Hey! Here's some hope for strong candidates with asthma.
I'm a freshman in college right now, and last year this time I was applying to USNA and USMA, despite the fact that I still had (have) mild asthma. It doesn't affect my life at all, but because it's on my record and I periodically take medicine for it, it got me DQ'd by DoDMERB, with no waiver. But at that point, I was just another candidate, and this was rather expected, even from the beginning. I just kept going through with it, because I don't like to give up.
In any case, that same foolhardiness caused me to reopen a file at both academies again this year. I expected to be denied waivers again, but this time to go to the admissions office and protest in person. That still may happen...but here's the news!
A couple of weeks ago, a Major in the USMA admissions office called me (on my cellphone) and asked me why I was reapplying. We talked for a while, and that conversation is what gave me my hope today and may one day soon grant me admission. He told me that, even though I have had asthma past my 13th birthday, I still have a chance because of my record. ROTC Cadet Command has given the same hint.
(FYI, my record is something like this: 35ACT, strong grades, but rather weak PT scores (definitely not the football captain), with good "leadership" accolades and qualities.)
Next week, then, I will take the infamous methacoline challenge, and, if I pass it, the Major says I am almost surely in. If not, it is quite the opposite. IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS. Everything else is in order - I even have a primary nomination
SO - the message is something like this. For those of you out there, like me, looking for some glimpse of hope of serving your country at an academy despite asthma, don't give up! It may not work out how you hope, but it's still worth the shot. Talk to people, get your name out there.
PLEASE pray for me next week. I'll need everything I can get!
Hooah!
-Snyder
I'm a freshman in college right now, and last year this time I was applying to USNA and USMA, despite the fact that I still had (have) mild asthma. It doesn't affect my life at all, but because it's on my record and I periodically take medicine for it, it got me DQ'd by DoDMERB, with no waiver. But at that point, I was just another candidate, and this was rather expected, even from the beginning. I just kept going through with it, because I don't like to give up.
In any case, that same foolhardiness caused me to reopen a file at both academies again this year. I expected to be denied waivers again, but this time to go to the admissions office and protest in person. That still may happen...but here's the news!
A couple of weeks ago, a Major in the USMA admissions office called me (on my cellphone) and asked me why I was reapplying. We talked for a while, and that conversation is what gave me my hope today and may one day soon grant me admission. He told me that, even though I have had asthma past my 13th birthday, I still have a chance because of my record. ROTC Cadet Command has given the same hint.
(FYI, my record is something like this: 35ACT, strong grades, but rather weak PT scores (definitely not the football captain), with good "leadership" accolades and qualities.)
Next week, then, I will take the infamous methacoline challenge, and, if I pass it, the Major says I am almost surely in. If not, it is quite the opposite. IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS. Everything else is in order - I even have a primary nomination
SO - the message is something like this. For those of you out there, like me, looking for some glimpse of hope of serving your country at an academy despite asthma, don't give up! It may not work out how you hope, but it's still worth the shot. Talk to people, get your name out there.
PLEASE pray for me next week. I'll need everything I can get!
Hooah!
-Snyder
