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Interesting article for those whose kids are hoping for the USNA


Brenda in MA
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A lot of forums, bloggers and websites are talking about this.

 

The first article by Fleming (to the best of my knowledge) appeared here:

 

 

 

 

With a second one here:

 

 

 

 

A few months ago I read The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College by Jacques Steinberg. It was really eye-opening and a little disheartening. I thought for sure that my oldest ds who has his heart set on USNA wouldn't run into this, but it looks like he will. Hopefully it will all be straightened out in the next 9 years before he is college bound.

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Actually, this is not a new topic for Prof. Fleming. He also has a chapter on the topic in his book Annapolis Autumn, which came out in 2005. He has been on staff at USNA at least since the 1980s, when I was there, so he has seen a lot of students and administrators pass through.

 

Academy admissions are based on a whole man multiple that takes into account many aspects of the candidate, including grades, test scores, extra curricular, student government, employment, family connection to the military, personal military service, scouting, JROTC, and more. It also considers the evaluations written by squad leaders if the candidate attended summer seminar and the interview write ups done by Blue and Gold Officers.

 

There are also issues of demographics, which include gender, ethnic background and geographic diversity (they don't want all the mids to come from areas with high Navy concentrations with no one from Montana or South Dakota).

 

My suggestion to any student is to be the most qualified candidate possible. This is especially important if you are in an area where military academies are popular (for example Northern Virginia). I had an experienced BGO tell me years ago that the nomination process in his district was even more competitive than the qualification process to the Academy itself. I believe that I would possibly not have gotten an application to the Air Force Academy out of high school because the Air Force was high profile and popular in my part of Texas, while the Navy was much less well known.

 

I have never sat on an academy admissions board, although I'm generally familiar with how it works. I think that it is as fair as possible while taking on the task of determining which of the 15,000 or so candidates will make good officers four years later. There are parts of the process that candidates can't control, like the competition in his hometown, or the effects of an unpopular war or a bad economy.

 

What can be controlled are test scores, sports, extra curricular activities, leadership experience, physical condition and other factors that make up his or her own profile. Don't spend a lot of time dwelling on what you can't predict or control. Aim for being a top candidate and even if a particular academy isn't in the cards, many other great schools will be. (Also, don't overlook ROTC, which has scholarships and produces more officers than the academies do.)

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