So your saying dont go if your not ready? because i was accepted but will be far from peak physical condition. This is due to the fact ill be freshly cleared from shoulder surgery, not becuase i didn't put in effort/not physically fit.
I was told to go anyway, and since i mentioned it on the medical forms it should be ok, but could there be any downsides to this?
If you are just off shoulder surgery and you have doubts about how well you would do physically - I would NOT go to NASS. That's just my opinion, however.
The Naval Academy already thinks highly of you. Leave it at that and start working out so that when you do the CFA on your own, you can get a more impressive score than what you would get at NASS. Plus, what if you re-injure your shoulder?
Sure, you can always retake the CFA and submit an improved score, but that will only be after you have made a negative impression to the midshipmen who will be conducting the NASS and will also be submitting a report on you.
The bottom line is that the CFA is not that big of a deal. Of all the things you will be doing in the admission process, it does not carry as much weight as many of the other things. They do not advertise what is "passing." It is just a metric of general physical fitness.
For instance, my sons are very tall and lanky. Pull-ups are very difficult for them. No difficulties with anything else, however. They are outstanding athletes. They were both very accomplished baseball pitchers in high school. The twin that attended the NASS told me that he was lucky to do 2 pull-ups. And yet, he got an LOA.
I think the fact that they were 4-yr varsity athletes in high school trumped the poor CFA score. I think a poor CFA score hurts you more if you did not play any sports in high school.
How many pull-ups do you think a 270lb, recruited offensive lineman can do? He's probably lucky to do ONE. But that will not make any difference to the Academy because they already know he has
other athletic attributes.
Once you get to the Academy, the PRT (Physical Readiness Test), which every midshipman must pass, consists only of running, set-ups, and push-ups. No pull-ups, fortunately.
I think you got some bad advice "to go anyway" if you are convinced that you will do very poorly from a physical standpoint. Be thankful that the Naval Academy thought highly enough of you to invite you to the NASS and I would graciously turn it down because of some "conflict".
Many candidates turn down NASS. Sometimes they turn it down because of the expense of travel. My other twin turned it down so as not to leave their summer baseball team without TWO of their best pitchers. One went to the NASS while the other stayed back and pitched for the high school's summer baseball team. Ironically, the son that did
not go to the NASS got his LOA in the mail a couple weeks
before the twin who
did attend.
In some ways, attending the NASS can hurt your chances more than help. You don't get "brownie points" for just showing up. You have to show up and impress them. If you're convinced you will
not impress them - don't go.
There are always some Plebes who do not do that well during PEP. Some are put into "remedial" groups. If the Academy had known of their physical ineptness BEFORE they received their appointment, they probably would not have received an appointment. But once you're there -
you're there!
Keep working out. Strive to get an appointment.
Remember, most people who get appointed never went to STEM or NASS.
