Significance of NASS

Candidate for 2023 here: Was being accepted to and attending NASS indicative of my competitiveness for the Academy itself?

Not a Class of 2023 candidate, but the parent of a current plebe who attended summer sessions at USNA, USMA and USAFA (and received offer of appointment to all three). No, attending NASS is not indicative of your chances for appointment. It’s a wonderful experience that can help you determine whether academy life is for you. But in the end, it’s a recruiting tool.

What that means is that many NASS attendees come from under-represented regions and demographic groups. To be sure, many attendees are also selected based purely on merits. But NASS is meant to broaden awareness and interest among various segments. And remember, there are a lot of application components that weren’t part of the NASS application, which is a fairly simple screen.

The vast majority of midshipmen and cadets did not attend a summer session. Many who did attend did not receive offer of appointment. So don’t look at NASS as anything more than a great chance to kick the tires — valuable, but by no means a dependable indicator.

Being selected and attending -- not really a help. Hoever, if you did really well at NASS -- performed well on CFA and got good evaluation from your squad leader, it could help. Conversely, if you didn't do well (complainer, not team player, didn't participate in activities, etc.), it could hurt.

Note that NASS performance is unlikely to be a game-changer, but if things are close, it could help or hurt.

NOT having attended NASS does NOT hurt you. There are lots of reasons folks aren't selected (quality of applicant is not always one of them) and there are lots of reasons those accepted cannot attend (timing, conflicts, finances, etc.).

The statistics we were told at the parent meeting during NASS was that 80% of NASS attendees would finish the application and half of those typically receive appointments. So, 40% of total NASS attendees receive appointments and that would likely represent less than one-third of the class if they all accepted. So, there are more new midshipman that did not attend NASS versus those that did.

SAparent2023 said:

The statistics we were told at the parent meeting during NASS was that 80% of NASS attendees would finish the application and half of those typically receive appointments. So, 40% of total NASS attendees receive appointments and that would likely represent less than one-third of the class if they all accepted. So, there are more new midshipman that did not attend NASS versus those that did.

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NASS is first and foremost a marketing/recruitment program. The figures you mention above are misleading if someone were to read that the acceptance rate is 50% of applicants who attended NASS, when the accepance rate for others is roughly 10%. While there may be a correlation between attending NASS and completing the Application, and acceptance at NASS does have some prescreening so the NASS candidate is at least competitive, so attending NASS may be a positive indicatior, the converse (ie. not attending NASS is a negative) is not true. USNA1985 makes some good points on how NASS can help or hurt if all other points are equal, but failure to apply for or attend NASS, are not held against you.

p_2023 said:

Candidate for 2023 here: Was being accepted to and attending NASS indicative of my competitiveness for the Academy itself?

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The short answer is no.

Old Navy BGO said:

NASS is first and foremost a marketing/recruitment program. The figures you mention above are misleading if someone were to read that the acceptance rate is 50% of applicants who attended NASS, when the accepance rate for others is roughly 10%. While there may be a correlation between attending NASS and completing the Application, and acceptance at NASS does have some prescreening so the NASS candidate is at least competitive, so attending NASS may be a positive indicatior, the converse (ie. not attending NASS is a negative) is not true. USNA1985 makes some good points on how NASS can help or hurt if all other points are equal, but failure to apply for or attend NASS, are not held against you.

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Great points, Old Navy BGO and completely agree. It is certainly not a negative for not attending and thereby not necessarily a positive for attending. I imagine there is also self-selection bias in that candidates applying to NASS in January of their junior year are probably more likely to purse and complete the application. If all statistics held true; however, there are still more than two-thirds of midshipmen that did not attend so it should not be considered a disadvantage. That is what I had meant to convey.

One point to make is to mention NASS during your nomination interviews. You can talk about how being at USNA for NASS helped to convince you of your desire to attend USNA and also what you learned about yourself through that experience. Good luck.

I heard the same at NASS this year, about a third of last class attended NASS. Which may be because of the motivation of those who attended. A lot less are afforded CVW so those numbers are a lot less of current Plebes but would urge rising juniors to apply next January to NASS. A great experience and it opens your prelim app to USNA which I would disagree with some above and say that is an advantage.

A lot less [CVWs] are afforded CVW

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This isn't completely accurate. There are at least 6 CVW weekends during the year -- often more -- and they can host quite a well over 100 candidates each WE. If you're a reasonably competitive candidate, want to do CVW, and are reasonably flexible with schedule, you have a very good chance to get one. In some ways, they are more useful than NASS in terms of knowing whether USNA is right for you.

Also, it's critically important to remember that -- as Old Navy BGO said above -- NASS is a recruiting tool. Thus, some incredibly qualified candidates may not be accepted simply because they live in an area or attend a school where USNA is well known and well-represented. A lesser-qualified candidate from an under-represented school/area will likely have the edge. So, CVW (which is designed for qualified candidates and not as a recruiting tool) may be the best option for many.

Completely anecdotal but my son and both his 2014 plebe year roommates all applied and all 3 were turned down for NASS

Nope. NASS does not help or hurt!