Shadow a Midshipman

[JohnJr1601]

Hello Again,
I have heard from many Naval Academy students and Alumni and many of them said that you can Shadow a Midshipman for a day. They said that you need to be invited to do so, but to get an invitation only requires a quick phone call to the admissions department and a stong GPA. I was wondering if anyone new anything about this, or if someone does then I was just wondering if they could give me some more info about the program.

 

[helmsdown]

LOL, the Plebes call them "drags". DD attended STEM, SS and CVW, even got up at 5 and went and worked out with a couple of Plebes. She said attending the physics class gave her some perspective on where her schooling was in relation to what was going to be taught at the Academy.

 

[truenorth]

From your previous posts, I presume you now understand what NASS is. The "shadow a mid" program you heard about is CVW: Candidate Visit Weekend. I would describe the difference between the two programs as this: the CVW helps a candidate understand the Academy from a student perspective while NASS helps a candidate understand the Academy from a squad/physical/military perspective. Neither program is mandatory for admission nor does attendance at either program improve admission chances. For the Candidate, the salient benefit to attending either program is to provide a perspective of what life is like as a Midshipman.

In response to one of your earlier threads, Capt MJ offered sage advice regarding reviewing everything posted on the USNA Admission site. Read & Heed.

 

[usna1985]

CVWs are offered on certain WEs during the fall and spring. The WE typically starts on Thursday night and ends Saturday around noon. You are assigned to a plebe and attend activities with him/her during the school day then stay in his/her room at night. On Friday afternoon, you're free to contact a coach if there is a sport that interests you (vs. going to the same sport in which your host participates). Saturday you would do the morning activities with the company and then could stay for football game (if there is one that WE and at your expense) or depart. There may be briefings for parents on Saturday, but I'm not sure about this.

You must pay the cost of participating (e.g., airfare, ground transportation) and it obviously requires you to miss 1-2 days of your h.s. classes.

There typically are more slots available than candidates who can attend. So, if you're interested, contact your Admission Officer at USNA and request a visit.