<p>my brother applied to USMA, received a presidential and a congressional nomination, attended SLS last year and completed his application last summer. He got a letter from West point in January that stated he was "fully qualified" for admission and that he was placed on the 'national waiting list'. He will hear about a final decision by April. What are the odds of getting off of the waiting list? He also has heard that those found 'fully qualified, not selected(FQNS)" are offerd a 4-year ROTC schoilarship to a school of their choice(sounds like a consolation prize). Has anyone else heard that?</p>
<p>Several hundred fully qualified candidates are selected off the waiting list each year. The numbers vary from year to year - but he should hang in there.
He is in a much smaller pool of applicants now.</p>
<p>I have never heard that fully qualified not selected candidates are offered an Army ROTC scholarship as a result of not being accepted. Many candidates to West Point do compete for a Army ROTC scholarship as well to have a back up plan in place.</p>
<p>A few selected qualified candidates who are not selected are offered a WP AOG scholarship to attend a service academy prep program for a year at a Military Junior college. This is NOT a consolation prize. One who will re-apply if they are not selected is wise to seriously consider this option if it is presented.</p>
<p>Our third son applied and was accepted to the USMMA. After he was up at the Academy going through Indoc, he received a full ROTC scholarship from the Army to another school he had applied to. A case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. If you've applied for an ROTC scholarship, there might be a good chance you would receive it, but only if you've applied. Has your brother applied for one as well as waiting to hear back from West Point? He should go ahead and apply for an ROTC scholarship, if that is what he desires as a backup plan. Better check the deadlines however, I would think time is drawing nigh.</p>
<p>What your brother heard is not the case. If he is not selected from the National Waiting List, then he will need to reapply next year.</p>
<p>the person who told him that was the USMA regional advisor for our area. He said "those found FQNS are offered a 4-year ROTC scholarship to a school of their choosing". My brother did not apply for a ROTC scholarship separately. If it is true, it is a carefully guarded secret, can not find it referenced anywhere, but the advisor, a West point graduate, who works with all the local candidates states that it is true. Odd.</p>
<p>It could be true. I have never heard of it. There are a lot of Army scholarships available because of the war and they need junior officers. Even though the deadline has passed - it could be that they can still get a highly qualified student a scholarship.</p>
<p>Being a fully qualified West Point candidate means that one would already be qualified in everyway to be a ROTC scholarship winner - it would just mean finding a scholarship in a school.</p>
<p>Well, I've been wrong before, and I'm not by any means in admissions, so definitely check it out. It very well could be a new offering and it makes sense that they would do something like that.</p>
<p>This is the first time I've seen any reference to an ROTC scholarship offered to FQNS candidates and I have a hard time believing it. It's more likely he could have been referring to a Civil Prep Scholarship. There is an ROTC process and if your brother wants to become an officer in the U.S. Army, he may want to consider beginning the ROTC application process quickly. Being on the NWL is definitely being in a smaller pool which is great news, but still no guarantee of receiving an appointment.</p>
<p>Wish him the best of luck.</p>
<p>^ agree it could be a communication error.
A Civil Prep or West Point Preparatory Program Scholarship is not to be confused with an AROTC scholarship and it is not to the school of your choice.
It does essentially guarantee you a place in the next class if you complete the program and should not be viewed as a consolation prize.</p>
<p>I don't know what the situation is with AROTC scholarships this year but two years ago they still had them available in the summer for highly qualified candidates.</p>
<p>This the answer to that question posed to our regional USMA representative:</p>
<p>"That is correct. Those individuals that are Fully Qualified, Not Selected (FQNS) are authorized a four year ROTC Scholarship to a school of their choosing. To cover that base, I would recommend applying for one anyway. Should there be some reason that you are not fully qualified, you would not fit the criteria for FQNS. If you have already applied for the scholarship you will still be covered."</p>
<p>We are just trying to see that response verified elsewhere(both of our parents are retired Colonels and even my father can not verify it). I suspect if he doesn't get an appointment, he will move on to one of the colleges that have already accepted him and live happily ever after doing something else. But with our family's military history(grandfather was a faculty member at West Point for many years), it surprises me he was put on the waiting list. His stats were competitive.</p>
<p>GO ARMY!</p>
<p>Is the regional USMA rep a Liason officer or a Regional commander posted at West Point?</p>
<p>a liason officer. We emailed that question to his regional commander at West Point, received no response at all-the only time that happened. My father resisted calling him personally.</p>
<p>Your brother should go ahead and give the Regional a call.<br>
He should not be discouraged at this point about being on the waiting list. This is not like the wait list at other schools where they put on 1000 kids and accept 3.</p>
<p>WP is just trying to convey to him that he is indeed fully qualified to compete for an appointment. They can't offer him one yet - probably he either didn't finish top in the slate of nominees or his congressman nominated a principal nominee and the space went to someone else.
He does have an alternate nomination and a Presidential nomination which is good. If West Point is his first choice he should convey this to his Regional Commander and try and make a candidate visit if possible.
It is early yet and typically several hundred candidates are offered an appointment from the waiting list.</p>
<p>I am 99.99999 percent certain that there is no guaranteed Army ROTC scholarship to those on the waiting list not accepted to West Point. No Way. No How. Students have to apply to the ROTC program separately - and decide which schools to apply to. Each school's ROTC program makes its own decision. It has nothing to do with West Point. Might West Point communicate with ROTC Command - maybe but nothing is guaranteed.</p>
<p>My son received ROTC scholarships to Wisconsin, UCLA and several other schools. These had nothing to do with West Point. </p>
<p>On the positive side, my son was on the National Waiting List for West Point and didn't hear that he had gotten in until mid-May. He's now a Firstie, majoring in Chemical Engineering, has a 3.9 average, is ranked in the top 30 in his class and is a starter on a Varsity D1 sport. So, just tell your brother to hang in there.</p>
<p>Last year only 1 person was selected off of the waiting list.</p>
<p>Cincinnatus,</p>
<p>We often see urban legend about these kinds of stats. There are other legends that will pop up from time to time. I'm pretty confident that well over 1 current plebe came off the NWL. If you search the forum you'll find descriptions of how it actually works.</p>
<p>momoftwins is right. </p>
<p>This is straight from the West Point website:
[quote]
If you have an excellent academic and extracurricular activity record, however, you have a good chance of gaining admission with an alternate nomination. Each year several hundred of the best qualified alternate Congressional and military service nominees are offered admission from the West Point waiting list.
[/quote]
USMA</a> Admissions: FAQs: About Admission</p>
<p>The appointment process is just now getting into full swing. Congress mandates that the corps be comprised of candidates from certain categories of nominations. e.g. 100 appointments are available to candidates who have a Presidential nomination.
In that number are 150 appointments to candidates with an alternate congressional nomination.<br>
To get a letter now saying that you are fully qualified to compete for an appointment and you are on the National Waiting list means you are in a group that will be chosen by order of merit to fill those appointments. In addition, Congress has mandates that the Corps expand to 4400. They are not there yet and are offering more appointments to reach that goal.</p>
<p>"But with our family's military history (grandfather was a faculty member at West Point for many years), it surprises me he was put on the waiting list. His stats were competitive."</p>
<p>The Admissions process to USMA is a competitive and fairly objective one. That means that candidates compete for a cadetship based on the strength of their file. A whole candidate score system is used. If your family member was put on the waiting list it is because the others on the nomination slates he was competing with had higher whole candidate scores. He will now compete for a cadetship from the waiting list (a national pool). If his scores are high enough he will be offered an appointment.<br>
The admissions process to West Point is largely governed by federal law. Having a grandfather who was a past faculty member does not change that.</p>
<p>Under Title X of the US Code USMA must admit 150 cadets from the National Waiting List by Whole Candidate Score (WCS) as Qualified Alternates (must have a Congressional Nomination).
Additional Appointees can be selected without regard to WCS as long as the Congressional to Service Connected nomination ratio of 3:1 is maintained.</p>
<p>thanks. He has been told by the regional commander that what is holding him back was his 'class rank'. He attends a very rigorous, elite private prep school with only 70 students in the class. The average SAT score for the class is about 1300(M and V). The school does not rank. The top 25% of the class typically go to Ivy League schools. Because of the WCS-West point assigns a class rank when a school does not rank-since his GPA is 'average' for the class(3.5/4.0), they assigned him an 'average class rank-35/70-which is considered very low by them in the WCS calculation. We are hoping that they will not be 'fooled by the numbers' and appoint him. He could have attended the local public high school(class size 800) and easily been in the top 10%. He has been accepted by several other colleges to date who know the school and it rigor. The regional commander stated he was aware of the issue and that 'adjustments' can sometime be made. We will see.</p>
<p>Admissions usually compares students Nationally, based on SAT/ACT scores and then compares students to those who have been given the exact same opportunities as they have (class rank). </p>
<p>If his GPA is "average" for the school it seems fair to deduce that his class rank would be "average". If this is not true it may be worth asking the school to calculate a class rank (even though it is not their general policy). </p>
<p>"We are hoping that they will not be 'fooled by the numbers' and appoint him."
It sounds as if the RC understands the issue. They have been doing this for a long time...they are not easily "fooled". Patience is the name of the game :)</p>
<p>so, if you have been nominated and found fully qualified and placed on the waiting list, is it proper to surmise that your odds of getting an appointment are 66%-as in last year's class of 1,097/1660=66%??</p>