I heard that it is to an applicant’s advantage to apply USNA as early as possible. Due to various situations at home and in my community I was only able to complete my CFA this week. Because of this as of January 20th my application is officially turned in. Does this hurt me a lot? Does the April 15th deadline for hearing back from USNA exist to tell applicants they didn’t make it? Are the majority appointments received on April 15th? Thank you for any responses.
Am I in a bad spot if I don’t hear back until April 15th?
- Thread starter publius42
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It’s advised to complete your best package as soon as you can. For you, that’s this week. No worries! It won’t ‘hurt’ you. The deadline is February 28th this year, you are not late.
April 15th is the date that USNA aims to have everyone notified by. Appointments trickle in presently until then, for the most part. Some linger beyond, on the wait list.
If you are further curious about dates, look at the posts under ‘DIY APPOINTMENT’ in the USNA forum. It’s done each year, and you can see examples of when appointments are *generally* occurring in years past. Although this year is a bit off due to Covid.
April 15th is the date that USNA aims to have everyone notified by. Appointments trickle in presently until then, for the most part. Some linger beyond, on the wait list.
If you are further curious about dates, look at the posts under ‘DIY APPOINTMENT’ in the USNA forum. It’s done each year, and you can see examples of when appointments are *generally* occurring in years past. Although this year is a bit off due to Covid.
There is no advantage whatsoever for early application submissions. Don't confuse "rolling admission" with ED/EA! For USNA Admissions Office, April 15 is their clearly stated objective for resolution of assessments. The IT platform 'change' (a euphemism) made all candidates equal from the standpoint of early completion versus 28 February 2021 completion.
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Not true for several reasons. First of all the IT platform did change, from a custom designed and often patched software to the widely deployed and used Salesforce. The issues are with the customization, not the actual CRM software which is extremely well tested by millions of users. This is the fourth Salesforce installation that I've experienced and all of them had growing pains.
Secondly, you may THINK that applications still coming in have equal chances but there are appointments that have already been offered and they will not be "pulled" for "better" folks who finish their apps in February. Most slots have not yet been filled but the longer you wait, the more slots will already be gone.
So for a Competitive Slate (assume all 10 have only their District's MOC Nom), of which 7 applications are complete and 3 are outstanding, you are saying they will not wait until 28 Feb (for the other three to complete their submissions) to select the one from this slate for appointment?
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This isn’t correct. Boards start meeting weekly to review applications. There are two pieces to this: first applicants are reviewed as to whether they are qualified or not, and then of the qualified applicants, appointments are offered, and ‘slates are settled’. For sure, during this time, offers are made. Hence the LOA’s that go out.
Putting together the class puzzle, so to speak, involves charging appointments to MOC’s. Lots of moving pieces and parts here. Some are easy, some are difficult.
But to your question, they don’t necessarily have a pile of MOC XXX....’awaiting candidate XXX to complete their application by the deadline before they offer a candidate from MOC XXX an appointment’. A SA wants these kids too, and isn’t going to miss an opportunity to offer ones they want. Figuring out who to charge them to is a unique piece of a SA. If there are two on a slate that the SA wants? They will both be offered. And the SA will figure it out.
Here is a good example: in a highly competitive district, say MOC’s don’t double nom. So candidate receives a nom from MOC for their 2nd choice SA. 1st choice SA offers an appointment. But they don’t have a nom. Right? But 1st choice wants them. Perhaps that SA will ‘find a nom’ for them. The LOA in hand would lend strength to this.
Our oldest had an offer even before slates were due. Youngest? On the waitlist until late May. No idea where they were charged. But it’s all happening in real time. It’s doesn’t occur in a set in stone, pubic, published never changing set of steps
Moral of the story? Get your best application in as soon as you can. Boards start meeting early to start working through them.
BTW, tons and tons of discussion about how all this works. Search away for more, if you are interested! And disclaimer: I am not from admissions. And have never seen anyone here say they are and share all the secrets of admissions.
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Old Navy BGO
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Concur with SWO - you are correct that Rolling Admissions doesn't mean Early Decision/Early Action, but there are a number of reasons that Candidates are counseled to get their best application in as early as they can.
Heed the disclaimer, there is a lot of discussion about the process on this Forum, some of it is accurate, some not so. Many of the comments on this site are provided by Candidates or Parents who are basing their comments on heresay which has been passed on over the years here, or anecdotal evidence from their own applications.
Even BGO's don't have all the "gouge" on how the process works (largely because there are few rules that don't have exceptions), but some , having watched numerous cycles, can make educated guesses .
All that said, I will repeat the rules" that I constantly preach -- 1) get your best application in as soon as you can; and 2) once completed, turn to Plans B, C, & D. Don't look back or second guess what you submitted (but its okay to supplement if appropriate), and 3) Focus your thoughts and energy on those things you can control. There is no benefit to trying to figure out all the details of how Admissions builds a class.,
FiveByFive
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If there was not the equivalent of EA or “rolling admissions” @ USNA, no advantage to applying earlier rather than later, and the 2/28/21 date was all that mattered, there would be no such thing as a LOA and the following thread would not be populated with outcomes prior to 3/1/21:
USNA Class of 2025 Appointments Update-Entire-List-Yourself
It’s August, Admissions is looking at the first puzzle pieces to make up the Class of 2025, LOAs are being drafted for some small number of the class, applications are coming in, nom interviews are starting up, DoDMERB hurdles are being tackled and the list begins. General...
www.serviceacademyforums.com
I have a question re: your youngest that was on the wait list till May. In terms of Plan B, did you put down a deposit on the May 1 for his/her Plan B college?
Not to me, but DS also didnt hear until after May 1st deadline. He contacted Plan B college and explained the situation. They allowed him an extension until May 15th. Luckily that was long enough for final resolution. We would likely have provided deposit had it gone past that date.
usna1985
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From a purely technical standpoint, if USNA absolutely, positively wanted candidates to complete their applications sooner, they'd move up the deadline.
The above said, there are advantages to turning your package in early. You COULD receive an LOA well before the deadline. You COULD receive an appointment earlier, sometimes much earlier (for President nominees, LOA recipients and sometimes principal nominees). It shows motivation to USNA, your BGO and the MOC nom committees. You get it done so you can focus on other things.
My personal opinion (and it's only that) is the following. Candidates who turn their packages in at the very end fall into two groups. The first are those rare candidates who didn't know about / think about USNA until very late in the application cycle. It happens. Second group are those who aren't really all that interested in USNA. Either their parents are pushing them or they didn't get into their ED school or something similar. They complete all of their items in 1-2 weeks at the end of January. Happens every year and is really annoying to BGOs who get candidates begging for interviews the last week of January (or this year, Feb.). I alway ask, "Where were you in June, July, August, Sept. . . .?"
The fact is that most candidates who are highly motivated get their stuff in very early to relatively early. It proves the maxim of life that "you make time for what's important."
The above said, there are advantages to turning your package in early. You COULD receive an LOA well before the deadline. You COULD receive an appointment earlier, sometimes much earlier (for President nominees, LOA recipients and sometimes principal nominees). It shows motivation to USNA, your BGO and the MOC nom committees. You get it done so you can focus on other things.
My personal opinion (and it's only that) is the following. Candidates who turn their packages in at the very end fall into two groups. The first are those rare candidates who didn't know about / think about USNA until very late in the application cycle. It happens. Second group are those who aren't really all that interested in USNA. Either their parents are pushing them or they didn't get into their ED school or something similar. They complete all of their items in 1-2 weeks at the end of January. Happens every year and is really annoying to BGOs who get candidates begging for interviews the last week of January (or this year, Feb.). I alway ask, "Where were you in June, July, August, Sept. . . .?"
The fact is that most candidates who are highly motivated get their stuff in very early to relatively early. It proves the maxim of life that "you make time for what's important."
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Yes! Actually with both of them. In the case of the early (December) appointment, we decided on doing so in case something happened and he didn’t report (injury, etc). And for the wait list, he was proceeding with that route.
We actually got all but $30 back for each son. First one disenrolled on the latest day he could, and still receive his deposit. The youngest (and wait list) son ended up having cancellation deadlines extended due to Covid. However, we would have still forfeited that deposit GLADLY for an appointment.
They both also contracted for housing and a meal plan. That is 100pct cancellable if they don’t attend the college, as only enrolled students can live in the dorms. So while he missed the deadline for housing (and would have had a few thousand $$ owed), he was cancelled of that contract bc he didn’t attend the school.
Both OF my guys put down deposits very early, in order to have a good seniority number to choose housing. As soon as they were able to junior year of HS.
Old Navy BGO
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I would say that November is average, perhaps late average. I've had Candidates complete their application during the Summer, and consider that "early." I've also seen a successful Candidate that didn't even submit the Preliminary Application and show up on my radar screen until December. I consider that late.
Bottom line, this isn't a race -- there are several good reasons to be on the early side of the curve, but a good candidate applying late can still get in.
Thanks so much. This was very helpful. My son would feel the same way about the waitlist appointment so I was trying to decide how to proceed.
Thank you!
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Very much this. Personally, my offer was dated in mid February and that was probably about average but my son was notified of his appointment during the first week of December which was well before the Congressman or Senator's Noms were decided. He ended up with noms from 1 Senator, the MOC and a Presidential but USNA was ready to make an offer to him pretty early and remember, there were candidates who hadn't finished their apps at that point.
Sometimes, the Early Bird DOES get the worm.