Dodmerb medical update for those wondering

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2025hopefulprospect

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Hello everyone, I asked the office of admissions about the USNA requesting a medical since they have had no action for a while. Here is the response they gave me: "Due to a system change, we had to be very specific with requesting medical examinations for this admissions cycle. As such, we have only been requesting medical examinations for candidates who are for sure getting an offer of appointment to USNA or one of our preparatory programs. If a candidate does not receive a medical examination (or medical waiver), this does not mean that the candidate is not competitive for admissions; rather, we do not have an offer lined up for the candidate at this time." Since it's getting pretty late in the admissions cycle, I think I am probably not going to make it. I wanted to share this because I know some of you are in my position for the medical situation. Good luck everyone and have a great night.
 
It’s not over until you are told it’s over. There are offers out there where candidates have yet to decide. You just never know how things will ultimately play out. And I susoect
DODMERB is pretty good at their job, and can bang out a medical exam process pretty quickly, if needed.

True, as time goes on, perhaps your “odds” decrease. But, if you get an appointment, that’s a big ‘ole 100pct!

Everyone waiting should be concentrating on their alternate plans at this point. And know that if you haven’t received a TWE, you ARE a competitive candidate! But as we know, every year, there simply isn’t enough room for all the amazing candidates.

Hang in there. Try and focus on other things. You will know soon. Either yes, no, or maybe (waitlist). My youngest came from the waitlist. Had to wait until after the May 1 deadline for those undecided, and to decide.
 
2025hopefulprospect said:
As such, we have only been requesting medical examinations for candidates who are for sure getting an offer of appointment to USNA or one of our preparatory programs
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note of caution - just having a medical exam requested does not indicate that an offer is on the way. earlier in this year's cycle the the old policy was still in effect, that any candidate who completed approx 50% of the application was sent to DoDMERB. later in the cycle, that policy changed due to limitations on the number of candidates they could request medical exams for.

personally, i have candidates who were qualified by DoDMERB who nonetheless received a turndown this cycle. i also have 4 or 5 candidates with noms from the same source who are all med qualified. it's not likely that all of them will get appointments.

getting referred to DoDMERB later in the cycle is an indication that you are competitive, but it doesn't meant that you have been selected.

continue to be patient, only a few more weeks till most get an answer, and make sure you have a firm plan B, C, D

best of luck
 
Fully agree with AE6 Dad. All of my candidates who completed >50% of their packages by end of November had medical exams. I guarantee you that not all of those will be offered an appointment.

I think that, for whatever reason (cost, COVID, etc.), the ability to schedule exams started to dry up later in the cycle. Thus, people who completed their applications late may not offered medical exams unless an appointment is likely.

This is a different approach than in prior years -- not sure if it's COVID related, not sure if it affects only USNA, and not sure if it will continue into future years.

It does appear that admission decisions are slower coming out this year than in prior years, also likely due to that later application deadline and COVID issues.
 
CONFIRMATION: This statement is correct: ""Due to a system change, we had to be very specific with requesting medical examinations for this admissions cycle. As such, we have only been requesting medical examinations for candidates who are for sure getting an offer of appointment to USNA or one of our preparatory programs. If a candidate does not receive a medical examination (or medical waiver), this does not mean that the candidate is not competitive for admissions; rather, we do not have an offer lined up for the candidate at this time."

I concur with all other comments above:wiggle:
 
What does this mean for those that were recently granted a medical waiver? My DoDMERB was complete in August, but I only received a waiver this month. I am scared to read too deep into anything and get my hopes up. With that being said, if I was granted a medical waiver in March, will I be receiving an offer or is it just standard procedure to finish out the DoDMERB process of those that have already completed their medical examinations prior to USNA requesting specific candidates' medical examinations. I hope that makes sense. Let me know if I need to clarify. Thanks for all the help!
 
DD has an LOA but has been under waiver review since December. Her USNA portal does not show they have "received" her medical exam. But they requested a waiver so someone at USNA had to see her file at some point. She was granted a waiver by USAFA so we are still hopeful something is happening at USNA eventhough not reflected in her portal. Keeping the faith!
 
Generally, the fact someone has been granted a waiver (or a waiver was denied), means that USNA is strongly considering an offer. There is obviously a critical difference between considering and providing.

However, there are exceptions to every generalization. For example, a few years ago, everyone candidate this site who was colorblind was given a waiver at the same time. Most of them were not admitted.

So I would be cautiously optimistic, with the emphasis on CAUTIOUSLY. Keep pursuing your other options.
 
A6E Dad said:
note of caution - just having a medical exam requested does not indicate that an offer is on the way. earlier in this year's cycle the the old policy was still in effect, that any candidate who completed approx 50% of the application was sent to DoDMERB. later in the cycle, that policy changed due to limitations on the number of candidates they could request medical exams for.

personally, i have candidates who were qualified by DoDMERB who nonetheless received a turndown this cycle. i also have 4 or 5 candidates with noms from the same source who are all med qualified. it's not likely that all of them will get appointments.

getting referred to DoDMERB later in the cycle is an indication that you are competitive, but it doesn't meant that you have been selected.

continue to be patient, only a few more weeks till most get an answer, and make sure you have a firm plan B, C, D

best of luck
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Why you and @A6E Dad gotta put a spoiler on OPs statement...lol? DS was sent to DODMERB in October and Qualified. I was hoping that was a sign of good news to come. Guess it’s better than being DQd but apparently doesn’t mean much else.
 
yeah, sorry for that reality check, but the message could have been misinterpreted

according to a message from admissions to BGOs in early January, at that time there were over 6000 candidate records that had been referred over to DoDMERB before the new policy took effect.
 
justdoit19 said:
There are offers out there where candidates have yet to decide.
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Careful with this line of reasoning.... If a candidate does not accept an appointment, it does not necessarily mean that another candidate will be getting an offer of appointment. USNA makes more Offers of Appointment than the target class size, knowing that not everyone will accept. They are actually pretty good at predicting "yield", and are usually not far off the mark, However,, if the "yield" doesn't result in the desired class size, they will pull candidates off the wait list to fill the class.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
Careful with this line of reasoning.... If a candidate does not accept an appointment, it does not necessarily mean that another candidate will be getting an offer of appointment. USNA makes more Offers of Appointment than the target class size, knowing that not everyone will accept. They are actually pretty good at predicting "yield", and are usually not far off the mark, However,, if the "yield" doesn't result in the desired class size, they will pull candidates off the wait list to fill the class.
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Yes...true. I was, however, speaking to my own son, where this was the case for our state.
 
A6E Dad said:
yeah, sorry for that reality check, but the message could have been misinterpreted

according to a message from admissions to BGOs in early January, at that time there were over 6000 candidate records that had been referred over to DoDMERB before the new policy took effect.
Click to expand...
Just curious when this new policy approximately went into the effect.
 
the change was announced to BGOs in first week of Jan, can't say for sure when it actually took effect, probably around that time
 
hbtw2011 said:
DD has an LOA but has been under waiver review since December. Her USNA portal does not show they have "received" her medical exam. But they requested a waiver so someone at USNA had to see her file at some point. She was granted a waiver by USAFA so we are still hopeful something is happening at USNA eventhough not reflected in her portal. Keeping the faith!
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I wondered about that too. My DD's USNA portal does not show that the USNA have "received" her medical exam either and we have heard nothing further after working our way through the DODMRB process and understand she will need a waiver.
 
CDavey said:
I wondered about that too. My DD's USNA portal does not show that the USNA have "received" her medical exam either and we have heard nothing further after working our way through the DODMRB process and understand she will need a waiver.
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I heard back from the Director of Nominations and Appointments that my DoDMERB file hadn't yet been reviewed for waiver consideration by the Admissions medical officer, so I'm guessing that might be the case with your daughter. They're very busy right now, and they want to make sure they're giving everyone adequate time and consideration for their waivers. I'm currently sitting tight and checking my DoDMERB portal every day for any indication of a change, but for now, all we can do is wait!
 
MullenLE said:
CONFIRMATION: This statement is correct: ""Due to a system change, we had to be very specific with requesting medical examinations for this admissions cycle. As such, we have only been requesting medical examinations for candidates who are for sure getting an offer of appointment to USNA or one of our preparatory programs. If a candidate does not receive a medical examination (or medical waiver), this does not mean that the candidate is not competitive for admissions; rather, we do not have an offer lined up for the candidate at this time."

I concur with all other comments above:wiggle:
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Mr Mullen - can you tell me if by "who are for sure getting an offer of appointment to USNA or one of our preparatory programs" you also include wait list as a qualifying event? A medical exam was requested, but the only offer, so far, was that of wait list.
 
The above statement in quotes was from USNA Admissions. I defer you to them for the specific question regarding the specific applicant. The applicant...NOT A PARENT...should ask the question :wiggle:
 
MullenLE said:
The above statement in quotes was from USNA Admissions. I defer you to them for the specific question regarding the specific applicant. The applicant...NOT A PARENT...should ask the question :wiggle:
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Did you have the opportunity to check on my situation? I hadn’t heard back from you but I know you’re busy. But today’s the day anyway I guess!
 
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