Nomination rescinded for NAPS???

USNA2023

USMMA '23
Joined
Apr 15, 2016
Messages
85
Hi all,

I originally received a nomination to the naval academy, but I noticed that it was gone from my portal last night.

After frantically contacting my admissions counselor my congressman's office contacted me to let me know they had rescinded my nomination. At first I was taken aback and thought that I was going to have to reapply in a few months and spend a year at local U, but to my surprise their reason for it was not because they made a mistake or thought I wasn't a good candidate.

My congressman's office told me that the pool for USNA candidates is very competitive in my district this year, and because I'm homeschooled and my act wasn't exactly stellar (33 English, 26 math, 31 science, 32 reading, 30 composite) they were concerned about my academics and thought that I wouldn't receive a direct appointment.

But apparently I made a really good impression on the board and some staffers, and they have been in contact with the USNA about how to get me in and what is the best course of action. For the first time ever for their office, they (my congressmans office) recommended me to the prep school and have been pushing for me to get in.

I'm still unsure as to why they rescinded my nomination (maybe so someone else could use it?). My congressman's office said they think I have a very good chance at getting into the prep school, but I am very cautiously optimistic. I'm really thankful to have a congressmans office that cares about their candidates so much.

In all of your guys experience, is this a good thing? Does a congressman's office recommendation to a prep school carry some weight? (I understand theres no such thing as an official Congressional recommendation to a prep school) And when do most people find out if they get into the prep school? Am I reading way to much into this?

Thanks in advance for all your help!
 
I can’t help with if it means anything ... I do know my DS’s MOC had 13 applications for Naval Academy. Two received nominations and 4 received recommendations to the prep school. I believe a few were athletes. One girl called up and said she had to move her interview time because she had to work. She was late to the new time and they weren’t happy.
 
The only thing I can think of is that the MOC panel or coordinator (maybe after some discussion) with USNA decided to remove you from the slate because they did not think you will be scholastically qualified. I have no idea how much weight a MOC recommendation carries for prep school. This is all speculation on my part and just a wild guess. Good luck.
 
Interesting indeed! As you probably have read, make sure and tends to plans B, C. Best of luck!!!
 
Hi all,

I originally received a nomination to the naval academy, but I noticed that it was gone from my portal last night.

After frantically contacting my admissions counselor my congressman's office contacted me to let me know they had rescinded my nomination. At first I was taken aback and thought that I was going to have to reapply in a few months and spend a year at local U, but to my surprise their reason for it was not because they made a mistake or thought I wasn't a good candidate.

My congressman's office told me that the pool for USNA candidates is very competitive in my district this year, and because I'm homeschooled and my act wasn't exactly stellar (33 English, 26 math, 31 science, 32 reading, 30 composite) they were concerned about my academics and thought that I wouldn't receive a direct appointment.

But apparently I made a really good impression on the board and some staffers, and they have been in contact with the USNA about how to get me in and what is the best course of action. For the first time ever for their office, they (my congressmans office) recommended me to the prep school and have been pushing for me to get in.

I'm still unsure as to why they rescinded my nomination (maybe so someone else could use it?). My congressman's office said they think I have a very good chance at getting into the prep school, but I am very cautiously optimistic. I'm really thankful to have a congressmans office that cares about their candidates so much.

In all of your guys experience, is this a good thing? Does a congressman's office recommendation to a prep school carry some weight? (I understand theres no such thing as an official Congressional recommendation to a prep school) And when do most people find out if they get into the prep school? Am I reading way to much into this?

Thanks in advance for all your help!


That sounds dubious. Your ACT scores are certainly well within range. I'm not sure how GPA's are tracked with homeschooled kids...or how Honors or AP classes are done. Maybe that was the issue. If they told you that your ACT score wasn't "stellar" I would challenge that. Those are well above average for most appointees. Your ACT is high enough and, assuming that your grades were also quite good, I can't see where NAPS would be a fit for you. NAPS is only for people who have some sort of academic need or deficiency. A 30 composite ACT doesn't seem like you have an academic deficiency. Of course, there are other things that you might be deficient in like leadership, community service, varsity/team sports, etc. but it doesn't sound like they mentioned any of those things as your issue.

My guess...and this is just a guess...is they found someone who they liked better after they had already offered you a nomination. They may, or may not, have contacted USNA (but that usually doesn't happen) and ultimately chose the other person to nominate, thus rescinding your nomination. Then they called you with that story to let you down easy and make it seem like you still had a chance. Let me also take another guess... They offered you a nom to USMMA and told you that you would still get the best level of education and that when you graduate you can choose your branch of service. And/or, since MOC's can now make recommendations to Army ROTC (only Army, not other branch ROTC's) they offered to do that for you as well.

I hope I'm wrong about all of this and they find a way to get you an appointment. You still have until Jan 31st to apply for a VP nomination. What method does your MOC use...principal or slate? If they use the principal method you can see if they will offer you an alternate nomination. Either way, you may want to focus on plan B and NROTC. That is certainly not a bad option either.

Best of luck! If it's your dream, keep fighting for it and don't give up.
 
That sounds dubious. Your ACT scores are certainly well within range. I'm not sure how GPA's are tracked with homeschooled kids...or how Honors or AP classes are done. Maybe that was the issue. If they told you that your ACT score wasn't "stellar" I would challenge that. Those are well above average for most appointees. Your ACT is high enough and, assuming that your grades were also quite good, I can't see where NAPS would be a fit for you. NAPS is only for people who have some sort of academic need or deficiency. A 30 composite ACT doesn't seem like you have an academic deficiency. Of course, there are other things that you might be deficient in like leadership, community service, varsity/team sports, etc. but it doesn't sound like they mentioned any of those things as your issue.

My guess...and this is just a guess...is they found someone who they liked better after they had already offered you a nomination. They may, or may not, have contacted USNA (but that usually doesn't happen) and ultimately chose the other person to nominate, thus rescinding your nomination. Then they called you with that story to let you down easy and make it seem like you still had a chance. Let me also take another guess... They offered you a nom to USMMA and told you that you would still get the best level of education and that when you graduate you can choose your branch of service. And/or, since MOC's can now make recommendations to Army ROTC (only Army, not other branch ROTC's) they offered to do that for you as well.

I hope I'm wrong about all of this and they find a way to get you an appointment. You still have until Jan 31st to apply for a VP nomination. What method does your MOC use...principal or slate? If they use the principal method you can see if they will offer you an alternate nomination. Either way, you may want to focus on plan B and NROTC. That is certainly not a bad option either.

Best of luck! If it's your dream, keep fighting for it and don't give up.

Honestly, that's what I thought when they called me. I thought they were going to let me down easy and say that they found someone else or something like that. My congressman's office said that my ACT (specifically math, which was a 26, and one of the only two scores Navy looks at) was lower than the other nominees in my district.

Also, I talked to my BGO who said that this isn't too uncommon for homeschool students (going to NAPS) to see how they perform in a college environment. The rest of my grades are fine, and I even had private tutors that sent in letters of rec and helped make my transcript... but supposedly that doesn't matter if you're homeschooled.

I already have nominations to USAFA, USMA, and USMMA from the same congressman's office. I still retained all of those nominations; their reasoning for specifically rescinding Navy is because it was my first choice and they want to work something out for me. They do a competitive slate, what my BGO said is that someone else likely got an appointment and they are trying to work something out.

Honestly, I don't know what to think but I didn't get a sales pitch, my congressman's office said I have a really good chance at an appointment to NAPS, and that my BGO doesn't seem fazed and thinks this isn't completely a bad thing. Thank you so much for your input, I'm DEFINITELY NOT holding my breath and have 2 colleges that I have already gotten into as plan B's, plus I'm still in the running for a direct appointment to 3 other academies, so I know I'm at least going somewhere :)
 
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NAPS is 100% not a bad thing.

If USNA and a career as a Navy or Marine Officer is what you want above all other paths, and if you are offered NAPS, they are essentially saving you a seat in 2024. Complete NAPS successfully, polish up academics, get a taste of military culture and discipline, gain a year of maturity away from home, build a set of friends to go to USNA with...all good. You still have to get a nom for USNA 2024, but if you are not successful, USNA will find one for you.
Let’s hope you are offered that opportunity. You are handling this with good grace.
 
NAPS is 100% not a bad thing.

If USNA and a career as a Navy or Marine Officer is what you want above all other paths, and if you are offered NAPS, they are essentially saving you a seat in 2024. Complete NAPS successfully, polish up academics, get a taste of military culture and discipline, gain a year of maturity away from home, build a set of friends to go to USNA with...all good. You still have to get a nom for USNA 2024, but if you are not successful, USNA will find one for you.
Let’s hope you are offered that opportunity. You are handling this with good grace.

If I get an appointment to NAPS, I'm taking it in a heartbeat. Considering I've been homeschooled since the 5th grade, it can only do good to be at a prep school before going on to arguably one of the most rigorous institutions in America. Plus, practically everyone I've talked to who's either at the academy or graduated from it went to a prep school, and they all loved their experiences at them and said it set them up for success. Thank you so much for your response!
 
Like I stated before, none of us know what happened, this is all speculation. A composite 30 is very solid, but a math 26 is on the lower side. Remember USNA looks at each candidate separately and their entire book of work to determine if they are qualified. We do not know what kind of math the OP took in home school. The 26 factored in or a dozen other things could of led USNA to alluding to that OP won’t be 3Q therefore the MOC decided to switch out names. None of us know, it’s all speculation. The bottom line, it’s odd. There are more questions than answers, which doesn’t help the OP. As to if a MOC’s recommendation for NAPS holds any weight, that is a mystery to me, but hopefully OP will keep us updated.
 
Like I stated before, none of us know what happened, this is all speculation. A composite 30 is very solid, but a math 26 is on the lower side. Remember USNA looks at each candidate separately and their entire book of work to determine if they are qualified. We do not know what kind of math the OP took in home school. The 26 factored in or a dozen other things could of led USNA to alluding to that OP won’t be 3Q therefore the MOC decided to switch out names. None of us know, it’s all speculation. The bottom line, it’s odd. There are more questions than answers, which doesn’t help the OP. As to if a MOC’s recommendation for NAPS holds any weight, that is a mystery to me, but hopefully OP will keep us updated.

I am going through precalculus (currently taking pre calc) with a private tutor who was a retired high school math teacher. Gonna be honest, the 26 in math puts me in the bottom 25% at USNA,

But I thought my sports participation would be my weakest link: I live literally in the middle of nowhere and have only been able to do shooting sports (archery, rife etc.) through a local club. My BGO, ALO, and the nomination board all said it's perfectly fine considering my situation and coupled with the fact I live on a working ranch. The fact that THAT wasn't the reason they thought I wouldn't be 3Q was odd in my opinion.

This whole thing is really weird but I'm trying to stay somewhat optimistic about it. I definitely have several unanswered questions, but hey, I'll find out some of the answers in the coming months. Thanks for all your help and responses!
 
I have zero insight to this, but in my personal
opinion, based upon the info provided, you sound like a great candidate for NAPS. I hope it works out and this time next year you are checking as a Midshipmen Candidate on your progress! Good luck.
 
I have zero insight to this, but in my personal
opinion, based upon the info provided, you sound like a great candidate for NAPS. I hope it works out and this time next year you are checking as a Midshipmen Candidate on your progress! Good luck.

Thank you!! I'll try to keep you all posted. Hopefully I'll spend this summer doing hospital corners and uniform inspections instead of freshman orientation at local U :)
 
You remind me of a USNA sponsor daughter we had - home-schooled, Western working ranch, drove 75 miles to play cello in a HS orchestra, big in state 4H, ranch work kept her from sports but she taught advanced kayaking in the highest difficulty waters, barrel race rider, had her PPL because that’s how they checked on the far reaches of the ranch, expert rifle shot. She got a Foundation scholarship. She’s a kick-butt Navy helo pilot currently on flight instructor duty. Down the road, she wants to get out and fly for the Forest Service in a Western state.
Once at USNA, her work ethic and background allowed her to thrive.

No organized sports, no Girls’ State (ranch work in the summer), no clubs except 4H, but there was no doubt about her fitness and ability to work hard.
 
Does a congressman's office recommendation to a prep school carry some weight? (I understand theres no such thing as an official Congressional recommendation to a prep school) And when do most people find out if they get into the prep school?

Officially, no .... Practically ... of course. If the person briefing the Application package tells the Board that Congressman or Senator XYZ pulled a Nomination because he/she thinks Candidate can use a year at NAPS, it will carry some weight. It also couldn't hurt if you talk with your BGO and explain what happened, and he can put a comment in the system reinforcing this.

Concur with Hoops, yours is a situation where NAPS is a good recommendation. 26 Math ACT and homeschooling will likely raise doubts about academic preparedness. (I'm not knocking home school..it can be great or poor --just like conventional schooling). A year at NAPS will remove the doubts and prepare you (or give you a headstart) for USNA.


NAPS is 100% not a bad thing.
> NAPS is 100% a good thing...
 
You remind me of a USNA sponsor daughter we had - home-schooled, Western working ranch, drove 75 miles to play cello in a HS orchestra, big in state 4H, ranch work kept her from sports but she taught advanced kayaking in the highest difficulty waters, barrel race rider, had her PPL because that’s how they checked on the far reaches of the ranch, expert rifle shot. She got a Foundation scholarship. She’s a kick-butt Navy helo pilot currently on flight instructor duty. Down the road, she wants to get out and fly for the Forest Service in a Western state.
Once at USNA, her work ethic and background allowed her to thrive.

No organized sports, no Girls’ State (ranch work in the summer), no clubs except 4H, but there was no doubt about her fitness and ability to work hard.

Thank you for the kind words. I'm pretty similar in some ways to her. Not to tell my life's story, but ranch work and a lack of sports for homeschoolers in my area has kept me to archery and smallbore riflery in 4H. One thing I was lucky to have is a civil air patrol squadron about 30 miles away that I was able to rise through the ranks to cadet commander. CAP has been a livesaver for me, I've been able to get a treasure trove of leadership experience, and prove my physicality at PJOC (A course taught by USAF SERE Instructors and PJs... Also the physically hardest activity in CAP). Because I have a brother who can pick up the slack when I'm gone, I was able to do Boys State this summer, which was an awesome experience. I've also been able to volunteer 4 hrs a week at a local Air Force Base museum and occasionally work at a local feed store. I've wanted to be a naval officer since I was 12, and it's been a lot of hard work to get here. I can't wait to apply to USNA again next year- either from NAPS or a local college.
 
Officially, no .... Practically ... of course. If the person briefing the Application package tells the Board that Congressman or Senator XYZ pulled a Nomination because he/she thinks Candidate can use a year at NAPS, it will carry some weight. It also couldn't hurt if you talk with your BGO and explain what happened, and he can put a comment in the system reinforcing this.

Concur with Hoops, yours is a situation where NAPS is a good recommendation. 26 Math ACT and homeschooling will likely raise doubts about academic preparedness. (I'm not knocking home school..it can be great or poor --just like conventional schooling). A year at NAPS will remove the doubts and prepare you (or give you a headstart) for USNA.



> NAPS is 100% a good thing...

Thanks for the information! I talked to my BGO and he didn't seem very fazed and explained that he's had some similar situations with candidates in the past.

I've made it very clear to my BGO from the beginning of my application that I am very interested in NAPS and would 100% jump on the opportunity if offered an appointment. I've felt like that would be the best path for me from the beginning, because all it can do is prepare me more or help me get ahead. Thank you for your response, and I can't wait to see what happens!
 
That sounds dubious. Your ACT scores are certainly well within range. I'm not sure how GPA's are tracked with homeschooled kids...or how Honors or AP classes are done. Maybe that was the issue. If they told you that your ACT score wasn't "stellar" I would challenge that. Those are well above average for most appointees. Your ACT is high enough and, assuming that your grades were also quite good, I can't see where NAPS would be a fit for you. NAPS is only for people who have some sort of academic need or deficiency. A 30 composite ACT doesn't seem like you have an academic deficiency. Of course, there are other things that you might be deficient in like leadership, community service, varsity/team sports, etc. but it doesn't sound like they mentioned any of those things as your issue.

My guess...and this is just a guess...is they found someone who they liked better after they had already offered you a nomination. They may, or may not, have contacted USNA (but that usually doesn't happen) and ultimately chose the other person to nominate, thus rescinding your nomination. Then they called you with that story to let you down easy and make it seem like you still had a chance. Let me also take another guess... They offered you a nom to USMMA and told you that you would still get the best level of education and that when you graduate you can choose your branch of service. And/or, since MOC's can now make recommendations to Army ROTC (only Army, not other branch ROTC's) they offered to do that for you as well.

I hope I'm wrong about all of this and they find a way to get you an appointment. You still have until Jan 31st to apply for a VP nomination. What method does your MOC use...principal or slate? If they use the principal method you can see if they will offer you an alternate nomination. Either way, you may want to focus on plan B and NROTC. That is certainly not a bad option either.

Best of luck! If it's your dream, keep fighting for it and don't give up.

Honestly, that's what I thought when they called me. I thought they were going to let me down easy and say that they found someone else or something like that. My congressman's office said that my ACT (specifically math, which was a 26, and one of the only two scores Navy looks at) was lower than the other nominees in my district.

Also, I talked to my BGO who said that this isn't too uncommon for homeschool students (going to NAPS) to see how they perform in a college environment. The rest of my grades are fine, and I even had private tutors that sent in letters of rec and helped make my transcript... but supposedly that doesn't matter if you're homeschooled.

I already have nominations to USAFA, USMA, and USMMA from the same congressman's office. I still retained all of those nominations; their reasoning for specifically rescinding Navy is because it was my first choice and they want to work something out for me. They do a competitive slate, what my BGO said is that someone else likely got an appointment and they are trying to work something out.

Honestly, I don't know what to think but I didn't get a sales pitch, my congressman's office said I have a really good chance at an appointment to NAPS, and that my BGO doesn't seem fazed and thinks this isn't completely a bad thing. Thank you so much for your input, I'm DEFINITELY NOT holding my breath and have 2 colleges that I have already gotten into as plan B's, plus I'm still in the running for a direct appointment to 3 other academies, so I know I'm at least going somewhere :)

OK. Well, that is a lot more information than you initially provided. Based on that, NAPS sounds like a solid option. And on the ACT scores.... 26 in Math is on the lower side but that will still work assuming everything else lines up. I know many brilliant people, doctors, military officers, business people, etc. that were straight-A students but didn't do the best on standardized tests. Those people are, in most cases, not naturally intellectual. Rather, they achieve their academic and professional success through hard work and discipline. That counts too.

Best of luck to you, however it goes. If they offer you NAPS, take it if that's what you really want. If not, choose a "plan B" school and do NROTC and then re-apply next year. You'll be a better candidate and a stronger person. Cheers!
 
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