The Role of Blue and Gold Officers

Area Coordinators (the informal "supervisors" of BGOs -- I say informal b/c everyone is a volunteer) generally track candidates who have most / all of their packets complete and are missing interviews. They typically "nag" the BGOs to get them done and, if that doesn't happen, will often try to reassign the candidate to a BGO who has greater availability. It appears something is falling through the cracks in this case. For example, the BGO may have quit the program or may have changed email address.

Also, please keep in mind that the BGOs are dealing with an entirely new computer system that was only introduced a few months ago and which is NOT AT ALL user friendly. It's much harder for ACs and BGOs to determine status, reassign candidates, etc. Not making excuses, just explaining reality. Not to mention that some folks have been hit harder with COVID issues -- again, not an excuse but could be a reason.

I agree that DS should reach out to the AC. He should be polite and indicate that he has made numerous efforts to contact the BGO for an interview without success and ask for guidance. That should spark some action. As noted, in the end, Admissions will review the record without an interview.

For the record, I'm with OldNavyBGO and OldRetSWO -- I'm a resource but not a pseudo "helo parent." As I tell my candidates, if they make it to USNA, I won't be there to hold their hands or nag them to get things done, etc.
It is now 4 days short of 5 months since my son's first reach-out to the BGO Area Coordinator (after meeting him twice at USNA seminars). It is also over 4 months since he reached out initially to his BGO once assigned to his portal. No response at all. His Area Coordinator was assigned on Monday as his BGO in his portal. He e-mailed him Monday and left a voicemail today. My son has 2 nominations, medically qualified, etc. with his completed application submitted in December. The deadline for the BGO's report is in 2 weeks. What else is he supposed to do - he has over 10 contact attempts between the two (e-mail and voicemail)? At what point does the parent need to get involved? He doesn't want it to look like he hasn't reached out to the BGO. The admissions counselor has been aware for months about the issue. Is it ever appropriate for a parent to speak with anyone in admissions? Thanks for any recommendations.
 
Your son is doing all the right things if he is communicating regular status reports to his Admissions counselor. He has completed all parts of the application over which he has complete control. Presumably by this time he is keeping a log of contact attempts and copies of emails.

It is USNA’s problem to solve at this point, and your son’s role to keep them apprised of his 100% efforts to accomplish this. I don’t recommend parental involvement.

At this point, your son might want to assemble a chronology of his contact attempts and results - just the facts cleanly presented - and forward it via email to the Admissions counselor, noting he is providing it as evidence of his good faith attempts to accomplish this part of his application, and requesting them to advise him on next steps. Now is better than later.

I’ll defer to our active BGOs here to advise.
 
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If the AC was assigned as the BGO, it sounds as if there were issues with the original BGO. Rest assured, if a candidate doesn’t have a BGO interview, the record will still be reviewed.

I’d give the AC another couple of days. Then, the candidate should POLITELY email his RD and briefly summarize attempts to schedule interview. Be positive and factual. Don’t whine or complain. It will get the message across.
 
Your son is doing all the right things if he is communicating regular status reports to his Admissions counselor. He has completed all parts of the application over which he has complete control. Presumably by this time he is keeping a log of contact attempts and copies of emails.

It is USNA’s problem to solve at this point, and your son’s role to keep them apprised of his 100% efforts to accomplish this. I don’t recommend parental involvement.

At this point, your son might want to assemble a chronology of his contact attempts and results - just the facts cleanly presented - and forward it via email to the Admissions counselor, noting he is providing it as evidence of his good faith attempts to accomplish this part of his application, and requesting them to advise him on next steps. Now is better than later.

I’ll defer to our active BGOs here to advise.
Thank you for your response! He has a spreadsheet showing all the contact attempts with AC and BGO (dates, method of contact, context, result, etc.) which he sent to his Admissions Counselor. And he e-mailed his e-mail thread of attempts dating back to September. He's been proactive. Now it's the 11th hour and still nothing when he's been timely throughout the process. He sees all these appointments and wonders if he is missing his opportunity because this box isn't yet checked. I really appreciate your time. A sincere thank you.
 
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If the AC was assigned as the BGO, it sounds as if there were issues with the original BGO. Rest assured, if a candidate doesn’t have a BGO interview, the record will still be reviewed.

I’d give the AC another couple of days. Then, the candidate should POLITELY email his RD and briefly summarize attempts to schedule interview. Be positive and factual. Don’t whine or complain. It will get the message across.
That was helpful. He has a great Excel chronology of attempts (described above) dating back to September. And he's not a whiner (his mom, however, cannot understand how this happens to her son who has worked to get here since he was 8!). He just says, "here is where we are; please advise." It's a case where the things you never worry about are things that are causing the most stress. We never would have imagined at the beginning of the process that the BGO interview would be the item he was unable to complete. I appreciate your time. Thank you!
 
His Area Coordinator was assigned on Monday as his BGO in his portal. He e-mailed him Monday and left a voicemail today.
If the AC was assigned as the BGO, it sounds as if there were issues with the original BGO. Rest assured, if a candidate doesn’t have a BGO interview, the record will still be reviewed.
> Concur with '85. Give Area Coordinator a couple days to respond. The reassignment from BGO to AC was probably done by the AC after he/she discovered the BGO's lack of response. There are a lot of threads on this Forum about when to escalate and reach out to the Area Coordianator or Admissions when the BGO is unresponsive, and 4 months is well past that point. (In a perfect world, the Area Coordinator might have recognized that an application was complete without an interview, but the Area Coordinator can have 100's of Candidates in his/her area, and the new system is not as user friendly).

Don't worry, the delay in Interview is not held against the candidate if efforts are communicated to your Admissions Counselor.

At what point does the parent need to get involved? He doesn't want it to look like he hasn't reached out to the BGO. The admissions counselor has been aware for months about the issue. Is it ever appropriate for a parent to speak with anyone in admissions?
My initial reaction was "NEVER"...and really can't think of anytime it is appropriate in this situation. Parents are more than welcome to advise their kids, but I don't think there is any benefit to a Parent getting involved if they think that somehow "escalates" the importance of the matter. Candidates have to be their own self advocate, and I would react negatively to contact by a Parent if it is something the Candidate should handle themself. (I do however, offer and am more than happy to talk to parents about USNA in general).
 
My son got in touch with his BGO early in the process. Then was informed that his BGO had changed, so he got in touch with the new BGO. He then had a face to face interview with his new BGO in early November. Shortly after Christmas he wanted to update his BGO where he stands in the process (in terms of nominations), thank him for his help and wish him and his family Happy New Year. Sadly, his wife wrote back informing him that his BGO passed away unexpectedly a week before Christmas.

DS got in touch with his Admissions Counselor to confirm that the BGO submitted his report on the interview and found out that he does not need another BGO for the rest of the process. (The whole thing was actually very sad.)

I can't imagine that your son is being ignored on purpose by anyone, something else in the universe must be going on. I think DS should reach out to his Admissions Counselor. (DS's been very good about responding to anything). Good luck!
 
Same thing happened to my DS back in 2018. He had a very nice interview with his BGO and never heard from him again.
We just assumed that he died (he was pretty old) and they assigned another BGO to him. He never heard from the new BGO, even though he called and then EMailed. Miraculously one day, the BGO Review was checked off in his portal, with the (later confirmed) dead BGO's name.
 
Keep in mind that BGOs are volunteers. Not only are there occasionally deaths (thankfully, rare), but occasionally a BGO loses interest, has personal issues, etc. In an ideal world, the BGO would promptly inform the AC. However, when stuff happens, informing the AC may not be on the top of the list. ACs also have lives and don't want to nag BGOs every week. There's really no way to "discipline" inattentive BGOs other than kicking them out of the program -- it's not as if the AC or USNA controls our pay or performance reviews or promotions. This year, the whole situation is complicated by a new computer system that is -- on its best day -- not at all user friendly.

The end result of all this is that, for a small number of candidates, things may temporarily slip through the cracks. Rest assured that the ship almost always rights itself in time. Worst case . . . the candidate's package WILL be reviewed even without a BGO interview.
 
I appreciate everyone's responses. My DS looked up the regional admissions counselor on the USNA mobile app and sent a brief outline with his spreadsheet of attempted contacts this morning asking them to "Please advise." I appreciate the volunteer role of the BGO and pray there are no personal tragedies for any of the BGO families. DS knows it is his responsibility to make sure this required item is complete by the deadline. Thanks, again!
 
Is DS asking to set up interview, or just providing updates on his progress ? If it is just progress reports, a response is a courtesy, but not really necessary. If he has been requesting an interview for three months and DS is over 1/2 through with his application, I suggest DS (not you !) reach out to the Area Coordinator (listed at USNA.edu) for assistance. (Before doing that, how has DS been communicating ? If text or email, try actually calling the BGO).

I don't know what is meant by the BGO being "vital" to the process. While a good BGO is a helpful resource to answer questions, we don't necessarily "faciliate" the process, and frankly, it is not our role to get someone in , or keep someone out, of USNA. We simply serve as local representatives of the Admissions Office. I don't try to hold a Candidates hand as they go through the process, but instead offer my services as a resource. I've had plenty of Candidates where my only role has been to interview , and present an Appointment at Senior Awards night,
I'm a sophomore in high school. Is this too soon to reach out to my BGO? Should I wait a little longer so there are more topics to discuss?
If you have a good one, you can expect to hear once you contact. However, do you homework. READ THE USNA admissions website. Avoid either simplistic or over reaching questions - like tell me about USNA or what do I need to do to apply. Take the initiative to get a good foundation of what USNA and the application process is all about.
 
Oh man, it has been a LONGGG time since I've been back on this site!

Quick recap, I joined this site circa 2007 as a young buck with huge aspirations of going to USNA. After failing to gain admission after high school (c/o 2007), went to a local university for a year before getting into NAPS (c/o 2009), graduated from USNA '13 and been active duty ever since. P3/P8 background, currently instructing T-44's, getting ready for my next assignment. It has indeed been a great career!

This past summer, it's come full circle for me as I officially became a Blue and Gold Officer. This site helped me tremendously through the process, and if anything else, provided a place for some encouragement and positive vibes. Now I'm hoping to return the favor.

Good luck to all the candidates and those heading to Annapolis, it truly is a great place to be from. Standing by for any questions.
 
Oh man, it has been a LONGGG time since I've been back on this site!

Quick recap, I joined this site circa 2007 as a young buck with huge aspirations of going to USNA. After failing to gain admission after high school (c/o 2007), went to a local university for a year before getting into NAPS (c/o 2009), graduated from USNA '13 and been active duty ever since. P3/P8 background, currently instructing T-44's, getting ready for my next assignment. It has indeed been a great career!

This past summer, it's come full circle for me as I officially became a Blue and Gold Officer. This site helped me tremendously through the process, and if anything else, provided a place for some encouragement and positive vibes. Now I'm hoping to return the favor.

Good luck to all the candidates and those heading to Annapolis, it truly is a great place to be from. Standing by for any questions.
Welcome back. Do stop by the Bacon, Cocktail and Everything Drawer threads over in Off-Topic when you need a break from answering the same questions you asked as an applicant. Super of you to give back as a BGO.
 
Oh man, it has been a LONGGG time since I've been back on this site!

Quick recap, I joined this site circa 2007 as a young buck with huge aspirations of going to USNA. After failing to gain admission after high school (c/o 2007), went to a local university for a year before getting into NAPS (c/o 2009), graduated from USNA '13 and been active duty ever since. P3/P8 background, currently instructing T-44's, getting ready for my next assignment. It has indeed been a great career!

This past summer, it's come full circle for me as I officially became a Blue and Gold Officer. This site helped me tremendously through the process, and if anything else, provided a place for some encouragement and positive vibes. Now I'm hoping to return the favor.

Good luck to all the candidates and those heading to Annapolis, it truly is a great place to be from. Standing by for any questions.
Impressed that you recalled your password, and login credentials!!

V’cool story 😎
 
Some great advice her. But I do have a question: Does the USNA ask a BGO to interview a prospective candidate, or is the done entirely at the discretion of the BGO?
 
Some great advice her. But I do have a question: Does the USNA ask a BGO to interview a prospective candidate, or is the done entirely at the discretion of the BGO?
BGO's are supposed to interview candidates before the application is complete. Timing of the interview varies by BGO -- some do it very early, and others (including myself) wait until they see substantial progress on the application to avoid spending the time /effort on a candidate who is not going to complete the application. The BGO should reach out to candidates to introduce themself early, and tell the Candidate their expectations on timing of the interview.

Admissions usually doesn't get involved --Of course, there are instance where the BGO interview is delayed, late, or even doesn't get done, and Admissions notifies the Area Coordinator of a delinquency.
 
BGO interview in home question.
The interview is scheduled in our home at 6:30pm. Should I have appetizers & drinks available? Should I plan to stay in another part of the home or leave when the BGO is meeting alone with my son?
Please help.
 
BGO interview in home question.
The interview is scheduled in our home at 6:30pm. Should I have appetizers & drinks available? Should I plan to stay in another part of the home or leave when the BGO is meeting alone with my son?
Please help.
When this has come up before, the consensus has generally been to offer water or coffee. The BGO does not expect to be fed.

The BGOs all do this a bit differently. I expect most of them set the expectations upfront, as well as offer the parent(s) an opportunity at some point to ask questions.

We have several here, so I am sure they will pop up.
 
I do not expect anything to be offered to me, but offering water or coffee is polite. Food is not expected.

Important things right off the bat: candidate is dressed like he/she would be for a job interview, look interviewer in the eye when greeting and answering questions, and firm handshake. Thank you’s, pleases, sir/ma’am’s are great.

I like to start by meeting the candidate and any family members interested in learning more about me, why I’m here, and about USNA and the Navy. It’s nice if I don’t have to mention that I need time one on one with the candidate. Most family members understand this and excuse themselves after greetings and a few questions. My 1-on-1 time with candidate usually ranges from 30-60 min depending on pace of interview and questions from candidate.
 
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