I actually think we're pretty close, but the medium certainly isn't ideal for such a conversation. Fair play on the last sentence lol.I think we're kinda talking past each other. The "sheer number of qualified applicants" at these annual boards is a problem caused by the reduced number of boards. The reason you're getting so many applicants to a single board is precisely because a single board is convening every year. Spread them across four quarters and you end up with a more manageable number of applicants per board (which, ideally, would let the Navy be more selective [a good thing], have a higher yield, reduce bottlenecks, and produce steadier streams of recruits). Without a doubt, the way things are run now does not work for applicants: there are very qualified people who will not put up with a process of continual board cancellations. And there will always be that 51st or 11th or whatever number person who does not make it in because of the quota--that's just how competitive hiring works and we all understand that we could be that person. In fact, getting a PRO-REC N might be a good thing (instead of just waiting a full year for the next board, it'll give that person feedback that they can use: retake the OAR, take a class to get GPA up, so on and so forth).
You very well may end up with too few applicants in the last quarter, but that's easily addressable by selecting more applicants from the August board, for example, or admitting more in the next cycle, especially when OCS dates are so far out. Metaphorically speaking, NRC throwing all it's INTEL eggs into one board basket is not de-risking, it's adding risk (that applicants get impatient and drop, that while waiting they find another job they want to do instead, that they have life events, etc). I understand that when a board is cancelled, they're not giving everyone a PRO-REC N and are instead moving people to the next board, but for many people, waiting another 12 months to be considered again isn't exactly feasible.
I can yap on forever, but I'll take rfsigs's hint and go for a walk lol. At the end of the day, it sucks as an applicant, but as you said, it works for the Navy
I see a lot of people commenting about the process and wait, so I just wanted to pose some questions and challenges, but it would've been weird to message you directly about it. Appreciate the respectful dialogue!
