<p>Well everyone, I've reached the end of the road. Today, MAJ Houston called to inform me that my medical waiver (for eyesight) was declined by USMA's doctor and that I will not be admitted to the class of 2011. I'm kinda in shock right now I think but I just want to say best of luck to everyone else in the process or who has already been accepted. You know I'd love to be there with you all but this is it for me. It is an unwaiverable condition, and therefore I will not be reapplying next year. I wish you all well. Everyone on this board has provided much insight since I have been here and I truly appreciate it. Go make us all proud guys.</p>
<p>This is indeed bad news, but it's not the end of the world. There are many ways to contribute, and you can aspire to live your in conformance with the West Point code of ethics and the creed of Duty, Honor, Country. Best of luck to you Ryan.</p>
<p>I have never joined this forum before, only read the postings as a guest, but when I read your post, I knew I had to respond. Your eyesight sounds just like my son's. Last year at this time he too received the bad news that he had an unwaiverable eye condition which would keep him out of any military academy, let alone West Point. He did not give up, and we scheduled him with a specialist, which we had to pay for ourselves, but to make a long story short, it turns out he was misdiagnosed in the beginning. Please, please don't give up. Go get a second opinion. It can't hurt. I wish you all the luck. As you can see, I'm now a proud wp mom, 2010.</p>
<p>Unfortunately my problem is both the fact that I have ambleopia in my right eye and it is not correctable at all, and remains 20/200 at all times. It is also inoperable and I have something else as well. The simple fact is that it is not correctable to 20/20 and therefore I do not qualify for admission.</p>
<p>I am going to follow up on this, hopefully getting ahold of USMAs doctor to just make sure there's no chance that I can reapply or anything but I'm not holding my breath. It doesn't really matter how much I want it if I just don't medically qualify. Other than that MAJ Houston said my profile was exemplary I just have bad eyes. Pretty crushing. I'll move on, and hopefully it will not keep me out of ROTC as well or I will have to make some major readjustments as to what I wish to do in life.</p>
<p>Of all the branches, the Army has the most lenient standards when it comes to vision. That said, you WILL be required to be able to correct your vision. Otherwise it could put you as well as others in harm's way. If your situation is nonremediable then that is that. I doubt you will be able to proceed with ROTC either since their standards are going to be very similar, with similar results. Press on with another goal and give the best you have to offer.</p>
<p>Wpwannabe my heart goes out to you. Last year my son had an eye problem, one real and one perceived by DoDMERB. Despite the problems, my son got our Congresswoman's primary nomination to the Naval Academy. He did not, however, get a waiver to the Naval Academy and applied late to West Point based on advice from some folks in the Naval Academy's medical group. Because of the timing of his late nomination to West Point and the battery of tests he had to take to to disprove the DoDMERB misdiagnosis, he was really too late for West Point. He did luck out however and got an Association of Graduates Scholarship and is attending Marion Military Institute this year and is looking at the Class of 2011 at West Point. He wouldn't have gotten it had he not persevered. So, if possible, talk to the Medical Folks at West Point and see if there is anything you can do. If that doesn't work you will know that you have done all you can do. Good luck and you are to be congratulated on your desire to serve your country.</p>
<p>wpwannabe - I am really sorry to hear your bad news. I agree with the advice in the above posts. I also wanted to say that if your eyesight keeps you out of WP and ROTC there are other ways to serve your country. Where I work we have some AmeriCorp members. This is just one way, other than the military, to serve and you can also earn college money through AmeriCorp. </p>
<p>Something else to consider. I know when LFWB got his DODMERB back it said USNA waiverable and USMMA fully qualified with regard to eyesight. Maybe this is a door closing and a window opening. There is obviously some difference, so it might be worth checking out.</p>
<p>BTW you can accept a Commission in the Army from KP.</p>
<p>If you have have questions contact Captain Joel Buffardi (USMA '95) Army Liaison Team</p>