<p>Hi im new to this forum</p>
<p>and i had a question</p>
<p>Im currently a sophmore and im doing a foriegn exhcnage program next year, my junior year.
I REALLY want to apply for the summer seminar but im afraid that my exchange wil negativly affect my changes to get in.</p>
<p>Do you think this is true?</p>
<p>Also for the recommendations, should i get them before i leave for my exchange?</p>
<p>Will you still be able to take the PSAT while you are on exchange? You will need to have either those scores or actual SAT scores available by February of your junior year to apply for NASS. If you cannot take the PSAT while on exchange, you might want to take the SAT (or ACT) before you leave. The SAT is given in April, and some locations give the SAT in June. If you are going to take any of these tests so early, be sure to spend some time each day studying for them, starting NOW. If you cannot take any of the tests (PSAT, SAT, or ACT) to have scores by February 2010, I would suggest contacting the USNA guidance office to see what they recommend. </p>
<p>You do not need to have letters of recommendation for your NASS application. You will need recommendation letters to apply for nominations from your Members of Congress (MOC) and the Vice President, but you will not need them until the summer after your junior year, at the earliest. You will also need recommendations from your junior year English and Math teachers, so you will need to take those courses while on exchange. </p>
<p>If you are taking challenging courses during your exchange, I don't see why it would prevent you from being competitive for NASS. Be sure that you are able to take classes that are similar to those you would take if you were in the US for that year, especially English, science and math. </p>
<p>There could be other factors that could work either for or against you, though. For example, if you are from a very competitive district, it's harder to get a spot at NASS. Keep in mind that ~65% of each incoming class did NOT attend NASS, so if you don't get to go, it does NOT mean that you're not a good candidate for an appointment.</p>
<p>I already took the PSAT this year, but I plan to take the SAT before I leave and while im over on my exchange.</p>
<p>Hmm, the only difficulty the I might face is getting the reccomedations from my english and math teachers while im over there.</p>
<p>Also, for the actual application is it better to have one or two nominations?</p>
<p>Because I can apply for the Congressional Nomination, and both my parents are military so I can aplly for the Presidential Nomination as well right?</p>
<p>thank you for your hep</p>
<p>Best to have as many nominations as you can. Gives the Academy much more flexibility with awarding an appointment.</p>
<p>Contact the Academy about the requirement of being Junior year instructors. They can give you instructions if those instructors would not be available to give you a recommendations. Will you be in an english speaking country? If not I would tell admissions this as getting a recommendation from a non native speaker may not be in your best interest unless after you have had them you feel that they have a good command of the English language and could articulate your attributes well in English.</p>
<p>Also it would be helpful for you to contact your BGO state coordinator - the list can be found on the Academy website in the USNA Catalog under admissions. They can put you in touch with a BGO or even help answer some of these question.</p>
<p>Admissions is in the middle of 2013 appointments so contacting them during the summer might afford them more opportunity to discuss this with you at length, although I do understand that you might not want to wait until then. Also, if you have an opportunity to visit the yard - Admissions does daily briefings and you could attend one of those and afterwards talk to an officer who could assist you.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>Thank you profmom</p>
<p>I looked on the website catalog like you suggested and I found my Blue and Gold Officer
but I sent her an email and it came back saying that this email was not valid.</p>
<p>What should I do?</p>
<p>Is there another way I can contact my Blue and Gold Officer</p>
<p>That does tend to be a problem with emails changing. Email admissions and ask for the name and contact information for your BGO or State coordinator. </p>
<p>On the admissions site there is a form where you can request information and put you into their data base.
<a href="https://candidateinformation.usna.edu/ITSD/rfip/acawu014$.startup">https://candidateinformation.usna.edu/ITSD/rfip/acawu014$.startup</a></p>
<p>Although this form does not have a spot for specific questions, towards the top of this form is a link with USNA Admissions email and phone number.
[quote]
If you have already submitted your contact information via telephone, contact card, or using this web page, please do not do so again. If you need to make changes to previously submitted information, please contact USNA Admissions via email (on the web page this is a valid link) or call 1-888-249-7707.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Peter-
In addition to the all the information that has already been posted, I would suggest applying for NASS anyway. If you are accepted, and are unable to attend, you can decline at that time- your file will at least indicate that you were offered and accepted to NASS, and you BGO will be able to enter the reason why you were unable to attend. Situations and schedules change all the time, and you never know.</p>
<p>Will you be gone for an entire year? If you can immerse your self in that language it would be a huge plus!</p>
<p>yeah im going for an entire school year not physical year
but i just found out that im going to Italy last night</p>
<p>I just dont know how I can get letters of reccommendation becuase the naval academy proably wont want them from an italian teacher</p>
<p>thank you
Im going to just call and ask who my blue and gold officer is</p>
<p>NASS is primarily a recruiting tool and an opportunity for students to get a sense of what USNA is like and whether it might be an option for them. Nothing more, nothing less. It's not a requirement for admission and doesn't help you all that much in the admissions process -- a tiny bit but not much.</p>
<p>I've said this before and I'll say it again: not attending NASS does NOT hurt your chances of an appointment to USNA. USNA (and, I assume, the other SAs) realizes that there are MANY reasons that students can't attend NASS: timing of finish of high school (a big issue where I live), financial constraints, camps (athletic and otherwise), the need to work to support a family, and on and on. NOT GOING IS NOT A NEGATIVE!!!</p>
<p>Thus, if you know you can't attend for whatever reason, don't apply. Why waste your time and USNA's time in evaluating your application if you have no intention of accepting. (Of course, you should apply if you aren't sure whether or not you'll be able to attend).</p>
<p>As for doing an exchange in Italy -- if I were you I would contact CGO before you go. May is usually a good time as it's a relatively quiet time for Admissions. Explain your situation and get their advice about how to handle things such as teacher recs, your medical exam, etc. Yours is a rather unusual situation and my guess is that a BGO won't have much experience with these issues -- however, I'm sure CGO has dealt with this many times before and WILL be able to tell you exactly what to do. </p>
<p>Again, right now, they're swamped with 2013 and will be through early May. If you can, hold off until then to contact them but be sure to do so before you leave for Italy.</p>
<p>Dupe post -- sorry.</p>
<p>what do you mean by dupe post?</p>
<p>and whats a CGO?</p>
<p>Dupe post = duplicate message. I had some issues with getting my message to post and ended up doing so twice. CGO = Candidate Guidance Office. USNA Admissions.</p>
<p>thank you for anwsering my questions</p>
<p>i feel better now</p>
<p>in regards to NASS, its mostly based off of PSAT/SAT/ACT scores, so you will see a bunch of fat nasties running around here during NASS because they had high enough grades to get accepted to NASS. In terms of the actual application though, it will help to DRASTICALLY improve your chances if you have athletics. Honestly, I dont know exactly what the academy admissions would do in your case, but i will honestly say it probably will affect your admissions. The academy tends to favor people from bigger, more "renown" schools just because there is less of a risk involved with selecting people from schools that they know. But give it a shot. You will never know until you try</p>
<p>so blue sky your saying that your more likely to get an appointment</p>
<p>if you go to a large school? like if 2 people had all the same stats and ecs but one goes to </p>
<p>a larger school they have a better chance?</p>
<p>No true either - my Mid came from a small school, has no reputation for sending kids to SA's - he is the first in over 2 decades and only was one before in 1987. This school has a reputation in our area of being extremely liberal. He got his appointment in December of his senior year.</p>