BGO

[hopeful2022]

When is a good time to meet with my BGO? Should I try to meet with them this summer or wait until the fall? I'm new to all of this so any advice is helpful.

Thanks,
hopeful2022

 

[Old Navy BGO]

Reach out and contact him/her. He/She will let you know when its time to interview.
Admissions wants BGO interviews completed early, but many BGO's wait until the candidate shows substantial progress before conducting the interview.

 

[hopeful2022]

Reach out and contact him/her. He/She will let you know when its time to interview.
Admissions wants BGO interviews completed early, but many BGO's wait until the candidate shows substantial progress before conducting the interview.

Thank you so so much.

 

[ThePatternisFull]

Reach out and contact him/her. He/She will let you know when its time to interview.
Admissions wants BGO interviews completed early, but many BGO's wait until the candidate shows substantial progress before conducting the interview.

I do believe the candidate must have completed near 40 or 50% of their application before there is a BGO interview. Maybe a BGO can clarify...

 

[Old Navy BGO]

I do believe the candidate must have completed near 40 or 50% of their application before there is a BGO interview. Maybe a BGO can clarify...

I am a BGO ...The official word is that a BGO interview is considered overdue once the Candidate completes the entire packet (100%). Beyond that, it is a matter of personal preference and policy. Some BGO's like to interview early. Personally, I reach out to my candidates as soon as they are posted on BGIS, introduce myself and offer my assistance, but tell them that they need to show substantial progress on their application before I will set up an interview. I would expect your 40-50% was your son/daughter's BGO's own threshold --mine is a bit higher.

 

[MIDNDAD]

As other BGO's have stated there is no exact rule when an interview will be conducted. I like it when candidates reach out to me via e-mail and introduce themselves and have questions. More than happy to answer questions and point candidates in the right directions. As far as the formal interview itself, i'll schedule when candidate has application 60 to 70% complete.

As a candidate keep this thought in mind. We are looking for kids that are self motivated and dig out most of the answers themselves. At most I'll send out a general reminder regrading dates and timelines but I never chase kids or pester them to get parts of the process completed. If the candidate is not motivated enough to do their own follow through then they unsuitable for success at USNA.

 

[usna1985]

If the candidate is not motivated enough to do their own follow through then they unsuitable for success at USNA.

100% agree.

Let me be clear, legitimate questions are fine and I'm happy to answer them. But I want to know that the candidate has made some effort to obtain the answer on his/her own. Questions for which an obvious answer is readily available on the USNA website (e.g., what are the academic majors USNA offers?) cause me to think the candidate isn't putting in much effort.

Also, for all direct h.s. students, focus on getting your package complete no later than end of the year, preferably earlier. When candidates turn in close to 100% of their packet in January -- especially the last two weeks of January -- without a good reason, I suspect that USNA isn't very high on their list of schools and/or their parents are forcing them to apply. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't take the time to turn in an outstanding package -- but you don't need the entirety of June and July and August and September and October . . . all the way through January to get that done.

 

[jsteiner]

My sons BGO wants to see that at least 50% of his application is submitted before scheduling his interview.

 

[usna1985]

My sons BGO wants to see that at least 50% of his application is submitted before scheduling his interview.

That's a pretty good rule of thumb. The reason is usually twofold. First, the BGO wants to know that the candidate has a reasonable intention of completing his/her application. Lots of folks never get beyond sending their SATs. Second, the BGO wants to know the candidate has put as much effort into the process as the BGO will. It's important to understand that interviews take a lot of time for the BGO -- usually at least an hour for the meeting, sometimes travel to and/from, and then probably another hour to write up the interview. Before the BGO spends those 2+ hours, most want to see that the candidate has spent some of his/her time on completing the package.

The above said, if is perfectly fine to reach out to your BGO at ANY TIME in the process with questions. It's one of the reasons we're here. And some BGOs will do interviews with little to none of the packet complete -- often b/c they want to get them done early. However, as a general rule, I wouldn't make contacting your BGO to request an interview the first item on your application package list of things to do.