No LOA, but fully qualified

slacker

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In early December, my son received a letter from USMA that his application had been reviewed by the admissions board and he was found fully qualified and his application was complete, pending a nomination.

This was not a letter of assurance.

He received his nomination in late December and it was posted on his portal on 15 January. He's attended SLS, is a member of the NHS, attended Boy's State and is an Eagle Scout. His SAT's and ACT's are within range; he's in the top fifth of his class and has varsity letters and community service. He maintains contact with his field force officer and the admissions office, but has not heard anything back in almost a week.

Could anyone share some insight on where he may stand in the application process?
 
Your son sounds pretty qualified to me :p

I'm going to guess that the letter you received confirms that he is on the National Wait List. If he is, I'd say he has a pretty good shot at getting in.

Good luck!
 
Thanks!

Nothing about being on the national wait list in the letter though.

What I posted is what he's received. If anyone has a bit more to add, it would be appreciated.
 
Do you know what type of nomination he received? If your MOC didn't rank it and left the academy to rank the candidates (by the whole candidate score) then he may not be on the national waiting list just yet. This means that before the academy can make a decision, they need to review everybody's application on the slate (up to 10 people). So not everybody may have completed their application already, therefore a decision hasn't been made yet. Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure this is a close explanation :smile:.

Advice: keep updating your application with any new awards, honors, achievements and such to improve your application. Good Luck!
 
Our MOC does not rank the apps.

His application portal does not show his current status (except that he's all "green") ; just his name and "Class of 2014". Nothing else but that. Hope that helps.
 
Our MOC does not rank the apps.

His application portal does not show his current status (except that he's all "green") ; just his name and "Class of 2014". Nothing else but that. Hope that helps.

Ok so that probably means what I kind of described. The academy will rank the slate based on the whole candidate score then. So out of the slate, the person with the highest score will receive an offer of an appointment. Not everybody on that slate may have completed their application yet, adding more wait time- I know, right? FUN, FUN! So update your application and hopefully something will be coming your way!
 
I'm going to guess that the letter you received confirms that he is on the National Wait List.


No -- if he was on the NWL, he would receive a letter explicitly stating so.

Your letter is stating that he is qualified in everything else, and as long as he received a nomination, it would be possible to grant him admission. It does not say how competitive he is in comparison to other candidates on your MOC's slate.

One reason why you may not have received any information: while your MOC has decided on his nominees, the candidates may not have completed their files yet. As long as your MOC has a competitive slate and not a principle nom, West Point must wait until all of the nominated students complete their applications. From there, they determine the best-ranked student and offer him or her a nomination, and everyone else gets put on the wait list. So, my bet is that someone your son is competing against hasn't finished their application.

EDIT: Just noticed Coffeecup's post... I should probably pay more attention next time. :]
 
I know that they wait to judge all the scores from the slate of 10 and then give the appointment to the person with the highest score.

What happens if one of the ten's application is being held up because they were DQ'd by Dodmerb? Does this hold up West Point deciding whom to give the appointment to? Or do they simply still pick the person on the slate with the highest score?

Hope that makes sense!
 
From his MOC and USMA:

Application is received and complete.

MOC nominates up to 10.

He's not on the national waiting list; but the MOC sees him as "strongly qualified". USMA shows him as in a strong congressional district, with lots of competion. He "may not" be the 1st choice - that's all I could get from his MOC.

He called when he came home from HS track practice, but did not receive any additional info. Any insight is appreciated.

Are admissions based on geographical areas, grades, class ranks, or community service - or "anything else." ?
 
Class rank and GPA is obviously a large part of the admissions process...geography an admissions factor?? Probably not...
 
slacker - your son received what is called a "letter of encouragment".
It is just a communication telling him all his ducks are in a row and he is competitve. Now you just have to wait. sorry.
Admissions is working diligently to fit candidate into nominations. When they get to your district, they will rank all the caniddiates. Then they will appoint qualified alternates.
Your son isn't on the NWL right now but if he doesn't get an appointment from his district or as an alternate he will be.
Sit tight and wait....

Admission criteria - based on whole candidate score which is a composite of academic, athletic and extra curricular & leadership activities. It is based on geography since you are competing in your congressional district.

cjs - if the top candidate is not medically qualifed, admissions will wait until he is or will be denied a medical waiver to qualify him. If he won't qualify they will offer to next on the list.
If the 8th candidate is not medically qualifed - this won't hold up an appointment to the top candidate.
 
Thanks Just-a-mom!

I was just curious after reading how they wait for all the applications to be finished from a MOC's slate.
 
Class rank and GPA is obviously a large part of the admissions process...geography an admissions factor?? Probably not...

GPA isn't as important compared to class rank though. Geography only plays a factor in nominations, which affects some aspects of admission, but no it is not really an admission factor (You live in XX State?- no we don't want you now :biggrin:)
 
GPA isn't as important compared to class rank though. Geography only plays a factor in nominations, which affects some aspects of admission, but no it is not really an admission factor (You live in XX State?- no we don't want you now :biggrin:)


I would think that GPA would matter somewhat. If you go to a very competitive school then you're class rank isn't going to be the same if you go to a different that is less competitive.
 
I would think that GPA would matter somewhat. If you go to a very competitive school then you're class rank isn't going to be the same if you go to a different that is less competitive.

Yes I see what you are saying. They fall hand in hand and if your school is really competitive so that you have a lower class rank with a higher gpa, they will know that. I just remember when I was a junior applying to two summer seminars that there were discussions about what they look at more. But I do agree that they both are important.
 
Is your son interested in playing a sport at West Point, like the track you mentioned? Maybe that would be an additional help for him if the coaches were interested in him.
 
It also depends on what your school uses for GPA and class rank...

Does your school "weight" GPA? What that means if it's "unweighted" a student with a 93 average in basic (not honors or AP) classes has the "same" GPA as a student with a 93 average in honors or AP/college classes. Kinda unfair if that's the way the school does it.

Same thing with class rank. A school that pushes their students hard may show a kid in the top 20% for that school; while if he attended a less competitive school with the same grades and the same classes may show him in the top 5%. Does the school "rank" students based on classes taken, or simply GPA? Do service academies rank candidates based on these two criteria, or do the also look at the schools they are attending, classes they complete and the level of their high school?

At times I think that private or parochial school students get a break, since Mom and Dad can afford that education for their child. I'd like to think that the service academies don't use that.

This is in no way meant to be disresputful towards any geographic area or school - just my humble opinion.
 
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