Needing insight

Hopeful2013

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
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Oct 6, 2008
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Aloha!

I have some questions please. My daughter completed the process for applying on 10/28. We have not been notified regarding her scholastic qualification status. She is qual'd medically and physically. She also has two noms 1)presidential 2) JROTC. She has an appointment for an interview for a senatorial nom on 12/22. The other two MOC don't interview but send in ten noms for every open spot. We have not been notified about whether she will get any of these noms yet. My questions are as follows:

1) How will we know if she is or is not scholastically qual'd? To the BGOs, are you seeing faster progress now regarding # of candidates being reviewed by the board? I know it was moving pretty slow for a while.

2) What happens when she e-mails updates to her application? Does someone actually go through the items/awards/activties in the e-mail and add the appropriate points to the candidates total points? If her application has not been seen by the board, will the updates also be presented when her application is presented?

3) What happens after the application has been scholastically qual'd but candidate not issued an LOA? How are appointment made from that point? Are the appoinments purely made based on points after that time? ie: The top scoring candidates and the ones that recieve LOAs are the ones that get the appointments?

4) My daughter has been updating the Academy about scholarships she has been offered. ie: Navy ROTC 4 yr. scholarship, $14,000 from OU. Should she be doing this? Does it matter?:confused:

I look forward to your responses! Thanks.
 
I found out about academic qualification when I called USNA admissions about something else. They casually mentioned that the board found my candidate academically qualified. So you can call, if you can't wait, or you can wait for the letter they will send.

The academies would like you to have as many types of noms as you can get because it gives them some flexibility on which nom to use if they do want to give your candidate an appointment. If she's 3Qed and has a nomination, but not the prin. nom. for that MOC, then she goes into the national pool; same with the other nomination sources. The pool is handled in the late Spring as they find out who's accepted, etc. There are many threads about being 3Qed and the national pool. Having the presidential nomination is a huge help to your daughter.

They are not going to redo your candidates points every time you send in another piece of paper. They will recalculate everyone for the national pool, to be fair. If she hasn't gone before the board, and the information is relevant, then send it in. But, they are not going to re-board a candidate unless there is a very significant change (before: 3.6 gpa, 1,500 SAT; new 3.6 gpa, 2,375 SAT). They would never get through the applicant pool. My son is planning to update his file over Christmas, rather than send it in in bits and pieces. I hope this helps.
 
Aloha!

1) How will we know if she is or is not scholastically qual'd? To the BGOs, are you seeing faster progress now regarding # of candidates being reviewed by the board?

Your BGO will know (but not necessarily before you do). Or you can call CGO. Not sure if things are moving faster -- they meet once a week and get through what they can.

2) What happens when she e-mails updates to her application? Does someone actually go through the items/awards/activties in the e-mail and add the appropriate points to the candidates total points? If her application has not been seen by the board, will the updates also be presented when her application is presented?

They aren't going to go back each time every one of the 12,000+ candidates submit new info. In many cases, add'l information won't change the overall evaluation. Agree with poster above that major changes (e.g., new SATs) will be noted but not every new activity or award. However, they might cumulatively make a difference at the end of a candidate is in the national pool.

3) What happens after the application has been scholastically qual'd but candidate not issued an LOA? How are appointment made from that point? Are the appoinments purely made based on points after that time? ie: The top scoring candidates and the ones that recieve LOAs are the ones that get the appointments?

The candidate goes into the mix. If one of the MOCs made the candidate a principal nom, the candidate will get the appointment if fully qualified. If there was no principal nom, USNA evaluates the qualified candidates who have a nom from that MOC and the best one gets the appointment. The others go into the national pool. Very few candidates have LOAs -- so most of the candidates are competing against others who don't have LOAs.

4) My daughter has been updating the Academy about scholarships she has been offered. ie: Navy ROTC 4 yr. scholarship, $14,000 from OU. Should she be doing this? Does it matter?:confused:

Not sure it matters. Not saying she shouldn't submit the info but it won't make the difference. USNA has its "standards" and the fact that a candidate is well thought of by another school is somewhat irrelevant because other schools are often looking at other attributes. For example, the fact someone is a great ballet dancer may be important to a school that wants to have a strong arts program -- probably not going to help at USNA. Likewise, many colleges don't care if you take calculus -- art history is just as good. Not so for USNA.
 
Hi, you say "not many have LOAs" how many is not many? My son does, but we are from MD and the nominations are the tough part. He applied to all available sources, but no word yet. After the MOC nominations, do those with LOA go into the nomination pool against each other and ahead of those without LOA? Any insight would be helpful. Thank you!
 
Letter of Assurance

If candidate receives a LOA and then gets a nomination, they are in. All the best in the process. Yes, it can be gruelling.
 
Thanks for the response. The problem is the MOC's here have so many applications for nomination, that it is a very real possibility that he won't get one from them. That is why I asked who he is up against in the national pool after MOC doesn't come through. Does the academy first rank the LOA holders for available noms and then moves on to the rest of the candidates? Or is it a big mystery there also...
 
there many here that will explain it much better than I but I had read over these past weeks that YES - having that LOA (my son does not) puts you in a special catagory - if you don't get your MOC nom they (USNA) will come up with one to make your appointment happen. Those holding LOA's are encouraged to apply for all available noms - but if the LOA would come up short and not have one, then mystristiously an appointment will be made. USNA has other resources to draw from.
I hope this gives you comfort-that is my intention. Maybe now that I have attempted to answer one of the moderators will come on to explain MUCH better than I did.
best wishes - it sounds as tho you arre in a VERY good position.
 
An LOA “virtually assures” one of an appointment if they get a nom. In the situation of a Congressional District with more LOA recipients than they have room on their slate the MOC can only nominate 10 candidates. The Senators/Rep can work together to ensure all the LOA recipients get a nom. If no nom is received, the SA may find them a nom such as the VP or sup. Theoretically, if there are more kids in this situation than there are available noms from which the SA can pull, the SA will be unable to get noms for all. This is why LOAs are so judiciously given – the SA does not want to ever be in this situation. The SA is very careful about the issuance of LOAs, and it is their intent to grant an appointment to all LOA recipients. Theoretically it is possible that they won’t be able to get a nom for a candidate without one, but the SA is very careful in issuing LOAs so this would not occur. I don’t think you have to worry – but you may have to wait a little…
 
The number of LOAs handed out each year changes and BGOs, etc. aren't told how many there are. However, it's my understanding that they represent <20% of appointments and may be significantly less. I believe they were started to counter the Early Action/Early Decision programs that were so popular with civilian schools over the past 15 or so years. Now, however, many civilian schools are moving away from the binding one (early action?) and thus, USNA may also move away from LOAs. I don't know.

Generally, candidates with LOAs receive at least one nom because they are generally outstanding candidates. If it doesn't happen AND the SA still wants the candidate, a nom usually appears -- there are other sources to which candidates can't apply but who can legally be the source of noms. So might USNA no longer want the candidate? Well, LOAs are often handed out early in the process -- often before anyone has met the candidate. If the BGO and maybe the teachers say the person is an obese dweeb . . . or if the candidate fails first semester or . . . As you can see, the reasons are typically pretty extreme but could happen.

There's no reason to put LOA holder back in the national pool b/c the LOA already signals USNA considers them one of the strongest candidates. Per the above poster, I would say that a qualified candidate with an LOA should sleep quite well.

The above said, for those without LOAs, life is not over. As noted, an estimated >80% of each class has no LOA. The appointment is just as good. And, trust me, once you get to USNA, NO ONE CARES whether you got an LOA and mentioning it to anyone would be very poor form.
 
The number of LOAs handed out each year changes and BGOs, etc. aren't told how many there are. However, it's my understanding that they represent <20% of appointments and may be significantly less. I believe they were started to counter the Early Action/Early Decision programs that were so popular with civilian schools over the past 15 or so years. Now, however, many civilian schools are moving away from the binding one (early action?) and thus, USNA may also move away from LOAs. I don't know.

Generally, candidates with LOAs receive at least one nom because they are generally outstanding candidates. If it doesn't happen AND the SA still wants the candidate, a nom usually appears -- there are other sources to which candidates can't apply but who can legally be the source of noms. So might USNA no longer want the candidate? Well, LOAs are often handed out early in the process -- often before anyone has met the candidate. If the BGO and maybe the teachers say the person is an obese dweeb . . . or if the candidate fails first semester or . . . As you can see, the reasons are typically pretty extreme but could happen.

There's no reason to put LOA holder back in the national pool b/c the LOA already signals USNA considers them one of the strongest candidates. Per the above poster, I would say that a qualified candidate with an LOA should sleep quite well.

The above said, for those without LOAs, life is not over. As noted, an estimated >80% of each class has no LOA. The appointment is just as good. And, trust me, once you get to USNA, NO ONE CARES whether you got an LOA and mentioning it to anyone would be very poor form.
Thank you to all. This makes sense, but I was starting to get a bit worried. I certainly understand that once the kid getst to the SA (if...) saying he had an LOA at any point would be poor form. In the end, the proof will be in the pudding, everyone is on equal footing on I-day :) Go Navy!
 
Only candidate with a congressional nomination compete in the National pool..... if you don't have a nomination from a MOC you will compete elsewhere.
If you have an LOA - you have already competed. It is then up to the academy to find the legal authority to appoint you - either through a MOC nom or other nomination.
Sit tight.
 
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