DS received a non-selection letter today. He took the news well. While attending USCGA was far and away his first choice, he also knew the odds were long. He mentioned reapplying next year, but we only talked briefly after he read the letter.
The letter has a stunning statistic. Following the, "I regret to inform you..." opening sentence, it reads: "Over 4,000 students throughout the nation have already applied for an appointment, resulting in the Cadet Candidate Evaluation Board reviewing more applications this year than in any of the past two decades. From this group, we will appoint less than 350 candidates. As you probably realize, this is a very selective year."
By way of comparison, Objee reported that a total of 1,017 applications were reviewed in last year's EA process and the class profile for this year's 4C/freshman class states that 2,344 completed the application process. The letter doesn't say that all 4,000+ applications were completed, but also keep in mind that the EA deadline was extended until 11/7 and the letter is dated 11/8.
The surge in applications and the reduction of the class size from 291 to 242 are going to make this a hard year for a lot of people, including the Admissions staff. When I looked at the stats from last year, 16% of the each of the pools of EA and RA applicants were offered appointments. If one takes 1/2 of the 350 number used in the letter and divides it by 4,000 for a guess at the percentage of applicants who will be offered an appointment in EA, the percentage falls to around 4%. There may be some semantic issues with this calculation [e.g does "applied" = "reviewed"?], but in any case, characterizing this as a "very selective" year, is an understatement.
I'm sure that some applicants will wonder how they compare to DS. I'd say that based on the numbers, he fits comfortably in the class profile of the Class of 2015, but his stats are a bit low compared to those who were accepted in EA last year.
Goldenlion, the letter was dated Tuesday, the 8th, postmarked the 10th and received today, the 12th. We live in the Boston area and there was no mail service yesterday because of the Veterans' Day holiday, so DS received it the first mail day after it was post marked.
What I posted on Tuesday in "Thoughts While Waiting" still stands. I have great admiration for everyone associated with the Coast Guard. While we are disappointed that DS was not offered an appointment, we have no gripes with the process and, as DS said when we were discussing the letter, there is no shame in having sought an appointment and been deemed competitive, but not selected.
In closing, these numbers shouldn't dissuade anyone from applying who shares the dream, but recognize that the odds are especially long this year and Plan Bs are a necessity. For those who are offered appointments, congratulations, you have earned a wonderful opportunity - make the best of it.
The letter has a stunning statistic. Following the, "I regret to inform you..." opening sentence, it reads: "Over 4,000 students throughout the nation have already applied for an appointment, resulting in the Cadet Candidate Evaluation Board reviewing more applications this year than in any of the past two decades. From this group, we will appoint less than 350 candidates. As you probably realize, this is a very selective year."
By way of comparison, Objee reported that a total of 1,017 applications were reviewed in last year's EA process and the class profile for this year's 4C/freshman class states that 2,344 completed the application process. The letter doesn't say that all 4,000+ applications were completed, but also keep in mind that the EA deadline was extended until 11/7 and the letter is dated 11/8.
The surge in applications and the reduction of the class size from 291 to 242 are going to make this a hard year for a lot of people, including the Admissions staff. When I looked at the stats from last year, 16% of the each of the pools of EA and RA applicants were offered appointments. If one takes 1/2 of the 350 number used in the letter and divides it by 4,000 for a guess at the percentage of applicants who will be offered an appointment in EA, the percentage falls to around 4%. There may be some semantic issues with this calculation [e.g does "applied" = "reviewed"?], but in any case, characterizing this as a "very selective" year, is an understatement.
I'm sure that some applicants will wonder how they compare to DS. I'd say that based on the numbers, he fits comfortably in the class profile of the Class of 2015, but his stats are a bit low compared to those who were accepted in EA last year.
Goldenlion, the letter was dated Tuesday, the 8th, postmarked the 10th and received today, the 12th. We live in the Boston area and there was no mail service yesterday because of the Veterans' Day holiday, so DS received it the first mail day after it was post marked.
What I posted on Tuesday in "Thoughts While Waiting" still stands. I have great admiration for everyone associated with the Coast Guard. While we are disappointed that DS was not offered an appointment, we have no gripes with the process and, as DS said when we were discussing the letter, there is no shame in having sought an appointment and been deemed competitive, but not selected.
In closing, these numbers shouldn't dissuade anyone from applying who shares the dream, but recognize that the odds are especially long this year and Plan Bs are a necessity. For those who are offered appointments, congratulations, you have earned a wonderful opportunity - make the best of it.
