Rejected USCGA Class of 2025

MSUSA

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Maybe we can help next year's applicants improve their chances or better gauge their competitiveness.
ApplicantMajor/2nd ChoiceACT/SAT CompositeGPAPFE ScoreClass of 2024 Waitlist?Reapplicant?AIM Year?Varsity Sport(s) and/or Performing ArtsList other SA applications Veteran parent (officer or enlisted)
MSUSAME/Gov13503.76229YesYes2019BandNoneOfficer
 
There is a place in a commissioning program, and likely with a scholarship, for a student like this who wants to serve our country. Don't fall prey to tunnel vision.
 
If you have not already done so, I recommend speaking with CAPT Freddie to see where you can improve for next year if you decide to reapply.

I know Service Academies put an emphasis on Varsity Sports so without any your PFE score needs to be higher to be more competitive.
 
I agree with Sanman. This thread serves no purpose as there are too many factors involved in receiving that coveted appointment slot. Recommend to those rejected - take the opportunity Freddie offers to have insight into your application, ask specific questions, get advice should you choose to reapply or not.

DS rejected again, 2x. No wait list either year. He'll be calling to find out more details, and will be proceeding with his plan B. He took that call last year, did all Freddie recommended and was rejected again. I know it's all a puzzle piece for Admissions, and that even our kiddos best sometimes isn't enough for those particular puzzle pieces. I certainly don't envy them trying to work it all out this last year with how covid has thrown a wrench into everything. I will not list his stats as it also serves no purpose. He was extremely qualified both times, and in line with others stats who've received appointments.

For DS, he's rolled with all the punches this horrible year has brought and has been more resilient than me, continued to preserve and do well. Me - I'm heartbroken, again. I know the value of my son, his worth, and what he had to offer to the CGA. I also know that since this obviously isn't the path he's taking to the CG, that there's something better coming, and that above all, God is in control of this. But it hurts deeply. He's learned so much about himself, about striving towards a goal, pushing himself physically thru sports, mentally thru education and service to others, thru absolute exhaustion when homework and sports were exacting every minute of his free time, thru not having a single weekend, month after month, to take a break, because school or sports demanded of his time...I personally wouldn't want to repeat that process, but for him, it produced incredible growth.

Good luck all who didn't get in, and to the incoming Class of 2025 - congrats!

Edited to add - please don't read into the post nor flame me that I'm not able to handle the stress of having a child in the military if I'm falling apart over this. I have another DS in the AF in Europe. Thanks.
 
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I highly recommend checking out the CG Auxiliary University Program to all those who did not get in. It will give you a ton of CG opportunities. Helps a ton with OCS/DCO applications, too.
Here's the link: http://www.cgauxedu.us/
If you are lucky enough to be near one of the few schools. My DS participates at Texas Maritime.
 
I think the intentions here are great. Unfortunately the items you are looking at are only a small part of what the academy uses to decide on whether to tender an offer.
Do you have inside knowledge of what the other criteria are looked at? My son, with a 4.8 HS weighted GPA, 1420 SAT, 2 years of varsity CC/T&F, PFE score 241, a long history of time on the water sailing and navigating etc. , good to excellent interview skills, no family in the USCG, Engineering degree focused, 7 years of Civil Air Patrol with 2 years as squadron commander and finished up at Captain rank, did not receive an appointment yesterday. So now the question is, probably a question for many here, do we try again next year or just move on? Any help in this regard would be appreciated.
 
Do you have inside knowledge of what the other criteria are looked at? My son, with a 4.8 HS weighted GPA, 1420 SAT, 2 years of varsity CC/T&F, PFE score 241, a long history of time on the water sailing and navigating etc. , good to excellent interview skills, no family in the USCG, Engineering degree focused, 7 years of Civil Air Patrol with 2 years as squadron commander and finished up at Captain rank, did not receive an appointment yesterday. So now the question is, probably a question for many here, do we try again next year or just move on? Any help in this regard would be appreciated.
I think you covered a lot of the criteria. It’s just that competitive and that small of a school. My son is happy enough with his plan B (another service academy) to move on. You can always reapply and to me it seems like some have success and some don’t. Hard to predict. If you’re considering reapplying, definitely take advantage of the talk with admissions and Capt Fredie.
 
Do you have inside knowledge of what the other criteria are looked at? My son, with a 4.8 HS weighted GPA, 1420 SAT, 2 years of varsity CC/T&F, PFE score 241, a long history of time on the water sailing and navigating etc. , good to excellent interview skills, no family in the USCG, Engineering degree focused, 7 years of Civil Air Patrol with 2 years as squadron commander and finished up at Captain rank, did not receive an appointment yesterday. So now the question is, probably a question for many here, do we try again next year or just move on? Any help in this regard would be appreciated.
Obviously they look at the content of their essays, recommendations, interviews etc. what you can’t see from the stats you have are all intangibles the these other items contribute.
 
Do you have inside knowledge of what the other criteria are looked at? My son, with a 4.8 HS weighted GPA, 1420 SAT, 2 years of varsity CC/T&F, PFE score 241, a long history of time on the water sailing and navigating etc. , good to excellent interview skills, no family in the USCG, Engineering degree focused, 7 years of Civil Air Patrol with 2 years as squadron commander and finished up at Captain rank, did not receive an appointment yesterday. So now the question is, probably a question for many here, do we try again next year or just move on? Any help in this regard would be appreciated.
Wow. That's an impressive resume. I don't have any inside knowledge. I just think data like yours are helpful to others who may feel dejected and want to know why things turned out the way they do. At least I'm in good company. What would also be helpful is if those who received appointments would give us the same data.
 
Wow. That's an impressive resume. I don't have any inside knowledge. I just think data like yours are helpful to others who may feel dejected and want to know why things turned out the way they do. At least I'm in good company. What would also be helpful is if those who received appointments would give us the same data.
I think if those who received appointments supply the same data you’ll really be left scratching your head. You’re better off to talk to admissions and Capt Fredie who can possibly give insight as to where your application came up short compared to the pool of qualified candidates.
 
I think you covered a lot of the criteria. It’s just that competitive and that small of a school. My son is happy enough with his plan B (another service academy) to move on. You can always reapply and to me it seems like some have success and some don’t. Hard to predict. If you’re considering reapplying, definitely take advantage of the talk with admissions and Capt Fredie.

I think you covered a lot of the criteria. It’s just that competitive and that small of a school. My son is happy enough with his plan B (another service academy) to move on. You can always reapply and to me it seems like some have success and some don’t. Hard to predict. If you’re considering reapplying, definitely take advantage of the talk with admissions and Capt Fredie.
How did your son answer the question about why he wanted to be in the CGA when he also had to answer it for at least one other academy? I thought applying to more than one would be viewed as opportunism and a lack of credibility.
 
How did your son answer the question about why he wanted to be in the CGA when he also had to answer it for at least one other academy? I thought applying to more than one would be viewed as opportunism and a lack of credibility.
My son wants to serve. Branch preference is something he has determined along the way, and in part it’s really only because he had to rank them for his MOC nomination. Many apply to more than one academy. He wrote about his desire to serve. If asked which career path within the branch he would pursue, he researched and wrote about that. He applied to four academies. In hindsight, I may have even encouraged him to do the fifth. His situation isn’t everyone’s situation. Some have a strong branch preference. In that case, I would not encourage multiple apps.
 
Do you have inside knowledge of what the other criteria are looked at? My son, with a 4.8 HS weighted GPA, 1420 SAT, 2 years of varsity CC/T&F, PFE score 241, a long history of time on the water sailing and navigating etc. , good to excellent interview skills, no family in the USCG, Engineering degree focused, 7 years of Civil Air Patrol with 2 years as squadron commander and finished up at Captain rank, did not receive an appointment yesterday. So now the question is, probably a question for many here, do we try again next year or just move on? Any help in this regard would be appreciated.
I hope a young man like that has considered or will consider other armed services as well. There's obviously a place for him.
 
Wow. That's an impressive resume. I don't have any inside knowledge. I just think data like yours are helpful to others who may feel dejected and want to know why things turned out the way they do. At least I'm in good company. What would also be helpful is if those who received appointments would give us the same data.
Agreed. More transparency the better for all --for the institution as well as for current and future applicants. We were just discussing the process here at home and it clearly would be a big challenge putting together a fair and effective system of weighted criteria to measure applicants by. But at the same same time, it is not a new process. The Academy has been going through this process for 145 years now so I would think they have an optimized way to select the best candidates that will go on to graduate and fulfill the CG's mission. From what we can tell, target stats of GPA, SAT, etc., and check box criteria like a varsity sport, AP classes, writing skills, etc., must have factored in less than we thought going into this. Again having a better understanding of all of the other measurable criteria (and maybe understanding more about all the subjective factors involved as well) would help in my son deciding whether he should try again in 2022.
 
I think if those who received appointments supply the same data you’ll really be left scratching your head. You’re better off to talk to admissions and Capt Fredie who can possibly give insight as to where your application came up short compared to the pool of qualified candidates.]

^This.

@running lights: You can post on here all day long with conjecture, supposition and claims of a failure of transparency but that will get you nowhere.

Have you taken the advice of @CkzErz yet to contact your son's AO or Captain Fredie @ USCGA?
 
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