West Point SLE 2021

I believe my son said something like only 1 or 2 of his fellow Plebes in his company went to SLE. And I know 1 of them for sure was a young lady who was not too familiar with West Point and the mission, etc.

Turns out, after SLE she was "all in" and is (at least according to my son) an outstanding cadet.
 
My son (#2 - #1 will be attending USMMA next year!) received his rejection this morning. He was upset but realized that the preliminary application did not give him as much chance to showcase his strengths so he's not giving up. He's attending NASS so still excited about that.
 
As many have posted in this topic, attending SLE has NO bearing on your Whole Candidate Score. Unless you are totally unfamiliar with what to expect from a service academy experience, attending SLE is not that useful. I encourage my candidates to use that week to go to Boys or Girls State, or do some sort of rockin' volunteer service project or something that will actually move the needle of your WCS.
 
My son received a rejection letter yesterday but wasn't too phased by it as we'd been told several times that many candidates rejected for SLE ultimately get appointments. He opened his email just now and got an offer. Keep checking those emails.
 
I’m so sorry to ask you to repeat yourself but your son got rejected on Thursday and then admitted on Friday? Did the acceptance letter say anything regarding the flip flop? That’s unexpected.
 
When will they be done notifying people of acceptance or refusal? I applied but I have not heard anything back since the noncommital.
 
I’m so sorry to ask you to repeat yourself but your son got rejected on Thursday and then admitted on Friday? Did the acceptance letter say anything regarding the flip flop? That’s unexpected.
Confirmed. Our cadet candidate had the same thing happen. Rejected yesterday but then offered admission today. That was a happy change!
 
I’m so sorry to ask you to repeat yourself but your son got rejected on Thursday and then admitted on Friday? Did the acceptance letter say anything regarding the flip flop? That’s unexpected.
Yes, that is exactly what happened. We were both very surprised and happy. The letter didn't address his previous status at all. It seems to be the same acceptance letter others on this board have received.
 
Yes, that is exactly what happened. We were both very surprised and happy. The letter didn't address his previous status at all. It seems to be the same acceptance letter others on this board have received.
Does anyone know how many they accepted to SLE this year? It seems like quite a few received rejections but then got accepted the next day. Just wondering if they opened it up to more?
 
You aren’t “accepted” to or “rejected” from SLE. It’s a camp with no bearing on admissions. Each year, each camp session has so many slots. You either get a slot or you don’t. When a session is all filled up, there are no more slots to allocate. If someone cancels, that frees up a slot for someone else. Otherwise, the session is “full” and no more can be accommodated. Don’t take this personally. Many, many appointees don’t even apply for these camps (like our son who is now an O2). Please stop talking about these camps like they are somehow important to your application. They aren’t. They allow you to check out the post, play soldier/sailor for a week, get questions answered by admissions/cadets/mids, and perhaps take a CFA (optional), but they aren’t part of the admissions rubric and don’t reflect the actual life of a cadet/mid one iota. Apply if you’re interested, but don’t attach any import to not getting a slot.
 
I get this, but the wording is “congratulations, you have been chosen from among thousands” which makes it sound like an honor.

I was just wondering how many slots they have this year. I think there are typically 1200 or so?
 
I get this, but the wording is “congratulations, you have been chosen from among thousands” which makes it sound like an honor.

Yep, it’s an honor just like “Congratulations! You are among the Publisher’s Clearing House finalists!” Or “Congratulations! You have been chosen to apply for a special low-interest credit card!” You are bring congratulated on being chosen to pay for a camp slot. There aren’t enough slots for every applicant who applies and not every applicant meets the profile the camps target (regardless of academic stats), so you are being congratulated on being a match for a slot. The academy summer programs are useful from the applicant side for seeing the posts, getting questions answered, and visualizing what it might be like to be a cadet or mid, and they are useful marketing tools for the academies to reach out to candidates who might not otherwise consider becoming an officer. Our son was cadre at SLE one summer and was briefed from the academy’s point of view. His job was to be available and to make sure each camper had a positive experience to encourage each to complete his/her application. At the end of the week, the academy wants each attendee to leave completely pumped about stepping into The Long Grey Line. For the most part, the camps accomplish this although some attendees do decide that the military is not for them or this is not the college experience they want, and that is a useful outcome as well.

What I find sad about these threads and what I want to clarify is that not getting an SLE slot is not a rejection and does not affect your application, so please don’t be disappointed or worried if you can’t attend.

Good luck to all of you — campers or no.
 
Yep, it’s an honor just like “Congratulations! You are among the Publisher’s Clearing House finalists!” Or “Congratulations! You have been chosen to apply for a special low-interest credit card!” You are bring congratulated on being chosen to pay for a camp slot. There aren’t enough slots for every applicant who applies and not every applicant meets the profile the camps target (regardless of academic stats), so you are being congratulated on being a match for a slot. The academy summer programs are useful from the applicant side for seeing the posts, getting questions answered, and visualizing what it might be like to be a cadet or mid, and they are useful marketing tools for the academies to reach out to candidates who might not otherwise consider becoming an officer. Our son was cadre at SLE one summer and was briefed from the academy’s point of view. His job was to be available and to make sure each camper had a positive experience to encourage each to complete his/her application. At the end of the week, the academy wants each attendee to leave completely pumped about stepping into The Long Grey Line. For the most part, the camps accomplish this although some attendees do decide that the military is not for them or this is not the college experience they want, and that is a useful outcome as well.

What I find sad about these threads and what I want to clarify is that not getting an SLE slot is not a rejection and does not affect your application, so please don’t be disappointed or worried if you can’t attend.

Good luck to all of you — campers or no.
I disagree with your comparison to Publisher’s Clearing House. If that were the case, they would just have you give your name and address and ask if you’re interested in attending, and the email wouldn’t say “Your selection to SLE does more than invite you to attend the seminar. It also confirms you as one of our very top candidates for admission.”
Otherwise, they really need to change this email.

I really just wanted to know how many were given slots this year.
 
Well, I was being a bit facetious. Getting a slot at SLE means you are a target profile for the academy and is a way for West Point to encourage you to complete your application. I don’t know how many slots there are in any given year. Good luck to you. :)
 
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