<p>My D has her interview in a few days. Any advice from the group as to what they're particularly looking to see/hear? Of course I've told her to be honest and direct but are there certain buzz words that she should include? And besides any reference to Army, is there anything she should particularly avoid?</p>
<p>Most certainly, don’t ride the family mule to the interview. :eek: That gets BGO goats. :p</p>
<p>Good luck. Be early, but not too. Go with good questions. Avoid trivial buzz wording. Dress and sit appropriately. Go get 'em.</p>
<p>DD was advised to answer the “would you consider going to NAPS or a foundation school?” with a resounding, “YES!” She was told this would not disqualify her from a direct shot to USNA, but would indicate her desire to get to the academy via any means possible.</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>Foundation school?</p>
<p>Why do you want to go to USNA? Your daughter should be prepared to answer that question. Not what she thinks the BGO wants to hear but what she really believes is her motivation and desire to attend.</p>
<p>Last year, my mid was a summer seminar cadre and knows of 5 kids that were in her squads that are about to hit I-Day as part of the class of 2013. I asked why those kids and not some of the others and her response was that they impressed her compared to their peers. She spent extra time writing their reviews and documenting why they were exceptional and would succeed at the Naval Academy. My point is that a lot of kids look really good on paper but it’s the ablity to standout in a posative way and communicate not only the desire but the ability to succeed at USNA that makes a difference of getting in or not. Your daugher needs to project confidence and give answers from her heart, not anyone eles’s. Best of luck.</p>
<p>bravo to your daughter for having her interview this early! it’s a relief knowing the next class is already well on their way with their applications! (i’ll have that to think about during plebe summer i guess…)
But about the interview: Yes dress nice. It can never hurt. However, my BGO showed up in jeans (MT is pretty casual). Firm handshake, have a rag next to the door to wipe off your hand if its sweaty (i have trouble with that at times!). Most importantly, have fun and relax. Show how excited you are about the opportunity to go to USNA. If your daughter went to NASS, this can be a great ice breaker to talk about. I incorporated experiences at NASS into many of my answers. Parents, GO AWAY!! I was much more relaxed knowing they were downstairs watching TV with the volume turned way up and weren’t listening to my every word. Another word for parents, don’t appear scared or frightened that your son/daughter wants to go to USNA. My BGO told me that one of the things he looks at is how willing the parents are to support their kid. (Sounds silly, but that is what he said).
But like I said, have fun with it. Treat it like a conversation instead of an interview. And go in there knowing that you would rather go to USNA then anywhere else in the world!<br>
In the end, it was way easier than the essay etc. Good luck and go get 'em!</p>
<p>“To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is to be forgotten. Time, tide and formation wait for no man” ~ One of the MANY plebe things I will never forget (SLOANQ you will soon have this memorized…FOREVER)</p>
<p>anyways, yes if the interview is somewhere other than your house be on time. If it’s at your house and you’re late there’s something wrong with that picture.</p>
<p>As everyone has stated, be honest, project confidence, use your experiences from NASS to answer your questions. Don’t view the interview as a make it or break it - this is an opportunity for the BGO to get to know you, the candidate better, and provide a written recommendation back to USNA. Be prepared to answer questions about the Naval Academy (birthday/history), be prepared to tell them what you would like to service select and why, what you would like to major in and why, and WHY you choose the Naval Academy. Also, have a question or two for the BGO, they may ask if you have any questions. Suggest you have your parents leave the room during the interview. The BGO is there to interview you, not your parents.</p>
<p>rather than reinvent the wheel, here is a link to a thread on BGO interviews that might be of interest.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/naval-academy-annapolis/534839-blue-gold-interview.html?highlight=interview[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/naval-academy-annapolis/534839-blue-gold-interview.html?highlight=interview</a></p>
<p>Had her interview today. Went well. The BGO talked to us both for over an hour - about the NA, structure, rigor, career options, application process, etc. Answered our questions. Then dismissed me and talked one-on-one w/ D for about 1/2 hour. She was happy with how it went. She has a couple of questions to answer back but all-on-all it went well.</p>
<p>Thanks Navy2010 and all the rest for your input. It made her that much more prepared and relaxed.</p>
<p>One thing I didn’t know is that the NA can select more than one candidate from each congressional pool of 10. I guess if I thought through the numbers it would have to be but I hadn’t. So I learned something too.</p>
<p>Good point regarding the candidate selection for each congressional district. We went to our congressman’s reception recently and there were 6 kids who are going AF, 3 each for Navy and Army, and 1 MM. </p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>When we attended the reception for our congressman 2 years ago, there were appointees from the various academies in attendance. Some were nominated by both the congressman and senators. It was never made clear whose nomination was used for each appointment. Our congressman was just please that so many from his district were qualified and willing to serve.</p>
<p>Of course they were pleased. Appointments seemingly their favor to you on taxpayer monies. Oh what tangled webs they weave …</p>
<p>I probably need to start a new thread but I did have a question, which sort of piggybacks onto the comment by OSDAD. My son will be senior this year. Had his B & G interview already, went well. Was told that his file is very strong (excellent grades and SAT scores, athletics, Eagle Scout, Boys State, etc.) and probably won’t have trouble getting an (early) LOA from one if not all of the Academies. He said that his challenge will be that fact that we live in one of the very competitive states for a Congressional Nomination. He’s already taken and qualified for his DODMERB and has passed his CFA. How often does it happen that one gets an LOA and no nomination?</p>
<p>i don’t think there are actual statistics on that mumsy, but anyone with an LOA and no cogressional nom will compete in a national pool of those with triple qualifications and no nom. there are appointments available through that path, but i don’t know how many. if the BGO thinks he’ll get LOA from multiple academies, the likelihood of no nom at all is very slim.</p>
<p>Kathie;</p>
<p>I believe that you are mistaken regarding the placement of a candidate in the national pool. It has been my understanding that only candidates who have nominations will make it to the national pool.</p>
<p>There was a parent this past cycle who shared the disappointment with this forum when her son who had received a LOA (and was medically qualified), did not receive a nomination and therefore no appointment. </p>
<p>I would urge a candidate who has a LOA to take the nomination interview very seriously.
Best of Luck to all.
CM</p>
<p>mumsy,</p>
<p>My D also got a call saying basically the same thing. I think they’re actively recruiting CC kids before the Ivy’s get them… (I’d insert a smiley here if I knew how to do it)</p>
<p>As I gain more understanding of the process it makes sense that there will be a fair number of candidates who have LOA, are medically qualified, but do not get the one appointment from their MOC. In my state, the MOC’s all submit 10 names to the Academy - which selects one to go against that MOC’s allottment. The other 9 might all have LOA and I suspect its these candidates who go into the national pool. But as I said, I’m still learning about the process.</p>
<p>osdad,
Thanks for your reply, we’re still trying to learn this whole process. First, what does “CC” stand for? Second, what is the national pool? We’re familiar with the 4 sources of nomination (senator X2, rep, and VP), but we’re not familiar with what the national pool refers to. We are from one of the very competitive states and don’t see how there would be enough nomination spots from the 4 sources above. Best of luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>mumsy,</p>
<p>CC stands for College Confidential. As they say in Lake Wobegone: All our kids are above average…LOL</p>
<p>If you do the numbers, on average, apppointments only add up to about 50% of any years class of about 1200. (535 House and 100 Sen. They’re allowed 5 at any time so it might be 5 from one year and none for the next 3 but on average I assume it comes to one per year. I don’t know if elections play into that? If we throw the bum out after two years does the new bum get a new allotment of 5??? ) So to fill the remaining slots they can pick another kid who has an appointment from any district and it doesn’t go against that MOC’s allotment. I assume that is the national pool that’s being referred to.</p>
<p>The nomination/LOA issue is fairly complex - I will try to enlighten a bit but I will surely leave out a scenario here or there… </p>
<p>To get to the National Pool the candidate must have a nomination of some kind. The National pool is comprised of those students that did not get an appointment off their MOC slate (or other nom source) but do have a nom - perhaps it is a Presidential nom (child of military - any qualified child of military, within the rules, can get the nom but only limited appointments allowed via that nom). If a student has an LOA and no nom then there is no guarantee of appointment. However, typically a MOC looks favorably on LOAs and grants them a nom, though not all - some MOCs will not allow an LOA to be in the decision process … some MOCs do not tell the committee about the LOA and thus if a committee did not deem the student qualified for a nom, don’t give it - it just depends on the workings of each MOC and their committee. I have heard of students with an LOA that either did not understand the process or for some other reason failed to apply or complete their MOC applications. That translated to no nomination. In highly competitive areas, if a MOC is of the opinion that the LOA is not something that the committee should use the decision, the student will want to be sure to do well on the nom side. In our area the LOA is kept from the committees knowledge - the thought being that if the candidate is good enough to qualify for an LOA, they should be good enough to shine through on the nomination process too (and typically that is the case). The SAs can grant a supe nom - but if the candidate did not do their homework and try to get the MOC nom the SA looks less favorably and may not grant the Supe nom. There are other reasons that a SA may decide not to grant a supe nom to an LOA recipient as well. </p>
<p>The MOC may not be charged with an LOA recipient … what I mean is that on the slate of noms from the MOC they can place 10 names per slate. They may have only one available slate this year or possibly more (one slate of ten for each vacancy in their district, up to five cadets/mids are allowed to be charged to a MOC at any given time - in other words, no more than 5 cadets/mids at any time at each SA). Let’s assume the MOC places ten candidates on one slate, including the LOAs but does not select a principal nominee … they just submit an unranked slate. In that scenario the SA is obligated to select the candidate to get the appointment based on the highest WCS of all ten names on that slate. If the LOA is the highest WCS, then the LOA is charged to the MOC and potentially no other candidates get appointed off that slate. If the LOA is either not the largest WCS or the MOC has nominated a principal (that is not the LOA) then the principal or largest WCS will be appointed and charged to the MOC and the LOA will be appointed and granted a supe (or other nom, maybe the VP). If the LOA is not on the slate (meaning the MOC did not give a nom) the SA is not obligated to give that candidate a nom. If the LOA is nominated with any kind of nom they will get an appointment (assume passes medical and/or whatever else limits are placed on the LOA). </p>
<p>It can get very confusing, I know, and there are any number of scenarios that can exist in the whole nomination process that can change things. The key here is that while an LOA is a very good thing, it is not an appointment. To get the appointment the student must get a nom and must any other stipulations set forth within the LOA. I am aware of LOA recipients that have not gotten an appointment, though it is rare. If you or your child receives an LOA, the student can view that as an excellent sign and a strong reason to do their best on the nomination process but it is not an appointment. </p>
<p>As to what happens when they change office - the charged cadets/mids are charged to the MOC District not the MOC as a person so they stay charged to the DISTRICT if/when there is a change of office.</p>
<p>Need to make a correction to an earlier post ;)</p>
<p>Voting members in US Congress are 435 House plus 100 Senate = 535 total</p>
<p>
-House Historian </p>
<p>Hmm, wonder who nominates candidates from the US territories and Washington, D.C., their delegates?</p>