Significance of Candidate Visit Weekend Invite?

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Hopful_Mil_Kid

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Hello good people of the Service Academy Forms,

I just received an invitation to Candidate Visit Weekend weekend, and I’m trying to decide how to proceed.

Baseline facts:
  • Attended Summer Seminar
  • USNA is my #1 choice
  • I feel like I know enough about what I’m getting myself into to go to USNA without any serious reservations
  • I Live on the West Coast
  • I live in a competitive district, representative is ranked choice (so I think LOA would really help)
  • My representative does principal nominations with ranked alternates. (I can’t remember what it is for senator, but those are a wild shot in the dark, especially considering I’m in CA)
  • I’m continuing to study and am signed up to retake the SAT 2 more times (I’m worse at ACT.) I'm trying to get into that “Top 200 applicants” nomination exception to remove that unknown

I’m talking to the track coach, but haven’t been offered anything besides “recruit status” I got a letter from him early in 11th grade saying I could put him down as the recruiting coach or something along those lines. This was based on 10th-grade times. I got a bad case of the flu winter of 11th grade, which ended my cross-country session at the section level, and threw a monkey wrench in my Track session. I’m back on track now and should be well under all relevant time standards in track and Cross Country. I’m also talking to the Westpoint and Coast Gaurd Coaches

My questions are this:
  1. Does the invitation to candidate visit weekend mean anything? In previous threads, I saw stuff about it being an “exclusive thing” but also saw that that was in years past and that maybe it wasn't as big a deal as it used to be. So what’s the deal with CVW?
  2. How would I go about asking for an LOA? Is that appropriate? If so how and or when? Would going to CVW meaningfully increase my chances of an LOA or admission?

I realize this post is long, just wanted to make sure I included all the relevant information :)

Thank you for the advice!
 
If you feel strongly about USNA and saw what you needed to see during Summer Seminar, then you shouldn’t feel obligated to do CVW. It can be expensive and take time away from other priorities. (Consider that CVW will provide a more realistic view of mid life because school is in session. But that may not matter to you.)

One does not ask for an LOA. If that was a thing, then just about everyone would ask. USNA issues LOAs for a variety of reasons. They may not be the reasons you think. Very few receive them. So all you can do is make your best case. Maybe it’ll result in an LOA, maybe it won’t.
 
CVW is another 'way' to see USNA. At NASS, you did not have a chance to observe Plebe life, but CVW provides that 'view.' It is a recuiting tool for the Academy so clearly they believe you are a good candidate to become a midshipman. No guarantees, but it is a 'good sign.'

As @MidCakePa noted, you do not ask for an LOA, but you may have a chance to connect with the Navy Track Coach. You may want to reach out to him/her. Often, LOAs are offered to recruited athletes. My student received one for baseball at Navy two years ago. Thus, that may be part of a discussion with the coach if you are able to schedule a meeting.

Best of luck with your applications!
 
MidCakePa said:
If you feel strongly about USNA and saw what you needed to see during Summer Seminar, then you shouldn’t feel obligated to do CVW. It can be expensive and take time away from other priorities. (Consider that CVW will provide a more realistic view of mid life because school is in session. But that may not matter to you.)

One does not ask for an LOA. If that was a thing, then just about everyone would ask. USNA issues LOAs for a variety of reasons. They may not be the reasons you think. Very few receive them. So all you can do is make your best case. Maybe it’ll result in an LOA, maybe it won’t.
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That is the conclusion I came to as well. Would be a very cool experience, but given the expense I can probably do without the trip.

About the loa... Noted. I won't ask outright, don't want to break any taboos. Probably should just email the coach again...

Academician said:
CVW is another 'way' to see USNA. At NASS, you did not have a chance to observe Plebe life, but CVW provides that 'view.' It is a recuiting tool for the Academy so clearly they believe you are a good candidate to become a midshipman. No guarantees, but it is a 'good sign.'

As @MidCakePa noted, you do not ask for an LOA, but you may have a chance to connect with the Navy Track Coach. You may want to reach out to him/her. Often, LOAs are offered to recruited athletes. My student received one for baseball at Navy two years ago. Thus, that may be part of a discussion with the coach if you are able to schedule a meeting.

Best of luck with your applications!
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Right. Again, would love to go but flying across the country may not be the best use of time at this point.

My original plain was to email coach again, thank him for any role he played in recommending me for the visit, and explain why I'm declining the invite (because I already know USNA is already my #1 choice, and its far and expensive.) I was also going to send an email like this to admissions, regardless.

My parants were recomending that I ask the coach weather or he thought he thought I should go to CVA, and ask what times I would need to run to get an LOA. I guess the real question in my mind was, if I don't go, am I endangering my chances? Becasue if going would significantly increase my chances of an LOA, than I would be scrambling to buy a plain ticket regardless of price.

Thank you both for taking the time to help! I'm glad I posted this and didn't barg ahead in asking for an LOA :)
 
You aren’t endangering anything. And there is no run time for an LOA.
 
jbm2m said:
I’m guessing they’re referencing the candidates who may not win their slates, but are offered an appointment to fill out the class
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I thought LOA (top 100 ?) would be in better position to fill out the class
 
jbm2m said:
I’m guessing they’re referencing the candidates who may not win their slates, but are offered an appointment to fill out the class
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Yes. I just checked, its actually the top 150 candidates (by whole person multiple) on the national waiting list get offered appointments automatically.

To be fair, I'm saying that I'm trying to be one of the best candidates they get to make my admissions journey easier, which is kind of the whole idea to begin with, lol :). SATs, and CFA are the things I still make a difference on now, so I'm trying to focus on that.
 
Hopful_Mil_Kid said:
Yes. I just checked, its actually the top 150 candidates (by whole person multiple) on the national waiting list get offered appointments automatically.

To be fair, I'm saying that I'm trying to be one of the best candidates they get to make my admissions journey easier, which is kind of the whole idea to begin with, lol :). SATs, and CFA are the things I still make a difference on now, so I'm trying to focus on that.
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Did you also apply for NROTC given USNA is so competitive (also in competitive district ) ? DS is in a very selective STEM magnet program. This year there are at least 3 students in his class applying for SAs. All of them are very competitive academically (SAT above 1580, GPA above 4.9). DS is just finishing up his NROTC application to catch next month board meeting.
 
Attending or not attending CVW will not add to or subtract from your candidate score. That would be unfair because many candidates lack the time and/or money to attend.
 
Yes, I'm applying to NROTC (also hoping to catch that next bord :) and AFROTC. All the civilian collages I'm applying to have one of those 2 rotc programs. I'm applying to USMA, USAFA and USCGA as well. I've talked to the coaches from these schools.
 
Hopful_Mil_Kid said:
Yes, I'm applying to NROTC (also hoping to catch that next bord :) and AFROTC. All the civilian collages I'm applying to have one of those 2 rotc programs. I'm applying to USMA, USAFA and USCGA as well. I've talked to the coaches from these schools.
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Have you researched USMMA? Of all the federal academies, that offers the broadest reach of options, from sailing on your license to commissioning in any of the 6 armed services?
 
All, there are no dumb or off base questions for USNA Admissions, Coaches or BGOs. It's fine to ask about LOAs, etc. They understand the process is complex and not well understood. As long as your question is respectful, it's fine to ask. Now, for most BGOs, when it comes time to do the official BGO interview...they expect that you will have done your research all about USNA (it's all on the website).
 
Hopful_Mil_Kid said:
Yes. I just checked, its actually the top 150 candidates (by whole person multiple) on the national waiting list get offered appointments automatically.

To be fair, I'm saying that I'm trying to be one of the best candidates they get to make my admissions journey easier, which is kind of the whole idea to begin with, lol :). SATs, and CFA are the things I still make a difference on now, so I'm trying to focus on that.
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The top 150 candidates thing is actually specifically a West Point regulation that is set into law. USNA does do something similar but I've never seen a formal name or number other than "Additional Applicants. In your earlier post you seemed to imply that the 200 (that you mentioned) did not need to have nominations but that is not true. The 150 Wait list (USNA Additional Applicants) all need to have noms. Even if they are low on a ranked list, that is still a nom.
 
OP, something you may want to talk with the track coach about, is what he/she means by ‘recruit status’. If the Coach is keeping in touch with you, that’s a good thing. I had two sports recruits. One apparently upper level (although we didn’t know at the time…but he was flown out and wined and dined, phone calls with parents and coaches, etc), and another ‘low level’ (we will see you if you get an appointment).

Ultimately, both boys received their own nominations, didn’t need any ‘help’. But, it’s good to know this piece for your nomination packets. Perhaps you would want to let your NOM’s know of your sports recruitment.

Also, FYI, a sports recruit is tagged and follows a certain admissions process team assigned to them.

A CVW is NOT necessary. Nor will you be dinged, or advanced, from attending, or not. I like your idea about thanking them and explaining your reasoning for politely declining.

Good luck, don’t forget to report if/when you receive an offer!! #RunFastTurnLeft 🏃🏻‍♂️💨
 
There are varying degrees of being an athletic recruit. And based upon what happens with other recruits, that status could change daily to be honest. If a coach has offered to tag you as a recruit, that is good. Will it do anything? Maybe, maybe not. If the coaches really want you they would be proactively reaching out to you weekly per NCAA rules and offering an athletic visit which is very different than a CVW. That would show you are at the top of their list and might expend one of their blue chips on a qualified candidate. If you aren’t hearing those things from the coach, well it means you are on their radar, but not high on the list.

A CVW is a great thing as it allows a candidate to see USNA from a real lens. But, if USNA is your #1, then I would say it’s not requirement. CVWs will not impact admissions decisions. Also, an LOA may or may not happen. Asking a coach about X time = an LOA… might lead to an answer or not. Asking what time would make me a top recruit is a more tangible question with an easier answer. The athletic website has times posted coaches put down to help guage these things. Have you looked at those? Have you looked at the current team times, how do fair?
 
NavyHoops said:
Asking what time would make me a top recruit is a more tangible question with an easier answer. The athletic website has times posted coaches put down to help guage these things. Have you looked at those? Have you looked at the current team times, how do fair?
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If you go to Navysports.com, there was an article a few days ago about the first Cross Country competition of the year (both male and female) and their times were included. I'd venture to say that if you would have placed above some of the times listed then you'd have a pretty strong reason to expect some interest from the coaches.
 
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