I used to interview every kid with "IN" next to his or her name until I realized that half to two-thirds of them never complete the application. The guidance now is 35% of application complete means they might be serious. Old, grizzled BGO's used to tell us 50% was the guidance.
50% WAS the guidance until recently. My personal view is that 35% makes sense in the summer, 50% until Dec. 31, and after that, it should be 100%. Unless there's a really good explanation.
I don't have trouble getting hold of candidates. What I see are candidates who, in June, want me to interview them. They have completed 0% of their pack. In September, they email me again and swear USNA is their first choice. They have now completed 11% of their packet (1 item). In November, they ping me again. They're now up to 38% (3 items). The last week of January, they're frantic. They're now at 67% (still missing 2 items) and want me to readjust my entire schedule to interview them before Jan. 31.
It is the VERY RARE situation where the BGO holds up an application. I had a candidate this year who was 100% complete in October, including my write up. That candidate wasn't reviewed by the Board until mid-January. So, please don't assume that your packet is gathering dust waiting on your BGO . . . most of the time, it's not.
And, as noted, if the BGO doesn't get the interview done, USNA will move forward without it.
The above said, some BGOs simply aren't as responsive as others, or as responsive as they should be. For those who have such BGOs, that's unfortunate. If you feel very strongly that you had an unresponsive BGO, you can contact the Area Coordinator. However, this should be done only if you believe the BGO totally dropped the ball -- not just that he/she might occasionally be hard to contact. Someone who is not at all engaged should probably be replace. Someone who's trying to juggle a lot of personal and work commitments (which the BGO may not choose to discuss with candidates), should be cut a little slack.