2024 Process

Lots of great advice here. One thing I would add is to get any essays done during the spring. Both USNA essays and any needed for nominations. My son did this to give his English teachers time to proofread and give suggestions during the school year. He didn't want to wait until the chaos that happens at the end of the school year, and he did not want to bother them during summer break. He didn't submit his applications until summer, but the essays were out of the way.

I printed this entire thread out and gave it to DS. LOTS of great ideas and solid roadmap is now forming. For those new to the process I think this will help quite a bit and really answers OP.
One last question - can DS complete CFA now with a coach? Or does he have to wait until he is an official candidate and the process “opens”? He expects to do well with it and wants to cross it off his list.
 
From 20,000 feet up, here is info in a nutshell;

1. The applications open online for class of 2024 on April 1st, as they do every year.
2. The application deadline will be January 31st of the following year, as it is every year. (Jan. 31, 2020 for class of 2024).

Many, many things happen before April 1st and in between April 1st and January 31st.


A. You need to fill out a Preliminary Application in order to get to the next step (being considered as an "Official Candidate"). If you have already applied to the Naval Academy Summer Seminar (NASS) program, that application becomes your preliminary application, and you don't need to fill out another one. Getting accepted into NASS or not, has no impact on your application at all.

B. If you meet the minimum qualifications to become an "Official Candidate", you will receive an "ECandidate Packet Letter" via EMail (some time in May). This letter will give you login information for the Candidate Information System, which is your online "Portal" for uploading data to complete your application and to review status of your continuing application process.

C. Within the Candidate Information System, there are a few fields that you (as the candidate) fill out online and upload. Most of it however, is done by others.

D. After you login to the online system - near the bottom of the page - you will see your assigned Blue & Gold Officer's name, EMail address, and phone number listed. That assigned BGO may actually be different than the contact your Area Coordinator gave you before. What you'll have now is his/her phone number. Give them a call and just ask at which stage of this process they want to conduct your interview. Some BGOs will want your application to be 50% complete before they meet with you, and some may want to meet with you right away.

BGOs are volunteers and they aren't all retired volunteers. They may have a full-time job. They also take vacations like the rest of us, and have lives. If it takes a little while to get back to you, be patient. There is probably a good reason.
 
I didn't read through all of the posts - just wondering if your son is pursuing playing a varsity sport at any of the SA's?
 
It is nice to be on the answering end of the thread, and (in some ways) how quickly the application process has flown by! Having the teachers and counselors notified that evaluations are coming their way and getting them in early helps the student get the ball rolling is key. Then get ready to wait! My DD got an appointment phone call in Nov and then notified to send in an orthodontic letter that treatment is/will be finished by May. That was sent in right away and she is still waiting for it to be cleared!!! We are talking orthodontics not orthopedics!!
 
One last question - can DS complete CFA now with a coach? Or does he have to wait until he is an official candidate and the process “opens”?

The latter. USNA has to provide the link/email for the proctor to enter the scores. They won't (can't) do that until he has a candidate number, which he can't get until he becomes an official candidate.

It is a good idea to practice now exactly as the CFA must be run (i.e., total time, rest time, etc.). Then he's ready to take it when the system opens up for 2024.
 
And you can look for examples of proper form on YouTube.
 
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