If you got a TWE and are reapplying...

Wondering if you received a TWE last year and are reapplying if you could share your experience? I was reviewing previous threads where it was recommended that if you received a TWE you analyze your weakness and identify what may have held you back from obtaining an appointment. Specifically wondering about those who were 3Q with noms and received a TWE. In retrospect can you share what you feel was your applications weakness? Think this info may be valuable to the class of 2016 to better understand the process.

When we went to Annapolis, DS was able to talk to his RD. He checked his file and told him his weakness was getting Bs in English and Math. Granted these were at a GT and AP level. DS took 9 AP classes. Calc. AB and BC, Chem.,Physics, English, Govt.,Am Hist.,Econ., and Stat. He scored a 4 on most all the AP exams. In the AP courses he had more Bs than As so this pulled his none weighted GPA to 3.5. Weighted was still over 4.0.
The child rarely ever studied. Perhaps studying would have helped.
The RD said his SAT, 1250, was fine which surprised me. His ACT was much better Eng 29/Math 31 composite 30. Once again he didn't study for either.
He said nothing on the CFA help him back. He maxed the cruntches and the mile. Others scores were more average.
He played soccer and ran CC and track competing at the state level. He is athletic, but not a star.
His primary leadership positions were in JROTC, he was the executive officer and drill team commander. In Scouts he is an Eagle and Order of the Arrrow chapter chief and district treasurer.
Although he received a TWE for USNA he received a NROTC scholarship in Jan. and he didn't have his paperwork completed until Nov.

^ May I ask when he submitted the entire application to USNA?

tripleplay...can you edify any of this? Are you saying that it was AP B's in math and English? On the SAT/ACT thing, they'd have taken the ACT but in any case you indicated no problem. So what are we to conclude? Did you learn anything? Did you take the NROTC? Where is your MOC district?

What we learned was receiving Bs in English and Math, even though they were in AP classes, was his only weakness. He did take the NROTC scholarship. He just started at Virginia Tech. We are from Maryland's 7th district. Too late to move to a less competative area. He did not receive a MOC nomination. He didn't feel good about his senatorial interview, but he felt his interview with the represenative's office had gone well. He had everything riding on a JROTC nominaton.

My DS was triple q'd with an nom and received a TWE in April.
He made numerous efforts to determine what the weakness(es) were but came up with no specifics. His BGO said he received a letter basically stating the TWE was due to "numbers". DS is reapplying again this year. After agonizing for a year about the process, he is determined but more balanced about his approach this time. He is taking a rigorous course load at a university and hoping for the best.

tripleplay offers some very intriguing insight here that seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom discussed here many times. Should your son have taken traditional academic core math and English, perhaps gotten A's vs. all those AP courses?

Or was the real issue possibly that the message came through that you've shared, i.e. that he did not do his best. As you've noted, he did not study in either his classes or his test prep. One must wonder if the ultimate killer, beyond geography, might have been in the word that came from his teachers, for they obviously knew what mom knew.

tripleplay said:

The RD said his SAT, 1250, was fine which surprised me. His ACT was much better Eng 29/Math 31 composite 30.

Click to expand...

You should not be surprised. A 31 Math ACT is quite good. Perhaps WP is correct. This might be an indicator that his grades were not up to his potential.

Also, if the question was couched in the vein of what do I need to do to improve, 600/600 is all they are looking for with those who have had a year of college. Above that will not affect their potential.

It's always hard fully to understand anyone's "package" by what is written on a message board. I'm not suggesting that the OP isn't being honest/accurate. Rather, we don't know what the teachers said, what the BGO said, the totality of the OP's experiences in ECAs, sports, leadership, etc. compared with other candidates.

The OP indicated a lacks of study. That MAY have been reflected in the English and/or math teacher's recs and the RD might not want to have reported that for privacy or other reasons. Also, it could have been that the candidate had an overall good record but not an exceptional one so, in that case, it was a question of "numbers," especially in a competitive geographic area with a single nom.

Not making excuses or trying to justify a decision -- just saying it's hard for us to know. If the weakness truly is academic, an outstanding first semester at a school like VT may be what makes the difference. Pull in As in English, Chem, and Calc and USNA won't have reason to be concerned about your ability to handle the academics of USNA. That said, no one here can promise you that will be enough, for the reasons stated above.

usna1985 said:

It's always hard fully to understand anyone's "package" by what is written on a message board. I'm not suggesting that the OP isn't being honest/accurate. Rather, we don't know what the teachers said, what the BGO said, the totality of the OP's experiences in ECAs, sports, leadership, etc. compared with other candidates.

Click to expand...

Last year I was helping the son of a friend who was intending to apply to the Air Force Academy. He came over to the house and we talked.

He had tremendous grades and seemed to have everything going for him. I then asked him, "You're in the National Honor Society, right?"

He was not. I inquired as to why he was not with such high grades. Then he told me how his Spanish teacher doesn't like him very much because he is always talking in class and does not take it very seriously. He admitted that that was true. Then he said, "But I got an 'A' in her class, so I don't know what her problem is." She would not recommend him for the National Honor Society, he said.

It's little side stories like this that often creep up in the interview process that don't show up on paper. He's currently at LSU.

Great illustration. And the talking was a symptom, not causal. Showing disobedience, disrespect, immaturity perhaps, and most of all poor judgement and perceptiveness, all the while assuming mastery of the subject matter was THE matter.

Good interviewers can and do uncover this type of exposition readily.