<p>I posted a little while ago about having made contact with my BGO, and then not hearing from him for two weeks. I took advice and sent a followup e-mail, and also asked if he preferred phone calls over e-mails. A week has gone by. If another week goes by, making it a month without an e-mail from him, would it be acceptable to call him? (USNA listed his number on my online application)</p>
<p>This is merely a question as to whether or not it is acceptable or too pushy to follow-up with a phone call. I do not want to be pushy, but I DO want to be persistent and make sure that he knows that I am 110% serious about attending USNA. I understand that BGOs have lives, that he may be on vacation, that he may be an old man who rarely gets online. I know all of this. But I'm a teenager determined to get somewhere, and I'm not the type of person who just sits back and waits -- unless, of course, that is waiting for a letter next year from USNA. :p</p>
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that he may be an old man who rarely gets online.
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<p>ouch.... might want to keep that one to yourself....</p>
<p>If you are awaiting his response to a question that you need an answer to, so that you may complete some aspect of you application, then by all means contact him as needed. If you trying to reach him and maintain a level of communication to demonstrate your interest, I would pace yourself and use that avenue only as needed. I don't think it helps your case if you overdo it. Once you have made your interest clear, I don't think you get any extra points for over doing it. Good Luck!</p>
<p>I would give it one more week, then call, providing you have pertinent information to add or information you need. If it is to schedule your interview (if you are up to that point) then you might want to consider sending that request in a second letter.</p>
<p>Aside from that- </p>
<p>Where are you in the admissions process?
if you have been issued a candidate number, you name will come up on your BGO's list from the CIS site. The BGO will contact you based on that information.</p>
<p>If I read this post correctly, you sent your BGO an email in early August, then another one in mid-August. You haven't had any return emails, and you haven't called or snail-mailed him, either.</p>
<p>I wouldn't call this "overdoing it". Give him a single phone call, noting the time and date and who took the message (if appropriate). Put it on your calendar to recall in a couple of weeks if you don't hear from him.</p>
<p>My son's BGO is a trial lawyer, was in the midst of a big case, and it took a lot of back-and-forth between them before we got an interview scheduled. And he (son) had to get the ball rolling - I told him that 10-14 days in between calls was OK; it showed persistance and not peskiness to open the communication lines. </p>
<p>Most likely, your BGO is a busy professional, and has some time blocked out in the future to do his candidate interviews - he just hasn't pushed this up to the top of his (no doubt long) list yet. </p>
<p>And, yes, email is the preferred method of communication for a lot of people... but others prefer phone calls or (<em>gasp</em>!) the U.S. Postal Service.</p>
<p>My husband is a BGO and an airline pilot. He is frequently out of the country for days on end and it can be difficult to get a hold of him. I don't think it would be out-of-line for you to give him a quick call. </p>
<p>They are all different and approach being a BGO differently. My son's did not want to be contacted, became very apparent as the process went along that he would do the contacting. All this gentleman wanted to do was the interview. Didn't want to be "best" friends and informed son that his questions were better directed at the regional director. So in the end their only meaningful contact was the interview and awards ceremony at HS. I suspect this was to the "far side" of what is intended for a BGO. It was what it was and son just learned to deal with it. (Imagine this - it bothered us parents way more than him! ;))</p>
<p>Have son continue to contact via e-amil or phone but if you get a sense that this is not what the BGO wants then be respectful and go with the flow.</p>
<p>rjrzoom57 -- in a previous thread about what to do with my BGO, someone told me that he might be older and only gets online when his grandson is over, that's the only reason I said that. </p>
<p>I didn't to make my initial post too long, that's why I left out information. I'll give you all some more details. By the way, yes I do already have my candidate number and I've submitted a few portions of the application (still working on that essay).</p>
<p>My first e-mail was sent just to simply introduce myself and to try and schedule my interview. I told him my name, where I went to school, and that I had gone to NASS this previous June, had the time of my life, and realized that USNA is where I want to be. </p>
<p>He e-mailed back the next day: </p>
<p>"Congratulations! and nice to meet you. I do need your phone number to contact you and what days and times are best?"</p>
<p>Of course I e-mailed back that same day and told him possible times/dates. Then the two weeks went by, so I sent a followup e-mail to check that he received my e-mail (I began thinking that maybe it didn't go through and whatnot). I restated the times & dates and gave him my phone number in case he didn't receive the other e-mail. I also asked his preferred means of communication (someone on the forum told me I should ask). I'm trying to get the interview scheduled at a time that is good for both of us ASAP before important games in my volleyball schedule appear.</p>
<p>So now a week has gone by and I intend to wait another week before giving him a quick call. I'm just here to make sure that that is the right thing to do.</p>
<p>^^^^ your plan sounds right on target. "Perferred means of communication" (guilty as charged). Had also suggested sending him an introductory letter- would still do that (via snail mail).</p>
<p>Do complete your essay and get it in. Could be he is waiting to see how much of your application is in, could be that it is just the end of the summer and he is involved with something totally aide from Navy-related issues. </p>
<p>Again- your plan sounds good, so stick with it. Add that letter in if you want.
Good luck!</p>
<p>Next time you send him an email, mark it 'read receipt' so that you can tell if he has opened it. It seems a bit silly that someone would suggest he only gets on the PC when his grandson is over......since he is a BGO and is communicating (at least initially) to you via email, that explanation seems far fetched. He indicated that he wanted to call you, but you never said if he perhaps did and no one was home or the answering machine might have been off.</p>
<p>By the way, calling him an 'old man' is a lot different from referring to him as 'elderly' or 'older'!!!</p>
<p>I recommend sending your BGO a letter requesting an interview. In that letter you should indicate the best dates and times that are available in your schedule for the interview.</p>
<p>I apologize to all of you "distinguished gentlemen/women." I didn't intend to offend any of the older posters. Time2 -- I'm fully aware that there's a huge difference between talking online and talking in an interview. I'll make sure that I keep any old fart comments to myself during them. ;)</p>
<p>GA -- I wanted to first send him a letter before sending an e-mail, but I wasn't provided with an address. USNA only gave me his e-mail address and phone number. I googled his name, but I couldn't find an address. When I get in contact with him again, should I ask for his address to send a letter with my resume/transcript/etc? I've been talking to (probably pestering them about USNA rolling admissions it the better termonology) my college counselors for transcripts and whatnot, but the philadelphia school district is such a mess they don't have them nor class rank at the moment. </p>
<p>And I never heard of the "read receipt" thing in e-mails. I'm sure that will come in handy! :)</p>
<p>Edit: Time2, he never called from what I understand. I even went through the whole caller ID list and there hasn't been anything on the answering machine.</p>
<p>can your guidance dept supply with your BGO information?<br>
If not, perhaps contacting the regional director for that info would be advisable.</p>
<p>But I would give it one more week.
Labor day weekend just passed.... and "days off" from work just means more work to come back to! </p>
<p>Pass the time getting your essay done.
If you don't hear anything by Wed of next week, contact your regional director (you can get that info from the USNA admissions office). Get a contact address, then send the info GA outlined above. If, after doing all of that, you still do not hear in 2 weeks time, contact the Regional director and get further instruction as to what to do.</p>
<p>From the sounds of his first email response, have to think this more a matter of "just not enough time" as opposed to a lack of interest. Keep the faith! Work on that essay!</p>
<p>Some BGOs like to wait until later in the process, when the application is more complete, to do the interview. You are not going before the board until your application is 100% complete. navy2010 is correct. Get it completed.</p>
<p>The Admissions Office will not allow the interview to slide more than two weeks past the 100% application completion point.</p>
<p>With regards to the essay, I've written and rewritten a few times. I either feel like my essay is too creative/personal, but then when I edit it I feel like it doesn't sound like me and just sounds like every other essay. Are there boundaries that I should be watching out for? Or do I just have to be the judge of that myself?</p>
<p>this was posted not too long ago... rather then re-write, will suggest you read this thread over.... posted a top-10 list for essays (post #14 i think).... but lots of good advice from others on there, so sift through them all- </p>
<p>read over, and see if it helps- if not, come back ....</p>