Notify other MOCs?

Lucky Finbar

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Frequent reader, first time poster here.

My son Tim just received a Senate nomination for the USNA (his first choice). Tim also has applied to USMA and USAFA. Should he tell his other Senator and his Congressman that he would like to now be considered only for USMA and USAFA nominations?

Is there some benefit to having multiple nominations to USNA?

Thanks.
 
I wouldn't unless he received a LOA from the USNA. Remember, a MOC can only have 5 at a time per service academy, so if there is only one slot, and the MOC nominated multiple USNA candidates, it is not a guaranteed appointment.

Just from my perspective and knowledge. Anyone else have some advice?
 
What packermatt7 said is right. Unless he has a LOA, he should still be trying to receive as many nominations as possible for USNA as one nomination doesn't guarantee entrance unless he has one.
 
Frequent reader, first time poster here.

My son Tim just received a Senate nomination for the USNA (his first choice). Tim also has applied to USMA and USAFA. Should he tell his other Senator and his Congressman that he would like to now be considered only for USMA and USAFA nominations?

Is there some benefit to having multiple nominations to USNA?

Thanks.

If USNA is his first choice, then more noms is good (unless he has an LOA to his first choice SA). If his first choice is not USNA, then tell the other MOCs because he does not want to end up with no nom to first choice school (that's a tough one to overcome).

Benefit to multiple noms is that the SA has more options with who to charge the appointee too - giving them options helps. If your son is #2 on one slate they can choose to charge him to another slate, or the national pool but if he doesn't have another nom their only option is the MOC nom or the national pool (which is appointed in order based on WCS). Sometimes who / how they charge appointees to is tough to figure out (it really doesn't matter to the appointee) but the bottom line is that the SA picks twelve hundred or so candidates and has to figure out how those fit within the noms, it's a puzzle. The top 1200 or so are not necessarily the ones to get the appointment because of the geographic limitations. People with multiple noms give flexibility to the SA. If, however, your sons first choice is another SA - then tell them about the USNA nom and push to get the nom to the first choice SA, after all, what's the point of a nom to a SA that the student would not attend?!

If the student has not made a 1st choice it's time to begin that process ... usually by now in most applicants have it narrowed down to a first choice and second. I know it is a "life choice" but in my experience, once the student really looks honestly at each branch of the service (not the school, actually the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or Merchant Marine) they start to see where they will fit in the LONG TERM. Maybe the student loves West Point and is certain that is their school but the real question should be is the Army where they want to be after graduation? Once they get beyond the actual school to the career most applicants can narrow it down fairly well.

edit: I didn't notice when I first responded that your son had, in fact, already stated USNA was first choice - in that case - don't tell - get as many noms as possible for the first choice SA.
 
oops

I told my MOC since I thought it was common courtesy, and I would have gotten her nomination for USMA, USNA, and USAFA.

well, I couldn't have known that I would have gotten all three. Anyway, my BGO sounds very optimistic about me getting an appointment, so I'll hope for the best. If not, I have an LOA and nomination to USAFA, and I have no issues going there.

I heard that Academies may try to "steal" appointees from other academies. e.g.: appointee to USNA with nomination to USMA gets preferential treatment over someone with no appointments.
Asking senior advisors, is this true?
 
I have a question about the national pool. If you are chosen from the national pool, do they notify you in March just like the majority or is that the case where they tell you last minute?
 
gdesena - good point on the common courtesy side of this. With the objective being to gain admission to your 1st choice SA it is good to see all possibilities. Many times I see people who are trying to get a nom to all SA's even though it seems apparent, at least to me, that they do in fact have a clear top choice. I have even seen kids holding an appointment to their 1st choice SA continue to strive to achieve an appointment to another SA - not because they will actually attend but rather because they seem to want to get accepted to all of them. I have a philosophical problem with this scenario and it is this issue that your common courtesy guards against. if a candidate is holding a nom to the SA they really want to attend, they serve their own interest best by limiting the other SA's noms and trying to get more noms to that first SA. On the other hand, if they hold a nom to a 2nd choice they are better served by trying to get a nom to the 1st choice. It is very complex and you bring up an important issue that candidates in this situation need to think about.

The fact of the matter is that if you have no intention of attending one of the SA's then to get a nom (possibly appointment) to that SA may be limiting another candidates opportunity for something that the first candidate has no intention of actually doing. If a candidate does not yet have a clear 1st choice, then I don't see a problem with collecting as many noms to as many SAs as possible. The issue only arises when a candidate to be collecting them for the mere purpose of collecting them. Because this is more prevalent than you might think, many MOCs now require a candidate to place rank order on their SA choices.

It is more complex than a forum can ever have room to go through every possible scenario. Suffice it to say that the candidates that have a clear choice have an advantage because they are more apt to get multiple noms to their 1st choice SA (giving the SA options) whereas the candidate that does not have a clear focus may get one nom to each of multiple SA's (limiting the SA options).

As to SA's trying to "steal" appointees - that is tough to gauge. SA's like to have appointees that really want to go to "their" SA not "any" SA. That being said, they also know that "which" SA is a very big decision for a 17/18/19 year old person. They expect candidates to change their priorities as they work through the process, they want candidates to fully evaluate their options so that they don't get to one SA and find mid way through that they wish they had gone to another. While I know of anecdotes where a candidate told one SA about an LOA they received to another - and shortly thereafter they got an LOA/appointment to the other, I would not go so far as to say they are stealing candidates from another SA. It can possibly be argued that by relaying this info to a SA an appointment may have come sooner but I suspect it is not that the actions of one SA altered the decision of the other - though it may have caused an earlier decision. In your example, perhaps the USMA appointment was rcvd and the candidate wants to go to USNA so they tell USNA about the USMA appointment .... USNA may decide to send an appointment out earlier because this way the student has time to carefully consider each SA to determine which is the better fit for them personally and thus chances of the candidate making a well informed decision is increased. I can guarantee you this, no matter what one SA does - another SA is not going to give an appointment to anyone that does not meet their specific admissions criteria.

The nomination process has so many nuances that it is very difficult to explain every scenario and what is best in any one situation. Every state and every MOC office handles things differently, which makes it very difficult to respond accurately in a forum such as this.

Hopefully this is helpful!
 
If you are chosen from the national pool, do they notify you in March just like the majority or is that the case where they tell you last minute?

Daniel - as usual with my answers today, it depends! If you are in the national pool you could find out in March ... or earlier ... or later. Depends on where in the pool you are. If you are high then you'll find out sooner. As I mentioned in other posts, some candidates get an appointment to multiple SA's. Obviously they cannot accept more than one which means the candidate will decline one or more appointment. Until they actually decline that appointment though (or the date passes), the SA cannot offer that spot to the next person on the list. Once all appointments are accepted or turned down they begin to fill the class from the list in order of merit. Some people get their appointment very late - I have heard of kids getting calls the very week they would report to the SA. This may be because an appointee got hurt, changed their mind and notified the SA or any number of other issues.

To anyone out there who has (or gets) more than one appointment - once you make the decision of which SA to accept, be sure you officially turn down the other appointment. Many students don't respond to the other SA and let the due date pass. This slows the process for others - you're slot cannot be given to another until you officially turn it down or the date passes. Don't rush a decision if you are unsure - attend orientation / cadet visits / etc... whatever to make an informed decision. But - once you accept one SA - do everyone a favor and turn down the other(s). Incidentally, if you accept a SA and later decide not to attend - tell the SA so they can give your slot to another - don't just "not show up" (yes, it happens).
 
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