Acceptance Rate?

Prior to World War II the only way to rise as an officer in peace time in the military would be via a service Academy. That is just not true anymore. E.g. Colin Powell: City College of City University University of New York

Nearly 1,100 U.S. Army generals served at some point during World War II. They did not all attend the USMA. My point was those most responsible for the war effort went to West Point (not VMI, A&M, Norwich, The Citadel, etc). I suppose it's an unimportant point unworthy of debate
 
Sure but you could then give a rate for those who get 3Q with nomination.

That’s the pool my post is referring to — those who’ve already cleared the hoops. For those who have cleared those hurdles (3Q + nom), the appointment rate is about 50%. Those are the only real candidates in the running.

For example, it’s pretty easy to do this math from these recent USMA class profile stats:

https://westpoint.edu/admissions/class-profile
Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but you are saying the acceptance rate for those who are 3Q with nomination is 50%. What I am saying, what is the rate of applicants who get to be 3Q with nomination
 
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One could argue that civilian colleges -- particularly the so-called elites -- benefit disproportionately from the Common App, which makes it exceedingly easy for anyone to "apply" no matter how (un)qualified. In fact, one could argue that being seemingly unqualified isn't really a deterrent anymore because these schools long-ago established that straight academic credentials are not the sole or even main determinant of admission. So having a good story -- a qualitative value, to be sure -- aided by the ease of the Common App -- abets these colleges in pumping up their denominator, and hence in pushing down their acceptance rate.

Is it right or wrong? That's for another day and another thread.
I completely agree. Except for cost and even then there are many exceptions, there is no real limit on how many schools you can apply to especially for those schools who are part of the Common App. But even outside of the common app, you can apply to all of the Univ of California schools along with all of the CAl State schools with only two sets of applications. That means you can apply to 32 Universities with basically two applications. My son applied to a large number of schools because he was applying three ways. First, he was wanted to play D3 baseball. Most of the coaches wont talk to you until you get accepted. So he applied to many D3 baseball schools. Secondly, wanted to get a degree in professional flight so he applied to all the major schools that had a flight program. Finally, he applied to big universities that have hundreds of majors like Washington , Oregon and so on. He got accepted to schools from all three catagories. Since Flight degrees are only taught in D1 schools, he had to decide between flying or playing college baseball. He went with flying. My point being that he applied to many schools because it was easy and didnt take a lot more effort than applying to a few schools.
 
It would seem that many a of the most famous leaders (non generals) and individual acts of heroism came from men who never went to the academy.

But those responsible for leadership, strategy, administration, coordination, etc were Academy Grads: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, Bradley, Stilwell, etc ... the list is long

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...ducated_at_the_United_States_Military_Academy
That is why I said most of the famous leader (non generals) never went to the academy. I realize all the guys on top starting with Eisenhower did attend an academy
 
Who Cares......
Figures Lie, and Liars Figure
You can manipulate this however you want it

It all depends on how you "apply yourself"......and how do you gage that? You can only gage the results.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Who Cares......
Figures Lie, and Liars Figure
You can manipulate this however you want it

It all depends on how you "apply yourself"......and how do you gage that? You can only gage the results.

Push Hard, Press Forward
That wasnt the point of my question. I realize it doesnt make that much of a difference but it is still interesting concept especially compared to civilians schools as in many ways its comparing apples to oranges
 
Sure but you could then give a rate for those who get 3Q with nomination.

That’s the pool my post is referring to — those who’ve already cleared the hoops. For those who have cleared those hurdles (3Q + nom), the appointment rate is about 50%. Those are the only real candidates in the running.

For example, it’s pretty easy to do this math from these recent USMA class profile stats:

https://westpoint.edu/admissions/class-profile
Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but you are saying the acceptance rate for those who are 3Q with nomination is 50%. What I am saying, what is the rate of applicants who get to be 3Q with nomination

You can do the same calculation from here. 12,294 started applications and 2,228 are 3Q so about 18 percent. What you cannot calculate is how many were actually not qualified and how many did not even complete the application.
 
It would seem that many a of the most famous leaders (non generals) and individual acts of heroism came from men who never went to the academy.

But those responsible for leadership, strategy, administration, coordination, etc were Academy Grads: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, Bradley, Stilwell, etc ... the list is long

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...ducated_at_the_United_States_Military_Academy
That is why I said most of the famous leader (non generals) never went to the academy. I realize all the guys on top starting with Eisenhower did attend an academy


Actually Marshall (Chief of Staff of the Army and over both Eisenhower and MacArthur) didn't attend USMA and neither did the Vice Chief GEN Tom Handy. They both attended VMI.
Of 34 Corps Commanders in World War II, 23 graduated USMA, 1 was dismissed from USMA, five attended military colleges, five attended state colleges and one had no undergraduate education.

This was all in an era before ROTC was prolific so most of the non Academy General officers applied to the War Department and ultimately the President seeking commissions. (ROTC established 1916)
 
Actually Marshall (Chief of Staff of the Army and over both Eisenhower and MacArthur) didn't attend USMA and neither did the Vice Chief GEN Tom Handy. They both attended VMI.
Of 34 Corps Commanders in World War II, 23 graduated USMA, 1 was dismissed from USMA, five attended military colleges, five attended state colleges and one had no undergraduate education.

This was all in an era before ROTC was prolific so most of the non Academy General officers applied to the War Department and ultimately the President seeking commissions. (ROTC established 1916)

USMA Class of 1915 - lot of stars fell on that class (including my cousin's father-in-law). Timing is everything.
 
Acceptance rate is a meaningless for SA’s, minus CG, with the nomination, physical, and medical requirements It’s not top 1400 students that are offered appointments, rather from #1 to last fully qualified candidate (around 2500). I don’t think Harvard cares if an applicant can run 7 min mile or don’t have asthma. With the nomination requirement, a candidate is mostly competing against other candidates in his or her nomination category, not against everyone that applied.

I disagree. You are competing against everyone that applies. The pool just gets smaller along the way (i.e., 3Q, Nomination, slate, etc.). All schools have filters to weed out candidates. SAs just have more.

Service Academies want well-rounded individuals not book worms. As stated earlier, a large number of SA kids were accepted into Ivies. Not many kids accepted into Ivies could gain acceptance into a SA

No. I will give you an example. Typically the top candidate in a Congressional district gets the appointment. I have several cases if the candidate was in a different district, he or she would not have gotten the appointment.
 
It basically comes down to this: If an SA wants someone badly enough, they’ll find a way to extend offer of appointment. No nomination? They’ll find you one. Not the principle nominee in your district? They’ll find a way. It’s very competitive at both the district and the national level. But every year we read about examples of candidates beating the odds and getting the BFE — because the SA really, really wanted that person.
 
Acceptance rate is a meaningless for SA’s, minus CG, with the nomination, physical, and medical requirements It’s not top 1400 students that are offered appointments, rather from #1 to last fully qualified candidate (around 2500). I don’t think Harvard cares if an applicant can run 7 min mile or don’t have asthma. With the nomination requirement, a candidate is mostly competing against other candidates in his or her nomination category, not against everyone that applied.

I disagree. You are competing against everyone that applies. The pool just gets smaller along the way (i.e., 3Q, Nomination, slate, etc.). All schools have filters to weed out candidates. SAs just have more.

Service Academies want well-rounded individuals not book worms. As stated earlier, a large number of SA kids were accepted into Ivies. Not many kids accepted into Ivies could gain acceptance into a SA

No. I will give you an example. Typically the top candidate in a Congressional district gets the appointment. I have several cases if the candidate was in a different district, he or she would not have gotten the appointment.

Incorrect. There are districts were none of the candidates are qualified and NO ONE gets the appointment. If you are a weak candidate, you aren't getting in. Period

*Unless you're an athlete or part of a special group (that happens at ALL colleges)
 
From this link:

https://westpoint.edu/admissions/class-profile

it's quite easy to see the 9% is defined (by USMA admissions) as the number of FILES STARTED as the denominator and the ADMITTED is the numerator


Volume of Applicants

Applicant Files Started 12,294
Admitted 1,210
1210/12294= 9.8%
 
The confusion lies in what constitutes a "FILE STARTED." Some assume that it is the number of applicants that submit information and are entered in the database through the Candidate Questionnaire or other source, but that is unlikely. That number is much higher: approx. 16,000 each year (16,299, 16,123, 15,533 for the classes of 2017, 2018, 2019 respectively).

Admissions culls that number to the 12,000+ range using criteria known only to admissions.
 
The question I have is: What percentage of candidates who are Triple Qualified and have nominations get appointments? That seems to be the most relevant question.
 
The question I have is: What percentage of candidates who are Triple Qualified and have nominations get appointments? That seems to be the most relevant question.
I think someone said is was around 50%
 
I think someone said is was around 50%

That is why EVERYONE needs a Plan B and Plan C
I think if I were the student, I would go in thinking that I probably wasnt going to get into the academy of choice and after sending all the applications, concentrate on the Plan B schools. Then if I did get into an academy it would be a great surprise. That way, the Plan B school wouldnt be my second choice
 
Remember that every MOC can nominate 10 per slate - if every MOC has one seat open in a given year that is 5350 nominations not including VP and Presidential.

So 3Q or not this swag says less than appx 20% of nominees get appointments on average.
 
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