Application numbers, breaking them down for you

USNA1982BGO

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There have been a few questions and seems like a lot of concern regarding the number of applications USNA is receiving and what to make of these numbers. Maybe this break down of the admission process with regard to applications will help to clear any questions.

Definition of application:
Anyone expressing an interest in applying to USNA. Sources: college fair cards that students complete, those completing the online application to SS, those who attend a congressional service academy day event and fill out an interest form, and those who just go online and begin a preliminary application.

Also, there are those applicants who receive a candidate number and
A) do nothing more
B) submit only SAT/ACT score, we never hear another thing
C) complete some of their package and give up interest
D) have a BGO interview and realize attending a SA isn't their thing

To date, as a BGO, I have not received any information stating that 13,000 completed Preliminary Applications have been received at this point in the cycle. (If my memory serves me correctly, last year there were just over 12,000 "applications" for the entire cycle, 2013 and it will be interesting to hear the final numbers for cycle 2014!)

Admissions sent out a message to BGOs a couple of weeks ago stating that applications were UP by 3,000 when compared to the numbers received at the same time LAST year.

**Remember, the above statement is comparing X number of applications received on X September 2008 when compared to X September 2009. At this point none of us know that figure.

Since I do not have accurate numbers for 2013, I'll use the published final stats for the Class of 2012 provided by USNA as the example:

Applicants and Nominees
#1 Applicants (includes nominees)............. 10,960

#2 Number of applicants with an
official nomination............................. 3,838

#3 Nominees qualified scholastically,
medically and in physical aptitude..... 2,196

#4 Offers of admission................................ 1,537

#5 Admitted............................................... 1,261

#1: These are any and all people who have even expressed an interest in USNA through web site, mailer, SS interest, college fairs, etc. (NOTE: this number does include those WITH nominations). PS: Number really high to impress college hopefuls, sounds great during briefings :thumb::thumb:

#2: These are those candidates who actually RECEIVED a nomination and were part of the 10,960 (Now doesn't this number look more reasonable??)

#3: Of the 3,838 candidates who received a nomination only 2,196 were physically, medically and scholastically qualified. (NOTE: some who receive a nomination may NOT be qualified by DoDMERB ~ this does happen!)

So ~ we've gone from the 10,960 who expressed interest or began applications and in the end ONLY 2,196 were actually 3Q'd AND received a nomination.

Here's the example I give to candidates and their parents during an interview:
Imagine a sifter. All of you applying to a USNA are dumped in there at one time. Now as you sift, some fall through the holes (they don't get in for some reason or don't complete the applications); what are left are those that may be accepted for admission.

#3: Of the 2,196 who were qualified, USNA sent out 1,537 offers of appointment (or approximately 70% who met all requirements AND secured a nomination for the class of 2012 were offered an appointment)

#4: 1,261 accepted their appointment and showed up on IDay (~82% receiving appointments accepted their appointments; remember many of the candidates have applied to multiple academies).

FACTS are: The number of applications ARE up from this time last year. The Academy is urging those in highly competitive areas to complete their packages ASAP (ex: Northeast).

Let's face it, due to economic conditions people are looking for a good deal! The surge in numbers is common during poor economic times and in times of trouble (9/11) when patriotism is high.
This DOES NOT mean all applicants are COMPETITIVE applicants, some are just fishing for the "free tuition."

Hope I just haven't confused you even further!
 
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#3: Of the 2,196 who were qualified, USNA sent out 1,537 offers of appointment (or approximately 70% who met all requirements AND secured a nomination for the class of 2012 were offered an appointment)

#4: 1,261 accepted their appointment and showed up on IDay (~82% receiving appointments accepted their appointments; remember many of the candidates have applied to multiple academies).

Stating it in that manner is a little misleading as far as the sequence of events is concerned. At least, it could be misinterpreted.

Let's say the academy's target class size is 1261. They certainly are not going to offer 1537 appointments right off the bat. What if they all accepted?

I would think they never have more pending acceptances for appointments than they have available slots for admission. As they get rejections, they send out more offers of an appointment in piecemeal fashion.

What the numbers you've cited mean is that they had to ultimately issue 1537 offers of admission in order to get 1261 to accept. Some of those acceptances probably came at the 11th hour. And, in fact, there were probably some who accepted the appointment and, for one reason or another, just didn't show up for I-day. There's nothing they can do about that. They just mark those up to unfilled slots.

You say the class size was 1261. Maybe their target was actually 1265 and 4 candidates who indicated that they would show up, decided NOT to show up. There's always a couple of those.


Interesting Story:

I heard one kid in the Class of 2013 refused to get his haircut in Alumni Hall during I-Day processing and quit right there. I guess his plan was to quit anyway and he just figured, "Why get my hair buzzed if I'm just going to quit in a few days anyway? Just do it now!" And he did. At least, this was a story I heard. I don't think they included him in their attrition statistics since, technically, he was never sworn in as a midshipman in the first place.

Why do I mention this? Because there is going to come a time, very soon, where people are going to be wringing their hands. They will have their applications completed and even have a nomination ... but no offer of an appointment. They also do not have a rejection letter. They will read in this forum about all the happy people with appointments for the Class of 2014 and wonder about their status.

"Were all the offers of appointment already issued and I didn't get one?"

"Is that it?"

"What's going on?"

"Do I have any chance?"

"What is my status?"

The total number of appointments that go out do not occur at once. That is important to remember for those who do not get one as soon as they might have been expecting one. It's a torturous waiting game for some.

So, when you say there were 1537 appointment offers, there were probably a percentage of them that occurred very late in the game. I'm sure your number is accurate but it might be better to say, ultimately, there were 1537 appointment offers.

Perhaps it's just a matter of semantics but it may be information that some did not know.
 
You are absolutely correct! My example was using the exact numbers published by the Academy for the class of 2012 and represents what we know of as one "Admission's cycle."

It was evident when I was at USNA for our BGO training briefings that these Admission's folk have this crazy business down to a statistical science :)
 
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Throwing more mud into the water, CGO also includes NROTC applicants in the mix now and counts them in the total applicants. That was part of the briefing at the Area Coordinator Conference last month.
 
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