What % of midshipmen were rejected Summer Seminar

It seems as if you get rejected for summer seminar, the likelihood of getting accepted to the Academy is slim to none. Just wondering if its worth the effort for someone to pursue it.

Only roughly 40% of each incoming class has experienced NASS. I honestly think I have encountered more people on here who were rejected from NASS and appointed than people who attended NASS and were appointed

Most of the kids DS met at NASS did not get appointments and most his plebe friends did not attend NASS. There is no correlation-NASS is a recruiting tool.

I got accepted to NASS, got my second TWE for my second attempt at the academy yesterday.

I got rejected from West Points SLE, got accepted to the Academy in January.

UAF32 said:

It seems as if you get rejected for summer seminar, the likelihood of getting accepted to the Academy is slim to none.

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This is simply not accurate.

Agree this is totally innacurate. Please read some other threads on this topic. As has been repeated a few 100 times each year, acceptance to summer seminar has no bearing on acceptance to USNA. It is a recruiting event and geography and a million other things that USNA is targeting to increase class diversity plays a major factor into summer seminar acceptance. If you want to go to USNA apply, someone who attends summer seminar will not have an advantage over you or get points for attendance.

Your premise of acceptance being slim to none without NASS is not accurate. My DS was rejected for NASS but received his LOA and appointment in December as a direct appointment from high school. I have heard of many NASS rejects that received appointment in the same cycle year.

Thank you for the responses and pardon the tone of the comment. It was intended to hopefully get firm responses like these. It is good to hear from USNA_Dad2019 with direct experience. Again, thanks!

Much like USNA_Dad2019's DS, I was rejected from NASS but recieved an LOA in early October and was appointed in December.

Nobody that my daughter knows from SS got in (only she and 1 other got waitlisted). Heck, maybe it hurts more than it helps.

Thank you for the responses and pardon the tone of the comment. It was intended to hopefully get firm responses like these.

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You will be better off in the long run on on this site by simply asking your questions. Posting a question as inaccurate fact only serves to misinform and, potentially, frighten people.

This may also have to do with the size of NASS. If only 40% of an incoming class of say 1100 has attended NASS, then only roughly 17% of kids that attend NASS (2,550 kids) end up at USNA. WP's SLE only accepts 1,000 students so a much larger percentage (I've heard 40%) of kids that attend SLE end up going to USMA. Not sure if this is at all relevant, just an observation.

I was rejected NASS and have an appointment. My BGO told me USNA tries to use NASS to give possible candidates a chance to experience life at USNA that they otherwise would not have based on the areas they live or their personal background. I interpreted this as you are not as likely to receive a spot if you appear to be in a situation that would allow you to visit the academy on your own time. Everyone I personally know who did attend NASS ended up not receiving appointments.

Well let's hope that being accepted to NASS doesn't mean that a kid won't be accepted to USNA! Over time, that would likely be counterintuitive for the admissions department.

I do believe NASS is a recruiting tool, and I also believe strong candidates do get accepted. We live in northern VA, have been to USNA many times, son has attended STEM and CVW and was accepted to NASS. I guess my point is, I don't see a "one size fits all" statement regarding acceptance. Let's just listen to other's journeys and learn from each other in this process. Friendship will serve us well during the next year.

New development: USNA admissions just tweeted that roughly 1/3 of "the current class of Midshipman" have not attended summer seminar.

I am actually surprised that number isn't higher.

I'm shocked that number isn't higher as well. I was not invited to attend SS. But I did receive an early-ish appointment(October).
I think I know of more mids here who did not attend SS, than those who did.

counterpoint?

while I sympathize with the original poster, I would be careful with some of the responses he is getting.
Many who go to NASS realize it's not for them and dont apply. Many cant do NASS due to other commitments or are starting late in the game. NASS does not have a Dodmeb component. etc etc etc


The tweet saying that 1/3 of "the current class of Midshipman" have not attended summer seminar can be interpreted many different ways. The relevant statistic would be the percentage of mids who applied for NASS and were rejected from NASS and then later received an appointment, compared only to the percentage of mids who applied for NASS were accepted to NASS and then later received an appointment. The rest of the percentages are red herrings.

From above posts:
"I interpreted this as you are not as likely to receive a spot if you appear to be in a situation that would allow you to visit the academy on your own time. " False
"Everyone I personally know who did attend NASS ended up not receiving appointments." over generalization


NASS is a recruiting tool. USNA has recruitment goals.
If someone was accepted to NASS from your area and you were not I would work harder on your package. plain and simple. Improve your WCS. The reason they got chosen and you didnt may still exist when it comes time for the BFE.

^Apologies I should have written more clearly (and not when tired ). Based on what I was told by my BGO as I mentioned my previous statement SS is a recruitment tool to allow students to experience USNA that they otherwise would not have had, and not a reflection whether or not you will be accepted. When I stated everyone I personally know who did attend NASS ended up not receiving appointments I meant all the personal friends/classmates who attended SS did not end up get an appointments. For some they learned USNA was not for them. Others had disqualifying factors. I was not saying their attending NASS was in any way the cause. However, the opposite is also true. Just because you are not selected to attend SS does not mean the Admissions board finds you unqualified to earn an appointment to the academy. I hope I have been more clear as to what I was saying.

Ok there are a lot of points that are being over looked or missed. Most of what Vista123 said is correct and from what I have seen based on going through NASS and then being on the other side of things and being a detailer for NASS last year, there's a lot of things to consider, and sorry in advance for the long post.

I agree that the "Only 1/3 of the current midshipmen class did not attended NASS" is very misleading. A sizable portion of the Brigade are prior enlisted who came directly from the Corps or Fleet (some going through NAPS). Also considering ~17k applications to the academy vs. the ~5k applications to NASS is also a huge indication that many didn't know about or consider NASS before applying to the academy. Many others who went to NASS were also considering other academies and went to WP's SEL program or USAFA's summer program as well and ended up pursuing those schools instead (But I can't see why).
As for "Everyone who I know who did attend NASS didn't get in" is a huge generalization. Some Personal Stats:
--Of the 10 people in my squad when I did NASS, 8 of us finished the application for USNA, 3 of us got an appointment, 1 got into USMA.
--Of the 21 people who were in my squads last summer when I was a detailer, 17 finished the application, 7 got an appointment, 1 got accepted into NAPS, 1 got an appointment to USMA, USAFA, and USNA. (and there were a couple people who I did not think met the qualification of the academy at all that still got into NASS, but not the academy)

Even more so, the majority of people in my company now didn't go to NASS because they didn't hear about it. And after doing a quick company poll, 11 people out of 39 in my class applied for NASS, got rejected, and are still here (and a lot of them had better resumes than me). Only 9 of us went to NASS.

This brings me to my final point, and why I don't completely agree with Vista123; The Application for Summer Seminar is not as comprehensive as the actual application and doesn't always give the academy the full picture of who you are. Also if your brother or sister is a USNA grad, you might not be accepted since you should have a good idea what the academy is like through them, and there is some truth behind geographical location and acceptance. If you live within a 100 mile radius of the academy you'll have a harder time getting accepted to NASS since you're expected to have more opportunities to visit the academy (this does not apply to CVWs). So don't think you don't have a chance of getting into the academy if you're reject from NASS cause that's not true. That being said, no matter how good you think your package is, you should be striving to make it better.