How are plebes ranked within companies?

K

kit kat

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What criteria is used to rank plebes, not only within their company over PS but also once the AC year starts? How do you find out what brought your ranking down? How do you improve yourself?
 
There are The Academic Order of Merit (AOM) and the Military Order of Merit (MOM), which together add up (in some way) to the Overall Order of Merit (OOM).
On their "report cards" at the end of each semester, these are listed (before grades in classes) under Orders of Merit, Honors, and Probation

This field will show a number for class size, OOM, AOM, MOM, and a YES or (blank field) for Sups List, Dants List, Deans List, and Probation.

As for Plebe ranking, the individual Companies may or may not share that information with your Plebe, as it makes little to no difference to anyone after they start the AC year (pronounced "ACK Year").
 
Of course, some Companies may have a completely off-the-books, unsanctioned, just-for-fun "draft" of sorts, in which Platoon leaders fill out their platoons with those 40-or-so newly-arrived Plebes.
But that's just like picking teams for kickball. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
 
If you haven't found "Academy Insider" yet I would suggest you google it. He has been doing a facebook live post every Sunday night explaning upcoming events and issues. He was a '17 grad of USNA. A couple of weeks ago he did a session that talked a lot about PS rankings...how and why they are done. He indicated your Plebe would have "exit interviews" over the sumer with both sets of detailers to get feedback on their score. As mentioned above, the scores "count" for nothing but should give your Plebe a better understaing of their strengths and weaknesses going forward.
 
Honestly Plebe Summer rankings already don’t mean anything as they are in the academic year now. Plebes that thrived during Plebe Summer may not during the ac year and vice versa. This is when things get real. Plebe Summer in reality is easy... more sleep, no academics, it’s all scheduled. Upperclass rank the Plebes. Every company is different how they do it. Mine back in the day, the 1/C did it usually with input from the other upperclassman in the squad. Their military presence, participation, pro knowledge, willingness to help his classmates, leadership within the 4/c, performance at training all factor in. There are certainly grades and rankings for conduct, academics and the PRT but it often can be a discussion point for rankings. It’s really about the whole person and their performance within the 4/C system. It’s the upperclassman’s role to tell them where they need to improve, grow, develop, etc. That part is honestly leadership 101. They should be do counselings and check ins throughout the semester.
 
Plebe summer: Ranked via your moral, mental, and physical performance.

Also, exit interviews are not a thing in all companies. I did not have one. However, I do believe my upperclass detailers would be happy to sit down and have a similar conversation if I so desired.
 
NavyHoops said:
Honestly Plebe Summer rankings already don’t mean anything as they are in the academic year now. Plebes that thrived during Plebe Summer may not during the ac year and vice versa. This is when things get real. Plebe Summer in reality is easy... more sleep, no academics, it’s all scheduled. Upperclass rank the Plebes. Every company is different how they do it. Mine back in the day, the 1/C did it usually with input from the other upperclassman in the squad. Their military presence, participation, pro knowledge, willingness to help his classmates, leadership within the 4/c, performance at training all factor in. There are certainly grades and rankings for conduct, academics and the PRT but it often can be a discussion point for rankings. It’s really about the whole person and their performance within the 4/C system. It’s the upperclassman’s role to tell them where they need to improve, grow, develop, etc. That part is honestly leadership 101. They should be do counselings and check ins throughout the semester.
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This is exactly how DS explained it all to me, how it was done for his company. Also that the CO (is that the right word?) ranked them as well. And there was a peer ranking piece, too. There may not be an actual physical element to it as in a reward, but he sure felt good, so it must mean something!

Editing to add: ^^discussion was regarding a/c year. Not plebe summer.
 
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Usually the Company Officer will review or do their own, but if they are completely off, that speaks volumes of one side or the other. Rankings for Plebe Summer are kind of meaningless. They won’t get a lot of feedback or any (really only if they are on the line of cutting it). Academic year there should be more feedback, if not, they aren’t doing their jobs.
 
See page 18-19
https://www.usna.edu/Commandant/Dir...SHIPMEN-APTITUDE-FOR-COMMISSIONING-SYSTEM.pdf

I’d be curious to hear from a current MIDN how the final aptitude for commission grades are determined...if it is just the rack and stack of the final grade calculation on the “weighted” (75% CO/25% senior rater) 4.0 scale. In the past, aptitude grades were based on the weight of the rankings, but now it seems the class/peer/CO ranking is just a tool.
 
usnabgo08 said:
See page 18-19
https://www.usna.edu/Commandant/Dir...SHIPMEN-APTITUDE-FOR-COMMISSIONING-SYSTEM.pdf

I’d be curious to hear from a current MIDN how the final aptitude for commission grades are determined...if it is just the rack and stack of the final grade calculation on the “weighted” (75% CO/25% senior rater) 4.0 scale. In the past, aptitude grades were based on the weight of the rankings, but now it seems the class/peer/CO ranking is just a tool.
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This will be interesting, my son is a plebe varsity athlete, just finished first semester with a 4.0 (including electro Magnetics and Calc III), scored an Outstanding on PRT, 97 on Proknow Midterm...wondering where he will rank within the Company.
 
NROTC93 said:
This will be interesting, my son is a plebe varsity athlete, just finished first semester with a 4.0 (including electro Magnetics and Calc III), scored an Outstanding on PRT, 97 on Proknow Midterm...wondering where he will rank within the Company.
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Those things are quantifiable.

The rankings can be political.
 
NROTC93 said:
This will be interesting, my son is a plebe varsity athlete, just finished first semester with a 4.0 (including electro Magnetics and Calc III), scored an Outstanding on PRT, 97 on Proknow Midterm...wondering where he will rank within the Company.
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Glad he is doing so well!
If he has not made the mistake of spending too much time out of company area so he is an unknown quantity, has gotten a rep as a good plebe by helping others not in such a successful academic groove and being squared-away in general, he should be fine. Occasionally varsity athletes, whose sport requires them to spend a lot of time out of company at practice, games and traveling (in normal times), sometimes find hanging out in their varsity locker room a peaceful refuge from company area.

Varsity athletes have to make a bit more effort to be seen and contribute in company. Everyone understands their particular challenges, but a varsity athlete who always keeps his/her part of the room in good shape so when they travel, the burden doesn’t fall on non-varsity roommates to clean that part for a room inspection, or volunteers to peer tutor others in Calc, makes an effort to come to company tables at meals (or whatever today’s norm is), offers to help classmates struggling with the PRT even though he aced his when he took it with his varsity team, builds a reputation as a good company mate and gets known to those outside his immediate chain of command in company - has more upperclass who know him, saying positive things. Instead of “Assume he’s a decent plebe, no academic or proknow issues, but we don’t see him otherwise, doesn’t do anything in company. What’s he look like again?”
 
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And don’t get to be known as the only plebe in the company put on restriction
 
Notably, this semester we’ve finally done away with those anonymous class rankings where mids rank the other mids in their company often with passive-aggressive vague comments. Now it’s all the CO/SEL with input from the company’s midshipmen staff. Still not perfect, (it’s very hard to try to quantify something so subjective unlike grades and PRT scores), but the change has been very well received in the Brigade.
 
Kierkegaard said:
Notably, this semester we’ve finally done away with those anonymous class rankings where mids rank the other mids in their company often with passive-aggressive vague comments. Now it’s all the CO/SEL with input from the company’s midshipmen staff. Still not perfect, (it’s very hard to try to quantify something so subjective unlike grades and PRT scores), but the change has been very well received in the Brigade.
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That has changed back and forth so many times. Peer reviews and the dreaded “360” seem to go in and out. If only human beings weren’t involved.

I know what you mean by the “passive-aggressive” thing. I still recall, vividly, some of the remarks I got in a peer review at OCS (20th c.!) about my quieter leadership style. Nasty, or else “damned with faint praise.” Rather than being worthwhile feedback, they can erode self-confidence and trust in peers. They can be used as a vehicle to punish someone, ostracize the “other,” eliminate competition, tear down someone who seems to be effortlessly successful or someone who holds themselves to a high standard and won’t “go along.”

break break
Shouldn’t you be getting a combat nap before 0130 hot breakfast and embarking in the Busmada to WP?
Salutes to all of you for having to do things the hard way this year and for the past several months.
 
Capt MJ said:
Shouldn’t you be getting a combat nap before 0130 hot breakfast and embarking in the Busmada to WP?
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Respectfully Captain, there are two choices here. 1.) Play call of duty* until the 0225 muster, and then sleep on the busses or 2.) Sleep now, and be bored for 6 hours on the busses.


*I promise I don't play call of duty on week nights during the ac year.
 
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