ugh... loosing hope

Losing Hope??? Its JANUARY!! Until you hear otherwise you're still in the mix! You think this is bad? Wait until Plebe Summer and you're literally staring at the pictures online (every day) and waiting two weeks to talk to your Mid (with Detailers doing a countdown in the background) on the phone.

That's pain!
 
HogieWonKanobe said:
Losing Hope??? Its JANUARY!! Until you hear otherwise you're still in the mix! You think this is bad? Wait until Plebe Summer and you're literally staring at the pictures online (every day) and waiting two weeks to talk to your Mid (with Detailers doing a countdown in the background) on the phone.

That's pain!
Click to expand...
That is the truth!
 
USMA 1994 said:
Comparing the two processes is like apples and oranges. I have never been part of a selective university's admission process but something tells me that academics and diversity have the most weight in the process. There have been many legal challenges to the way universities use race as an admissions factor. It is also a National Contest where everyone is competing for a certain number of seats.

The academy uses a completely different process to ensure diversity and it is the nomination process. Their goal is to get a cross-section of the entire country. You son has a nomination from your local MOC. He will only be competing against up to 9 other individuals for an appointment. Someone from your congressional district will get admitted as long as there is one qualified applicant. The academy also weighs Academics, Extracurricular & Leadership, and Physical Fitness. GT did not make him take a PT test as part of his application. There are additional opportunities if you do not win your slate but those are more difficult as now you are competing against everyone else.

I do not know what the competition in your district is, but most districts do not have 10 qualified & strong applicants each year no matter where you live. It is a tough process and it weeds individuals out. You son is most likely competing against a handfull of other similar candidates from your area. If he is fully qualified, Academically, Physically, Medically with a nomination, he has a better than 50-50 chance as you look through previous year's class profiles. I tried to pull Navy's profile from last year and it does not break it down in detail but USMA says it had 2159 candidates fully qualified and nominated and 1240 were admitted.

Don't give up hope yet.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response. It was very helpful. :)
 
I said "most likely" that doesn't mean every time. If two candidates are equal a "tiny bump" is all it takes to put the "military kid" candidate above someone else. I have heard the conversations between the admissions reps and I do know that this does play into final decisions.


usna1985 said:
I'
The Sup is a Rear Admiral.
Click to expand...

Actually, the Superintendent is a Vice Admiral (3-star).

For example, if you have two candidates that are equally qualified in every category, but one grew up with one or more active duty military parents, then most likely that candidate would be selected over the other candidate without this experience.
Click to expand...

This is also not true. Historically, a candidate with a family tie to the military (sibling, parent) might get a tiny bump in the admissions process. But is was tiny and I've never heard of a situation where that made the difference. With more information available to all candidates via the Internet, NASS, CVW, OpInfo, etc., I'm not sure a candidate with military ties gets any benefit today -- certainly not enough to make the difference. Plenty of legacy kids and kids of military parents are turned down, much to the dismay of their parents.
Click to expand...
 
How do USNA define a "military kid"? Does the applicant have to be the child of a parent who is on active duty at the time of the application? Can the parent be retired or in the reserves? A veteran?
 
0302grnt said:
How do USNA define a "military kid"?
Click to expand...

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin ? There is no definition of "military kid" , just like there is not black and white answer to many of the questions posed here. Almost all of these questions start with the premise that you have two otherwise identical candidates, or some variation thereof...and only when you get to that point do you get to the non-book tiebreakers. The WCS eliminates most of this, but at the end of the day, the final decision between two identical, or even very similarly qualified, candidates can be very subjective and perhaps even arbitrary, but ultimately Admissions has to make some very tough decisions.
 
If you are a Veteran, your kid is probably a military kid.
Even if your years in the military don't define you as a person, they are a part of what makes you, you.
It's hard to keep that from rubbing off on a kid, and my take on it is that's good!
 
Okay - so since she has had to listen to my, and her uncles', "sea stories" for the past 18 years - she's a military kid.
 
So let's substitute "military kid" for "service connected candidate" which is defined in the service connected nomination description. Service connected candidates have a leg up. There is a nomination category for service connected giving "service connected" candidates the advantage of competing in an additional category aside from the congressional or senate nominations. Doesn't mean they will "always" be selected over a non military candidate, but statistically speaking they have a better chance than a candidate with no service connection with all things being equal. They ask in all of the applications for the SAs and for ROTC scholarships if the parent served.....maybe for gathering statistics or as a point of leverage when two candidates are equally qualified in the eyes of the admissions board.
 
Last edited:
All other things equal...

Legacy applicant > nonlegacy
Recruited athlete > nonrecruited
Minority applicant > nonminority
Female applicant > male
Excellent CFA > poor CFA
Multilingual > nonmultilingual
Tall kids > short
Brunettes & blondes > redheads
Democrats = Republicans
Right handed = lefthanded
Football players > All

Not enough info in to determine whether gender neutral is an advantage in the selection process.

:)
 
Let me put this this way, San Diego State which is part of the California State Univ system has a 34% acceptance rate. Its a good school but nothing special. The reason it so hard to get in is beause it is the district school for those who apply from San Diego to a Cal State school, but more importantly because so many people want to go there. While there are much harder schools to get into, it is so competitive because so many people apply. As someone else has mentioned, you are only competiting against possible another 9 people
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top