Vision Standard Misleading

[jl123]

Heads-up on vision standards if you are worse than 20/40. The admissions office is less than forthcoming on this issue. When asked about whether a candidate is at a disadvantage if they wear glasses, they state there is no limit to the number of candidates that can be accepted who wear glasses, which is a technically accurate, but finely parsed answer.

Even if the portal shows medically qualified and the front of the DoDMERB letter states qualified, the fine print on the back of the letter states:

"9. ....However, if your vision is worse than 20/40 the Naval Academy is limited by the Chief of Naval Operations in the number of candidates that can be accepted who require correction of their vision...."

 

[Sneak]

That seems crazy, that admissions would be affected by vision standards even though candidates have been determined medically qualified. Can anyone with more knowledge about the admissions process validate this information?

Where did you find this?

 

[kinnem]

I'll assume you're correct. I just want to point out that being qualified is not synonymous with being accepted. Many with such a vision issue will not be accepted anyway. Further, there is nothing one can do about their vision other than measure it. Worry about the things you can control.

 

[Brawny77]

I don't know what that limit is but I signed up to have access to all the plebe pictures taken each day by the Alumni Association so I could "Where's Waldo" hunt for my DS and there is an awful lot of plebes in glasses. I would estimate 10-20% (very unscientific estimate)

 

[jl123]

Going into any competitive situation it is useful to know the factors that make one more or less competitive. Having vision worse than 20/40 decreases chances of admission, but this is not made clear. At one time USNA explicitly stated that no more than 20% of the class may have uncorrected vision less than 20/20. It seems that they have eased up a bit with the 20/40 standard. If the number is 20%, those falling into that category are competing for one of about 200 - 250 appointments instead of 1,000+.

You CAN control where you apply and the order of preference of service academies when applying for nominations. Many nominating authorities only allow a candidate to apply for a nomination to one service academy. Many MOC's will not give a nomination to a second choice service academy in addition to the first choice if there are more than ten qualified candidates for the slot. FYI -USMA does not have a limit as long as vision is correctable to 20/20. Just check out the stands at the next Army-Navy game.

The info came from the DodMERB written report and an email response from admissions in reply to a question specifically asking about vision and limitations on wearing glasses. It was provided here to help future candidates that may fall into this situation. It may not matter to extremely qualified candidates, recruited athletes, or other preferred candidates, but it is significant to the majority of qualified applicants.

 

[NavyHoops]

Yes USNA used to cap vision because surgeries such as lasik were not around. So for us old guys who went thru before that was an option, as long as you had good vision pilot was pretty much your's. It has eased up since then as many do qualify for surgery once they get to USNA.

And yes understand both sides of worrying what you can control, but the bottom line is really investigating the service that best suits you. That should be the top driving factor. Yes many candidates will say they just want to serve. That is great, but if you hate the water, 5 years at sea will be miserable. Despise family camping trips, USMA and later the Army is not going to be fun.