Reapplying to USNA (after a turndown)

out of curiosity, given that reapplicants' packages aren't typically reviewed until after first semester grades are in, for those of you who are/were successful reapplicants (or parents of reapplicants), when did you learn of your offer (even if years ago?)?
 
Straight A's in the rest of his classes that semester, and a recommendation from his PNS as well. One mediocre grade is NOT a death knell.
 
Edmund said:
Indeed. But a C is almost a certainty (not 100%, but close) killer for a re-applicant. To your point, a C shows regression and not progression.

I have questioned several people in admissions about this given the abundance of Cs earned by plebes at the Academy and have never been given a satisfactory answer. It seems a C is an easy way to immediately weed out the abundance of re-applicants who didn’t take their first year college semester seriously. It’s unfortunate but I can see why they do it.
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You sound very authoritative about the grade evaluation for reapplicants, far more so than me, a 3 decade plus BGO. I'm not sure where
you've gotten your admissions knowledge but even if someone in admissions told you things, it is not all encompassing as shown
by IronmanDaremo's post.

As for how to balance Cs at USNA vs other schools, I can tell you that during my time at USNA, I got many C's as did most of my classmates.
FWIW, the midpoint 4 year GPA when I graduated (middle of the class) was around 2.8. My gradschool GPA was a full point higher than my
USNA gpa. Beyond my experience as a grad school student, I am now a professor at a midsized institution and can tell you that the grades
given are almost all A/Bs. Generally, Cs come from lots of absences and not doing all of the work. That is VERY different from USNA.
 
My kid got a medical DQ after they reviewed his NROTC scholarship award acceptance, at the beginning of April. Jumped through hoops to respond to the medical check request, waitlisted by USNA at the purge (April 15), pulled off waitlist for the first on the forum in early May.
 
Edmund said:
Indeed. But a C is almost a certainty (not 100%, but close) killer for a re-applicant. To your point, a C shows regression and not progression.

I have questioned several people in admissions about this given the abundance of Cs earned by plebes at the Academy and have never been given a satisfactory answer. It seems a C is an easy way to immediately weed out the abundance of re-applicants who didn’t take their first year college semester seriously. It’s unfortunate but I can see why they do it.
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My DS got a C in both chem I and Calc I. Drew the two professors everyone avoids. He is killing chem ii and calc ii this semester….and physics!

I figure he will get in or he won’t. In his academic career still hasn’t made a B.

This class is has been handicapped by Covid…at least those in our commonwealths public schools. He will retake Calc I this summer to eradicate the C (colleges policy replaces totally) and chem I next fall if he doesn’t get picked up.
 
My kid's college made him take pre-Calc on his first semester as he didn't do well in his placement testing. He aced AP calc in his Jr. year in HS (fully remote).

He crushed the class and took Calc in the Spring that year. Still took the regular track as a Plebe (Calc I and II). He's a math major now.

A lot can change over time. People improve and grow. Somehow, the Noms and Appointment people can intuit that.
 
Kentucky9 said:
My DS got a C in both chem I and Calc I. Drew the two professors everyone avoids. He is killing chem ii and calc ii this semester….and physics!

I figure he will get in or he won’t. In his academic career still hasn’t made a B.

This class is has been handicapped by Covid…at least those in our commonwealths public schools. He will retake Calc I this summer to eradicate the C (colleges policy replaces totally) and chem I next fall if he doesn’t get picked up.
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Not sure if you are on the Facebook page for 2028 class, but I just saw another Kentucky kid got an appointment. Maybe that's yours?

Hope it is and that he beats the odds.

I am biased toward the southern kids!
 
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OldRetSWO said:
You sound very authoritative about the grade evaluation for reapplicants, far more so than me, a 3 decade plus BGO. I'm not sure where
you've gotten your admissions knowledge but even if someone in admissions told you things, it is not all encompassing as shown
by IronmanDaremo's post.

As for how to balance Cs at USNA vs other schools, I can tell you that during my time at USNA, I got many C's as did most of my classmates.
FWIW, the midpoint 4 year GPA when I graduated (middle of the class) was around 2.8. My gradschool GPA was a full point higher than my
USNA gpa. Beyond my experience as a grad school student, I am now a professor at a midsized institution and can tell you that the grades
given are almost all A/Bs. Generally, Cs come from lots of absences and not doing all of the work. That is VERY different from USNA.
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Agreed. I have discussed this many times with admissions folks, pointing out the average GPA for plebes. They get lots of Cs. But, it is what it is.

Eventually if you do this long enough, you come across the statistical anomaly and meet the re-applicant who beat the stats and got an appointment with a C. It’s a unicorn.
 
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A1Janitor said:
How do we know it beats the odds?

Anecdotal evidence?
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From admissions. But don’t take my word for it, ask for yourself.

There are re-applicants who get in with a C, but they are unicorns.

If you are advising a re-applicant, it’s a good rule of thumb to advise avoiding a C at all costs.
 
Edmund said:
From admissions. But don’t take my word for it, ask for yourself.

There are re-applicants who get in with a C, but they are unicorns.

If you are advising a re-applicant, it’s a good rule of thumb to advise avoiding a C at all costs.
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I would advise re-applicants to get straight As for the best possible chance.

I wouldn’t tell them a C is disqualifying per se.

How do you know their competition and whole candidate/person score?
 
A1Janitor said:
I would advise re-applicants to get straight As for the best possible chance.
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Good. That's the very best advice you can give a re-applicant.
A1Janitor said:
I wouldn’t tell them a C is disqualifying per se.
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Not per se, but the odds are certainly against you if you get one. It's not a great secret. Reach out to admissions and ask how many re-applicants get in with Cs and ceee what they say (pun intended!).
A1Janitor said:
How do you know their competition and whole candidate/person score?
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Obviously I, nor anyone here, would know that. I'm not interested in arguing this point. If you think lots of re-applicants get in with Cs, then I don't know what to tell you.
 
I think they advise everyone to take a plebe schedule.

Certainly many plebes get Cs.

I am only a parent of a graduate. Who has read these forums for 5 years.
 
A1Janitor said:
I think they advise everyone to take a plebe schedule.
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Indeed.
A1Janitor said:
Certainly many plebes get Cs.
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Exactly, which is why I have brought this up on various occasions with admissions. Knowing lots of plebes get Cs and knowing the average GPA of the plebe class, it seems like double standard to apply one standard for plebes and another for re-applicants during their first year of college. But, it is what it is. If you know the statistics and that admissions advises against getting Cs, then the re-applicant just has to do what they have to do to avoid them at all costs.

I'm not saying it is impossible, but it certainly is a statistical anomaly if a re-applicant gets in with a C. They are unicorns.

Interestingly, I saw on the prep school thread someone said Foundation students who receive a C must have their professor write to the USNA Foundation folks explaining why the Foundation student received the C.
A1Janitor said:
I am only a parent of a graduate. Who has read these forums for 5 years.
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Wonderful. Welcome to the club!
 
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Edmund said:
Not sure if you are on the Facebook page for 2028 class, but I just saw another Kentucky kid got an appointment. Maybe that's yours?

Hope it is and that he beats the odds.

I am biased toward the southern kids!
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Nope and in reality I have embraced the fact of those c’s. However, the rest of his package and those marks are all he had. If they are good enough they will get a good one. If his package is not good enough then he is still good enough.

If he can hold onto his current A’s in calc ii and chem ii…guess he will be on his way to reapply or finish up his degree here. He will retake Calc I and chem I at Annapolis or his current institution this summer or next fall.

He got so close to naps last year…probably doesn’t mean anything….but it should
 
Kentucky9 said:
Nope and in reality I have embraced the fact of those c’s. However, the rest of his package and those marks are all he had. If they are good enough they will get a good one. If his package is not good enough then he is still good enough.
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Darn, was hoping it might have been you. I like seeing the kids from the south getting appointments!

It looks like there's a lot of good kids from Kentucky this year so he would be in good company for sure.
Kentucky9 said:
If he can hold onto his current A’s in calc ii and chem ii…guess he will be on his way to reapply or finish up his degree here. He will retake Calc I and chem I at Annapolis or his current institution this summer or next fall.
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Is he doing Navy ROTC where he is now?
Kentucky9 said:
He got so close to naps last year…probably doesn’t mean anything….but it should
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How do you know he got close to NAPS last year? Was he waitlisted for it by chance?
 
NROTC no, ROTC yes….the college he could afford doesn’t offer nrotc

Got cut from naps waitlist 6-11-23…

As far as good kids from Kentucky I’m sure there are. Other than the board have seen no evidence of kentucky appointments. I figured there were multiple this late in the game.
 
Kentucky9 said:
NROTC no, ROTC yes….the college he could afford doesn’t offer nrotc
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Army?

Has he applied for the Army ROTC scholarship there?

Is he dead-set on Navy or open to Army now that he's doing ROTC there?
Kentucky9 said:
Got cut from naps waitlist 6-11-23…
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Darn. That's tough, I'm sorry. Hate to hear that.
Kentucky9 said:
As far as good kids from Kentucky I’m sure there are. Other than the board have seen no evidence of kentucky appointments. I figured there were multiple this late in the game.
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On the parents Facebook, I see quite a few from KY, with the latest one joining yesterday.
 
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