<p>My Son applied and was accepted to STEM for 2013 as an upcoming 11th grader.</p>
<p>It appears that while the program has expanded some what over the past four years (up to 600 participants over 3 weeks this year apparently), the applications have also skyrocketed to about 5000 or 6000. So, doing the simple math, you have a one or two chance in ten to be accepted.</p>
<p>I really dont see the STEM Summer program as a minority outreach as much as some of the NA’s programs for local “under represented” schools in the area of the academy. My son is not a minority.</p>
<p>Our goals for his attendance this year are: exposure to one of the service academies, exposure to STEM facilities at a university, a gold star for college admissions purposes, and - most importantly - a chance for our son to travel across country for an experience he will remember for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>We will post again after he is done to let people know how it went!</p>
<p>We visited USNA in early April while on spring break, as my father (the kids’ grandfather was Class of 66 at USNA) and both my son and daughter (7th and 10th grades respectively) were impressed with the tour and admissions discussion held afterwards. The admissions officer who did the presentation encouraged both to apply to summer STEM programs and they enthusiastically returned home that afternoon to do the applications. This was April 4th.
Yesterday they were both disappointed to check email and find that they were not accepted for STEM. Both kids are straight A students, active in community life and church, and participate in athletics. I would have thought they’d be exactly what USNA was looking for. They are not minority students and we live in a relatively remote area of southern Virginia, but it doesn’t appear that these would be particularly strong negatives. Then I saw the last post…
SHTRDG says that her non-minority, highly qualified son got accepted in January for summer 2013. Does this mean that although USNA says that applications close on April 14, they have been mailing acceptances since at least the first of the year? Was it our late applications that hurt their chances? I’m just trying to make sense of things here!</p>
<p>Re: “Both kids are straight A students, active in community life and church, and participate in athletics. I would have thought they’d be exactly what USNA was looking for…”
The problem that we have seen is that most of the kids apply to STEM, NASS, etc have the same qualifications as your kids (and my own kids). It is stunning to see (just read these boads and the Service Academy site) how many bright, motivated, hard working, athletic, smart kids there are going for these spots! One thing STEM rejection did for our child is to open her eyes to the fact that she has to have back up plans. You can be totally qualified, but it does not mean you will get a shot. Sometimes it is becuase of your CD (Congressional District), sometimes because of your gender or race, sometimes because of something academic (you have As but your school is not as rigorous as someone else’s with As). You might be athletic, but another may be more so. Our child’s friend interviewing this summer for options has found that her Black Belt has carried more ‘weight’ and interest than her varsity school sport and grades. Who knew?
You might not be able to make sense of it. Better to just keep working and trying and put other plans into place as back ups.
It is hard to help your kids through rejection, but there is always growth in it too. Hang in there.
T</p>
<p>USNA application and acceptance is a marathon. The competition for STEM, Summer Seminar, and admittance is intense. If they are interested in NA --as compared to simply the STEM program–then this rejection is mere bump in the road.</p>
<p>And to answer your question, I’ve had one kid go to STEM and the other did not. We submitted application for it as soon as possible. Like Summer Seminar–both kids went to that–you shoudl apply as soon as possible.</p>
<p>I definitely think the late application probably drastically reduced their chances of getting in. Also, for the older student, I believe the entering 11th grade group is usually the most competitive and from what I’ve heard, if you didn’t submit an SAT/ACT/PSAT score, difficult to get into. Add in your location - while it may be an underrepresented area, it does sound like it’s close enough to do a trip on your own (obviously, since you did). And diversity is a big focus of any of the programs (STEM/NASS). So I’d say those 3 factors together probably explain why they didn’t get in this time, but as Bill said, I wouldn’t read anything into it as far as admission to the Academy in the long run is concerned, and now that you’re aware of the programs, have the kids apply ASAP when they open next year (for NASS and STEM respectively).</p>
<p>shrtrdg:
congrats on your son being accepted to stem! Will you do me a favor? Let me know when he has to accept his position. My son was waitlisted and we were told they would pull from the waitlist when they hear whether or not the other students accept their offers. I am just looking for a timeframe when we may start to hear information…
THANK YOU!</p>
<p>Curious as well to know if acceptances have been on a rolling basis? We thought April 14 was deadline before decisions started being made.</p>
<p>DS2 is in all honors classes as a freshman and carries a straight A avg. He is Class Pres. Varsity athlete. Johns Hopkins CTY and Duke TIP. STEM background. Outstanding SATs. In state. White. Rejected. </p>
<p>In response to our inquiry for understanding, it is a geographic issue and important to program to achieve geographic diversity. We live ten mins away.</p>
<p>DS is color blind and we noted that on the part of the application that asked about any physical impairments and specifically listed visual defects such as color blindness (there would only be one reason they would want to know about those types of physical issues-I’m afraid Bill is right). </p>
<p>And last, DS is white. It frosts me to no end to see institutional discrimination be accepted.</p>
<p>Grand:
Last year my friend who is a white male got in. He is going to NASS this summer.
Many who apply to USNA programs have all the stats your kids have, and more. Duke TIP is considered a pay and go program (just have to have that ‘gifted’ SAT score). TOP kids actualy often go to competitive research programs instead. Those are fair playing fields because whether your parents can write the check is a non issue. When you get THOSE, that mean ways more than TIP and JH CTY.
At USNA the majority of kids there are white. Bottom line…you might need to start thinking about why THOSE kids are beating out your child. Could just be geography, or could be more.
As TABEN said…the pool is always competitive. Blackbelt and Eagle Scout might beat out varisty athlete and class president, for instance. Could be a legacy got the spot.
My parents told us to keep pressing and work harder…
HSgrad</p>
<p>My daughter (rising 8th grader) was accepted and will be attending next week! We were informed by our Guidance Department back in the Fall of 2012 of a Seminar the USNA was holding in Atlanta area with regards to their Summer STEM and Summer Seminar - so we went to check it out. She decided to apply in January and received acceptance by email in April. She is white, from a suburb West of Atlanta, attends a private Christian school, is a high achiever 4.0 student, was in the 2 Honors classes offered to her in 7th grade, took a STEM elective at school offered this year, took the SAT in January through Duke TIP program (high standardized test scores on ITBS) and received recognition on her score, runs XC, Swim Team, and runs Track through her school athletic program, active at church and in community service. She is extremely excited about this opportunity. Several kids from her school have applied over the years and have been rejected. We visited Annapolis while up North over Winter break - prior to her acceptance so she could see it and get an idea of what she would be in store for - if accepted. We are proud and also extremely excited that she gets to participate in this experience of a lifetime that we are certain she won’t forget and perhaps will lead to an interest in attending USNA after High School. I will give an update on the forum of her experience after her return. Go NAVY!</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing that. Will be interested to hear how her experience goes. Had not considered having our rising 8th grader apply (and she is likewise gifted-is a finalist for the Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars Program, etc-which, hsgrad, can not be “bought”)-focus was our rising 10 grader’s application. Didnt even realize it was open to the younger ages. Congratulations to your daughter-hope she has a great experience!</p>
<p>Thank you! Yes, b/c her school is K4-12 we heard about it through a HS Guidance Counselor. We honestly thought the chances were very slim, but we’d give it a shot. Several HS parents at her school have congratulated her and have told me that their kids (most of whom are top achievers) have not been accepted after applying several times and that this is just a fantastic opportunity for her. Apparently there are roughly 640 attending the 3 weeks this year out of 7000 applications - highest number to date, rising each year!</p>
<p>Grand…any cost free program that is based on merit carries more wait than pay as you go programs or even (so I was told) get a certain SAT and pay 3k+ and go program. So sounds like your younger kid is on track to have a very useful ‘hook’. Most kids I know are ‘gifted’, in all honors classes by 9th and have a stack of AP classes by the end of 10th. If the high school is know (i.e. Phillips Exeter, NC Science and Math, Jefferson in NY, etc.) then the grades carry more weight than an average local school. Same with sports…a varsity letter in a competitive hs conference means more than a varsity letter in a school with no-cut sports. It is CRAZY.
Will be glad to see what folks say about STEM. Sounds like a great opportunity.
HSG</p>
<p>My son just got an email. He got in this year, 2014. I am not sure how prestigious this program is. He applied last year but couldn’t get it. Hope he would have a wonderful experience there as an eye opening chance.</p>
<p>I would never call for my son who was and is again a candidate but my daughter is a different story. She is a young 13 so the admissions completely understood me calling, they actually liked that I was following up. To that end they are still going through applications. They said that if she does not get an email by May1st to call again. </p>