<p>Hey all, I'm new here on the boards but i've been watching them for a while, and as a USMA cadet would like to offer my help to anyone who has questions about admissions or anything WP-related. Can't guarantee that I can answer all your questions but i'll put my best effort into finding one for you.</p>
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<li>AmericanSoldier</li>
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<p>Go Army, beat Navy!</p>
<p>Thank you for your offer to help! My son has applied to USMA and USNA. He went to both Summer Seminars and his ultimate goal is to be a special forces officer. My question is this -- he has finished the application to WP, passed the medical, sent his SAT's -- every thing on the check list is finished. USNA also had an officer interview him, but we have not heard a peep from anyone at West Point. He emailed the admissions office, told them he was done with his application - was there anything else he could do - and they said no. It just seems a little funny that no one actually talks to him. I don't know if this is a bad sign or just the way they do it when you are not local. Any thoughts on this?</p>
<p>I would say don't sweat it...my son applied to WP and about this time was invited to see Army play UConn in Hartford. He was met by a general and given a challenge coin. Although he went in a different direction, that was an important day in his young life. Good luck!</p>
<p>JonDavid,
Did your son's squad leader at SLS interview him? I was not interviewed by anyone else save my squad leader at SLS and was admitted to USMA.</p>
<p>Jon David: My son had a similar experience. He had his interview at SLS, and had little communication from a Local MALO who was overworked. If your son's application is complete and he does not have any questions I would not worry about it. If your son has questions please let him know that he can contact admissions at any time.</p>
<p>JonDavid:</p>
<p>I had much the same thing happen to me when i was applying. It turns out that there are far fewer MALOs (Army) than BGOs (Navy), so West Point tends to interview far less. This is not a bad thing, merely as far as i understand USMA saves interviews for certain candidates that are extremely competitive and being pursued by several schools. I don't know any statistics on how many are interviewed but i seem to remember that it was a low percentage. Does your son have regular contact with his MALO? I communicated with Admissions at least once a week via mine, and he really pushed hard to get my file in front of them as much as possible, making sure i kept him constantly updated on changes to my file that might interest them.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that USMA requires all competitive candidates to be interviewed if possible. SLS interviews fulfill this requirement. For the most part USMA has no idea who is "being pursued by several schools."</p>
<p>A competitive candidate is one who is likely to be qualified for admission.</p>
<p>I don't know what the admissions process is like now since it's all online but when I applied i seem to remember there being a question about what other schools i was looking at. This is how the interviews were explained to me by my MALO; I may have misunderstood him but it may have also had more to do with interviewing the more competitive candidates in each region. In my case i was considered very uncompetitive and my MALO didn't believe at first that i had much of a chance until he saw how determined i was and helped me use my persistence to get my name in front of the Admissions board often. I was qualified in all areas (with an eyesight waiver) but no LOA or any of those things that i can't remember any more!</p>
<p>requiem: did you have to fill out anything similar to a PDR or a survey on your SLS cadre? I didn't go to SLS and was wondering if they grade the cadre based on superiors' evals alone or if the candidates also play a role?</p>
<p>AmericanSoldier,
I am not completely sure how the cadre was graded, but I think the superiors were listening to the candidates because our squad leader was "voted" the best by "us", according to the officer in charge, but we never filled out anything.</p>
<p>My daughter was never formally interviewed by her MALO. Don't know if this is still the case but a couple of years ago at our admissions presentation we were told our area was very short of folks to interview since most had been deployed.</p>
<p>Ann - I didn't think the interview was an integral part of the admissions process as it is with the BGO system that Navy has. Is this something that has changed?</p>
<p>No, USMA interviews are not new, but the shortage of MALOs is a problem in some areas.
MALOs should fill out interview reports on all of their competitive candidates. The exceptions being recruited athletes - I believe the coach fills out those reports; and SLS candidates - the squad leader fill out those. </p>
<p>JustAMomOf4 - is it possible your daughter's MALO filled out an interview report from his informal meetings with her?? My son did not think he was "interviewed" at SLS, but he was....just didn't know it...</p>
<p>American Soldier - I do not believe that the fact that a candidate has multiple applications to other schools makes USMA any more interested in that candidate. For the most part they are looking for candidates who are motivated to attend USMA - as your case seems to illustrate. </p>
<p>The confusing term my be the word "competitive" - it is not a subjective term that MALOs decide upon themselves, rather it is a designation given by USMA.</p>
<p>My son went to SLS (if that means Summer Leadership Seminar ;-) but I don't know if he was interviewed. I'll have to ask him. No one has said one peep to us about a MALO -- had never even heard that term until now. He did email the admissions office and they said they had everything, that they would get in touch with DODmerb - which they have and we received the medically qualified letter, but not a peep since then. I wonder if he should call admissions just to touch base or ask if he has a MALO assigned to him.</p>
<p>JonDavid:</p>
<p>Your son has a MALO (Military Academy Liaison Officer) assigned to him, unless somehow he has slipped through a crack in the admissions process. I would have him call his regional admissions commander to find out who his MALO is. Looking back at your initial question, you said that there has been no contact from Admissions. In my case, I heard almost nothing from USMA during the process until I finally contacted them and asked them if they had received my file and if there was a local admissions officer assigned to me. They had my file but had not yet looked at it. By calling i got their attention enough to get the process moving, and they began to pick up interest in me, i would say mostly due to my MALO's efforts.</p>
<p>Ok - my son just got an email from a Captain at West Point who identifies himself has his Outreach Admissions Officer asking if he had finished his application, had he called Dodmerb to schedule his medical and had he completed his essay and teacher recommendations. Hmmm...he must not have even looked at his file because ALL of that is complete and has been for weeks! He does give his email and a phone number to contact. I say my son should phone him, but he wants to email him. I think he should phone him and let him hear my son's voice - that will make him more real to him. The hard thing is my son does not get home until after the admissions office will close. It just seems strange to me that "his" outreach officer doesn't even know that his file is complete and ready to go!! Has anyone else had this feeling - like the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing?</p>
<p>my MALO is impatient with me, the last we spoke he was kind of rude, a completly different attitude than my ALO and BGO. Any tips on how to ignore this if his attitude is like that in the interview.</p>
<p>why do you think he is impatient with you?</p>
<p>JonDavid:</p>
<p>A phone call is a lot more personal and in my opinion is better than an e-mail b/c not only can he ask questions in real time and get immediate answers, it takes more time out of his day, something that people recognize and take note of. I don't know what your son's schedule is like, but i have to think that surely there is some time in the day that he can talk to Admissions for about 10 to 20 minutes or even less.</p>
<p>Also, Admissions handles about 10,000 or so applications each year, and while they make every effort to keep on top of things, sometimes you will find that something has slipped through the cracks. People will tell you not to annoy Admissions, and this is true; however, i think a follow-up call once a week is sufficient to ensuring that the process hasn't stalled somewhere and no one has informed your son of it. Once he is assigned a MALO and has made contact with him, i would begin following up with the MALO instead, letting him be the middle man/advocate.</p>
<p>Oh, and call with a list of questions ready! It's not fun sitting on the phone trying to remember that question that was so important but you forgot and now you're on the phone with Admissions and your mind is blank and you're wasting someone's time while they listen to you try to think!</p>
<p>He got aggravated when I didn't have an answer for him, and when he told me that I needed two remidials done, which I had known and finished, he got aggravated again, its just his tone is not so friendly.</p>
<p>"i think a follow-up call once a week is sufficient to ensuring that the process hasn't stalled somewhere and no one has informed your son of it."
I would not call that frequently unless you have a specific concern or question. Most admissions officers handle thousands of files...</p>
<p>Flyersboy114 - I'm sorry you had a bad experience - don't take the call too personally. MALOs come in all forms - some are friendly- some are "all business". Most want to see that you can take the initiative during the application process. Put your best foot forward and if that doesn't help, you can always call admissions to get your questions answered.</p>
<p>Ann,</p>
<p>I was advising that he call that frequently only until he has been assigned a MALO, knows who it is and has made contact. Then he should decide for himself how often to communicate with his MALO, as some are more communicative than others. I had one who wouldn't talk for long in one call, but if i hadn't called him within about five or six days, he was calling me to get any kind of update from me he could. I guess each MALO has his/her own style. But i agree, yes, in most cases, calling Admissions directly that often is definitely too much.</p>