"primary" nom to USMMA - what does it mean?

S

Shawn

5-Year Member
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Jan 23, 2011
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Hi folks, my brother just received a nomination to USMMA from our House Rep. The letter read:

"Congratulations on your outstanding accomplishments and superb credentials that have earned you the primary nomination".

He called and the staff said that he was identified as their #1 pick for USMMA. I know from my experience, however, that this MOC doesn't do principal nominations. So, does it mean anything special that he was picked as the #1 candidate?

Does he compete against other people in our district for an appointment? Or does he go into a state-wide pool (we live in Texas)?

Thanks!:thumb:
 
Your brother could be on a ranked competitive slate. A principal nomination guarantees an appointment with 3Q. #1 on a competitive slate means the admissions board will consider him for an appointment before anybody else on that slate.
 
Congratulations! It is promising...

But only to the extent that your congressman thinks you're his most qualified applicant. If this was the Air Force Academy, Navy, or Army you'd be in if you met their standards.

With USMMA however there just aren't enough appointments available to give every congressman's principal appointee an automatic appointment.(knowing full well that all MOCs do not give principal nominations)

There are 435 congressmen and 100 senators. That would be 535 appointments. USMMA will give close to 230, and some of them are turnbacks.

Geography comes into play here as does competition. You may indeed receive an appointment, but I don't think it will be automatic because your MOC gave you his principal endorsement.

Good luck!
 
But keep in mind that it is not uncommon for MOCs to not have a complete slate or even nominee for USMMA due to the unique nature of the USMMA.
Maplerock said:
But only to the extent that your congressman thinks you're his most qualified applicant. If this was the Air Force Academy, Navy, or Army you'd be in if you met their standards.

With USMMA however there just aren't enough appointments available to give every congressman's principal appointee an automatic appointment.(knowing full well that all MOCs do not give principal nominations)

There are 435 congressmen and 100 senators. That would be 535 appointments. USMMA will give close to 230, and some of them are turnbacks.

Geography comes into play here as does competition. You may indeed receive an appointment, but I don't think it will be automatic because your MOC gave you his principal endorsement.


Good luck!
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We're from TX-22.

So, there's approximately 38 MOC in Texas. I heard that our house rep only nominates four to USMMA. So if every MOC in Texas did this (not saying they do...they can do up to 10, right?), that'd be about 150 nominated people in the state.

So I guess my question is: Are all the nominated candidates from each state put into a state pool, ranked, and then appointed based on a proportion of state population to # of total appointments? Sorry, I'm not too clear on how USMMA does its appointments.
 
Shawn said:
We're from TX-22.

So, there's approximately 38 MOC in Texas. I heard that our house rep only nominates four to USMMA. So if every MOC in Texas did this (not saying they do...they can do up to 10, right?), that'd be about 150 nominated people in the state.

So I guess my question is: Are all the nominated candidates from each state put into a state pool, ranked, and then appointed based on a proportion of state population to # of total appointments? Sorry, I'm not too clear on how USMMA does its appointments.
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How the USMMA does appointments is outlined and described in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Specifically 46 CFR Ch. II, 310.53; here's a link to the full text:

http://cfr.vlex.com/vid/310-53-nominations-and-vacancies-19861997

Basically as I read and understand it the responses so far are inaccurate and reflect the process at the Military Academies (USMA, USNA, and USAFA) where the entering class sizes are larger then the number of Nominators, that is not so for USMMA. For example, the entering Class last July (Class of 2017) had 2017 Candidates report for Indoctrination. As such as you allude the number of available spots assigned by the CFR is far less than the number of MOC who can nominate Candidates. For example in your State - Texas you have 40 MOC (38 Representatives + 2 Senators) while under the CFR there are 13 positions allocated to Texas. As such, each MOC could nominate up to 10 different Candidates and there would be as many as 400 Nominees competing for Texas' 13 spots in your State's "pool". After that all nominees not selected for those spots then go into the "National Pool" as not every state fills its available spots for various reasons. At least that's the basic way it works.

There are a variety of nuances. That said designations and rankings of the nominees by Nominators, especially in larger, more competitive venues usually means at least those that participated in the process operated by that MOC are judged by those Nominating Boards and the Authority to be of higher quality and desirability to the Admissions Office. That's what the status is usually meant to convey. How or if that is factored into the USMMA Admissions Office "scoring and ranking" of Nominees and Applicants I have no insight at all though.
 
jasperdog said:
How the USMMA does appointments is outlined and described in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Specifically 46 CFR Ch. II, 310.53; here's a link to the full text:

http://cfr.vlex.com/vid/310-53-nominations-and-vacancies-19861997

Basically as I read and understand it the responses so far are inaccurate and reflect the process at the Military Academies (USMA, USNA, and USAFA) where the entering class sizes are larger then the number of Nominators, that is not so for USMMA. For example, the entering Class last July (Class of 2017) had 2017 Candidates report for Indoctrination. As such as you allude the number of available spots assigned by the CFR is far less than the number of MOC who can nominate Candidates. For example in your State - Texas you have 40 MOC (38 Representatives + 2 Senators) while under the CFR there are 13 positions allocated to Texas. As such, each MOC could nominate up to 10 different Candidates and there would be as many as 400 Nominees competing for Texas' 13 spots in your State's "pool". After that all nominees not selected for those spots then go into the "National Pool" as not every state fills its available spots for various reasons. At least that's the basic way it works.

There are a variety of nuances. That said designations and rankings of the nominees by Nominators, especially in larger, more competitive venues usually means at least those that participated in the process operated by that MOC are judged by those Nominating Boards and the Authority to be of higher quality and desirability to the Admissions Office. That's what the status is usually meant to convey. How or if that is factored into the USMMA Admissions Office "scoring and ranking" of Nominees and Applicants I have no insight at all though.
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Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the insight.
 
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