Class of 2014 Profile

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Holt, agree. It is what it is. And for young men and women aspiring to USNA, the important issue is not personal slams on those who share information that may not merit cheerleading and chest-pounding, but rather that these candidates and their advisors know the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. Just the facts.

But as Momsy illustrates, it's really really challenging to debate those when one is a champion of antiquated affirmative action and EOC policies, that require the current 2 track admission standards that are now illustrated vividly in the stats despite attempts to bury them that the contention that this is a meritorious, fair thing.

Classis illustration of the current fad in DC ...equal outcomes are critical to socialized values ...in lieu of that which has worked so well for centuries in our nation, i.e. equal opportunity.

Seems the PC have kidnapped that term and alot of folks mindlessly let it slide. But that's for another thread. This one's about class profiles and gleaning what they illustrate. So shoot as you have, boo hoo them as you have. We can all agree they are nothing to be delighted about, especially when the light's shown on them. One lesson is that most certainly appointment to USNA has become for both winners and losers, ever more politicized when the game's rules are changed to change the outcomes.

Major League Baseball wanted more homeruns. No problem. Just shrink the strike zone to ensure less talented players get that fastball right down the pipe. And as Bonds and McGwire have exposed, while they now top Aaron and Ruth, the guys who could do it wherever the strike zone, these players who may have been deemed worthy of our respect and adulation, will forever have asterisks by their name, even if they might have been great absent softball pitches down the pipe and to strengthen their forearms. It's forever lost that they will have earned the same regard of their fellow record-holders. It hurts all, dumbing down standards.

And in this illustration, the even sadder part is that Pittsburghers who watched Bonds as a young and healthy, non-aided athlete, recognized that he could have been known as one of the greatest to ever put on a uniform. And dumbing it all down has tarnished him forever. And so it will be for others who received the crutch of lowered standards. Forever deemed less, even when some were not. That's the most damning thing in this hideous practice.
 
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summer1942 said:
Sorry:wink: I just try to bring in one thing : Shall we believe the number ???
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When they post the number of completed applications, you'll have a number you can believe.

Counting everyone who types in their name & address on the web page, or sends SAT scores to Annapolis is not realistic, and should be treated as such.

Institutions that publish their admissions numbers both ways, as "Applications started" and "Applications completed," paint a more realistic picture, but that does nothing for the ego of the parents and alumni.
 
According to numbers on a different post 6,142 candidates earned "nominations" ... of that number 1,461 were offered spots and 1,200 something accepted ... we know numerous students who inquired about USNA but never completed the application ... sooo to me it would seem that the more realistic way to figure out the chance of getting an acutal appointment -- would be 6,142/1,461 ... or about 27 percent chance!!!

perhaps that's a more encouraging figure to focus on for potential candidates ... get the paper work in ... do the interviews ... at least get a nomination ... that's no guarantee of acceptance, but a 27 percent chance sure sounds better than 4.8 percent ...
 
^
Not really. It's possible to receive a nomination and not complete the application. It's also possible to complete the application and not receive a nomination.
Also, many candidates abandon their application when they do not receive a nomination. They see this as an early rejection.
Some candidates are not allowed to complete their application because they are rejected early based on their preliminary application.
 
Agree. JAM's on the money. Within reason, these processes are essentially disparate one from the other. Annually there are a surprising number of nominees who choose not to complete their applications. Not so many the other way, it seems, due to the necessary timing of one vs. the other perhaps?
 
So ... I am confused. From the last two posts, some with nominations never finish the actual application ... and some who finish the applications never get a nomination ... so the chances of a candidate who both finishes the application process AND gets a nomination actually sounds like it would be higher than 27 percent?

certainly better than the less than 5 percent suggested on another post ...
 
Okay so I am new and have not really replied to anyone yet. I have just asked a few questions. I think that the number that is most important to applicants (it is to me) is triple qualified with a nomination. If you are academically, physically and medically qualified with a nomination you stand a good chance.

So I am spending my junior year doing my best to get to that point. It is a little frustating for me as a sixteen year old, looking for direction, to listen to everyone complain about things, out of our control. When someone does ask a question the awnser is often just work hard and hope for the best. So it's either the sky is falling if you are white, or nothing matters because you can't control it.

I am sure everyone is trying to help but if anyone has a specific agenda that does not include giving concrete advice, they should start a website with that goal.
 
hugaber15 said:
I am sure everyone is trying to help but if anyone has a specific agenda that does not include giving concrete advice, they should start a website with that goal.
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You don't think opinions should be expressed on this site?
Oh well you get mine anyway:
Do the best that you can do...period. If it turns out that some factor(s) which you cannot control (such as race/ethnicity) effect how competitive the admissions cycle is when you apply....oh well...you cannot do any better than your best. Don't worry about the things you don't have control over and take responsibility for what you can control. You have more influence over whether you get an appointment to the USNA than whatever politics happen to be the current flavor of the month.
Good Luck!:thumb:
 
When looking at the numbers, don't forget that some candidates/appointees received 2 or 3 nominations and others received one. It seems that the nominations number being quoted (in Class of 2014 profile) is the total number of nominations given, not the number of individuals who received one or more noms. It is difficult to calculate your odds if you don't have all the necessary information.
 
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Reply to hugaber15

hugaber15, you make good and understandable points.

Re: excessive complaints/opinions: this board has more than its share. Afraid you'll have to learn to pick your way around the zealots, or hide their messages, like the rest of us.

Re: getting answers: you'll find some caring and well-informed sources here if you want to know about the process. As for evaluating chances of admission, no one can tell you about USNA, or any other school. It depends on who/how many apply, and what the institution is looking for that year. You can learn historic numbers, but even then you can't know anecdotal factors (who survived Katrina, won a nat'l trumpet or physics contest, has a POW father, or wrote the best essay in history).

This board can be a comfort when you're applying, since your h.s. peers probably can't understand what you're doing. It can also make you crazy, intimidated, and yes, frustrated. And, honestly, if you're frustrated, you're getting good training for surviving the whole appt ordeal. This path is not for the faint of heart.

I know a bit about college admissions, and was so certain my son wouldn't be admitted (white male, competitive state), that I rehearsed a rejection pep talk. Right now he's a 1/C in the top 10-15% of his class, heading to grad school w/ a nice Navy stipend before his active service begins. So much for expert opinions.

So yeah, "work hard and hope for the best." And try to find value in the School of Frustration. It will serve you well, no matter what your future holds.
 
hugaber, you're right. You should be doing your best, and all you can to do precisely what you are ...become 3 Qed AND get a nomination. Period. Except for a 4th thing ...keeping your momentum and good behavior headed upward. Don't shoot yourself or your chances by doing less than you might, pushing cruise control before I Day, and/or joining in what you might think are harmless, senior prankish behavior. It too often comes back to bite and damage.

And as far as what you should be looking for from this and other forums? Facts is what you need ...not a comforting cup of pablum. Tough loving will be of way more value to you than a nice pat on the head from someones thinking that's how you help young ones in need of facts and realities that you might actually benefit, gain some real insight and direction, and then take action. All one need do to affirm this one is look at what's going on in your nation among its so-called leaders.

Give us handouts and feel-good silliness. Trouble is when the handouts runsout(s) (btw, those are delivered with our own money) and the bills come do, we are rudely discovering that we're not feeling the love and we're pretty uncomfortable.

Know the truth and live it. And that comes from facts, not mere opining about it all.

And remember, as far as you're concerned? EVERYTHING you receive here is mere opinion ...beyond that which you can validate. And being the bright young person you must be, you will figure out who speaks true and whether feeling comfortable lends you more value than some cold water or boot in the behind.

One of the world's great mysteries however is observing how folks given the same "facts" come to vastly different conclusions. While it's often tempting to suggest it's a function of intelligence, more likely it's wisdom which is God's enhanced operating system that helps to discern both fact from fiction and advisors who can and will help you vs. those not sure if the ball's blown up or stuffed.

Pray for godly wisdom, not feel-good, alleged "enlightenment." The former helps us to recover from the latter.
 
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Whistle Pig - Your post is ridiculous. Kindly take your politics and religion off this board. Neither have any business here.

Speaking of Facts - there is no requirment to have a belief in God or to have any political leaning one way or the other.
 
Speaking of Facts - there is no requirement to have a belief in God or to have any political leaning one way or the other.
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So true and well stated. If there was a requirement I know of many a Mid that would not be there or have graduated. Mine for one did not subscribe to the generally thought of the political leaning of the Academy - nor did most of his friends and many of his better faculty. Nor to your(WP) assumption of Religion...

He graduated, had numerous Regimental, Brigade and Company leadership positions starting Second Class year, all chosen through interviews/boards and managed to graduate in the top 5% of the class. His political leaning was pretty well known within the Brigade, especially during the 2008 election season. He would tell you that he did not need Godly wisdom but did well based on his enlightenment.

Now as parents, adults with more "worldly" experiences, some might disagree with his belief system. I can certainly attest that his system has always worked for him and I would believe as he furthers his career in the USMC it will continue to work.
 
These are classic humanist responses generated from persons with the basic perception that these young men and women candidates were either not created by their Creator or that this Creator in fact did bring them to this point then abandoned them to their own devices. And the consequent result is that successful candidates somehow did this on their own. Or who knows, maybe they even had "helicopter" moms who were designated to take over for that creator.

The other intriguing notion put forth by a presumed professor AND mom, is that my notion that God plays a role in this (as well as other aspects of our lives) is somehow more of a "religious" point of view than hers is simply ignoring the realities of her view on life. Humanism and self-determination are fundamental tenants of the idea these candidates are mere evolutionary fragments evolving from a chemical accident some gazillion years ago. Both hers and mine require total faith, albeit vastly different in its origins. And humanism requires a whole lot more of it to belief than does mine.

But regardless, here's one more truth of this discussion. That only mine leaves room for seeking help from a Higher Power in this process. Hers only allows calling on mommy. And mine allows for describing this lofty path being pursued by these young people as a "calling." For only when there is a Caller can one be called.

I prefer the path that young people are not alone in this process nor solely dependent upon their own knowledge and efforts in its pursuit. That's a lonely road.

btw, simply because one's child, perhaps like his parents, has ignored his Heavenly Father, in no way means that God has abandoned him or her. That's not the way it works.

But lest this discussion be somehow deemed merely philosophical or insignificant to the process of applicants pursuing appointments, I'd contend it is perhaps THE most important step in this, i.e. determining from which well will one's wisdom be drawn.

btw, did anyone happen to see the report that came out this week? Kids who go to Sunday school, are far more likely to do well and graduate. Go figure!

And let's not allow ourselves to the silly notion that one opinion is equal to another.
 
I am closing this thread att. I am sure that there are other, better venues to pursue the discussions that arose here. I would remind everyone that anytime you get close to government entities you are going to encounter vestiges of EEO, et al, and for good reason: these programs were developed and are enforced by the government. They have been a fact of life for several decades and it is best that we learn to work with and within them. They are not unique to the Navy or the Naval Academy.
 
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