Thought on why?

here2learn

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Why would USNA pay for and fly a candidate and his family out for a recruitment visit and then not give him/her an offer? Qualified with a nomination and had already attended summer seminar. How often do you think this happens? If often sounds like a waste of money.
 
This not uncommon at all. Many D1 programs fly recruits in and not give them an offer in the end. It's part of their budget, so it's really not a waste of money.
 
Why would USNA pay for and fly a candidate and his family out for a recruitment visit and then not give him/her an offer? Qualified with a nomination and had already attended summer seminar. How often do you think this happens? If often sounds like a waste of money.

the government waste money .... say it isn't so

but consider the folks on their own dime that flew out to visit and didn't get the trophy
 
I get at Alabama and other D1 programs it might be common. I would hope its not common at the academies to waste money on it. Maybe should be some communication between admissions and coaches at that point. Some check on who is getting the offers (USC, Yale... )
 
I presume you are talking about recruited athletes. If that's the case, I would suspect that is done with Athletic Association funding, not USNA appropriated funds, so it isn't really "wasting taxpayer money".

Qualified with a nomination and had already attended summer seminar.
I won't even try to understand how the recruited athlete game is played, but frankly I would suspect that the candidate wasn't high enough on the coach's list to warrant the "blue chip", and wasn't competitive for admission on his own. BTW, attending summer seminar doesn't mean anything.
 
I am sure it is the independent non-profit NAAA who pays for the visit, not USNA.edu taxpayer money. Emails, phone calls, videos, stats, coach home visits and all that are very good, but talking to recruits and families in the USNA setting allows both sides to get a better feel for mutual fit.

It’s not much different than job interviews. The hiring company expects to invest in these in pursuit of qualified candidates.
 
I am sure it is the independent non-profit NAAA who pays for the visit. Emails, phone calls, videos, stats, coach home visits and all that are very good, but talking to recruits and families in the USNA setting allows both sides to get a better feel for mutual fit.

It’s not much different than job interviews. The hiring company expects to invest in these in pursuit of qualified candidates.

That’s actually an excellent point ... it would be more expensive to admit the wrong recruit than to invest in travel to review multiple recruits and find the right candidate based on SA goals.

And I mean no disrespect to OP ...
 
That is my point. If they aren't competitive on their own and not a blue chip why do it? I know summer seminar doesn't mean much. Was putting that in to take the visit the campus/get a feel if its right for you responses out. Also, is there any information on how many "blue chip" athletes get in because of their sport and never touch the field? (grades, ability, injury) And yes I know it happens at other schools.
 
I get at Alabama and other D1 programs it might be common. I would hope its not common at the academies to waste money on it. Maybe should be some communication between admissions and coaches at that point. Some check on who is getting the offers (USC, Yale... )

some might argue D1 in general is a waste of money at service academies but I guess as a practical matter service academies just have to have D1 programs to be taken seriously
 
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That is my point. If they aren't competitive on their own and not a blue chip why do it? I know summer seminar doesn't mean much. Was putting that in to take the visit the campus/get a feel if its right for you responses out. Also, is there any information on how many "blue chip" athletes get in because of their sport and never touch the field? (grades, ability, injury) And yes I know it happens at other schools.

Your son (I assume) was competitive enough academically to be 3Q and to receive a nomination.

He was also a good enough athlete for the SA to fly him in.

There might have been another candidate that was equal to him athletically ... and maybe had a slightly better WCS overall that secured the nomination.

He might have been in a very competitive district.

That doesn’t take away anything at all from who he is and what he has accomplished imo.
 
I get at Alabama and other D1 programs it might be common. I would hope its not common at the academies to waste money on it. Maybe should be some communication between admissions and coaches at that point. Some check on who is getting the offers (USC, Yale... )

some might argue D1 in general is a waste of money at service academies but I guess as a practical matter service academies just have to have D1 programs to be taken seriously
PRIVATE MONEY! If its a waste, it is not a waste of public funds (taxpayer money). NAAA gets money from a number of places including ticket sales. As a former athlete at USNA and parent of a USNA athlete (same team), I get personal appeals for donations and just got another one about an hour ago.

Lots of misperceptions about what the taxpayers fund at the academies. For instance the taxpayers are funding the new Cyber building at USNA but the budget just covers the structure. The Alumni are footing the bill for furnishing it.
 
Also, is there any information on how many "blue chip" athletes get in because of their sport and never touch the field? (grades, ability, injury) And yes I know it happens at other schools.
It happens at USNA too. A good friend was a soccer recruit at USNA after having been first team All State and voted as top player in the state in high school. He didn't play a single game of soccer at USNA as he went out for intercollegiate sailing where he was a First Team All-American all four years at USNA and then a member of the US Olympic Team.
I do imagine the the soccer coach was pissed off though.
 
That is my point. If they aren't competitive on their own and not a blue chip why do it? I know summer seminar doesn't mean much. Was putting that in to take the visit the campus/get a feel if its right for you responses out. Also, is there any information on how many "blue chip" athletes get in because of their sport and never touch the field? (grades, ability, injury) And yes I know it happens at other schools.

I'm not sure that info is posted anywhere but it is a moot point anyway. If you are looking to understand how scholarships might be wasted at other D-1 schools you can probably figure that out through a particular school. Each school has so many scholarships available for each sport with D-1 football and basketball being the most prominent. Civilian schools also have redshirting options to help kids prepare (bigger, stronger, faster). However, at SA's ALL students are on full scholarship and even though they may get recruited they still need to go through the same Appointment process as everyone else. If the coach really wants them they can give them an LOA but they still need an MOC nom, DoDMERB certification, etc. If they don't meet the GPA or ACT/SAT requirements they go to NAPS for a year and then reapply.
 
I haven't told this story in awhile. I'll keep it short. We thought DS was a lock for football at USNA. Seats on the 50 yard line at all home games. Pre-game conversations on the field with Coach Johnson. It all came to a crashing stop though when they got lots of the recruits they were going after. My son didn't slate high enough and he was more interested in football than the Academy. He ended up bouncing around to five different schools before graduating. He chased the sports dream until it ended. He's doing OK though. He ran another 300 PFT last week including a sub-18 minute three mile run and he's currently at the rifle range wasting more government money on ammo.
 
Lots of misperceptions about what the taxpayers fund at the academies. For instance the taxpayers are funding the new Cyber building at USNA but the budget just covers the structure. The Alumni are footing the bill for furnishing it.

Very true, and worth explaining. The capital expense and operating expense to fund the basic mission is paid with appropriated funds (ie. taxpayers money). The mission enhancements and extracurricular activities, including athletics (beyond the PE classes) are all paid for with private money, whether it be ticket sales and television royalties for Athletic programs, or private donations from Alumni. Profits from the Midstore go to Midshipman Activities Fund, which helps support alot of the extracurricular activities. (That's how I justify all the stuff I buy when I visit USNA ..just supporting the Midshipmen !)

some might argue D1 in general is a waste of money at service academies but I guess as a practical matter service academies just have to have D1 programs to be taken seriously

There is frequent debate about whether the Service Academies should compete at the D1 level, but I don't think "waste of money" is ever brought into the argument. I am not privy to details of NAAA's financials (as noted above, NAAA is an independent, non-profit corporation), but suspect that television revenue from Football games alone funds most of the less visible sports. If Navy didn't play D1 football, we wouldn't have the revenue (except for the Army -Navy football game), and donated or appropriated funds would be necessary to support other sports.
 
We're trying to explain a situation that is "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

It sucks, but it is what it is.
He's doing OK though. He ran another 300 PFT last week including a sub-18 minute three mile run and he's currently at the rifle range wasting more government money on ammo.
Rah.
 
It is really difficult at times to explain to those not ‘in the know’ about taxpayer money vs. private money at the SAs and how they may intersect in different ways. If the academies only had access to taxpayer money, the places would not be near as pretty as they are! The Alumni Associations of each academy do a bang up job of fundraising and have funded more than anyone seems to know on each campus, as is evidenced by this thread! And not just buildings, but academic programs and enhancements, summer opportunities, etc. The list goes on and on!
 
It is really difficult at times to explain to those not ‘in the know’ about taxpayer money vs. private money at the SAs and how they may intersect in different ways. If the academies only had access to taxpayer money, the places would not be near as pretty as they are! The Alumni Associations of each academy do a bang up job of fundraising and have funded more than anyone seems to know on each campus, as is evidenced by this thread! And not just buildings, but academic programs and enhancements, summer opportunities, etc. The list goes on and on!

For the times we’ve gone to Dublin for the Navy-ND game, or Bowl games, DHOG (Dearhusbandoldgrad) and I ponied up several hundred dollars to the Alumni Assn to help underwrite getting mids there and feeding them. The govt doesn’t always pay. We just signed up for a Naval Academy Athletic Assn sports banquet in the fall we’re going to because an alumni sponsor “kid” of ours will be inducted to a sport Hall of Fame; we checked the block that we would underwrite 2 current mid team members’ attendance costs. Our sponsor honoree is attending free, of course, but they have chosen to pick up the cost of a current mid. It’s $250/plate. Multiply the small things we do by thousands of generous alumni who give back, give back and give back some more. Most mids don’t realize it until a few years down the road, when a call for help goes out to their class.

I still find it amazing the govt is building a cyber building, Hopper Hall, but leaving the furnishing to private fund-raising.


I apologize - this unraveled a bit from the focus on the central question of recruiting trips and no offers.
 
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