My DS has wanted to attend the Naval Academy since forever, and he is obsessed with military history, strategy and technology.
My DS has a stellar record of achievement and phenomenal test scores (99th% for both ACT and SAT), and while his GPA is only a 3.90, he attends a very difficult high school STEM program for math and science. He has won national science competitions with military science based projects and even attended the White House Science Fair. My DS has also spent 5+ years studying one of the "critical" languages (I'm not going to say which one, but think Chinese/Russian/Arabic). He performs community service helping at-risk populations, he is a 3-year varsity athlete, and he has held multiple high level positions of leadership at his high school.
Here's the problem, he just received his DoDMERB letter informing him that he does not meet the DoD medical standards for: allergic reaction (only allergic to scallops - no other shellfish or seafood), distant vision not correct to 20/20 (old eyeglass prescription - thought he would be tested wearing contacts for which he sees 20/20) and myopia > 8.0. Before they will initiate the waiver process, he is being asked to also submit copies of medical records for surgery at age 5 (adenoids), use of an inhaler to prevent bronchitis since age 12 (only to keep a bad cold from progressing into a cough) and a stress fracture due to sports participation last spring (fully healed).
I have scanned the various threads online, and I'm wondering if my son's chances of being admitted to either the USNA or the NROTC are seriously compromised. Is there even a chance he could be admitted to either program given the list of AMI determinations and requests? During the CVW program last March, one of the midshipmen panelists mentioned that she had received multiple health waivers...are they fairly common or was she one of the lucky ones? Thank you in advance for your responses.
My DS has a stellar record of achievement and phenomenal test scores (99th% for both ACT and SAT), and while his GPA is only a 3.90, he attends a very difficult high school STEM program for math and science. He has won national science competitions with military science based projects and even attended the White House Science Fair. My DS has also spent 5+ years studying one of the "critical" languages (I'm not going to say which one, but think Chinese/Russian/Arabic). He performs community service helping at-risk populations, he is a 3-year varsity athlete, and he has held multiple high level positions of leadership at his high school.
Here's the problem, he just received his DoDMERB letter informing him that he does not meet the DoD medical standards for: allergic reaction (only allergic to scallops - no other shellfish or seafood), distant vision not correct to 20/20 (old eyeglass prescription - thought he would be tested wearing contacts for which he sees 20/20) and myopia > 8.0. Before they will initiate the waiver process, he is being asked to also submit copies of medical records for surgery at age 5 (adenoids), use of an inhaler to prevent bronchitis since age 12 (only to keep a bad cold from progressing into a cough) and a stress fracture due to sports participation last spring (fully healed).
I have scanned the various threads online, and I'm wondering if my son's chances of being admitted to either the USNA or the NROTC are seriously compromised. Is there even a chance he could be admitted to either program given the list of AMI determinations and requests? During the CVW program last March, one of the midshipmen panelists mentioned that she had received multiple health waivers...are they fairly common or was she one of the lucky ones? Thank you in advance for your responses.
