age with arythmic tachycardia. I didn't see this specifically on the list.

In short, he has had bouts of a rapid heart beat. It will beat extremely fast for a couple of minutes and then go away but he is left feeling wiped out. When he was in 5-8th grade, it would come on frequently during athletics and occasionally just at random times. As he has gotten older there have been fewer and fewer bouts. In fact, I can only recall a couple times in the past year or 2 that it has happend and I believe only once during sports and it wasn't an issue. The coaches know about it. He has never had a problem and is the QB on the football team and a 400 meter hurdler, which some might know, is probably the most challenging event in HS track and field.

It hasn't impacted his life in ANY way whatsoever. Obviously, as parents we are concerned about it though and I suspect the academy will want to know more.

The doctors we met with when he was younger said he was in no danger and that it could just go away on its own or just live with it. There was a procedure that could have fixed it (one of his classmates had the same thing and chose to have the procedure) called an ablation where they go in through your arteries in your thigh and neck and "burn" off the part of your heart muscle that causes this electrical malfunction. We chose not to have the procedure and see how he turned out as there is always some risk when having surgery.

So I am not sure how this will impact
 
contact Larry Mullen, Deputy Director of DoDMERB, about it. I don't have his email, but it's got to be around here somewhere. He will definitely be able to tell you the answer.
 
A: Not sure what Jor-El is.

2: Thanks for the link and the post

1. Jor-El is Superman's father.

2. You are welcome.

C: Maybe this is something for a separate thread in and of itself. I was going to post about this at some point but wasn't sure how to address. His "kryptonite" might be this. He was diagnosed at a young age with arythmic tachycardia. I didn't see this specifically on the list.

In short, he has had bouts of a rapid heart beat. It will beat extremely fast for a couple of minutes and then go away but he is left feeling wiped out. When he was in 5-8th grade, it would come on frequently during athletics and occasionally just at random times. As he has gotten older there have been fewer and fewer bouts. In fact, I can only recall a couple times in the past year or 2 that it has happend and I believe only once during sports and it wasn't an issue. The coaches know about it. He has never had a problem and is the QB on the football team and a 400 meter hurdler, which some might know, is probably the most challenging event in HS track and field.

It hasn't impacted his life in ANY way whatsoever. Obviously, as parents we are concerned about it though and I suspect the academy will want to know more.

The doctors we met with when he was younger said he was in no danger and that it could just go away on its own or just live with it. There was a procedure that could have fixed it (one of his classmates had the same thing and chose to have the procedure) called an ablation where they go in through your arteries in your thigh and neck and "burn" off the part of your heart muscle that causes this electrical malfunction. We chose not to have the procedure and see how he turned out as there is always some risk when having surgery.

So I am not sure how this will impact

It's quote possible that he will receive a remedial or an initial DQ from DODMERB, but follow up medical records as well as letter from all of his doctors should be able to clear it and obtain a waiver (if necessary).
 
contact Larry Mullen, Deputy Director of DoDMERB, about it. I don't have his email, but it's got to be around here somewhere. He will definitely be able to tell you the answer.

Larry Mullen's last day of participation on the forum was yesterday.

There is a new DODMERB contact email address, check the DODMERB section.
 
So I am not sure how this will impact

This is from a post here about 5 years ago, you may want to read it:

hhsxc said:
I got DQ'ed for:
History of symptomatic supraventricular tachycardia/ECG evidence thereof

RetNavyHM,
I used to have supraventricular tachycardia. It was more of an annoyance thatn anything else. I opted to receive the ablation procedure in spring 2004. I haven't had any symptoms or episodes since. I have talked to one military doctor at USCGA that said he has heard of people in the fleet getting ablation while on active duty and thinks that SVT is waiverable at times. Does it help that I am a cross country runner and are exercising/ running a lot. Especially in the hot Arizona weather. Can you give some insight on if my condition is waiverable or not?

If anyone else has any insight, that would be appreciated as well.

Thanks and sorry for all the questions!

RetNavyHM said:
First, this should have been posted in the DoDMERB section. Second, a history of SVT status post RF ablation, as long as you have been stable at least 2 years without any recurrence of the symptoms should be eligible for a waiver. As to the chances of getting a waiver? I'm really not sure. With all cardiology issues the waiver authorities take a very close look at all the medical information before making a wavier determination.

Does DoDMERB have copies of all your medical records concerning this? If not I would make sure to get a copy of everything (and I mean everything) concerning the SVT as well as the RF ablation procedure and all follow up information to DoDMERB as it will all be forwarded to the wavier authorities. I would also send a letter to DoDMERB requesting that it get forwarded to the waiver authorities explaining in your words what symptoms you had, and what symptoms you currently have, if any, as well as a list of all activities you currently participate in. The wavier authorities can take your statement into consideration.

As for a time line to get information back from the waiver authorities (DoDMERB does not do they waivers, they just post the information from the waiver authorities on the DoDMERB web site) it can vary. For the service academies they normally will not process an applicant for a waiver until the admissions office tells the medical folks that the applicant is a good candidate.
 
Larry Mullen's last day of participation on the forum was yesterday.

There is a new DODMERB contact email address, check the DODMERB section.

Wow, it's sad to see him go. Well, at least now DoDMERB is more easily accessible through the new email address.
 
Just going to throw this in there relating to the "real" job question you had brought up, I did not ever have a "real" job except for a month during the summer after my junior year (maybe even less than that) where I worked at a programming company for the duration of a project there. No other work experience, but I filled my time with sports, extracirriculars, etc. Not having a job isn't a dealbreaker or something that's really necessary IMO if you show you are strong in the areas that the admissions board is looking for in other ways. Good luck to your son
 
Hoosierdaddy,

Your son is in great shape and on-track.
Strong advice - be the first in the nation to complete EVERY PART of the application. As the year progresses more and more requirements will "pop-up". Do not accept delays in completing the various parts of the requirements. Get that physical, get those teacher recommendations, take the PT test, get those transcripts submitted, write the three required papers and get them in, etc - FIRST. If someone is "dragging their feet" after a short but reasonable time go to a higher official - do not take "no" for an answer. Make calls- check statuses - push - push. Do not let your son procrastinate!!

Keep in touch with your MALO and update your activities and accomplishements every month. Ask him what specifically you can do to improve your file.

Make contact with your Congressman. Visit him in person if possible. Find out how he awards his nominations and go meet the people who will be on his West Point selection advisory board (if he uses one).

Go to SLS.

Get in the NHS

Try to go to the American Legion Boys State and get elected to some office

Go for every possible leadership position in school

Take Honor Courses - especially in Math and Science

Have a positive attitude.

Make sure that your son wants to go to West Point more than you want him to go.
 
Make contact with your Congressman. Visit him in person if possible. Find out how he awards his nominations and go meet the people who will be on his West Point selection advisory board (if he uses one).
Seems a little extreme and, especially meeting the advisory board, could possibly be viewed negatively.
 
If he just finished his junior year it is probably too late to get him in to the American Legion Boys State program seeing as his turn to go would be this summer.

But everyone here has exactly the same advice I would give to a candidate just starting the application process. Early is always better.

And with the nomination stuff. I didn't really personally get in contact with any of my possible nominating sources other than to make sure my applications had been receive and to schedule times for my interviews. I'm not saying you shouldn't get in contact because it couldn't hurt, but that was just my experience.

And because I can assume you're a fellow Indiana resident because of your username, I will go ahead and tell you that Lugar's nomination process was really well organized. Probably my best experience out of the entire nomination process (other than Lugar, though, I really only had my congressman because of conflicts with Bayh's resignation and everything. I don't know how the new senator will deal with things).

But good luck!
 
I agree with Nick on everything he suggested except what Mongo clarified above. Around here at least the MOC's actually have nothing to do with the process/advisory board other than signing off on the end recommendations. I would, however, definitely recommend making contact with their staffers - a lot of time you can meet them at Academy Days or similar events and it's nice if they have a face to put to the paperwork they'll get from you. I'd also advise against meeting the Advisory board - my husband serves on two of them and if he knows the candidates (ie. the ones we work with as MALO's), he would have to recuse himself from that session/interview. Since a lot of the boards (especially at the state level) have several sets of interviewers/locations, it's usually not an issue, but no sense in causing them any extra work!

As far as the work issue, I really don't think this is an issue at all. As far as I understand, West Point views a job as just one more area in which you can show leadership, motivation, and involvement. Your son certainly isn't low on any of those areas. From a MALO perspective, a job doesn't even show up on my info that I get about a candidate. Obviously if you have a job of great responsibility or that shows leadership you'd want to bring it up. If you had to work a lot of hours to support a family or help in a family business, etc., that could excuse less participation elsewhere. But other than that, a job isn't a critical thing to have on the application - far less critical than academics or athletics. I'm going to shoot you a PM regarding his application - good luck!
 
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