TWE Letter- Details & ?'s

tmsusna said:
Unfortunately the TWE arrived today in Maryland.

Curious but disappointed.
Plan B - Johns Hopkins University (not so shabby).
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To show you how random the process can sometimes be:

Both my sons got rejected from Johns Hopkins University and both got appointed to the Naval Academy with LOAs.

One of my sons is pursuing the Medical Corps and is doing very well toward that objective. In fact, at the end of this semester (his Youngster year) he will have completed all the courses in preparation for the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) and will be taking that test this August.

His twin brother is doing just as well, but it seems he is more inclined to go Navy Air. He will be participating in the Naval Academy's "Soaring Program" (gliders) this summer.

Good luck to you!

It may not feel like it right now - but you're going to be fine. It may have seemed that you've "fallen", but it appears you've landed on both feet.

John Lennon once said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
 
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tmsusna said:
Even though the letter says 1,250 spots in the Class of 2015 the reality is; deduct 30% female; deduct 15% minorities; deduct X% atheletes & NAPS and you are vying for one of about 600 spots. If this fact was well known I bet the number of applications would drop-off considerably. It's a crap shoot with poor odds.
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15% minorities???

The last two classes have been over 30% minorities.
 
LHG said:
That's what I was saying....my husband is an alum of USNA. We also know many sons and daughters of alumni who have received the TWE. I was implying that perhaps the alumni sons and daughters may get grouped together and only a certain percentage will get the appointement--just like a certain % go to NAPS, minority status, etc.

Not trying to start an argument. It is what it is. It would just be nice to have more transparency as others have stated.
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Any cursory research into the Naval Academy's recent admission statistics along with a reading of some of the controversial articles that have been written make the process "transparent" enough - even if the Academy does not come right out and say so.

Good students get rejected from good schools all the time - for no discernible reason. It happens at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Carnegie-Mellon, etc - you can just add the service academies to that list.

The college admission process is not infallible nor completely "fair."

Sadly, in the near future, you will read a story about the dismissal of some midshipman for some unbelievable act of stupidity & immaturity and think to yourself, "And that kid got an appointment and not my kid?"
 
Memphis9489 said:
Any cursory research into the Naval Academy's recent admission statistics along with a reading of some of the controversial articles that have been written make the process "transparent" enough - even if the Academy does not come right out and say so.

Good students get rejected from good schools all the time - for no discernible reason. It happens at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Carnegie-Mellon, etc - you can just add the service academies to that list.

The college admission process is not infallible nor completely "fair."

Sadly, in the near future, you will read a story about the dismissal of some midshipman for some unbelievable act of stupidity & immaturity and think to yourself, "And that kid got an appointment and not my kid?"
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I'm not going to lie, I kind of hate the "that idiot got an appointment and my kid didn't, but my kid wouldn't commit that offense!" line of reasoning. I don't think anyone plans on going to the Naval Academy and breaking all the rules here and getting kicked out. It's very easy, easier than people think, to lose sight of why you come here and to think "it's not that big of a deal, and I can get away with it." At the end of the day, mids are kids, and kids sometimes do stupid things. Ideally, we're held to that higher standard and pay the price. It's not "stealing" an appointment from someone else, it's being an idiot and losing yours, which is something no one plans on.

And don't forget that getting into the Academy is no predictor of success here. Some of the people here who, if you looked at their high school transcripts and applications you would think would be rock stars are the biggest oxygen thieves. Shockingly (!!!) many of these are white males. Some of the people who you'd think would be wastes of space here based on their application end up being the most successful.
 
Hurricane12 said:
I'm not going to lie, I kind of hate the "that idiot got an appointment and my kid didn't, but my kid wouldn't commit that offense!" line of reasoning. I don't think anyone plans on going to the Naval Academy and breaking all the rules here and getting kicked out.
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I agree with you - but I was writing this from the perspective of a disappointed parent whose child did not obtain their dream. It's got to be painful to subsequently read about those who do not value their education (at USNA) enough to avoid making the kind of monumental mistakes that causes them to lose everything they've worked for.

I'm not surprised when mistakes like this are made. Such things are inevitable - for the very reason you cite. But that doesn't ease the pain from an outsider-looking-in's perspective.

It's not about having a victim, life-isn't-fair, I-deserved-it mentality - it's just pure disappointment.
 
Memphis9489 said:
I agree with you - but I was writing this from the perspective of a disappointed parent whose child did not obtain their dream. It's got to be painful to subsequently read about those who do not value their education (at USNA) enough to avoid making the kind of monumental mistakes that causes them to lose everything they've worked for.

I'm not surprised when mistakes like this are made. Such things are inevitable - for the very reason you cite. But that doesn't ease the pain from an outsider-looking-in's perspective.

It's not about having a victim, life-isn't-fair, I-deserved-it mentality - it's just pure disappointment.
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I wasn't trying to call you out, I'm sorry if it looked that way. I know it's got to be tough, but at the end of the day I'd rather we separated the wheat from the chaff here rather than out in the fleet.
 
usna1985 said:
:yllol::yllol::yllol::yllol:

Gotta remember that one. Reminds me a phrase our instructor in Law for the Junior Officer used: Duffle bag with lips.
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It must have made quite an impression on you - if you can still remember that after all these years.

The only classroom event that has really stuck in my mind over the years occurred in my Physics class.

Our instructor was a very rigid Marine Corps instructor - Major Kimball. He was a very good physics instructor but he ran the class with an iron fist.

There was a midshipman in my class who was struggling with the class. He was getting a poor grade which was largely exasperated by the fact that he was not turning in his homework (which was graded!).

I'll never forget Major Kimball openly rebuking this midshipman in class. Major Kimball ordered the midshipman to turn in his homework.

"Midshipman 3/C Smith - I order you to complete and turn-in all your homework assignments. Do you understand what this means? It's no longer an option on your part. As your superior officer - I will consider it disobedience if you fail to do so. I'm not addressing you as your Physics professor. I'm addressing you as a superior officer who is giving you a direct order. I expect that order to be followed."

Wow!

This is when it really hit me how a service academy is completely different than a regular college. The professor played the I-outrank-you-so-you-have-to-do-what-I-say card.

I had never seen that done before and I never saw it again during my remaining time at the academy.

The class just sat there in hushed silence. We all gulped. Daaaang!
 
Cursory research usually leads to false conclusions.

cur·so·ry (kûrs-r)
adj.
Performed with haste and scant attention to detail
 
Post here

DS got the TWE just after returning from spring break and will now move on his other plans. He was a little disappointed but OK and I think he really enjoyed the ride. I think it was an excellent experience for all of us...the entire family, his school, his JROTC unit.....so many supportive people. Good luck to each of you who got the TWE or the BFE.
 
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