"The Letter" finally arrives

<p>Finally got the rejection letter...not that it was a surprise at this late date. Oh well, maybe next year!
Good luck to one and all :-)</p>

<p>You must be a special person to have tried so hard and come so close!</p>

<p>Keep your dream alive and keep working toward making it real!</p>

<p>thanks haroldg48....I am actually the mom of that special person....and yeah, he is a great kid who will keep at it until he reaches his goals. Who knows where the future will lead him....maybe New London, maybe not. Wherever he lands he will do well.
thanks again.</p>

<p>I'm the father of one who made it, but, having been through the military myself (when it wasn't optional) I know he hasn't "made it" yet!! Long road to go!</p>

<p>I just wanted to share that my son was also put on the waiting list in April. He was accepted into Purdue and St. Louis U. (with some scholarship help), and both have strong aeronautical engineering schools, his primary interest. However, he decided that he wanted the CGA badly enough to turn both of these opportunities down. We made tentative arrangements for him to go for a post graduate year at an East coast prep school. His plan was to simply increase his test scores, have a solid year of study and football, try to cultivate some better letters of recommendation, and then apply again next year for the CGA. As it turned out, he made it off the waiting list and was offered a CGA appointment on April 29. He was suprised and happy about this, but he also told me that he had been looking forward to the post graduate year also as a year to grow. I think that he now feels that he will have to just grow faster. I just thought that I would share these thoughts with you, not to say that a post graduate year would be your son's only path. I wish you and your son all the best.</p>

<p>Would you guys say that the Coast Guard Academy is more selective and harder to gain admission to as opposed to say the Naval Academy or the Military Academy? Or does not needing a nomination make it any easier or more difficult? Because it seems like a lot of people here are on the wait list. Also, did anyone who got put on the wait list here or gain an appointment attend AIM last year?</p>

<p>I think it's more selective, since there is more "persoanl merit" (grades, test scores, sports, other leadership activities) less #x appointments per state/congressional district and fewer appointments (300 v. 1500 or so).</p>

<p>What Harold said is true, but you must also factor in the fact that a lot less amount of people apply to the USCGA that the other academies. So if 300 out of 3000 get into USCGA and 1000 out of 10000 get into say air force academy, it's the same ratio.</p>

<p>It's pretty difficult to compare, but I would imagine it's probably pretty close across the board. each academy likes to brag about how many kids they turn away, but from the numbers I've seen there isn't that big of a spread.</p>

<p>"Applicants (includes nominees) 11,259
Number of applicants with an official nomination 4,320
Nominees qualified scholastically, medically and in physical aptitude 1,812
Offers of admission 1,503
Admitted 1,220"</p>