Michigan's competitiveness

Just wondering if Michigan is considered a competitive state or a non-competitive state. Thanks for the insight!

I am not sure what you mean by the question but if you are wondering how many mids come from your state each year, contact your State BGO. He/She should know. www.usna.edu/admissions/bgo

What is probably more pertinent to you is how competitive is your district. When you apply for a nomination from your Senator, you are competing with every applicant from your state. When you apply for a nomination from your congressman, you are only competing with the applicants from your district. Each MOC can make up to 10 nominations for each opening he/she has, usually 1 per class year. I would expect that each Senator almost always nominates 10 since they are pulling applicants from the entire state. If you live in a more rural district, your congressman may not have 10 applicants and thus your chances of getting a nomination are pretty high.

I suggest contacting the congressman's office and asking for the staffer responsible for academy nominations. Then inquire how many nominations he/she made for the last class. You also want to know if the congressman gives competitive or principal nominations. If they give and you win the principal nomination, the academy has to take you if you meet the minimum qualifications. If you are 1 of the 10 competitive nominees, you are competing with the other 9 and the academy gets to decide who is most worthy.

Although this doesn't answer your question in regards to Michigan, I hope it will enable you to figure out your chances.

Thanks Grad/Dad. I have received a nomination from both my local representative and senator. Both senator and representative gave out competitive nominations this year. In response to my question, early today I was reading a thread about how receiving two nominations in a state that is competitive may give you different "odds" (if you will) of getting an appointment. A state that is competitive, to my understanding, has a lot of applicants and it's very cut throat for appointments and nominations.

How do you know if a state or MOC is competetive or principle. I may have missed this earlier.

Cinnamonster said:

Thanks Grad/Dad. I have received a nomination from both my local representative and senator. Both senator and representative gave out competitive nominations this year. In response to my question, early today I was reading a thread about how receiving two nominations in a state that is competitive may give you different "odds" (if you will) of getting an appointment. A state that is competitive, to my understanding, has a lot of applicants and it's very cut throat for appointments and nominations.

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I don't see how being in a competitive state has any bearing. Since you have won 2 competitive nominations, you have two chances to compete against 18 other candidates. The academy will get to choose who they deem most worthy. The other unselected nominees then go into a national pool. Once the academy has completed its offers to the 500+ MOC nominees as well as the prior service, sons/daughters of retired military, Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees it will go into the national pool to fill the class from the best of the alternates across the nation.

bambamzacsky said:

How do you know if a state or MOC is competetive or principle. I may have missed this earlier.

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Each MOC is allowed to make 1 of 3 types of nominations.

1) A Principal with ranked alternates
2) A Principal with unranked, competitive alternates
3) Competitive, all 10 are unranked

It is entirely up to the MOC which type of nomination they give. In Wisconsin, our 2 Senators only give Unranked Competitive nominations. However, our District Congressman gave my son a Principal. We did not even know which process he used until he called to give us the news but then again, we never thought to ask.

If you received a letter from the MOC stating that he/she is nominating you, it will most likely tell you what type. If not call the MOC's office.

If you receive a Prinicpal nomination, it is a golden ticket. If you meet the minimum qualifications, the Academy has to offer you an appointment by law.

I am not sure what you mean by the question but if you are wondering how many mids come from your state each year, contact your State BGO. He/She should know

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Actually, your BGO is unlikely to know this unless the information is publicly available. I have some recollection that this info used to be publicized but don't recall seeing it lately (although it could well be out there). It is not info typically provided to BGOs and BGOs only know which of their candidates accepted appointments. Typically each BGO has a certain number of schools within a state and has no information regarding the rest of the state.

The list posted is not a list of BGOs but a list of Area Coordinators, who "manage" BGOs. Depending on how large a territory they cover, they MIGHT have some idea how many mids accepted appointments last year from their state. However, I do not know whether they actually track this or if they are permitted to give out this info. So, I suggest NOT contacting them for this information.

At the end of the day, the information is interesting but not particularly relevant to candidates. I can tell you that, typically, a very large number (and percentage) of mids come from the following states: CA, NY, TX, VA, MD, PA, FL. Obviously, a lot fewer in number and percentage come from ND, SD, WY, MT, ID.

I don't understand the fascination with the question of "how competitive my state/area is." You may be in a typically not-so-competitive area, but a total stud/studette who goes to a rival high school just may apply that year and you are now knocked to the NWL. Just do your best and let the chips falls where they may. I know this is a tense time for those waiting to hear, but worrying about something that you have absolutely no control over doesn't make any sense. You are better off worrying about your upcoming AP Calc test.

I understand the fascination. These young folks are grasping at any available information that will ease their anxiety. The questions they are asking may not be the correct ones. They are just attempting to gain any understanding of a process they cannot control other than providing their life's history. I understand and good luck to them. For the rest of you who have the answers continue providing answers and easing those young worried minds.

I understand why they are asking, but I am not really into "easing minds." I would much rather help young people to think differently. In the military, there will be 1000 things going on at the same time during an operation and 999 of them will be out of your control. You need to learn to ignore the noise and get your job done to the best of your ability. The earlier someone internalizes that the better.

Alot of the questions on this board are great..... should I take AP Calc or AP Chem? how do I better prepare for the bball throw? what do I do next after a medical DQ? what can I expect in the MOC IV, what is plebe summer like, etc......

It might just be a pet peeve of mine, but I would much rather spend time reading a book, visiting with friends, playing sports, doing homework etc... than trying to track down information that can't help me in any way.

That is my 2 cents and I will jump out of the conversation now.

You are doing a great job. keep up the good work. I'm sure they appreciate all that you have shared .

I am from MI-10. It is in the thumb area. I know several places of Michigan such as Oakland County have VERY, VERY tough standards for candidates to meet, but other places, like the U.P. may be lucky to have one candidate at all. It is very diverse and I would say that it is likely competitive if you are anywhere below Traverse City or Midland.

My DD is a candidate. We are in Oakland county, and she has a USNA nom from our congressman. Re: types of noms given, I can tell you this...

Stabenow and Levin give competitive noms. According to a Levin staffer, in his 30+ years in the senate Levin has given a principle nom only once.

Also, the MOCs in the state seem to confer with each other re: who they are nominating to make sure that the most kids get at least one nom to one SA - they like to spread the wealth around. My DD received a letter from Levin stating she was NOT getting a nom from him because they knew she was getting a nom from another source. So... as I understand it, it is unusual to get more than one nom in MI.

Which brings up an interesting story... DDs friend, "Bob", DID receive two noms, one from Levin and one from our congressman. This makes me think that two noms for a Michigan candidate does carry some extra weight. Bob is a super impressive applicant and has an amazing story of heroism. I suspect Levin really wanted to give him an extra spotlight, even though he already knew Bob had his needed nom.

Ironically for Bob, his noms are to USMA. He applied to all SAs, but he dreams of becoming a pilot and USNA topped his list. I don't quite understand that one, but I guess I am not supposed to!

Hope this helped...

Nicole