Reapplying when previously medically disqualified

M

madison

5-Year Member
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Nov 26, 2010
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Hi! I applied to USNA and USAFA last year and I didn't get in due to 2 medical disqualifications. The first was due to eye sight and the second to a tree nut allergy. I've been thinking about reapplying this year, but I need an honest opinion. Would it even be worth it? Am I just going to be stopped again by these medical problems or is there anything I can change to make this year different?

Thanks for any opinions or advice!
 
DoDMERB exams are valid for 2 yrs. I doubt they would make you go through the exam again, but instead the waiver process.

My only concern would be that the issues you stated appear not to be a medication issue, i.e. time regarding prescribed meds, instead it is more permanent with medical needs associated to the DQs. Deployment issue.

Doesn't hurt to throw in the hat.
 
Also something to consider; check with your ALO and find out how "Competitive" you were. You mentioned being disqualified, but not that you were put in for a waiver.

Guess what I'm trying to say is: If you were pretty competitive; had a real high GPA; stellar SAT/ACT; sports; leadership; etc... and your district/state has so many highly qualified applicants so the academy/dodmrb didn't think a waiver was necessary, then this year it might be advantageous to reapply. However; if you and your ALO determine that you weren't all that competitive compared to your competition, and that unless you had a major improvement it wouldn't help; then reapplying might not be such a productive thing.

People ask on the forums all the time: "What are my chances". NONE of us know, because we don't know your competition. However; after appointments are given out, ALO's do know how you stood against your competition. That doesn't mean that I or any other ALO is going to tell you your scores. We won't. But I'd have no problem telling one of my applicants who didn't get an appointment that s/he was "Really Close" or "You have a lot of work to do to equal those who did receive an appointment". The other caveat is: Next year's applicants will be different than this year. You could become MORE competitive with the same scores, or LESS competitive with higher scores. Remember; the only real areas you can approve on when "Re-applying" is SAT/ACT and kicking butt with COLLEGE Academics. You're not probably going to gain a ton of leadership experience in one year or become an Olympic qualifying finalist. But your ALO can give you a "FEEL" for how you did against your competition. Mind you; some ALO's will tell you straight up that they won't discuss your past application. You can't fault them for that. Some, might say: "You were really close" or "You really sucked" compared to the competition. But it's worth a call to them. best of luck. mike...
 
Thank you! Back when I was working on my application, my ALO told me that I was one of the best candidates he's ever had and he was pretty sure I would get in but then I had the medical thing so that clearly didn't happen... I'll talk to him about it though, thanks!
 
Not sure how USAFA works but USNA does not give BGOs (the equivalent of ALOs) any access to medical information due to privacy reasons. And, being perfectly honest, what your ALO said about your qualifications isn't determinative b/c he's seeing only a tiny handful of candidates each year and, like BGOs, probably doesn't have access to your entire package (e.g., teacher recs).

As I posted in response to your post in the USNA forum (Note: Please don't make the same posts in multiple forums for just this reason), you should contact your USAFA (and USNA) admissions personnel who can talk about your medical issues. Ask them if it woud be worth your while to reapply, assuming you'll do very well in college. I would go with their answer.
 
Usna1985. I wasn't implying that their ALO could tell them anything about their medical records or potential for waivers. But truth be told, if you have a pretty low overall score, medical waiver or not, you'd have a difficult time competing without a lot of work. I've had candidates who didn't make it ask me how they stood compared to those who did make it. I have no problem telling them they were definitely in the running or, you weren't really close in certain areas like academics or leadership. I won't tell them actual scores, but I will tell them areas they need to improve on. And whether that improvement needs to be a lot. I.e. if their comp act is 27 i'll say that those who made it had much higher scores. Obviously, the hard ones are the 3.8+ gpa and 33 act or 2200 sat who didn't make it. Hard to say why they didn't make it.

I was responding to the question of whether or not it would be worth trying again. There are many who are medically dq who think if it wasn't for that, they'd have an appointment. When in fact, many probably wouldn't have had an appointment even if they were medically qualified. I was simply suggesting that the individual find out more about their overall chances. There is a big gap between minimum qualification standards and the actual scores of appointees. E.g. 3.86 gpa is the average appointee gpa. But that's a lot higher than minimum qualification.
 
I get what Christcorp was trying to say in his very polite manner.

You were DQ'd, were you put up for a waiver? If the answer is no, than it probably comes back to being seen as non-competitive. Sorry.

If you were put up for a waiver, and still got DQ, the question is with this past yr., would the outcome be different? I.E. Meds were an issue, and now you are off them, vision changed.

You won't have that answer no matter how many times you ask it here until you go for it.

Every case is different. There may be a 99% rejection rate, but that still means 1% makes it. You can be the 1% IF you apply.

Throw all of this out the door, and remember the military life is not easy. You have to fight for everything, nobody is going to hand you the keys. If you are unwilling to fight now just to get the chance, than maybe you should not go further.

I am not trying to be harsh, I am trying to be realistic. We can't or shouldn't tell you when to stop. We can and should guide/support you on your journey.

Your life, your choice!
 
Christcorp, you and I (and Pima) are all saying the same thing. I honestly don't know what the policy re medical data is for ALOs b/c I don't know their relationship with the USAFA. The only ALO I've ever met (at an awards ceremony) was on active duty and I have some recollection that USMA uses (or used to use) only active duty or reserve officers as MLOs; that policy may well have changed. BGOs can be civilians with no legal attachment to the USN other than the BGO program.

Thus, there may well be different standards for medical information for ALOs and MLOs than for BGOs -- maybe they are told more than we are. But, since I don't know, I'm not going to guess, assume or put out inaccurate info:smile:. That was the only reason for my hedging.

I fully agree with your point that a BGO or ALO can provide some insight into competitiveness. But BGOs/ALOs can be wrong b/c we don't see the whole packet (at least BGOs do not). So, IMO, the best source is SA admissions itself.
 
I agree 100%. No, we don't get their medical info either; other than qualified or not qualified. We have channels to find out a little more, but it's not really necessary. I don't think you BGO's and us ALO's are set up that different.

I've seen many applicants, similar to the OP's initial comment, where they say: "I WOULD HAVE received an appointment, EXCEPT xxxxxxxxxxxx". Many times, an individual probably wouldn't have received an appointment, even if they didn't have that "xxxxxxx 1 thing" stopping them. So if this individual definitely knows he was DQ'd medically this past season; then before attempting reapplying, believing that if they take care of this "xxxxxx 1 thing" they'll get an appointment, I always suggest they talk with their ALO/MALO/BGO to see if they truly were competitive except for the "xxxxxx 1 thing". They may find that they really weren't as competitive as they thought.

I know it sounds like I'm repeating and rehashing. Just want others and the OP reading this to not think that I'm saying "Don't Reapply". I'm simply saying; "If you're going to reapply, get everything lined up. Get as close to a real understanding of how competitive you were"; prior to starting the process. An ALO/BGO/MALO can tell you that you were their BEST applicant; but you might not have been anywhere close to the other applicants in the state with a different ALO/BGO/MALO who did receive an appointment. Your ALO/MALO/BGO won't be able to answer all your questions, but if they're honest with you, you can get a truthful understanding of how competitive you really are.

I just find it discouraging when an applicant says how close they were to getting an appointment, and they are bragging about their resume and you discover they weren't really that close. If a person isn't going to reapply, and instead attend a civilian college/university, then there's no problem with believing you were one of the best and the academy missed out on a great cadet because they didn't appoint you. It's part of human rationalizing and self worth. Nothing wrong with that. But if you truly are going to reapply, then it could be beneficial and self enlightening to have your ALO/BGO/MALO say: "You really were in the running" or "Your scores were good, but they weren't really like those of the one's who received an appointment".
 
Pima - how do I know if I was actually put up for a waiver? I always assumed I was but I don't think I fully understood how the process worked. Could you explain a little more about it?
 
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