LOA-JROTC Nomination

usna candidate

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I am applying to both West Point and the Naval Academy, and as of right now I have received a Letter of Assurance to the Naval Academy. In the letter it states that all that is necessary for my "guaranteed offer of appointment" is a nomination. Would it be better if I used my JROTC nomination (Honor unit w/ Distinction) for the Naval Academy?
(I know that even if you aren't a congressman's principle nom, but you do have an LOA, the service academy will charge you for a different slot that isn't being used. Is it a similar process for JROTC nominations? Just getting nominated for the slot will suffice for an LOA?)

So is my best choice to use the JROTC nom for USNA and apply for the Congressional one for West Point?
 
I'm not completely sure what you're specifically asking. No nom is "better" to use than another. And there are very few appointments available for the JROTC or service-connected noms, even though many people might qualify. According to the 2014 profile (http://www.usna.edu/admissions/USNA 2014 Class Portrait.pdf) only 312 JROTC nominations were given out, but I know the appointment number for that category is much lower.

(I know that even if you aren't a congressman's principle nom, but you do have an LOA, the service academy will charge you for a different slot that isn't being used. Is it a similar process for JROTC nominations? Just getting nominated for the slot will suffice for an LOA?)

What process do you mean? One early nomination doesn't guarantee you an LOA.


You can't pick and choose which nominations you will use to get an appointment for each academy. They want you to apply for all nominating sources for which you are eligible, and it will look bad if you assume a JROTC nom is enough for an appointment to USNA. Many Congressmen allow you to rate the academies in order of your preference.
 
It won't look bad at all if he just gets a JROTC nomination. All he needs is a nomination and he's guaranteed an appointment since he has an LOA. If you have an LOA, and a JROTC nomination, then you're golden as long as nothing else happens such as bad grades or medical DQ.
 
I was trying to ask if qualifying for the JROTC nomination would suffice for the requirements in the LOA (guaranteed offer of appointment if I receive a nomination). With the congressional nomination, an LOA recipient doesn't have to be the principle nominee (he can be apart of the other 9 alternates) and the academy will still accept him and instead charge him toward a separate unused slot. That's why I was asking if the process was similar, to see if just qualifying for the JROTC nomination would guarantee me the appointment.

If this is the case I will apply for the JROTC nomination for USNA since I have an LOA from them, and I will apply for the congressional nomination for USMA.
 
So qualifying for a JROTC nomination will guarantee me the offer of appointment? Ok, I'm definitely happy with that answer.
 
Just qualifying for it won't get you an appointment, but filling out and sending in the proper paperwork for the nomination will. If you get any nomination, including JROTC, then you get an appointment.
 
That's what I meant. It was bad wording on my part. My Senior Army Instructor has the USNA JROTC Nomination form. I'll talk to him about sending it out this week.
 
It won't look bad at all if he just gets a JROTC nomination. All he needs is a nomination and he's guaranteed an appointment since he has an LOA. If you have an LOA, and a JROTC nomination, then you're golden as long as nothing else happens such as bad grades or medical DQ.

I also have a JROTC nom in addition to a Presidential nom and an LOA to USMA, but I was told that simply relying on those and not even bothering to fill out anything for Congressional noms would not look good.
 
I think it does look bad, but I'm still going to apply to all of my sources; the new info will just change which nominations I will fill out for which academy. Congratulations though AKH. That's really impressive.
 
Thanks :biggrin: Congrats yourself on such an early LOA to the Naval Academy, I was told not to expect one until at least October!
 
So qualifying for a JROTC nomination will guarantee me the offer of appointment? Ok, I'm definitely happy with that answer.
One has to receive an appointment from a legitimate source. Only a total of 20 appointments annually can be awarded from all ROTC, both junior and college. Generally, only MOC nominations are any other than the primary opening eligible for the national pool. If you are willing to accept these miniscule odds, go ahead and ignore USNA's directive to apply to all nomination sources available.
 
He doesn't need to apply to the other sources because he has an LOA. All he needs is one nom. If he is one of the three cadets that his instructor chooses to nominate then he WILL get an appointment.
 
He doesn't need to apply to the other sources because he has an LOA. All he needs is one nom. If he is one of the three cadets that his instructor chooses to nominate then he WILL get an appointment.
Before he relies on your incorrect information, perhaps he should contact CGO and ask them.
 
He doesn't need to apply to the other sources because he has an LOA. All he needs is one nom. If he is one of the three cadets that his instructor chooses to nominate then he WILL get an appointment.


That is so wrong. I have an LOA and was told specific information by all my admissions directors to apply to ALL the nominating sources available even though I qualified for and have received two service-connected nominations.

I posted the USNA 2014 profile - 312 people were awarded JROTC/ROTC noms and as Mongo said, only 20 of those who qualified were given an appointment from that category.
 
I am confused here because what I understand about an LOA states 3 q with a nom and you are apptd.

Now, my question is re the 20 appointees, there are specific amounts to be charged to any nom source, correct? An LOA candidate with an MOC nom may not be charged to the nom source, correct? However, the nom counts to fulfilling the requirement for the LOA, correct?

Okay, if that info is correct, the rationale of 20 being appointed through this source is more about how the appointment process works and less about the nom. No where did you say that all 312 were not apptd with that one nom. They could all have been apptd, but only 20 were charged due to the system that exists.

Many MOC's get 8,9,10 out of their 10 nom slate apptd., but only 1 is charged. The nom is the key for the apptmt, but can be irrelevant when it comes to charging.

Again, I plead mea culpa if I am wrong, but appointing a candidate and charging a nom source do not go hand in hand. If the JROTC is a nom., it is a nom, and that fulfills the requirement. It has no bearing on how/who the SA will charge in the end.

This argument is inane anyway. Apply for the VP because you will get it, and there you go, you now have a VP nom, that can be charged, thus, the appt is going to happen. C'Mon tell me one person that did not get the VP nom? Everyone gets it, but only 1 is charged to the VP. In the end of the day it fulfills the requirement of getting a nom., especially if the MOC does not close their books until October.
 
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Here's the question an LOA if 3 q means the apptmt will occur as long as you have a NOM, correct?

How the SA charges the apptmt is not the issue, the issue is nom in hand for the LOA = apptmt, correct?
 
Just as an example, if your sole nominating source only has 15 openings and there are 20 candidates who have that nominating source, then they will rank the candidates by merit. That means that the 5 lowest ranked candidates will not receive an appointment based upon that nominating source, even if one of the “lowest five” has an LOA. While this may be rare (I have never heard of it happening) it can!

So let’s repeat… You want to apply for as many nominations as you can.

In this case, with the ROTC nominations, there are, indeed, a totaL of ONLY 20 that can be awarded annually. And as you have stated, they must be ranked by order of merit. And appointments will be awarded by this same order of merit. Therefore, by ignoring the Admissions officers advice to apply to all sources available, one is betting all odds that they are in the top twenty nationwide of ROTC applicants who must depend on a ROTC nomination for appointment. Many of these twenty will be previously 3Qed who were not awarded appointmentsn and have attended a year of college/ROTC. Very heady company. And remember, it is also all or nothing. Unsuccessful ROTC nominees, basically like VP and a few other nomination sources, are ineligible for the national pool as are MOC alternates. A nomination from which a legal appointment cannot be made pursuant to US Code Title 10 is worthless. APPLY TO ALL SOURCES AVAILABLE.
 
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It seems like there is a little debate going on here. Just to let everyone know, I'm applying to all 5 of my nominating sources:
  • 1 Congressman
  • 2 Senators
  • 1 VP
  • 1 JROTC

I was just asking for assurance. I do believe that what Pima has been saying is correct. If an LOA recipient is an alternate for an MOC slot or qualifies and applies for a service-related nomination, the LOA recipient will be offered an appointment(whether or not they are charged for that specific slot). I've read that on a couple of web sites, but this thread was just for assurance. I e-mailed my Blue and Gold officer, so I'll post what he says.
 
You want to apply for as many nominations as you can.

While it is simple to say that if you have an LOA and you have met the criteria (being 3 q’d) that does not guarantee anything.

So let’s repeat… You want to apply for as many nominations as you can.

APPLY TO ALL SOURCES AVAILABLE.

Exactly.
 
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