Medical Status for USNA

trad2026

trad2026

usna '26
Joined
Jun 15, 2021
Messages
91
So, last week I received an LOA from USNA and live in a fairly non-competitive district so my only concern right now is on the medical side of the application. Every morning, and several times throughout the day, I check my DoDMERB portal to see if there are any updates.

This morning at around 8:10, I saw the following status update from USNA:
IMG_0297.jpg

I burst out of my seat with excitement and ran to the stairs to tell my family.

About 20 minutes after having checked the portal, I received an email (at 8:29) that I had a "new correspondence from DoDMERB regarding your Application". I figured it was just a delay in announcing the news which I had already seen, but I went and checked the portal just in case. And boy am I glad I did because to my dismay, my Status had changed to:

DoDMerb Applicant Site (Applicant Data).png

I know that "Under Waiver Review" is a better position to be in than the "Waiver Denied" from USMA which I received this morning, but it's certainly not the "Qualified" which was a huge comfort for the 15 minutes I had it.

Now comes the difficult part of explaining how the medical status changed so quickly to my family and my close friends whom I texted with the news.


*I posted this here since it's not a DoDMERB question and is a status update about the medical side of my USNA application. But, if the mods think it is better suited in the DoDMERB thread, please go ahead and move it!*
 
Find out what medical condition you have that requires a waiver.

if it requires follow-up on your end, accomplish those tasks quickly

it could be a significant challenge or something relatively minor
 
If you do not have them already, get your medical records NOW for the DQ/Waiver condition. Go over them carefully (and compare to billing records). And @A1Janitor is spot on - L. Mullen is your best source.

PS - might want to consider waiting to give out any news about progress/appointment until you get a BFE. Our family has been through that roller coaster. No need for extra up/downs.
 
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It is a DoDMERB issue, in the sense they manage Q/DQ, and then pre-comm program waives/does not waive in accordance with their policy. @MullenLE , our generous poster from DoDMERB, can help clarify your status to you (privately) in terms of what’s going on, administratively and medically.

Until you have an offer of appointment in hand or by portal, you don’t know where you are in relation to the finish line. That’s when to start doing your happy dance while shouting from the rooftops - but still tending alternates until you feel you are 100% on the road to Induction Day and have a low percentage of illness/injury risk that could make you ineligible to report in.

Keep reminding yourself this is a marathon and not a sprint. You may well have more to do to complete medical qualification. The final decision could be anywhere from soon to months down the road.

Good luck!
 
Last edited:
tradrunner said:
So, last week I received an LOA from USNA and live in a fairly non-competitive district so my only concern right now is on the medical side of the application. Every morning, and several times throughout the day, I check my DoDMERB portal to see if there are any updates.

This morning at around 8:10, I saw the following status update from USNA:
View attachment 10245

I burst out of my seat with excitement and ran to the stairs to tell my family.

About 20 minutes after having checked the portal, I received an email (at 8:29) that I had a "new correspondence from DoDMERB regarding your Application". I figured it was just a delay in announcing the news which I had already seen, but I went and checked the portal just in case. And boy am I glad I did because to my dismay, my Status had changed to:

View attachment 10246

I know that "Under Waiver Review" is a better position to be in than the "Waiver Denied" from USMA which I received this morning, but it's certainly not the "Qualified" which was a huge comfort for the 15 minutes I had it.

Now comes the difficult part of explaining how the medical status changed so quickly to my family and my close friends whom I texted with the news.


*I posted this here since it's not a DoDMERB question and is a status update about the medical side of my USNA application. But, if the mods think it is better suited in the DoDMERB thread, please go ahead and move it!*
Click to expand...
From the last cycle, my DS was granted a waiver in mid-March. We learned that Admissions will grant a waiver if a candidate is competitive for an appointment. Also, the waiver doctor only comes in once a week to review waivers. My recommendation at this point is to start communicating with your primary care physician regarding your medical issue. And if you’re military, your physician can help tremendously with medical waivers. Hope this helps.
 
It actually "IS" a DoDMERB question:

Send me an email: lawrence.e.mullen.civ@mail.mil; provide complete name and last 4 SSN; provide the text of your posting above to YOUR email. The subject line of the email should be “tradrunner = SAF = Medical waiver USNA.“ Do NOT embed links in your email as I will not be able to view those.:wiggle:
 
Banzaipipeline said:
From the last cycle, my DS was granted a waiver in mid-March. We learned that Admissions will grant a waiver if a candidate is competitive for an appointment.
Click to expand...
For the benefit of new readers/occasional lurkers, I want to point out there are certainly candidates who are competitive for appointments, but the condition/history for which they have have been found to not meet the accession standard may be of a type that is never waivered. They may be considered for a waiver, but the outcome is not guaranteed. No doubt there are those who have not met the standard (DQ) who are routinely waivered, frequently waivered, seldom waivered, never waivered - a spectrum.

Each case is evaluated on its merits against the DoD standard. Waivers are considered per the Service and pre-comm organization policy, by the designated waiver authority. @MullenLE always lets us know the RIGHT answer.

The cases you read about here are anecdotal, which can be helpful in a general sense, but should not be taken as the way something always happens.
 
tradrunner said:
So, last week I received an LOA from USNA and live in a fairly non-competitive district so my only concern right now is on the medical side of the application. Every morning, and several times throughout the day, I check my DoDMERB portal to see if there are any updates.

This morning at around 8:10, I saw the following status update from USNA:
View attachment 10245

I burst out of my seat with excitement and ran to the stairs to tell my family.

About 20 minutes after having checked the portal, I received an email (at 8:29) that I had a "new correspondence from DoDMERB regarding your Application". I figured it was just a delay in announcing the news which I had already seen, but I went and checked the portal just in case. And boy am I glad I did because to my dismay, my Status had changed to:

View attachment 10246

I know that "Under Waiver Review" is a better position to be in than the "Waiver Denied" from USMA which I received this morning, but it's certainly not the "Qualified" which was a huge comfort for the 15 minutes I had it.

Now comes the difficult part of explaining how the medical status changed so quickly to my family and my close friends whom I texted with the news.


*I posted this here since it's not a DoDMERB question and is a status update about the medical side of my USNA application. But, if the mods think it is better suited in the DoDMERB thread, please go ahead and move it!*
Click to expand...
Read paragraph 12 of the DODMERB Applicant Reference Document:


12. Service Academies = If you are determined to be “competitive for an offer of appointment” (determined by the Offices of Admissions), medical waiver consideration
will be automatically requested on your behalf. You are NOT required to request a medical waiver. Conversely, if you are not competitive for an offer of appointment, either after evaluation or because enough of the application has NOT been completed, there will be no medical waiver consideration. There may be periods in between, where
the Admissions office has NOT made this determination yet.
a. Keep in mind that all US Services Academies, require 4 non-negotiable items for admission
1) Selection by Admissions {Academics, College Test scores, extracurricular activities, etc., are considered};
2) Successful passing of the Candidate Fitness Assessment {CFA};
3) Medical qualification by DoDMERB or receipt of a medical waiver by the Academy
4) {Except for the USCGA} a nomination from Member of Congress, the Vice President or the President. So, depending on where you are in the timeline, prior
to 31 Jan of the year you are to be admitted, you must have items 1, 2, and 4 above, completed.
b. No applicant, say again, NO APPLICANT, will ever be denied admission by a US Service Academy because they receive a DoDMERB determination of did NOT
meet DoD medical accession standards (particularly, West Point). “IF” you meet
1, 2, and 4 in paragraph 5a above, but received a DoDMERB determination of “does NOT meet medical accession standards,” Admissions will automatically
request medical waiver consideration to begin for you.
 
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