Nominations

<p>I have a friend who wants to attend the United States Naval Academy, and he is really upset right now, because on his SAT, he did great, but not good enough as the average scores for our congressional nominations. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how I could motivate him alittle more to just send in what scores he recieved, and hope that they see the other great qualities that he posesses shine through. I have tried to encourage him by showing him that people with scores less then his got nominations, but that didn't seem to work.Thanks for any advice.
Respectfully,
usnahopeful</p>

<p>What are his SAT scores and what are the average scores for the congressional nomination? If your friend wants the nomination then he should not have to be motivated for turning in scores. Has he completed the preliminary application and received a candidate number?</p>

<p>
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If your friend wants the nomination then he should not have to be motivated for turning in scores.

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</p>

<p>Thus endteth the thread.</p>

<p>You SURE he wants to attend USNA? When I was applying, I would have run over my own sister to get ANY updates to the powers-that-be.</p>

<p>I would have to agree with the above.</p>

<p>I have to question as to if he needs the "motivation," or is it that he is "hesitant" because of his scores? There is a world of difference between the two, and while one can understand the latter, the former would not bode well for all that is to come, a nomination the least of it.</p>

<p>If he lacks the motivation, perhaps USNA is not the right place for him. Everyday takes motivation just to climb out of bed and do it all again, over and over and over. </p>

<p>The best advice for hesitation, on the other hand, is to take the SATs again....seniors can sit in December and again in January if need be.... in the meantime, take practice tests. As for nominations, usually the cutoff is November test scores, so he may have to forward those to his MOC's. He should, howerver, take them again and should the Dec SATs improve well enough, send them to the MOCs (most do not make final decisions until the beginning of January anyway) ...then hope for the best. Stranger things have happened.</p>

<p>If he is super-motivated, then a simple matter of no-nomination for this year would not be a deterant, for a really motivated candidate will go to a year of college (or prep) and then reapply if they do not make it into the class of 2011. To a motivated candidate, there is always 2012 and even 2013.... as many as 1/3 of the incoming class is comprised of these very students. </p>

<p>What you can't do is motivate someone who is not motivated for themselves, but you can certainly encourage and support someone who is just a bit hesitant .....</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>If he is hesitant, you need to smack him into line quick (or bring him here so I can do it. ;) ).</p>

<p>Hesitating will get him nothing but frustration. If he improved his scores, he needs to SEND THEM IMMEDIATELY. </p>

<p>No, no one will think he is a smack (noun - look it up) for doing it. OTOH, he is really limiting his options if he doesn't.</p>

<p>He who hesitates is lost...</p>

<p>I personally wouldn't want a classmate who doesn't really want to be there. He needs to motivate himself. I know a couple people with mediocre scores who posses the motivation to apply and try hard to get in, people who I would want as my classmates.
And no offense, but your friend could not have done 'great' if he doesn't meet the average scores. Those are just that, averages and represent USNA pretty well. But I may be wrong and you may just have a superior state/district.</p>

<p>nothing ventured nothing gained.....</p>

<p>Tell him to retake the SAT. I know there is one scheduled in November. Also tell him to take the ACT. Between the two of them, my son took them 5 times. Each time his scores were higher and he eventually received a LOA. If this year doesn't work out, have him apply next year. If he is not willing to jump some hurdles, then USNA is probably not the school for him.</p>

<p>Yeah I have the same story as 3106's son. Every time i've taken them my scores have gotten better. The ACT's are also a great option as 3106 also stated. My ACT scores translate to a couple hundred points higher than my regular SAT scores.</p>

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I know there is one scheduled in November.

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<p>The November test date was Nov. 4th. The next SAT is scheduled for Saturday, 2 December 2006. Tomorrow, 9 Nov. 2006 is the last day to register (late registration fee applies) for that test.</p>

<p>Correction: The December SAT late registration deadline has been extended to 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time), Tuesday, November 14, 2006.</p>

<p>For those who miss the late registration deadline there is always Standby Testing. Show up that morning to take the place of someone who forgot and slept in that day... (yes, it happened to me, one of my great life lessons...).</p>

<p>Standby Testing
If you miss the late registration deadline, there's still a chance you can sometimes take the SAT as a standby. Test centers accept standbys on a first-come, first-serve basis only if they have enough space, testing materials, and staff—so there is no guarantee that you'll be admitted to the test.</p>

<p>Check the SAT site for additional details... <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/testday/standby.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/testday/standby.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Thanks everyone for all of your post, they were very insightful and helpful.
It is not his motivation nor his determination that is in question. According to both our Senator and Representatives, the date for the nominations of not this coming years entering class, but next years entering class (hopefully, the year that he makes it in) there was a typo. The dates said that their information needed to be in by this December instead of next December.
At first I was alittle perplexed about this, because I thought you got your nomination your Senior year (can anyone clarify this for me so I know what I will need to do within the next 2 years). I guess that the webmaster realized what had happened because they changed it yesturday.
We live in northern California, in between Sacramento and San Francisco, and our districts are very competitive concerning the SAT scores. He had great scores, but not as high as to be considered a highly competitive candidate for a nomination.
Again thanks for everything, and I hope within the next 2 years, I will have this great feedback and help from everyone on this board, that I have had so far.
respectfully,
usnahopeful</p>