Nominations vs. Appointments: What are the numbers?

OCDomer

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My son just received yesterday the letter from our Congressman (Campbell, CA-48) offering him a nomination for USMA entering class of 2012. We are very proud of our son for this accomplishment!

Our son's file is otherwise complete, and he is medically and physically qualified. The question I have for the forum is: I know the entering class will be approximately 1200 cadets, but how many candidates will typically get a nomination and be otherwise fully qualified before the 1200 receive their appointments?

535 Representatives and Senators X 10 nominations per slot would be 5,350 nominations assuming one slot per Rep/Sen. Plus there are other nominating sources. But there will likely be some overlap as some candidates receive multiple nominations.

Does anyone have more precise numbers than these back-of-the-envelope scribbles?

Thanks for your help!
 
My son just received yesterday the letter from our Congressman (Campbell, CA-48) offering him a nomination for USMA entering class of 2012. We are very proud of our son for this accomplishment!

Our son's file is otherwise complete, and he is medically and physically qualified. The question I have for the forum is: I know the entering class will be approximately 1200 cadets, but how many candidates will typically get a nomination and be otherwise fully qualified before the 1200 receive their appointments?

535 Representatives and Senators X 10 nominations per slot would be 5,350 nominations assuming one slot per Rep/Sen. Plus there are other nominating sources. But there will likely be some overlap as some candidates receive multiple nominations.

Does anyone have more precise numbers than these back-of-the-envelope scribbles?

Thanks for your help!

There's usually ~4,000 qualified candidates, so about 2,800 will not be offered admission.
 
Class of 2015 Profile

4,344 Nominated
2,540 Qualified
1.261 Admitted.

The missing number is: How many were offered appointments to get 1,261 acceptances?
 
Class of 2015 Profile

4,344 Nominated
2,540 Qualified
1.261 Admitted.

The missing number is: How many were offered appointments to get 1,261 acceptances?

Hey that's a better number than what I quoted. Looks good!
 
Those numbers look rather promising. A nomination and triple qualified seems to be a 50/50 shot, depending on where the nomination comes from (primary nomination, ect).
 
Class of 2015 Profile

4,344 Nominated
2,540 Qualified
1.261 Admitted.

The missing number is: How many were offered appointments to get 1,261 acceptances?

The missing number is 1500.
 
Thanks. Hard to believe 250 candidates would turn down an appointment. But those 250 may be the key to my son's chances.
 
Those 250 may have had opportunities at other academies as well that they chose rather than USMA.
 
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Thanks. Hard to believe 250 candidates would turn down an appointment. But those 250 may be the key to my son's chances.

1249 reported to R-day, so the gap is really only 12... And one of the 12 was buried as an honorary 2015 cadet prior to R-day. Some of those were also last minute injuries.

I know of one local USNA appointee who tore his knee up immediately prior to their R-day and could not report. And no back up plan!
 
1249 reported to R-day, so the gap is really only 12... And one of the 12 was buried as an honorary 2015 cadet prior to R-day. Some of those were also last minute injuries.

I know of one local USNA appointee who tore his knee up immediately prior to their R-day and could not report. And no back up plan!

1500-1249=251. Seems pretty close to 250 to me.
 
Thanks. Hard to believe 250 candidates would turn down an appointment. But those 250 may be the key to my son's chances.

My son was one of the 250 from last year with an appointment to USMA who chose an AROTC scholarship at a private university (not SMC). It was a very difficult decision for him and it was not taken lightly.

He is very happy where is at and loves (if that is the right word) the ROTC experience. He does not regret his decision at all, but he has thought about what things would be like if he had made other choices.

One interesting comment he made over the Thankgiving holiday is worth noting. He said a factor in his decision (not overriding but part of the process) was that if he had gone to USMA he expected he would have always believed that a "regular" college was easy and that he had missed out on the traditional college experience. Well, after a semester of working his butt off in coursework (Biomedical Engineering) and ROTC activities he has realized that excellling at the college level requires a lot a work.

He is NOT saying that it is an equivalent experience -he knows a couple of USMA cadets and has met others since. What he is saying is that college in general is much different (and much more work) than he thought. He was expecting much more frisbie playing in the quad :shake:.

My main point is that most high school seniors really don't know what the college experience is like regardless of their choice. And many will always wonder about the paths they did not take.
 
1500-1249=251. Seems pretty close to 250 to me.

OK, that's offered to reported.

And I was referring to appointed (really it would be accepted?>) to reported. My bad, I had missed the 1500 offered figure.

Civvy schools make a big deal about yield (offered to accepted) as it implies competitiveness. And it can effect their admissions decisions.

Not sure how that factors into the svc academies, they do not appear to game offers to impact yield like some civvy schools do. IE: Not offer to the highest qualified candidates as they are more likely to have competitive offers. And thus drive down yield.
 
Information From an official source

I had a talk with a senior Admissions Officer today. He said that the number of seperations (drop outs) from the Class of 2015 has been lower than in past years. That is, the retention rate is higher than in past years.

He said that the Class of 2016 will be only 1200 cadets - about 50 LESS than last year. Since the number of cadets from Congressional, Presidential, active duty categories etc are fixed by law - that this would mean about 50 fewer cadets will be selected from the National Waiting List (fully qualified cadidates who do not have an appointment).

Congressmen are starting to provide the names of their Pricipal nominations. Offers will be made as soon as the people with nominations are declared qualified by West Point. Those who have been declared fully qulified will get their offers in the next 1-3 weeks.

They expect the selection rate of people receiving offers to be between 85-90%.
 
Traditionally about 85% (sometimes a little higher) accept their appointments. As mentioned, many are accepted at other service academies or other fine schools. Few people apply to just one school. In surveys, most people who decline say they decided on the "normal" college experience. Others come to realize that the military is not for them. I would urge people who are not going to accept to decline as soon as possible to make way for people who really are dedicated to West Point.
 
My son was one of the 250 from last year with an appointment to USMA who chose an AROTC scholarship at a private university (not SMC). It was a very difficult decision for him and it was not taken lightly.

He is very happy where is at and loves (if that is the right word) the ROTC experience. He does not regret his decision at all, but he has thought about what things would be like if he had made other choices.

One interesting comment he made over the Thankgiving holiday is worth noting. He said a factor in his decision (not overriding but part of the process) was that if he had gone to USMA he expected he would have always believed that a "regular" college was easy and that he had missed out on the traditional college experience. Well, after a semester of working his butt off in coursework (Biomedical Engineering) and ROTC activities he has realized that excellling at the college level requires a lot a work.

He is NOT saying that it is an equivalent experience -he knows a couple of USMA cadets and has met others since. What he is saying is that college in general is much different (and much more work) than he thought. He was expecting much more frisbie playing in the quad :shake:.

My main point is that most high school seniors really don't know what the college experience is like regardless of their choice. And many will always wonder about the paths they did not take.

Thanks so much for your insight! Although our son has not been offered an appointment, he has been really going round and round on the question of ROTC versus USMA lately. I think USMA is still first choice, but the gap between USMA an ROTC has narrowed considerably. He is very excited about ROTC scholarship offer right now, but will have a big decision to make if West Point actually becomes an option. I am glad to hear your son is enjoying the "normal" college experience. Lot's of pros and cons either way.
 
. . .

One interesting comment he made over the Thankgiving holiday is worth noting. He said a factor in his decision (not overriding but part of the process) was that if he had gone to USMA he expected he would have always believed that a "regular" college was easy and that he had missed out on the traditional college experience. Well, after a semester of working his butt off in coursework (Biomedical Engineering) and ROTC activities he has realized that excellling at the college level requires a lot a work.

....

I attended a very good college with AROTC for one year before going to West Point.

For some attending a regular college takes more self-discipline than attending West Point. Very simple, at a regular college if you don't go to classes, no one cares. At West Point, if you miss a class, you get punished. If takes more disicpline to attend classes/study with no immediate punishment.

At the same time, West Point is a lot more work as very few things at West Point are optional.
 
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At the same time, West Point is a lot more work as very few things at West Point are optional.

Some things are easier at USMA- Like wardrobe selection. :smile:

DS commented on break that he's learned to like the uniforms, it's one less thing to decide in the morning, he can plan his laundry, etc.

His only beef is the windbreakers when weather wet/cold.

You could probably add hairstyle, when to study, what to eat, etc to that as well. OK, maybe not what to eat. :frown:

DS left a reunion of magnet school buddies over break realizing that his friend's hardest schedule day & workload was easier than his easiest day. And that did not factor in military & athletic responsibilities. And some were at Ivy's and top tier schools. But out of the chute USMA plebes have usually 30% higher load of classes than a typical civvy school freshman load.

Civvy schools also don't move you to a more challenging class mid-semester like at USMA. No easy A's, you'll be moved till you are challenged. (And GPA suffers) Nor do they stack classes based on ability.

Not to dis the civvy school experience. I have a son at a top tier civvy school as well. But the intensity is orders of magnitude different.
 
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