Summer Seminar

[Hopeful MDN]

Are the chances of me getting into the Naval Academy greater if I attended Summer Seminar this past June? Does this technically mean I am academically qualified?

 

[buffalosoldier92]

They're not higher. A friend of mine was accepted to the USAFA Summer Seminar, only to not be granted admittance to the Air Force Academy.

 

[MIDNDAD]

There are no absolute answers either way. There are significant numbers of midshipman who did not attend SS and there are a lot who did. As a rough guess, and only a guess on my part, I speculate about 60% of midshipman attended SS and 40% did not.

What attending SS does do is give admissions an evaluation of you as a person and not just an application where you may look good on paper but in reality you are a ####bag. It's not a make or break deal but it's one more data point someone in admissions has on you vs. somone else.

Lastly attending SS has nothing to do with you being academicly qualified. That is a completely seperate piece of the 4 part application process to the Academy.

 

[Hopeful MDN]

thanks for the feedback, the Summer Seminar was amazing. But I have been to a Candidate Visit Weekend at the Academy and I think from what I saw there that they sugar coat the Summer Seminar a little too much...

 

[usna1985]

Are the chances of me getting into the Naval Academy greater if I attended Summer Seminar this past June? Does this technically mean I am academically qualified?

No and no. Let me take the second question first.

NASS is a recruiting tool and is targeted to geographic areas and schools from which USNA has historically had few or no students. Thus, a "lesser" qualified student in North Dakota is more likely to get an offer to NASS than a more highly qualified candidate from Anne Arundel County, MD (where USNA is located).

Being accepted to NASS does NOT mean you are academically qualified for USNA just as being rejected from NASS does NOT mean you will not be academically qualified. The NASS criteria are not as broad nor as stringent as USNA and, as noted, students are accepted and rejected for reasons beyond their academic -- or other -- abilities.

As for the first question, in and of itself, going to NASS won't help you get in. There is one small exception. Attending NASS and doing well there demonstrates that you have some familiarity with what is expected at USNA as compared to someone who has not had that experience. In a tie-breaker situation, it MIGHT make the difference. But, that is VERY UNLIKELY.

Basically, NASS exists as a way to introduce USNA to students (and their friends) who aren't aware of it or don't know much about it and to help candidates decide if USNA is for them. Nothing more, nothing less.

BTW, it is true that about 35% of the current USNA class attended NASS. However, 65% did not. Finally, not attending NASS for WHATEVER reason -- including if you were accepted to go and turned it down -- will not hurt you in the admissions process.