one of my pet peeves in contemporary vernacular is the expression "humble brag." aside from the obvious oxymoronic quality, it implies that expressing pride in oneself or another is something that needs a disclaimer. and it probably goes without saying, but i'll say it anyway, i strongly disagree with that attitude.
here's where i could let myself go down a tangential path about how the word "brag" is defined with the word "boastful" and how the word "boastful" is defined with the descriptor "excessive" - as in "talk with excessive pride," effectively leaving no word in the english language for speaking with pride about oneself that isn't tinged with negativity. but i won't.
so, without further ado, i make no disclaimers for the prideful tribute, a wholehearted brag, that is about to unfold.
despite having several veterans in my family and social circle, i knew little more about our military's service academies beyond their existence and where they're located. when luke announced to me, as a rising high school freshman, that he was planning to attend one, i gave them a cursory glance; noticed that the acceptance rate was in the single digits; and bit my tongue.
well, that's probably not true. i don't remember exactly what i said, but i'm sure it was something helpful along the lines of, "then you'd better keep that goal in mind from day one and study hard..." i do know that i was hoping he would expand his goals to include some more reasonable options and walking the fine line between supportive and realistic. (it's uncanny how sensitive teenagers are to that balance - a hairpin trigger that i inadvertently pulled more than once over the past four years.)
two years later, after tucking todd into his freshman year at college, i rolled up my sleeves and started my personal service academy 101 education. while i had some fuzzy idea that the process was complex and lengthy, the magnitude of both were eye-opening. i liken it to The Amazing Race meets the DMV.
luke opened his candidate files in his junior year with his application to the academies' summer leadership programs. he applied to both USMA and USNA's summer programs and was accepted to both. those applications were the academies' first look at luke's academic, athletic, and extracurricular qualifications and though SLE (the summer program) is more recruiting than culling - the selection is still competitive.
luke spent the first full week of his 2017 summer break at West Point and his second week at the USNA, flying directly from new york to baltimore. he then came home for a day before spending another week at Georgia Boys' State, an invitation-only, mock-government program that is looked favorably upon by service academy admissions. (luke reported that the air conditioned dorms and casual, camp-like atmosphere was a welcome recovery after spending two weeks getting a taste of military life.)
though the college application process for any high school senior is crammed with essays and deadlines, the service academies take this to a new level. the application opens in stages to candidates, evaluating at each stage, and passing through only the candidates that meet minimum qualifications.
there's an extensive questionnaire on activities, course work, accomplishments - similar to what you'd expect for any highly selective school. these documents all have to be digitally verified by school administrators before they are accepted, preventing candidates from exaggerating accomplishments or activities. teacher, faculty, and athletic evaluations are required and, unsurprisingly, consist of very specific leadership focused questions. standardized test scores and preliminary transcripts are required at this stage, as well.
the next stage of the application includes the essays and a physical fitness test. the fitness assessment is a hurdle of its own and though the final application deadline runs well into the winter of senior year, the scores must be submitted with congressional nomination applications in early fall.
oh, i didn't mention that, did i? in addition to meeting the academy standards, all appointees of our United States military academies must have either a congressional, presidential, or vice presidential nomination. (there are a few other nominating sources, but they are hard to obtain and even harder to use, so i'll spare you...) and, of course, those are competitive too.
so, at the same time the candidates are completing their multi-staged applications for each academy (no, they don't share applications between the branches...), they are also completing applications for both senators, their district representative, and the vice president - at a minimum. luke also applied for, and received, nominations from the department of the army/navy for his JROTC participation in an honor unit. these applications are each individual to the nominating source (yes, each senator and each representative has their own application) and each requires essays, transcripts, evaluations, test scores, and a handful of other unique, random pieces and parts (such as attendance records or fitness test scores.) each nominating source also has their own timeline for applications, but candidates are all competing for 1 of 10 nominations allowed by each member of congress. (the VP nominations are allocated differently, but i will spare you those details.) applicants are invited for committee interviews in the late fall and, at least in georgia, learn of their nomination status in december.
that's not the whole story about nominations though.. it's really the tip of the iceberg. every appointee must have a nomination - it's a law or something. and though the congress-folks can each give ten nominations, they only have one actual appointee slot per year. (with the exception of the 4th year - because they can technically have 5 appointees at each academy at a time. so, every four years, they get 2 slots.) so, they nominate 10 candidates to fill 1 slot and the best candidate on that "slate" is offered an appointment, provided they clear all the other qualification hurdles established by the academies.
but even that doesn't quite cover the nomination process, because some nominating sources designate a "principal nominee" which means that person gets the appointment over the other nine, as long as they meet the minimums. so, a slate could have a principal nominee that's technically less qualified, but if they are designated as principal, the academies are legally bound to accept them. but, let's just set that aside. most congress-folks submit a "competitive slate" and allow the academy admissions process to identify the most qualified.
okay, so i've covered the application, essays, evals, CFA (fitness assessment), nomination applications (and associated requirements), standardized tests, and transcripts. after all of those are processed and the candidate is deemed to be qualified, the academy orders an extensive medical and vision exam, including a careful scrutiny of applicants' medical history. tragically this is where many candidates are disqualified, as the medical standard for academy admission is much higher than that for the service branches overall. luckily, luke was not.
and after all of the boxes have green check marks and the application is complete, the hardest part of the process begins. the interminable wait. unlike most colleges and universities, there's no "decision date" to look forward to. appointments are offered on a rolling basis, with some as early as the fall of senior year for highly qualified and proactive candidates (those are usually offered on the condition of receiving a nomination, as nomination slates aren't due until the January or February of senior year) and some offers of appointment as late as early May. between November and May, each academy will send out offers of appointment to fill a class of roughly 1200.
waiting is pretty terrible, no matter what. but waiting for something that can happen in five minutes, tomorrow, or months down the road is a very particular type of agony. i think i had a lump in my throat for months. literally months.
to break down the numbers a bit more... about 15,000 applicants start admission files. about 5,000 of those receive nominations. about 2200-3200 are considered fully qualified by the academies. and about 1200 join the corps with appointments. (obviously more offers are extended..but i don't have that number handy.)
and just one more point i want to make, as an underscore to the enormous amount of effort it takes to simply apply to an academy: most, if not all, applicants are also completing college applications to a number of back-up schools and competing for national ROTC scholarships (with extensive application processes of their own, including another fitness test and more interviews.)
it probably goes without saying, but if you think the application process is intense, you wouldn't believe the work that came before it.
so, if you made it to the bottom of this epic exposition, you likely already know what i'm about to say. the waiting-lump in my throat disappeared in a blink and has been replaced by a very different throat lump as my luke, my very own, sweet, baby son, is a mere 30 days from joining his fellow class of 2022 cadet candidates at the United States Military Academy at West Point. and i couldn't be more proud.
d: unwavering belief in self, as demonstrated by my baby
b: he gets his obsessive nature from me
g: the opportunity to proud-brag in a well-deserved tribute
