Summer Seminar

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benjimann

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I just started my junior year of high school and I want to apply to the naval academy. I heard about the summer seminar at the naval academy and I am going to apply for it in January. If I am accepted to the seminar is it likely I will be accepted to the academy? What if am not accepted? How important does the seminar look on applications? Thank you for your time.
 
Don’t know if I can top @usnausafa2023 for pithiness and accuracy. So I’ll just expound a bit.

NASS is an awesome experience. The greatest benefit for you is that you’ll get a pretty good look at USNA life. It’s not a perfect view — I call it Mid Life Lite — but it’s better than applying sight unseen. But it will have virtually no impact, if even that, on your strength of application. That’s because NASS is a recruiting tool, aimed at attracting high-end candidates, but also those from under-represented groups and regions. So many very “qualified” candidates go uninvited. As far as folks on this forum know (and they’re a pretty informed bunch), there are no points in WCS for NASS attendees. And to put you more at ease, about 3/4 of this year’s plebe class did not attend NASS.

So if you get in, great. If you don’t, not to worry. Best wishes to you.
 
And be prepared to wait. DS went to NASS and applied in early January but didn't get accepted until late March.

It is a great experience. He loved it.
 
MidCakePa said:
Don’t know if I can top @usnausafa2023 for pithiness and accuracy. So I’ll just expound a bit.

NASS is an awesome experience. The greatest benefit for you is that you’ll get a pretty good look at USNA life. It’s not a perfect view — I call it Mid Life Lite — but it’s better than applying sight unseen. But it will have virtually no impact, if even that, on your strength of application. That’s because NASS is a recruiting tool, aimed at attracting high-end candidates, but also those from under-represented groups and regions. So many very “qualified” candidates go uninvited. As far as folks on this forum know (and they’re a pretty informed bunch), there are no points in WCS for NASS attendees. And to put you more at ease, about 3/4 of this year’s plebe class did not attend NASS.

So if you get in, great. If you don’t, not to worry. Best wishes to you.
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Thank you!
 
My DS attended NASS in 2017. He was encouraged to applied for it by a Midshipman that he talked to during his junior year. Since we didn’t have family members in the military, it helped him see what he was aspiring for. It is not hard like the Academy, but it solidified his desire to apply. He was able to talk about the experience during his nomination interviews. If you get a chance to go, GO. But, if you don’t, it won’t be a factor in your application.
 
I loved NASS, great time. I met some really cool people and learned a ton about academy life. That being said, one thing my midshipman impressed on me was that NASS is a super small taste of what plebe summer is like.

While it doesn't help your WCS, I'm guessing it is a good sign to be admitted? In terms of your overall packet strength
 
Agree with above. My Mid said it was the best/most amazing experience of his life (at the time...it has since been topped I’m pretty sure since he is now a Plebe).

Highly recommend. I think it added to the drive to go, in his case (since he had t even stepped foot on the Yard to that point). It was a concrete example, vs YouTube and google.

Im 99pct confident he was the only one in his NASS squad to receive an appointment. So no it’s not a huge determine factor in offers from admissions.

What I always point out to this question when posed, is that while I agree (based upon statistics I read) attending doesn’t appear to have a direct impact on an appointment offer from admissions, in our case at least it did have an impact indirectly, at least in part, as at least one of his nominating sources said (I heard it ) “we should start assigning points to those that attend a summer seminar”. This was during a meet and great with that MOC. Her point is that is shows a desire to really go. An effort was made to experience the academy, so the candidate has a good knowledge of what they are getting into. DS ultimately received her nomination.

Go if you can. Don’t be concerned if you cannot. You will have an amazing week, and have a great peek into the world of the Academy.
 
I never thought of it that way. Even though NASS has nothing to do with being admitted, I suppose that it could influence someone on a nomination panel.
 
THParent said:
I never thought of it that way. Even though NASS has nothing to do with being admitted, I suppose that it could influence someone on a nomination panel.
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I’m confident it at least helped get him put into the right pile. She really liked that he attended. I don’t think many (if any) from our district attended.

He talked about it a lot, in his multiple interviews. For NROTC as well. How could it not at least help? Again, indirectly...not as an assigned point value from admissions. But just like everything in this whole process, it’s not any ONE single thing that gets that “thumbs up” from admissions. Or from a MOC. It’s the WHOLE PERSON.
 
contrary to some of the posts above, your attendance at NASS can have an impact on your application, but in most cases it won't be a big factor.

A written evaluation is done for every NASS attendee, and that evaluation is included in the package that is reviewed by the Board. A strong evaluation can add points to the whole person multiplier, and a particularly negative evaluation can certainly raise eyebrows. The evaluation is one of many subjective factors that the board looks at, including personal statement, BGO evaluation, other letters of rec from people based on personal observation, etc.

That said, while NASS attendance gives admissions bit more info about you to consider, it is certainly not a negative if you do not attend.
 
A6E Dad said:
contrary to some of the posts above, your attendance at NASS can have an impact on your application, but in most cases it won't be a big factor.

A written evaluation is done for every NASS attendee, and that evaluation is included in the package that is reviewed by the Board. A strong evaluation can add points to the whole person multiplier, and a particularly negative evaluation can certainly raise eyebrows. The evaluation is one of many subjective factors that the board looks at, including personal statement, BGO evaluation, other letters of rec from people based on personal observation, etc.

That said, while NASS attendance gives admissions bit more info about you to consider, it is certainly not a negative if you do not attend.
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COMPLETELY, 100% agree. First and foremost, if you are really interested in applying but do not know too much, hopefully you will get enough of a "taste" to know if it's a fit, or NOT. I spoke with my son at NASS Session 1 in 2016 and on the first night he said, "Mom, I am a broken man - physically and mentally. But I am FULLY COMMITTED!" His NASS detailer nominated him for something...Candidate of the Platoon? Who knows...but I am convinced his evaluation helped, in a big way. We are from a "non-competitive" area and although my DS received the Principle Nomination, his scores were not "off the charts", think admission average. But I think you show true grit, character and that you are a team player - - just might be the tipping point. Having said that - - MANY of his current Company did NOT attend NASS. He is a Youngster now...Class of 2021.
 
I see and hear a lot of people saying it doesn’t matter if you attend or not. My daughter went to Army, Navy & Air Force Summer programs. Nearly every kid either got direct entry or prep school. Just coincidence? I don’t know but that’s what happened. My daughter was offered a Falcon scholarship for Airforce but took Naval Academy Preparatory School, NAPS (currently there).
 
As far as noms are concerned, it is a question on our representative's and at least one of our senator's application packages. Not sure how much it counts but they do ask about it so it can't be nothing.
 
Sam2018 said:
Not sure how much it counts but they do ask about it so it can't be nothing.
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Let’s call it “close to nothing.” USNA itself calls it a “marketing/recruiting” tool. For every person who gets in, there are many more who didn’t, with equal or superior stats.

So if you get into NASS and that makes you feel better, terrific. If you don’t get get into NASS, no big deal. More than 3/4 of the Class of 2022 didn’t either.
 
A6E Dad said:
contrary to some of the posts above, your attendance at NASS can have an impact on your application, but in most cases it won't be a big factor.

A written evaluation is done for every NASS attendee, and that evaluation is included in the package that is reviewed by the Board. A strong evaluation can add points to the whole person multiplier, and a particularly negative evaluation can certainly raise eyebrows
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^ This ! NASS is first and foremost a recruiting/marketing tool. However, there are only limited slots and acceptance is not necessarily based upon who is the most qualified candidates . There are several factors that go into determining whether one is accepted or not. While there are certainly plenty of NASS participants that come from the Annapolis/Northeast VA area, the kid that knows and has always wanted to attend USNA is not necessarily the target audience.

I think that it is more appropriate to say that whether you get into NASS is not an indicator of your competitiveness for Appointment. There are plenty of very highly qualified candidates who have always dreamed of attending USNA that get passed over in order to make room for lesser qualified candidates from underrepresented areas, or even highly qualified candidates that are unsure of their interest in USNA. For example, I have a relative that attended NASS a couple years ago --highly qualified, rocket scientist and athlete , that was encouraged to to apply to NASS by his HS guidance officer and local BGO, He was accepted to, and attended NASS , and while he enjoyed the experience --decided a Service Academy was not for him. I have no doubt that he would have been successful if he had applied,and he would have been an outstanding Midshipman and Naval Officer, but he decided to go to a top Ivy League school instead. Of course, this opened an opportunity to attend USNA to someone else that really wanted to be there. I consider that a program success.
 
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