Role of Parents in BGO Interview

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Jul 8, 2019
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I have a BGO interview coming up. My BGO informed me to have both of my parents at the interview as well. What exactly is the role of my parents there, and are they present for the whole interview? Thanks.
 
I am a parent of a USNA candidate. Parent role for us was minor. BGO just asked us a few questions at the end of his interview. It was more if we had any questions for him. We were not in the room for 95% of the interview.
 
Four years ago, my DS went to the BGO interview himself as no request for parental presence was requested.

So BGOs may vary on this.
 
At our Field Force interview for USMA, the main thing he focused on was is the idea to apply to USMA our DS's, or ours? Then, do WE know exactly what it entails to attend and to serve afterwards? Finally, are we supportive of the decision?
I think they find that if any of those answers are not optimal, attrition rate is higher.
 
For DD, BGO came to our home. Asked DD’s mom and I to join them at the start. He mainly wanted to know if we had any questions. DD’s mom had a few — she was uncomfortable back then about her little girl joining the military — and then we were dismissed after about 15 minutes. I left the house to run errands, DD’s mom went into the office to read, and we didn’t see the BGO again that afternoon.
 
Our experience was very similar to that of @MidCakePa

BGO showed up at your house in the evening in early Sept. We offered him water and some snacks. He spoke to DD and us. He pulled out a summary sheet on DD. Asked her questions like why she didn’t attend NASS even though she was selected, what does she want to do in the USN, and why does she want to go to the USNA. For expectation management, he told us he was going to write up the interview eval and submit within a week. He kept his word. Within 5-6 days, DD’s portal showed the BGO interview as complete.

After about 30-45 minutes, the BGO told us he wanted to interview DD alone. We went to the basement with the cats (wanted no distraction for the BGO and DD). After about 1 1/4 hours, BGO left and DD got us from the basement. He left some time between 9-9:30pm.
 
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Light snacks, some cookies, and refreshments can’t hurt .... Not that I am a BGO, but I always like the smell of a good meal cooking in the kitchen when I’m invited over for some kind of social.
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Our daughter, my wife and me spent about 30 to 45 minutes talking with her BGO. Then he talked to her for nearly an hour alone.
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I usually go to the candidates home and expect there is a parental unit in the house during the interview, not present in the room. I usually speak to the parents for about 10-15 minutes to answer any questions they have. This is a good time to find out if the parent is driving the application.
 
My wife and I were present for the first and last part of it, as it was done at our dining room table. The hour or so in between was just the two of them.
I don't believe that the BGO asked us a single question. I got the impression that he was there to "sell" my DS on the Naval Academy, when that was the last thing he needed to do. ;)

I remember the three of us getting together afterward and saying to each other: "That was it?" It was a rather bizarre experience, really. The BGO spent more time talking about his own experience in The Navy than anything else. He clearly thought that was the best part of his life, so he was certainly a good cheerleader in that respect.

Our collective take-away from the experience was "Don't sweat the BGO interview."
 
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BGO wanted parents and DD for the entire interview. DH and I said absolutely nothing. At the end, he had her go sit away from us and asked us one open ended question, which we took to be our level of commitment and support. 1 hr 40 mins total.
 
Our experience was very close to THParent . We went to the BGO's office around 5:30 pm. His office was large enough for two areas, so we sat at a table on one side of the room and he and DS sat at his desk. We were there for the entire time. The BGO discussed the honor code for the majority of the first hour and then just told stories about his time at the naval academy for the next hour and a half.
 
BGO interview was 3 hours at our home a few weeks ago. Parents asked to stay entire time. Every time he finished a section of questioning, he asked us if our son had missed anything. A couple of times at that point we prompted to tell about x. We were surprised we were not released after the intro and viewing of a video (first 20 minutes). But BGO said he does it that way for all his people because he wants to make sure that he captured everything about the candidate.
 
I think the upshot of all these individual experiences is that one size doesn't fit all, that there as many different variations on this as there are BGO's, that in the end, while the candidate needs to be prepared, this isn't anything to lose sleep over.
 
My dad's side of the family has 3 generations of Annapolis grads so I am familiar with the process and what attending entails. Our son wanted to fly solo on the interview so he went up alone. He arrived 20 minutes early (Starbucks) and ordered water for both of them. BGO arrived and the interview lasted just over an hour and a half. BGO and West Point interviewers both asked about mom and dad and were comfortable with his explanation as to why we were not in attendance. Good luck!
 
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