Timeline Needed

J

JitsMom

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I need some help. My daughter is going to be a Junior in the fall. She'd like to go to NASS summer 2020 and ultimate goal to attend USNA for class of 2025.

Can someone provide a step by step timeline of what needs to be done and when.

Take SAT & ACT (she'll do this in the fall this year)
CFA Test should be completed
BGO meet and Interview ??? I read something about this but not sure of the role here
Start NASS application process
When is selection?
Start USNA application process
When is appointments?
Start MCO Nomination application process
When are nominations announced?

She wants to be ready and complete everything as soon as she can. Any help with when the above takes place would be appreciated.
 
JitsMom said:
Take SAT & ACT (she'll do this in the fall this year)
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Be prepared to take several times and try each one. Some folks do better on one than the other

CFA Test should be completed
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Probably early autumn senior year
BGO meet and Interview ??? I read something about this but not sure of the role here
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Probably early autumn or perhaps later. Many BGOs will not interview until a certain amount of the application is complete.
Start NASS application process
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I believe it opens sometime after Jan 1
When is selection?
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Can't help here
Start USNA application process
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Start now reading every word on the USNA web site. Much to learn there including, no doubt, some timeline info. She should probably be beginning application in the spring, especially teacher recommendations and MOC recommendations
When is appointments?
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Most won't hear until March or even April of her senior year
Start MCO Nomination application process
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Each MOC is different. You should see their web site and look for info there. Deadlines are probably early fall of senior year.
When are nominations announced?
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Noms are due to USNA on Jan 31, so sometime before that and perhaps not too much before that.
Don't forget to apply for an NROTC scholarship as a backup, and then further backups to that.
 
Make sure she trains hard for the CFA, so she doesn’t have to take it again. If she has to take it again, it will just add another task to the plenty to come.
 
I’m an appointee for the class of 2023, so I will do my best to answer based on my own experience with the admissions process.

SAT and ACT should definitely be taken soon. The next thing would be the summer seminar application which comes out early January and closes at around the end of March of her junior year. Admissions for that is on a rolling basis from around February to April. That serves as the preliminary application, so she would get her username and password for the full application in May of her junior year. The full application is due at the end of January her senior year and appointments are made on a rolling basis from around November to April.

As far as the BGO Interview, she should go ahead and reach out to her BGO now to express her interest and start building that relationship. It will definitely come in handy later. The interview itself will happen in fall of her senior year. I just emailed my BGO to set up the interview and I already had an established relationship with him, so that whole process was very simple.

The CFA can be done at summer seminar next summer, but if she wants to retake it, she can do so up until the end of January her senior year. She should go ahead and start preparing for that now.

Nomination applications vary with each MOC. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to go ahead and start looking at her MOC’s applications just to become familiar with the requirements. They’re usually due anytime from September to December and they all have different requirements. I believe nominations are usually announced in December-January. But, again, every MOC is different. Also, make sure she applies for Vice President nomination during the fall of her senior year.

I hope this helps! I’m not from admissions, just someone who recently completed the process. Good luck to your DD!
 
amo17 said:
I’m an appointee for the class of 2023, so I will do my best to answer based on my own experience with the admissions process.

SAT and ACT should definitely be taken soon. The next thing would be the summer seminar application which comes out early January and closes at around the end of March of her junior year. Admissions for that is on a rolling basis from around February to April. That serves as the preliminary application, so she would get her username and password for the full application in May of her junior year. The full application is due at the end of January her senior year and appointments are made on a rolling basis from around November to April.

As far as the BGO Interview, she should go ahead and reach out to her BGO now to express her interest and start building that relationship. It will definitely come in handy later. The interview itself will happen in fall of her senior year. I just emailed my BGO to set up the interview and I already had an established relationship with him, so that whole process was very simple.

The CFA can be done at summer seminar next summer, but if she wants to retake it, she can do so up until the end of January her senior year. She should go ahead and start preparing for that now.

Nomination applications vary with each MOC. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to go ahead and start looking at her MOC’s applications just to become familiar with the requirements. They’re usually due anytime from September to December and they all have different requirements. I believe nominations are usually announced in December-January. But, again, every MOC is different. Also, make sure she applies for Vice President nomination during the fall of her senior year.

I hope this helps! I’m not from admissions, just someone who recently completed the process. Good luck to your DD!
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My daughter is starting to train for the CFA and was wondering some good stats for females are. Would you mind sharing yours? She's extremely fit, but is always worried her best isn't good enough. She just tried the basketball throw for the first time and didn't get past 50 ft.
 
Also take a look at the USNA admissions site as it provides a timeline. Take a look at your MOCs websites for noms to get an idea for timelines for this year. It will at least give an idea to build a plan for the following year (could change). My recommendation is your daughter needs to create this. Ownership of this process needs to be by her. The USNA admissions site and the stickies at the top of the USNA forum will give you tons of info.
 
I am also a 2023 appointee, and I’ll share my experience as well, especially because your DD sounds a lot like me, minus 2 years. :)

I opened & submitted my NASS application the first day possible, which gave me a low candidate number - something that was impressive in my BGO interview as it showed commitment to the process. I would recommend doing this as well. (Side note: I didn’t get into Summer Seminar, but it all worked out in the end. Not a deal breaker!)

I completed my CFA on March 31, and saved the score so that I could submit that as soon as I got access to the candidate portal. I’d started CFA preparation about 3 months before that. Because I hadn’t met my BGO yet, I had a PE teacher administer the test, which is allowed according to the USNA guidelines.

When she gets access to the Candidate Portal, her BGO info will be at the bottom. I called mine in June after my junior year, as he had then finished with the class before mine at that point. From my experience, candidates must be 50% completed with the application, which equates to 5 documents/submissions, before a BGO interview can take place. Another benefit to starting early is the increased amount of time to bond with your BGO. Mine was an incredible resource for me, and a big part of that was the amount of time we had to establish a relationship, and he truly became an incredible mentor.

At the same 50% point, make appointments through DoDMERB for medical qualification appointments. This is where my crazy early CFA came in handy - I was able to reach the 50% point by August of my senior year, and I had the application (or everything that was in my control) completely finished by September. That allowed more time to focus on getting the best grades I could and heavy physical training. If I had been juggling that with the rest of the application for the whole semester of senior year, it would have been significantly more challenging.

Amo17’s bit about the MOC applications is pretty much my experience as well. Essays and letters of recommendation hold a lot of weight among their panels, so it’s important to make sure they’re a good representation of who she is. I got my nomination in the middle of December in my senior year.

Best of luck, and enjoy the ride!!
 
Foxtrot23 said:
I am also a 2023 appointee, and I’ll share my experience as well, especially because your DD sounds a lot like me, minus 2 years. :)

I opened & submitted my NASS application the first day possible, which gave me a low candidate number - something that was impressive in my BGO interview as it showed commitment to the process. I would recommend doing this as well. (Side note: I didn’t get into Summer Seminar, but it all worked out in the end. Not a deal breaker!)

I completed my CFA on March 31, and saved the score so that I could submit that as soon as I got access to the candidate portal. I’d started CFA preparation about 3 months before that. Because I hadn’t met my BGO yet, I had a PE teacher administer the test, which is allowed according to the USNA guidelines.

When she gets access to the Candidate Portal, her BGO info will be at the bottom. I called mine in June after my junior year, as he had then finished with the class before mine at that point. From my experience, candidates must be 50% completed with the application, which equates to 5 documents/submissions, before a BGO interview can take place. Another benefit to starting early is the increased amount of time to bond with your BGO. Mine was an incredible resource for me, and a big part of that was the amount of time we had to establish a relationship, and he truly became an incredible mentor.

At the same 50% point, make appointments through DoDMERB for medical qualification appointments. This is where my crazy early CFA came in handy - I was able to reach the 50% point by August of my senior year, and I had the application (or everything that was in my control) completely finished by September. That allowed more time to focus on getting the best grades I could and heavy physical training. If I had been juggling that with the rest of the application for the whole semester of senior year, it would have been significantly more challenging.

Amo17’s bit about the MOC applications is pretty much my experience as well. Essays and letters of recommendation hold a lot of weight among their panels, so it’s important to make sure they’re a good representation of who she is. I got my nomination in the middle of December in my senior year.

Best of luck, and enjoy the ride!!
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My daughter appreciates the feedback. Thanks so much. Can you share your CFA score ?
 
JitsMom said:
She wants to be ready and complete everything as soon as she can. Any help with when the above takes place would be appreciated.
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Most of what you ask about is easily available on USNA website and MOC website. Please take advice of @kinnem and read every single tab, pulldown and link on the USNA website. Requirements and dates can and do change. You'll want to rely most on primary sources. Folks here are very informative and very well-meaning, but they don't always have the latest info.
 
When are nominations announced?
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Noms are due to USNA on Jan 31, so sometime before that and perhaps not too much before that.
Don't forget to apply for an NROTC scholarship as a backup, and then further backups to that.[/QUOTE]

NROTC Scholarship?? I have no idea what that is
 
NROTC is the Navy scholarship for Reserve Officers Training Corps. A quick google search will take you to the site. It’s attending a US private or public university while taking courses, physical training and leadership activities to become a commissioned officer upon graduation. The website provides a lot of great information.
 
JitsMom said:
NROTC Scholarship?? I have no idea what that is
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There are excellent stickies at the top of the USNA forum that cover much of what you ask. Also use the search function, at top right, to research big topics such as NROTC scholarships. See also the ROTC forum. Again, folks here are willing to help, but please also help yourself via the treasure trove of info covering basic topics.

Oh, and have your DD lead the way in researching her future. Parents, of course, can and should help. But the candidate herself (and himself) should be doing the lion’s share, building her own timeline, creating her own checklist. Let her own it, so that she knows exactly what she’s getting into. Best wishes to her.

[Just saw that @NavyHoops posted similar sentiments above. I’m sorry to repeat. At the same time, these points are important enough that they’re worth repeating.]
 
+1 to NavyHoops. It's another path to commission as an Ensign and get tuition (at least) paid for. One can also do NROTC without a scholarship should worse come to worse, come to worse. There are opportunities to be awarded a scholarship while in the program for those folks who don't already have one. If she wants to be a Navy Officer she shouldn't rule any path out.
 
+1 to MidCake, but I personally researched everything myself as well, so I could act as an intelligent backstop for the kid when needed.
 
It is great when recent Appointees post about their experience..but keep in mind that one data point does not make a rule... As others have mentioned, the only absolutely reliable information is on the USNA Admissions website. Everything else is "gouge", and is only as good as the source. (Live by the gouge, die by the gouge). A couple thoughts:


Foxtrot23 said:
which gave me a low candidate number - something that was impressive in my BGO interview as it showed commitment to the process.
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> I've been BGO for over 15 years, and this is the first time I have seen any correlation between low Candidate Number and when you applied, and have certainly not made any judgment about a candidate based upon their candidate number. I don't know that being the first to sign up shows commitment to the process--but completing the Application in a timely manner is encouraged. (Their are a lot of threads on this forum addressing timing; there are no points for being first, but completing timely and completely is good).

Foxtrot23 said:
From my experience, candidates must be 50% completed with the application, which equates to 5 documents/submissions, before a BGO interview can take place. t
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> The official guidance is that the BGO is supposed to have completed the interview before the Application is complete. Some take this to mean 50%, some 75%, and others "subtstantially complete" before interviewing. Ask your BGO when he/she wants to get it done.


Foxtrot23 said:
Another benefit to starting early is the increased amount of time to bond with your BGO. Mine was an incredible resource for me, and a big part of that was the amount of time we had to establish a relationship, and he truly became an incredible mentor.
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> It certainly is good to reach out to your BGO early to introduce yourself. That said, do your homework first (ie.. read the Admission website thoroughly). BGO's are a resource, but don't necessarily expect "bonding." Some of us have a lot of candidates, and we don't (or shouldn't) have "favorites" .
 
JitsMom said:
My daughter is starting to train for the CFA and was wondering some good stats for females are. Would you mind sharing yours? She's extremely fit, but is always worried her best isn't good enough. She just tried the basketball throw for the first time and didn't get past 50 ft.
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Admittedly, my CFA scores were not very impressive. I had 26 push-ups, around 70 sit-ups, and 1 pull-up. My shuttle run was around ten seconds and my basketball throw was only about 35 ft. I’m a cross country runner, so the mile was my strongest event at around 6:40 if I remember correctly. I had planned to retake it, but got an LOA before I got around to it. I’ve come a long way since then in preparation for Plebe Summer and probably would do much better if I were to take it today.
 
Both my kids saw the pull-ups as their weakest component of the CFA and started training a year before NASS. My DD got to 4 or 5 pull-ups. She felt as a NASS detailer any girl who could get one stood out a little.
 
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