<p>Hey everyone:</p>
<p>I FINALLY got my results back from DoDMERB and am "waiverable" for my vision, which needs to be corrected for 20/20. </p>
<p>D257.70 - Unaided distant visual acuity worse than 20/20</p>
<p>Now the big question: What do I do now? I know that I have to write a letter to the senior medical officer, but is there anything else that I should do?</p>
<p>As far as I understand things, you don't have to do anything at this point. Your results posted online don't provide all the info you get in the hard copy letter. So do you have that in hand...and is the LETTER telling you to contact the SMO?? In our case - when we were responding to the eye request in round 1 of our DoDMERB...we sent copies of all the paperwork and eye refraction info to both DoDMERB and the Naval Academy Medical Officer...and the Academy Medical people called me and told me that if the only thing involved is the 20/20 eye waiver - they don't deal with that - only DoDMERB does. The SMO only kicks in for more serious issues - like asthma, etc. So if all you have is your D257.70...just relax. They simply forwarded the stuff we sent them to DoDMERB - who probably just threw the stuff away.</p>
<p>I also point blank asked the Medical Officer -who had my daughter's application in front of her as we spoke - how this affects her chances of admission....does it slow down the process and put her into a waiverable category that doesn't give her a shot at an LOA, etc?? The lady - who was Rita Wacker - and VERY nice and friendly. Laughed and told me - "Yes, it slows the application process down if you need a D257.70 ....for about......45 minutes". Translation: relax and let the application in toto speak for itself. As it turned out, my daughter got an LOA on Oct. 3rd - so we know for a fact that her eyes aren't going to be an issue in her case.</p>
<p>She sees 20/15 in one eye and 20/25 in the other, so functionally she sees 20/15! But 'rules are rules' and she does not have 'perfect 20/20' vision. How serious is your refraction?</p>
<p>My condition is not very serious at all. I can't tell you exactly, but when I did get the eye exam done, the eye doctor told me that it is a very mild stigmatism. Additionally, when I went to my regular eye doctor (who also does laser surgery and PRK) he said that I was a perfect candidate for the eye surgery since my perscription has such a minimal correction. So I guess from reading your post that I shouldn't be worried about this at all. Good to hear.</p>
<p>And whatever you do DON"T get any eye surgery....that would automatically disqualify you.</p>
<p>May God bless your chances to be accepted. </p>
<p>As far as this mom is concerned, I am proud of each and every one of this candidate class of '10 who want to serve their country and challenge themselves at a Military Service Academy. You all are heroes in this mom's book!!!</p>
<p>"Most candidates reported as waiverable have visual acuity less than 20/20 but are otherwise qualified. If this is the case and the candidate is otherwise (scholastically and in physical aptitude) fully qualified for admission, has received a nomination and comes in line for an offer of appointment, he or she will automatically be considered for a waiver. Since there is a limitation on the number of eye waivers authorized, this is a competitive process. It should be noted that all candidates needing an eye waiver, including principal nominees, must compete for these waivers."</p>
<p>Remember that there is a limit on the number appointments for each class that can be based on waivers. I read somewhere (official) that no more than 30-35% (I do not recall if it is 30 or 35%) of an incoming class can have medical waivers. This makes competition for appointment even more rigorous.
CM</p>
<p>Candidatemom - if they offer the LOA - and by then the DoDMERB is in and they know it ( the form itself reports what you have left to get your appointment on your LOA letter: the nomination/DoDMERB/BGO interview. We had the last 2 already in - they knew that and the only thing checked was the 'nomination' - which won't happen for us here in CA until mid-December) then all we can assume is that regardless of the # of waivers - they have guaranteed our daughter an appointment once she completes her Nomination process, regardless of an eye waiver. I am assuming they made a decision pretty early on - since she was in one of the first waves of LOA's given - that she would get a waiver - else they wouldn't have bothered with an LOA for her and kids like her. Is this your understanding of the process?</p>
<p>If your daughter received a LOA and needs a waiver, I believe the wording of the LOA indicates that it is conditional on meeting all of the other qualifications including medical. </p>
<p>It is my understanding that she would go into the pool of candidates requiring a waiver, and since vision waivers are not critical, would most likely be one of the first appointed from the waiver pool. I have, however heard of others who had LOA and were ultimately denied because their medical conditions were more serious.</p>
<p>LOA are not guarantees, the conditions are spelled out in the letter. They are often sent out before the DoDMERB has even been started. Those who do not have LOA and require vision waivers are competing with the pool for appointment, and it puts them in an even more precarious position due to the restriction on the number of candidates who can be admitted with them.</p>
<p>Congratulations on the LOA.
CM</p>
<p>the LOA reads - "guarantee of an appointment" if the other areas have been met....and in her case the only box checked is Nomination - so I know they know her medical status and the last thing in her case is the interview. Her BGO also told us she just has to pass the interview and will get her appointment. I don't know if he knows more than we do - but we're not going to worry about the eye waiver issue. If the Medical Office at USNA and the BGO both told us it isn't a factor in her admissions - I guess we can relax.</p>
<p>Today in the mail we got an updated report from DoDMERB listing Janell as medically qualified. The hard copy letter stated that since Janell sees 20/25 in one eye and 20/15 in the other, she sees better than 20/40 and hence has had her status changed from 'waiverable' to 'qualified'. Good! That opens that slot for some other needly Candidate. Is anyone else getting updates like this???</p>
<p>DS also received an updated DODMERB report. The first one with the USNA listed had it also as waiverable and the one he just recieved, last week, now says qualified where the word waiverable was originally. He did not receive a letter though stating why the status change, just that there was an update on his DODMERB.</p>
<p>Thanks peskemom for shedding some info on it. He is potentially pilot qualified at the USAFA so he knew it was close, just how close he did not know. </p>
<p>Kat</p>