Nomination question for MOC panel members

jcav

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I have few questions for those who have served on a MOC's advisory panel. Recognizing that there will be some variance between MOC offices, what process, typically, does an advisory panel use to get from a large pool of otherwise qualified applicants down to a slate of candidates that it recommends for nomination? ( I'm guessing there is some ranking system.) Assuming many more impressive candidates than there are nominations to give, does one factor hold more sway (SAT/ACT scores, for example, since they are arguably the only objective common variable)? Also, how does the panel assure that candidates interviewed late in the process get equal consideration? And last, would 40 total applicants be considered a "competitive" district? Just curious about how it all works; thanks for your input.
 
I have few questions for those who have served on a MOC's advisory panel. Recognizing that there will be some variance between MOC offices, what process, typically, does an advisory panel use to get from a large pool of otherwise qualified applicants down to a slate of candidates that it recommends for nomination? ( I'm guessing there is some ranking system.) Assuming many more impressive candidates than there are nominations to give, does one factor hold more sway (SAT/ACT scores, for example, since they are arguably the only objective common variable)? Also, how does the panel assure that candidates interviewed late in the process get equal consideration? And last, would 40 total applicants be considered a "competitive" district? Just curious about how it all works; thanks for your input.

I'm interested in finding out the answer to some of your questions. I do know that some congressional districts have over 350 applicants. So comparatively, 40 is not as competitive as 350.
 
I believe it is less scientific than you might think; and in some cases downright inequitable.

When my son did this last year he interviewed with panels for our congressman and both senators. He sought nominations for USMA (first choice), USNA, and USAFA. In each case their were over 250 kids interviewed for each of those MOC's. My son had a very competitive application for Michigan (ACT scores of M34, E31, S34, R30, top 15% in class, multi-sport varsity captain, and all conf/all dist first teams, NHS Pres.....). Our congressman gave him a nomination to all three academies. Senator Stabenow gave him two nominations for USMA. Senator Peters did not give him a nomination at all. We learned later that Peters does not give nominations to anyone who otherwise has a nomination, which means he only gives them to those whos qualifications are less than the top candidates. Seems strange. My son in the end was offered admission to each school, and chose USMA, so not saying this out of bitterness, but at the time we scratched our heads.
 
Served on Congressional and Senatorial panels. I can only share my experience, but 30 or 100, still similar. In general, applicants are evaluated into three categories, should get in, competitive, and not competitive. Each panel members relied on their personal knowledge/standard in determining each candidate's competitiveness, but there was little deviation among panel members - GPA, SAT/ACT, leadership, and sports; and interview. The hardest part is ranking the competitive category applicants as how do we differentiate a kid with 1300 SAT and 3.8 GPA to 1250 SAT and 4.0 GPA. My personal experience, the interview performance determined who came out ahead between two applicants with similar numbers. After that, we started rank ordering from should get in, competitive until we ran out of nominations.

I guess the point is, a good interview should help a little bit.
 
Have not been a member of any MOC panel, but based on all of the prior threads on here on this topic, good to remember that each MOC runs their own process and whatever criteria one chooses to use may not be the same elsewhere. Many do interviews, but some do not. Every MOC has a deadline to submit your application. If you miss that deadline, you will not be considered for a NOM that year. When you submit your MOC application makes NO difference (assuming you submit PRIOR to their deadline).
 
I'm going to echo MemberLG's comments. I served on my MOC/Senator's panels for 8 years. We interviewed any applicant that had a reasonable chance at appointment. Now did that mean they ALL were HIGHLY competitive? No, it meant they met, at least, the minimum requirements listed by the service academy. We would be mailed a binder with every applicant's file in it and two score sheets. We'd score each candidate BEFORE we interviewed them, and then after. And then we compared score sheets.

And then the discussion began and as a panel we would "rack and stack" the candidates. I will tell you that when my MOC used the "Principal/ranked alternates" method, a couple of times the "principal" was NOT the highest scored candidate "on paper." However they were the most impressive in person, in the interview, and in our opinion, the best to represent their district and state. Yes, those are TWO criteria MOST MOC's use in their decision, not just the numbers.

But each MOC is different.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
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