Color Vision Waiver

ejh101303 said:
Has anyone received a waiver for color vision yet this cycle?
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I haven’t seen anyone post that they got one yet.

Based on imperfect statistics- there are 15 to 20 per year given, and about 10% to 15% of the appointees post here. So we could see a few.

IIRC - my son got his waiver around this time in 2019.
 
dianesophie58 said:
Vivd red green test requested has anyone been asked for that?
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From @MullenLE in a previous post:

For Admission:

The PIP test is administered for all. 10 Passed plates of 14 = Pass

West Point/AROTC = If Failed, applicant must discern vivid red/green

USNA, USCGA, USMMA, NROTC = requires a medical waiver. Rare to obtain, but possible

USAFA, AFROTC, NROTC (USMC option) = No color vision requirement

All Services = Once a member in that Service, may have different color vision requirements for certain specialties (e.g. pilot).
 
We are waiting on the color blind waiver as well. DS is a re-applicant and they put him back into "under waiver review" back in July after his medical turn down in the third week of March last year. We are not sure if the actual waiver process has been initiated though since USNA doesn't notify.
 
Gunner123 said:
Yes. I have LOA I spoke to my regional director 2 weeks ago he said it was requested. I got my DQ around October. I know they come around about this time of year or a little later.
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Yes, and this dq waiver is further delayed because the Superintendent had to sign off.

Be patient. I know the anxiety too well.
 
ALW72 said:
We are waiting on the color blind waiver as well. DS is a re-applicant and they put him back into "under waiver review" back in July after his medical turn down in the third week of March last year. We are not sure if the actual waiver process has been initiated though since USNA doesn't notify.
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It sounds to me like it has been initiated. And you now have to wait for the final “slate” for colorblind candidates to survive.
 
A1Janitor said:
It sounds to me like it has been initiated. And you now have to wait for the final “slate” for colorblind candidates to survive.
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Good to know since you've already been successfully through this process. We were able to talk through his admission file from the last cycle over the phone with a counselor in the summer who told us that the week after his medical turn down was posted they actually put his case I front of the admissions board again trying to get the turn down over turned, which we were told was very rare. They put him back into waiver review right after his new application was started as well (not finished obviously), immediately invited him to a CVW, and assigned him a high profile BGO. Someone also emailed him from records the week before his semester was over and told him to have his first semester transcript sent directly to her once his grades were finalized...so we felt pretty confident about his chances of getting the waiver and an appointment on the second try until this whole nomination situation threw us for a loop. DS is at the point where he is content with his engineering program at a good state school (and has a scholarship covering his tuition), so we know everything will be okay either way. But this has been his dream since he was in 7th grade so it would be nice if it worked out.
 
The key isn't really the waiver. As stated above, USNA can only admit a certain number of individuals who are red/green colorblind. So, they can either grant a waiver to everyone who's colorblind and then decide whom among them to admit. Or they can decide whom to admit and issue waivers only to those individuals.

For an LOA candidate, the waiver (assuming that's the only thing pending) is really a decision on admission. Thus, they have to be careful about granting the waiver until they fully understand "the numbers." So, for example, if they gave 30 colorblind people LOAs and could only admit 12 colorblind people in a class, they can't give all 30 waivers because they'd end up with too many colorblind mids. One would hope that they wouldn't offer more LOAs than they have slots but they often don't know medical status when the LOA is given. This is true of other medical conditions that limit options on commissioning -- in the end, USNA has to graduate a sufficient number of mids who can enter the main warfare communities.
 
I still have no idea what's going on with my waiver which is no different from last year. However, I was waitlisted until the final week of May so hopefully it means I have a pretty good chance this year...
 
usna1985 said:
The key isn't really the waiver. As stated above, USNA can only admit a certain number of individuals who are red/green colorblind. So, they can either grant a waiver to everyone who's colorblind and then decide whom among them to admit. Or they can decide whom to admit and issue waivers only to those individuals.

For an LOA candidate, the waiver (assuming that's the only thing pending) is really a decision on admission. Thus, they have to be careful about granting the waiver until they fully understand "the numbers." So, for example, if they gave 30 colorblind people LOAs and could only admit 12 colorblind people in a class, they can't give all 30 waivers because they'd end up with too many colorblind mids. One would hope that they wouldn't offer more LOAs than they have slots but they often don't know medical status when the LOA is given. This is true of other medical conditions that limit options on commissioning -- in the end, USNA has to graduate a sufficient number of mids who can enter the main warfare communities.
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That's a helpful breakdown of the situation.
 
usna1985 said:
The key isn't really the waiver. As stated above, USNA can only admit a certain number of individuals who are red/green colorblind. So, they can either grant a waiver to everyone who's colorblind and then decide whom among them to admit. Or they can decide whom to admit and issue waivers only to those individuals.

For an LOA candidate, the waiver (assuming that's the only thing pending) is really a decision on admission. Thus, they have to be careful about granting the waiver until they fully understand "the numbers." So, for example, if they gave 30 colorblind people LOAs and could only admit 12 colorblind people in a class, they can't give all 30 waivers because they'd end up with too many colorblind mids. One would hope that they wouldn't offer more LOAs than they have slots but they often don't know medical status when the LOA is given. This is true of other medical conditions that limit options on commissioning -- in the end, USNA has to graduate a sufficient number of mids who can enter the main warfare communities.
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Beautifully explained. The “colorblind bucket” is its own competitive pool. Only x appointments will be drawn out of that bucket, and the final size of the bucket is not known until all DoDMERB evaluation decisions are complete.
 
Annnddd....DS just got a "turned down" notice in his portal now. Not even a medical turn down this time, so it looks like they probably didn't end up processing the waiver? Anyhow, needing a color blind waiver and a nomination was probably just too big of an ask. He has already been working on applying for internships with the contractors who work with the Navy on building the nuclear ships in the Virginia shipyards (he is declaring nuclear engineering as his major), so is finding other avenues to pursue the career he wants. It's disappointing but honestly relieved we weren't waiting until mid-April for the same decision. Anyhow, what I am going to do without the USNA admissions process for a hobby?
 
ALW72 said:
Annnddd....DS just got a "turned down" notice in his portal now. Not even a medical turn down this time, so it looks like they probably didn't end up processing the waiver? Anyhow, needing a color blind waiver and a nomination was probably just too big of an ask. He has already been working on applying for internships with the contractors who work with the Navy on building the nuclear ships in the Virginia shipyards (he is declaring nuclear engineering as his major), so is finding other avenues to pursue the career he wants. It's disappointing but honestly relieved we weren't waiting until mid-April for the same decision. Anyhow, what I am going to do without the USNA admissions process for a hobby?
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Sorry to hear this and glad to hear of his resilience.

Something to explore, if he still has thoughts of serving, but not in uniform:

dodstem.us

SMART Scholarship Program | DoD STEM

DoD STEM seeks to attract, inspire, and develop exceptional STEM talent across the education continuum and advance the current DoD STEM workforce to meet future defense technological challenges.
dodstem.us dodstem.us
 
Capt MJ said:
Sorry to hear this and glad to hear of his resilience.

Something to explore, if he still has thoughts of serving, but not in uniform:

dodstem.us

SMART Scholarship Program | DoD STEM

DoD STEM seeks to attract, inspire, and develop exceptional STEM talent across the education continuum and advance the current DoD STEM workforce to meet future defense technological challenges.
dodstem.us dodstem.us
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Thanks for passing this along, it's a very interesting program and I will definitely share the information with him. He had called to inquire about the NUPOC program as well, but when he asked if they would accept color blind applicants they pretty much hung up the phone on him! Since this is coming from a civilian angle I am assuming the Dodmerb issues wouldn't be so much of a roadblock.
 
ALW72 said:
Thanks for passing this along, it's a very interesting program and I will definitely share the information with him. He had called to inquire about the NUPOC program as well, but when he asked if they would accept color blind applicants they pretty much hung up the phone on him! Since this is coming from a civilian angle I am assuming the Dodmerb issues wouldn't be so much of a roadblock.
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Yea, exactly, Federal civilian service. No military medical entrance standards.

NUPOC is a great program but the DoD medical access standards apply for all commissioning programs.
 
Capt MJ said:
Yea, exactly, Federal civilian service. No military medical entrance standards.

NUPOC is a great program but the DoD medical access standards apply for all commissioning programs.
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Again, thanks for sharing.
 
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