Admissions Committee

[mommydoc]

Does anyone know when and how often the admissions committee meets at this time of year?

Hoping we get to hear of more LOAs and appointments soon!

 

[usna1985]

They meet once a week. Very, very few appointments will come out until at least January. The reason is that most candidates will need an MOC nom and those slates aren't due to the SAs until Jan. 31. Some MOCs submit them earlier but USNA could wait until all the slates from the state are submitted before making appointment decisions -- at least for some candidates. So, it's really a hurry up and wait approach.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

I think its once a week..but frankly frequency of meeting is probably irrelevant to timing of LOA's and Appointments. Admissions Board is only evaluating one aspect of the application -- there are two other Q's (CFA and Medical) that have to be met, as well as the Nomination. Most MOC's are probably in the middle of their nomination process now. There might be LOA's leaking out, but the timing and mechanics is kind of a mystery.

 

[NAVYCAPT93]

I would not expect to see a great deal of activity yet. LOAs are nice to have - but not are obviously not the same as Appointments, and I have heard that Navy has been using them less...rumor only - maybe some of the BOGs can confirm that?

Also - since the committee would - at best - only have Presidential Noms available today, my guess is there will only be a handful of Appointments given until the MOC slates start arriving. The Committee likes to have flexibility - as they see the larger pool of candidates - to use the various Nominating Authorities. One candidate might have a MOC & Pres, another might only get a Pres, and another only an MOC.... so the Academy has options for the candidate who has multiple sources - if they really want that person - on how to apply the Nom. This flexibility is important to them in order to create the most qualified and well-balanced class and still stay within the legal requirements. That's why very few Appointments will come this early.

But the waiting SUCKS! That I totally agree with! My DS is working on lots of Plan B,C,D,E... options... and Praying! My job is to keep him calm, focused on the things he can control (grades, sports, etc) and learn how to deal with the "hurry-up and wait" frustration that never goes away, even after 20+ years of service!

 

[NavyHoops]

From my understanding they meet once a week. LOAs can come at any time and don't have to come from the admissions board... its why you see some LOAs come before the board even meets. As mentioned things will be a trickle at this point. Appointments at this stage are mostly to those with Presidential or Supt Noms. MOC slates are not due until Jan 31st. Most get them in earlier, but I think states like TN get submitted in Jan. Many times a candidate will receive a letter they got a Nom, but the MOC hasn't submitted them officially yet. LOAs are nice to have but not an appointment. LOAs are the exception not the norm. It's a long process. Most candidates wknt hear until Jan-March. Take a look at last years appointment list and you can see the spread of notifications.

 

[USMA 1994]

The admission's board meeting is not directly tied to an offer of appointment. Your file is reviewed by your RC, Step 1, and then reviewed by the board, Step 2. The board is looking to ensure that you are qualified in academics, leadership and ECAs. Think of the board as more qualifying your packet and agreeing on your WCS. Once you are deemed "qualified" your RC works to figure out how how you can be slotted. If you are are only on a MOC nomination slate, then they have to wait until all competitive candidates receive a score and are boarded. If you have a presidential nomination and WCS of say 8000, you may get an offer of appointment early as it is pretty clear that you will win one of those spots or would come of the NWL. There is a huge shell game that is conducted as scores are balanced against nomination sources.

 

[usna1985]

USMA 1994 is generally correct. However, to be clear, the fact you are "qualified" (i.e., 3Q) with a nom doesn't necessarily mean USNA Admissions is immediately looking to "slot you." Every year, many 3Q candidates with one or more noms receive a turndown.

The key with MOC noms is "winning" the slate -- USNA typically looks at a competitive MOC slate and decides who "wins" that slate. Assuming that person is 3Q, he/she will almost certainly be offered an appt and slotted to that MOC. However, the process can get more complicated. Let's assume Candidate A has a Pres nom and an MOC nom. Candidate B only has an MOC nom from the same MOC as candidate A. Candidate A may be the best candidate on the MOC's slate. But, if USNA really wants Candidate B, they could slot Candidate A to the President and Candidate B to the MOC. There are all sorts of permutations of these scenarios.

If a really well qualified candidate has a Pres nom, as 1994 says, USNA may offer than candidate an appointment early in the process -- being willing to slot that candidate to the President. However, doing this with too many candidates too early in the process starts to limit USNA's ability to form the class as folks with appointments typically stop the nom process (in this case with MOCs). Thus, as a hypothetical, if they gave 75 Pres nominees appointments before the MOC noms come rolling in, they only have 25 more Pres slots available. If several MOC slates have multiple great candidates, some of whom also have Pres noms, there aren't many Pres noms left for these candidates.

That is why there are folks at USNA specifically tasked with managing the nomination process. For candidates . . . don't worry about it. You can't control it. You can only make yourself the best candidate possible and try to obtain as many noms as possible. The entity to whom you are slotted is absolutely irrelevant to you once you have that appointment in hand!

 

[bub6]

The admission's board meeting is not directly tied to an offer of appointment. Your file is reviewed by your RC, Step 1, and then reviewed by the board, Step 2. The board is looking to ensure that you are qualified in academics, leadership and ECAs. Think of the board as more qualifying your packet and agreeing on your WCS. Once you are deemed "qualified" your RC works to figure out how how you can be slotted. If you are are only on a MOC nomination slate, then they have to wait until all competitive candidates receive a score and are boarded. If you have a presidential nomination and WCS of say 8000, you may get an offer of appointment early as it is pretty clear that you will win one of those spots or would come of the NWL. There is a huge shell game that is conducted as scores are balanced against nomination sources.

Could you please expound on the WCS, if possible. You mention an example of 8000 above. Thank you.

 

[tx2022]

What exactly does the MOC staff see. When I called my MOC staffer to introduce myself she told me that USNA had already called about me. Then she said they scored me very high. She said even though they have a committee that does interviews they try to only nominate people who are wanted by the academies. Then she said I have a very, very good chance at a nomination. Do the academies actually do this? I was excited and confused because she said this was her first time being involved in this process.

 

[USMA 1994]

@usna1985 and I are on the same page. Maybe I should have used a better example but I was just trying to communicate that the admissions board does not meet weekly to hand out appointments. There is so much more to the process.

No one knows the exact make up of the WCS and how each academy calculates the number. There is an old report called the Rand report that gives a little visibility to the process but no one here can tell you the calculation details. You are scored based on your academic and extracurricular activities with a focus on leadership. Having a 35 on your ACT is worth more points than having a 25, being Valedictorian is worth more than being in the top 25% of your class, being All State and Captain of the Football team is worth more points than earning a varsity letter in golf. These are extreme examples but make the point. Each academy calculates your WCS slightly different as well by weighting areas differently.

If you look just at the stats published each year by all of the academies and discount your nomination source, you have about a 50% chance of being offered an a appointment if you are fully qualified; Basically 3Q, medical, with a nomination. Adding the nomination piece to this, it is impossible to predict your chances of an appointment because you are competing against other individuals who change each year. If you are the only fully qualified individual on the MOC's slate, your chances of appointment is pretty high. If your MOC nominates 10 individuals who are all fully qualified then your chances are much lower.

Hence my last statement, this is a huge shell game and candidates are shuffled to help the academy develop what they see as the best class possible while following the laws that govern admissions.

 

[usna1985]

She said even though they have a committee that does interviews they try to only nominate people who are wanted by the academies

One would hope that, if the committees pick the "best" 10 candidates, at least some of those are going to be highly desirable to the SA. I suppose that telling the MOC whom you want short-circuits the process and maybe makes sure the candidates USNA prizes most highly are going to get an MOC nom, thus saving them from the national pool. However, at the moment, many candidates haven't turned in much of their packets, so while USNA may know about a good candidate here & there, they may also be missing some gems.

As to the main question, I've not heard of USNA contacting MOC's offices other than sending them a copy of any LOAs. But that's not to say it doesn't happen.

 

[USMA 1994]

She said even though they have a committee that does interviews they try to only nominate people who are wanted by the academies

One would hope that, if the committees pick the "best" 10 candidates, at least some of those are going to be highly desirable to the SA. I suppose that telling the MOC whom you want short-circuits the process and maybe makes sure the candidates USNA prizes most highly are going to get an MOC nom, thus saving them from the national pool. However, at the moment, many candidates haven't turned in much of their packets, so while USNA may know about a good candidate here & there, they may also be missing some gems.

As to the main question, I've not heard of USNA contacting MOC's offices other than sending them a copy of any LOAs. But that's not to say it doesn't happen.

Each MOC looks at this differently. Some take a great deal of pride in the process, See Senator Cruz's panel from his website https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2887, while others take a much less serious approach to the matter. We would all hope that they pick the "best" ten candidates but the definition of "best" is subjective to each MOC.

 

[usna1985]

We would all hope that they pick the "best" ten candidates but the definition of "best" is subjective to each MOC.

That is why I put the word "best" in quotes.