BGO interview impact on application

question for the BGO's on this forum;

how much weight does the BGO interview have on the overall WPM? is it basically pass/fail, or is there a numerical score that gets applied to the total?

not that it would impact one's preparation for the interview, but curious to know how it is used in evaluating the candidate. more or less important that a teacher LOR? CFA? etc?

thanks

They way DS BGO explained it is this:

Say you have an applicant, that they are on the fence about something...they may say let's look at the BGO statement to see what they thought of that area. It is not the end all, the BGO is not going to keep them out alone, but it will be helpful to them to have insight of someone that actually spoke with them.

So yes important, and be honest, and thoughtful in your answers, as ultimately, someone is going to look at that write up if they want you.

thanks, Cali

i guess the lack of additional comments confirms the suspicion - that nobody really knows how the BGO input is used and how much, if any, weight it carries

I think the whole process is a mystery at times.
For example, with my DS scores and grades, here they would say he'd never get into NAPS or Foundation school. But a mom posted on that thread that this is not correct. Her son was not an athlete, had high scores for SAT's and great grades and he was reporting to NAPS soon.
So as much as they know, no one can predict the outcome of a persons application. The kids are in it till rejected and they should continue to act as a candidate until then.
Good luck!!

A6E Dad said:

i guess the lack of additional comments confirms the suspicion - that nobody really knows how the BGO input is used and how much, if any, weight it carries

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I wouldn't say that. We know exactly how BGO input is used and how it affects the process. How much weight it carries is subjective and is at the discretion of the Admissions Board. We don't know and aren't told how much our observations affect any given candidate's application. We simply try to provide an accurate, detailed and insightful evaluation, probing for the traits that USNA has determined are most important for their candidates.

thank you sam,

that's what i was looking for. i've read elsewhere that the board can add up to 9000 points to a candidate's WPM for a number of things, BGO interview being one of them. i guess i was wondering, relatively speaking, how much of a difference it can make. i suppose, like everything else, it's best to just approach every task as it if were the difference maker.

There is a reason that the Admissions Board uses the whole person concept for evaluating candidates....it is because there isn't one thing they are looking for. The best advice is to not worry about how many points or how much weight each item of the application carries. Put maximum effort into the things you can control. You can't control HOW the BGO will do the write-up nor how the Admissions Board will evaluate it.

suddensam said:

We know exactly how BGO input is used and how it affects the process

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Suddensam has probably been to BGO training more recently than I , and could clarify -- but I don' think this suggests that the results of the BGO interview are converted into a number added to the WPM. I often explain the role of the BGO interview to candidates as filling in the blanks, and providing input to Admissions that can't be quantified in the normal application process. Nobody really knows how big an impact a BGO interview has -- I suspect that it has the biggest impact at the extremes, ie. a Top 5% (if not overused) and Not Recommended overall evaluation would have more impact than a Top 25% or Above Average. I would expect Admissions will look closely at someone with a Top 5% interview even if the rest of their record is average, and similarly look closely at a NR even if their record is stellar. (On the other hand, the Top 5's I have seen are generally great candidates across the Board, and I have given a Not Recommended once , and there was no question that was warranted).