Accepting appointment

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Hopeful2025

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Jan 11, 2020
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I received my official appointment letter in my portal today, however on the letter it says that I must indicate whether to accept it by January 4. I would like to wait until I have all options before accepting and on top of that I don't even see anywhere where I can "accept" the appointment? Does anyone else who has been appointed see this as well on their letter/portal?
 
Same here! First, congrats to you!! I do not see it either, nor the pamphlet that they say to read. I'm thinking that maybe we should wait a day or so for them to update our portals or I may email/live chat tomorrow.
 
Hope25ful said:
Same here! First, congrats to you!! I do not see it either, nor the pamphlet that they say to read. I'm thinking that maybe we should wait a day or so for them to update our portals or I may email/live chat tomorrow.
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I see. I will wait a few days as well. See if anyone on this forum knows what to do. If you do email/live chat tomorrow, please let me know what they say. Thanks!
 
Hopeful2025 said:
I received my official appointment letter in my portal today, however on the letter it says that I must indicate whether to accept it by January 4. I would like to wait until I have all options before accepting and on top of that I don't even see anywhere where I can "accept" the appointment? Does anyone else who has been appointed see this as well on their letter/portal?
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Hey I got an appointment around December 17 and I was told I have until December 24. The portal letter is automated and the acceptance date changes a day later overnight (for example, the next day on dec 18 it said I had til dec 25. Now it says Jan 4 like yours). I reached out to my admissions counselor and they told me that I really had until May 1 to accept by sending an email because the portal section for acceptance wasn’t working. I did so and was sent papers to fill out. I don’t want to be too specific as it may be different for each candidate but definitely reach out to your regional counselors office and they should be able to help.
 
Thanks for clarification. USNA has always had a May 1st acceptance date so was surprised to see the other dates and was curious if it was portal related. Reach out to your admissions counselor for direct info.
 
And for general information, you can accept, and you can also change your mind and decline later on. Some accept and just never show up on I Day. The SAs plan for this by extending more offers than they expect to get accepted. They know candidates of this caliber are looking at other SAs, ROTC, other college opportunities. Admissions no doubt has years of data, regression analyses and trend charts to guide their class-building.
 
Capt MJ said:
And for general information, you can accept, and you can also change your mind and decline later on. Some accept and just never show up on I Day. The SAs plan for this by extending more offers than they expect to get accepted. They know candidates of this caliber are looking at other SAs, ROTC, other college opportunities. Admissions no doubt has years of data, regression analyses and trend charts to guide their class-building.
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I thought you had to go if you accepted, unless you got into a different academy?
 
Sean17 said:
I thought you had to go if you accepted, unless you got into a different academy?
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No. Acceptance is not binding. They can’t make you go.

It is well understood that someone might accept in January, say, but something happens to change their mind, and the candidate decides that SA or any SA is not their best fit after all. It’s easy to get caught up in all the hype - parents are wearing “proud USXA Dad/Mom” polos, Great Uncle Joe is telling you stories of when he was a cadet or mid, you’re featured in the local paper and school news, etc. Even if you are engaged to be married and the venue is booked, you do not have to walk down that aisle.

Of course, the classy thing to do is the minute a candidate realizes that SA is not the right path after all, and is firm in the decision, is to notify the SA they are declining or planning not to go ahead with an accepted appointment. It happens. The SA is building a class to a target range, not an exact number. As I noted above, the SA plans for this.
 
Capt MJ said:
No. Acceptance is not binding. They can’t make you go.

It is well understood that someone might accept in January, say, but something happens to change their mind, and the candidate decides that SA or any SA is not their best fit after all. It’s easy to get caught up in all the hype - parents are wearing “proud USXA Dad/Mom” polos, Great Uncle Joe is telling you stories of when he was a cadet or mid, you’re featured in the local paper and school news, etc. Even if you are engaged snd the venue is booked, you do not have to walk down that aisle.
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This is so true. I would even go one step further. You can get inducted and back out after.

This happened for someone in my area. I always wondered if the hoopla at the beginning forced him to go, and during academic year he decided it wasn’t what he wanted. He did well there and is doing well at a university.
 
I can’t tell you the number of midshipmen who have left USNA over the years, because they got caught up in it all, were unable to articulate their own desires, and gave in to the pressure. The saddest were the ones who let their grades, conduct, military aptitude, PRT or whatever blow up, to the point the SA separated them, because they couldn’t say “This is not my path. Love my friends, love a lot of the Navy stuff, but I belong elsewhere, so I am breaking off this path and heading out in a new direction.”
 
Capt MJ said:
I can’t tell you the number of midshipmen who have left USNA over the years, because they got caught up in it all, were unable to articulate their own desires, and gave in to the pressure.
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> So true. One of the main reasons I am a stickler for communicating directly with the Candidates (and not parents). I'm always vigilant for parental pressure or someone thinking it would be cool to attend USNA because it is an elite , competitive school , and often tell my Candidates that there is nothing worse than being in the midst of Plebe Summer and not wanting to be there.

Don't mistake this with being nervous the weeks into Plebe Summer, or having a let down and worrying about whether you really want to go after getting that Appointment. Nerves are natural (in fact, you may be crazy not to be a little nervous!), but it will all work out if you are at USNA for the right reasons.
 
So as I have previously stated, the USNA has recently changed their IT platform. They're still working out the kinks. Your patience is greatly appreciated.


FACTUAL ANSWER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF NOMINATIONS AND SELECTIONS MOMENTS AGO:

"Oh my goodness yes we will use all the help we can get! Basically the candidates portal should not be showing that letter (it’s an old letter signed by Admiral Carter btw). Please tell them to disregard the portal letter and wait for the paper FQO that will arrive via postal mail. This letter will instruct them to email nomapps@usna.edu < Caution-mailto:nomapps@usna.edu > by 1 MAY 2021 to accept or decline the offer. Thank you so much!!!!!!" :wiggle:
 
MullenLE said:
So as I have previously stated, the USNA has recently changed their IT platform. They're still working out the kinks. Your patience is greatly appreciated.


FACTUAL ANSWER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF NOMINATIONS AND SELECTIONS MOMENTS AGO:

"Oh my goodness yes we will use all the help we can get! Basically the candidates portal should not be showing that letter (it’s an old letter signed by Admiral Carter btw). Please tell them to disregard the portal letter and wait for the paper FQO that will arrive via postal mail. This letter will instruct them to email nomapps@usna.edu < Caution-mailto:nomapps@usna.edu > by 1 MAY 2021 to accept or decline the offer. Thank you so much!!!!!!" :wiggle:
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Just to confirm that MullenLE has intricate knowledge in subjects in addition to DODMERB... After two weeks of watching the digital "old appointment" letter in the portal change daily, DS received his paper FQO today via postal mail. Complete with certificate and instructions to email his accept or decline by 1 May. Nice to have a good old-fashioned piece of paper in hand! Thank you Mr. Mullen and all offering insight. Has been very helpful.
 
FQO? That is a new one. Looked through the acronyms list (first 3 pages anyway) and didn't see it. Thanks for the update on this, but can someone share this acronym?
 
Orval said:
Just to confirm that MullenLE has intricate knowledge in subjects in addition to DODMERB... After two weeks of watching the digital "old appointment" letter in the portal change daily, DS received his paper FQO today via postal mail. Complete with certificate and instructions to email his accept or decline by 1 May. Nice to have a good old-fashioned piece of paper in hand! Thank you Mr. Mullen and all offering insight. Has been very helpful.
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I got a call from my AC saying that on top of that, that a BFE would be in the mail coming my way as well. Did you receive one?
 
Capt MJ said:
I can’t tell you the number of midshipmen who have left USNA over the years, because they got caught up in it all, were unable to articulate their own desires, and gave in to the pressure. The saddest were the ones who let their grades, conduct, military aptitude, PRT or whatever blow up, to the point the SA separated them, because they couldn’t say “This is not my path. Love my friends, love a lot of the Navy stuff, but I belong elsewhere, so I am breaking off this path and heading out in a new direction.”
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Totally agree.

I was a prior (Army) who got released from my contract to go to NAPS. Did well there, got my appointment, but was already on the fence about going. Because I already had the appointment, I said screw it and opted to start. About halfway through Plebe Summer, I knew it wasn't what I wanted for my life anymore, even though I was doing just fine and was considered one of the better in my company by the higher-ups. So I resigned about 3/4 of the way through the summer, knowing that if I started classes, it may have been harder to do and more pressure to stay.

I'm making a point with my son that if the life in service is not what he wants, don't feel obligated to do anything. But he is still excited by the chance, and is looking forward to an appointment (currently has his LOA).
 
Hopeful2025 said:
I received my official appointment letter in my portal today, however on the letter it says that I must indicate whether to accept it by January 4. I would like to wait until I have all options before accepting and on top of that I don't even see anywhere where I can "accept" the appointment? Does anyone else who has been appointed see this as well on their letter/portal?
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Congratulations! Was the letter attached to the "my progress" tab in your portal?
 
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