USMA Founders Day Dinner

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Mom2024

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DS received an email invitation to the West Point Founders Day dinner on the 21st. In the invitation it says those Candidate offered appointments and their parents are invited so the parents can get to know each other and he can get to know his future classmates. It says the dinner is in honor of West Point’s founding and to honor cadets. The real head scratcher is he has not been offered an appointment yet. We are still waiting. We don’t know what to think right now but we are cautiously optimistic.

Thoughts?

Of course we would like to accept the invite.
 
I received the same invite in late January, also before I had received an appointment.

My email said that the invite was going out to candidates with a good chance at admission.

Hopefully it’s a good sign. Good luck!
 
DS received the same invite in January before eventually receiving his appointment in the first wave on February 6th. It sounds like a nice event although we too were concerned about attending had he not received word about appointment ahead of the event.
 
My DD received an invitation as well before we heard anything on her appointment. If she received her appointment, there was no cost for her to attend ($60 a plate for me and the hubby) but if she didn't receive her appointment then she would be charged for her plate. We received the dreaded TWE yesterday and probably won't be attending the dinner this year.
 
DS '21 did this before accepting but after appt. If you can manage the cost I suggest going. State chapters and FFRs manage invite lists - not a guarantee of appt but only extended to those with good prospects. You and your candidate will sit with alumni and cadets, great chance to learn about the academy experience and see how careers progress in and beyond the service. My $.02
 
The email doesn’t say anything about applicants with a good chance of appointment or anything like that. It specifically said extended to those who have been offered appointments to either the Academy or the prep school. It goes on to say that it is a chance for him to get to know his classmates. Needless to say we are a little confused. Hopeful but confused. We don’t have to RSVP for a little over a week so we will probably wait to see if we hear something soon.
 
Consider attending even if still waiting. It’s an impressive event with impressive people. If you get BFE, you’ll have gotten a great taste of what lies ahead. If you get TWE, no harm done. Especially if Plan B is to go ROTC and/or reapply to WP. You still get to hang around folks who might be in your future.

DD had been gunning for USNA since middle school. Went to the WP Founders Dinner with two LOAs in hand — USNA and USMA — and the event almost single-handedly led her to flip to WP. It was that cool, and the alum all placed good-natured pressure on the candidates and offerees to attend the school on the Hudson.
 
Mom2024 said:
The email doesn’t say anything about applicants with a good chance of appointment or anything like that. It specifically said extended to those who have been offered appointments to either the Academy or the prep school. It goes on to say that it is a chance for him to get to know his classmates. Needless to say we are a little confused. Hopeful but confused. We don’t have to RSVP for a little over a week so we will probably wait to see if we hear something soon.
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Was this email sent directly to the parents email?
 
The Founders Day events are hosted by local AOG societies. Don’t assume they have any idea who has received an appointment or will receive an appointment.
 
cptenca said:
The Founders Day events are hosted by local AOG societies. Don’t assume they have any idea who has received an appointment or will receive an appointment.
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Understood. It’s certainly odd wording in the email since it specifically says to “ Those Candidates offered admission to West Point or the Preparatory School from ______ (I edited out the area)are invited to attend a reception in their honor” and it came from a state coordinator with USMA admissions.
 
My DS received similar invitation from USNA Parent's Club a few years back. We thought it was a positive sign that he was likely going to receive an appointment. Ultimately, he did not. It was actually helpful to attend regardless as we learned a lot directly from admissions officials who were also in attendance.
 
cptenca said:
The Founders Day events are hosted by local AOG societies. Don’t assume they have any idea who has received an appointment or will receive an appointment.
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Agreed.

Founders Day invites go out this time of year every year, and the local clubs should really be advised to change the wording, as someone starts a thread just like this one every single year! The local reps are just pulling from a list of local applicants. It’s kind of cruel to get anyone’s hopes up when the local events have zero relation to what is actually going on in admissions up on the Hudson.
 
parentalunit2 said:
Agreed.

Founders Day invites go out this time of year every year, and the local clubs should really be advised to change the wording, as someone starts a thread just like this one every single year! The local reps are just pulling from a list of local applicants. It’s kind of cruel to get anyone’s hopes up when the local events have zero relation to what is actually going on in admissions up on the Hudson.
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It is cruel. Very poorly worded email.
 
My son received the invitation a few weeks ago. The subject line read: 1 of 226 Invitation to Attend the West Point Founders Day Dinner for Free! So, we took that as if the invitation went to 226 potential candidates. My son received the TWE on his portal and in the mail the last week of February.
 
cptenca said:
The Founders Day events are hosted by local AOG societies. Don’t assume they have any idea who has received an appointment or will receive an appointment.
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Some societies do. At least one society is very good about coordinating with the Admissions Office and/or local FFR with appropriate knowledge to obtain information on candidates that accepted appointments, candidates that are offered appointments but not accepted, and candidates that are being considered for appointment. FFRs have access to appointment offered/accepted information for their district and an experience FFR can see certain things in the admissions database to make an informed determination on which candidate might be offered an appointment.
 
MemberLG said:
Some societies do. At least one society is very good about coordinating with the Admissions Office and/or local FFR with appropriate knowledge to obtain information on candidates that accepted appointments, candidates that are offered appointments but not accepted, and candidates that are being considered for appointment. FFRs have access to appointment offered/accepted information for their district and an experience FFR can see certain things in the admissions database to make an informed determination on which candidate might be offered an appointment.
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We think this might be the case.
 
Do all states/regions do this and have this? Are they all on the same day? Is it a recruiting tool, social event, fundraiser, or ???? One more "first that I am hearing about this moments" - there have been plenty and I am certain there are many more to come! As far as I know, my accepted child did not receive any email.
 
Founders Day celebrates, well, the founding of USMA. The events across the nation, and world, are sponsored by local West Point Societies throughout the month of March. If you visit westpointaog.org you can click on events and see where and when they are all taking place. There is usually a main speaker and also speeches from the youngest and oldest grads in attendance. A couple of other neat traditions as well. The main focus is not recruitment, but appointees are often invited and they will be nicely taken into the fold, as @MidCakePa stated above.
 
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