educ8
5-Year Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2011
- Messages
- 158
As we continue to stalk the mailman with the dimming hope that a BFE will appear in the mailbox, this has been an interesting journey. through this long and difficult and heart wrenching process I have come to several conclusions:
1) USNA is not a meritocracy where the most qualified get offered appointments...I know of several appointees that left me scratching my head.
2) Politics plays a HUGE role in this process - I can appreciate the Coast Guard Academy's fight to keep nominations out of the process although I understand why the other academies have adopted the nomination model.
3) The process, metrics and rubrics that are used in the mysterious admissions evaluation process are mysterious for a reason - so that when you look at two candidates one of whom got an appointment but the one who did not seemed like a shoe in and the one who did seemed like a long shot - the reason is the mysterious calculations going on behind the curtain.
4) The word "Fair" in this process can only be applied to what the Academy deems as fair. Clearly, a MOC rewarding a political ally with an appointment even though a much more qualified candidate was on that slate is not "fair". The issue of appointing certain candidates to increase diversity for some is fair and others patently unfair.
5) The lack of outbound communication from the Academy is frustrating. Apart from the BGO interview and the portal, there seems to be only random communication from the Academy. Some posters here seem to have been informed that they were 3Q'd while others heard nothing. Judging by the number of people on this board still clinging to hope that they might still get a BFE while the odds of that happening get more unlikely by the minute, there must be a huge stack of TWEs waiting to be mailed.
The admissions process is what it is, and this is just my humble opinion. Please don't flame me for posting this...it isn't meant to anger anyone.
1) USNA is not a meritocracy where the most qualified get offered appointments...I know of several appointees that left me scratching my head.
2) Politics plays a HUGE role in this process - I can appreciate the Coast Guard Academy's fight to keep nominations out of the process although I understand why the other academies have adopted the nomination model.
3) The process, metrics and rubrics that are used in the mysterious admissions evaluation process are mysterious for a reason - so that when you look at two candidates one of whom got an appointment but the one who did not seemed like a shoe in and the one who did seemed like a long shot - the reason is the mysterious calculations going on behind the curtain.
4) The word "Fair" in this process can only be applied to what the Academy deems as fair. Clearly, a MOC rewarding a political ally with an appointment even though a much more qualified candidate was on that slate is not "fair". The issue of appointing certain candidates to increase diversity for some is fair and others patently unfair.
5) The lack of outbound communication from the Academy is frustrating. Apart from the BGO interview and the portal, there seems to be only random communication from the Academy. Some posters here seem to have been informed that they were 3Q'd while others heard nothing. Judging by the number of people on this board still clinging to hope that they might still get a BFE while the odds of that happening get more unlikely by the minute, there must be a huge stack of TWEs waiting to be mailed.
The admissions process is what it is, and this is just my humble opinion. Please don't flame me for posting this...it isn't meant to anger anyone.