<p>So far, my son has received a nomination (competitive I think, there is only one slot available), a letter stating he is academically qualified, and an invitation to a campus overnight visit. All items required for the application are complete, so whats next? His stats are: SAT: 720 math, 610 verbal, 4.1 GPA, Eagle scout, 4yr varsity athlete and team captain, and other various church activities. Chances of getting in?</p>
<p>Also, can someone please explain the LOA I keep reading about in these threads? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your help I am new to this whole process and was glad to find this forum!</p>
<p>LOA - Letter of Assurance which guarantees an appointment as long as all items for appointment are met - i.e. nomination, medically cleared, passed CFA, and BGO interview. Most LOA's are sent out with only the nomination and DODMERB incomplete.</p>
<p>It is in someways the Academies way of competing with Early Action. (No obligation to attend if offered Appointment)</p>
<p>There has been much written over the years as to what you need in order to be offered a LOA - clearly each student is different and I am not sure you can predict who will or will not receive one. </p>
<p>There are not very many LOA's offered so it should not be a candidates focus. Focus on the appointment not trying to get an LOA as even though it is a guarantee, there are hitches like not getting a nomination or not getting medically cleared.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information, I was afraid we were missing something. Also, I seem to recall that the BGO mentioned another interview. Do you know when or where this happens?
He got a letter inviting him for an overnight - is it worth it? We have visited the campus, although it was pouring rain and we were not able to do the tour.</p>
<p>The overnight, also known as CVW; candidate visitation weekend, is an opportunity for your son to see and experience the academy first hand as he follows a Plebe around, sleeps in Bancroft etc. Worth doing if travel is not an issue for you. </p>
<p>If you son is triple Q'd with a nomination; as in he is scholastically and medically qualified and passed his CFA he's now in a much smaller pool of applicants with much greater chances of receiving an appointment; 1800-2000 from which about 1500 offers are sent with the expectation about 1200 will accept.</p>
<p>There is only one interview - that being conducted by the BGO. There is no formal admissions interview done at CVW. That weekend is really intended as an opportunity for the applicant to gain more knowledge about USNA. Definitely worth while. Also worth while for parents as there is an information session for parents only which we found very valuable and the tour does take you in places the normal visitor center's tour does not.</p>
<p>The plebe (host) may be asked to write something up about the candidate. Some do and some do not. My mid has never been asked to evaluate a drag (what the candidate is called during CVW) Could be a company thing don't know.</p>
<p>That is another thing that you should be aware of, you will hear many times that certain things are company specific. Each Company does set some of it's own standards, rates, when it comes to training. What the Drag sees at CVW may be company specific and if becomes a plebe his/her company may do things a bit differently.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how much weight the BGO's recommendation plays? Our BGO indicated he would write a strong recommendation.</p>
<p>I don't think a BGO can get you in, but I suspect they could keep you out.
In other words, BGO intereview probably won't overcome a weaker candidate's SAT scores, class ranking, etc. but I think a bad BGO interview could keep a candidate out, expecially if the candidate is on teh border. AT a minimum, an adverse report would cause the packet to be reviewed w/ greater scrutiny.</p>
<p>BGO may have been referring to the congressional interview when mentionnig the "other interview."</p>
<p>If your child went to SS, that may have been enough exposure. If not, the CVW is probably a good thing. Some think CVW gives more of a "real" exposure to Academy life.</p>
<p>I just had my BGO interview this evening. The officer indicated that the interview counted for about 1% of the application...</p>
<p>Hey, it sounds to me like your son has gotten a principal nomination from his MOC. Congratulations! If that's the case, and your son is medically and physically qualified, then he will get an offer of appointment soon. Principal nominations are similar to LOA's: people who get them are guaranteed an offer as long as they qualify in everthing else.</p>
<p>Thanks, but I dont believe it is a principle nomination. The letter from our congressman only indicated that he had been nominated. I am just assuming that the congressman nominated other students for the one slot he has available. He wasnt re-elected so I can't call and ask.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the information! Just having some insight into the process and reading about other's experiences has been a great help to this nervous mom.... :-)</p>
<p>What is a "principle nomination" if i may ask? Is it different from a regular nomination?</p>
<p>A principle nomination is one where your MOC or Senator submits a list of up to 10 nominees to the Academy and says "The kid at Number One is my top pick." THe Academies honor that choice and offer the appointment if the principle nominee is otherwise qualified medically, physically and academically. The other method, commonly used by MOC and Senators, is to submit an "unranked slate" or "competitive slate" of up to 10 nominees for each opening. The Academy then evaluates and decides who to offer an appointment to from those ten. </p>
<p>All of the other nine nominees on either type of slate then go into a national pool where they compete with all other fully qualified candidates for the slots until the class of 2013 or whenever is full. Their nominations may be charged off to a variety of sources, some of which are determined by the Academy.</p>
<p>When will you know? Here's where the water gets muddy. Noms from MOC
are due to the Academy by the end of January. Applications from candidates are not due until March 1. If you are on a competetive slate, as is my son, you may be finished with your application (he was done in mid September.) If the other nine, or some of them, are not complete, or are awaiting medical waivers, your slate will not be evaluated by the academy until all are complete.</p>
<p>Long story short: much of this process is totally beyond your control. You will read on this and the other SA forums of kids receiving appointments from now on out. Those are principle nominees, or those who are part of a slate where everyone had their applications complete. Do not become discouraged. You have no idea and absolutely no control or even slight influence on this process. </p>
<p>The official line at the academy is that everyone should know SOMETHING by April 15. However, some offers of appt are made after that time as offers on the table are declined. </p>
<p>Remember, you only control your application. If you can add anything: updated CFA scores, significant awards or sports accomplishments, send these along to USNA. </p>
<p>And take a deep breath and prepare to wait! Patience is a virtue. Tough to wait, but there is no alternative!</p>
<p>Oh, Simpse, the Candidate Visit Weekend is absolutely worth it. They say it won't hurt your chances, but it certainly shows continued interest. The kids get a chance to spend time with the brigade and learn more about the day-to-day at USNA. </p>
<p>We had been up twice, once on our own and once for NASS. It is a substantial trip from west Texas. When the invite came for CVW, fellow forumites, said GO! Son said it was worth the effort.</p>
<p>Wow - this has been really helpful. Especially the information about having to wait until all nominees from our Congressman have their applications complete before they will be reviewed. I reviewed nomination letter and it definitely states that he submitted a "list" and that my son would be compared against it. One other thing that is interesting, is that the letter also states that if he has not been contacted by the Academy by March 15 that he should contact their admissions office.... In any case we will have to wait and will try to do so patiently. Based on your advice we will definitely make the CVW
Thanks!</p>
<p>So if I have a LOA and i receive a regular nomination from my MOC, I should be fine?</p>
<p>If you have a LOA and have met the requirements of the LOA and a nomination is all that is needed then it does not matter if its a ranked or principal; a nominationis is a nomination; you are good to go.</p>
<p>Alright thanks! And After you have the LOA and receive the letter of assurance, how long does it take to receive an offer of appointment? sorry If Im asking too many questions</p>
<p>It depends on when you get your LOA and nom. From my experience it takes between one and two months, but I know of others who have gotten their appointments within two weeks after getting the official calls from their MOCs.</p>
<p>Slight clarification, simpse: Each candidate is reviewed independently by the Admissions Board and assigned a Whole Person Score. So, 8 of 10 on Senator X's list may already be reviewed, but Admissions will wait for the other two candidates to complete their applications before selecting someone for that Senator's spot and relegating the others to the national pool of candidates.</p>
<p>I can only imagine the flurry of activity right now at Admissions as noms roll in and they are seeing if various slates' candidates have all completed their applications, etc. </p>
<p>I was told that if you submit a new CFA, transcript or award to USNA Admissions, they have a means to modify your Whole Person Score without bringing the app to the Admissions Board again.</p>
<p>At any rate, they are very busy, and we are waiting. That song "waiting, waiting for the world to change...." keeps running through my head!</p>