More on High School Liaison Officer/Local Liaison Officer

FutCandMom

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I believe I started a thread on this before, but, sorry, am still confused, and have more advice to ask. DS is applying Class 2016. For the USMA, he has a High School Liaison Officer, and then, per Admissions Office letter, has a LOCAL Liaison Officer. He also has an appointed Admissions Officer, but my question is strictly re the difference and weight of these two LIAISON Officers.No sugar coating here... My DS was so excited to get started doing SOMETHING , that he banged out a resume and contacted his USMA HIGH SCHOOL Liaison Officer last fall. This High School LO emailed back and they set up an appointment during Christmas Break. In hindsight, now that my son has read more threads and read Candidate's Handbooks, he really feels he most likely did not put his best foot forward when he interviewed. He was thinking of it as more of an informal interview, and although dressed in standard khakis and button down shirt, he was not pressed or polished, nor did he go into the interview with much more than a preliminary "hi, my name is XXX, I'm intersted in the USMA... what do I do next" attitude. Thinking back, he feels his relaxed Christmas Break mode most definitely rang through the interview. Now he is VERY concerned. Any tips on how to get back on track? How much weight does the High School Liaison Officer have vs the LOCAL Liaison Officer, named on the USMA Admissions letter, who he has not contacted because he thought he should work up the ladder and not bug the other yet???? Advice? Input? Comments?
 
No worries, your son used that interview just as he was supposed to--an exploration of admissions to West Point. It was not the formal interview, and he can only improve. The HS liasion may do the formal interview and your son did make a first impression, but how he presents himself for the formal interview will count. One of my candidates was real iffy in his sophomore year, and I basically told him unless there were changes, he was not attending West Point--in the next year the kid went through such a transformation that I was amazed with him and his resume at the formal interview--he is now one of my top prospects.

Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm sure when my DS sees the posting, he will feel a bit better. Sounds like he can still grab the opportunity to show what he is really made of at the formal interview. Again, though, the question comes up; should he, at this point, remain in contact with JUST his HIGH SCHOOL Liaison... leave the LOCAL Liaison to finish up all that he is doing for the class of 2015, or should he be in contact with BOTH HS and LOCAL. He doesn't want to go out of protocol, but has been reading many posts about being in touch with the LOCAL....
 
depends on if the high school liaison sent a completed interview form to West Point or not Your area must be full of West Point volunteers to have many liaisons.

Liaison officers have three major functions - conduct outreach, assist with the application process and make a formal assessment (by completing an interview form) on the candidates potential. Sometimes the RC will contact the liaison officer to get a better assessment of the candidate.

As a liaison officer, I usually do not care about how a candidate dress for an interview (I usually tell them it is an informal interview) , but more about why West Point
 
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