I know I have been around here too long now, because I remember that day also!
A couple of other things to add onto that Presidential.
Just because you have one and you meet the board in Oct, it is not necessarily true that you will get an appt Nov 1 like CC's son. Some will not get them until Mar with the mass mailing. The better your resume the better your chances. There are multiple reasons.
First, you have multiple noms, i.e. are DS had 4, they waited to get all of the slates completed before making their decision on which one they would assign.
Second, If you have only a Presidential, the AFA knows what the typical WCS is that is the breaking point, if you score around that area than they will hold off until the end.
They want the best class they can make, it is a puzzle, you could have a Pres. nom that is also the highest WCS on the MOC, they then need to look at the MOC slate. Just because the candidate is number 1 WCS, does not mean the AFA must charge the MOC. They could take that number 1 and charge it to Pres., allowing number 2 to gain the appt.
Finally I did not mean to infer that you can't have an appt early without an LOA. What I meant to state is that typically the 1st board which meets in October will be filled with Pres. nom candidates, since most MOCs don't have their slate in or, their slate that they have submitted has been reviewed. No MOC appt, unless principal can occur without the entire slate meeting the board. I would believe Oct MOC appt without principal would be rare. If you have an LOA and a Pres. then you could be appt in Sept. (Remember you also have to have the entire file complete, usually DODmerb will be completed in Aug,because there is a turn around time from the physical to having it inputted in DOdmerb to getting it to the board and the teachers can be in AUgust also)
Around Turkey Day is when you start seeing the MOCs appts start to come out.
Remember just because you see someone that has your state on their profile does not mean they came from your sources, except senators, they could have gotten in via Cong., Pres. or even had an LOA. LOA's are not necessarily charged to the MOC, they can also come in under Supe.
It is incredibly confusing, and it will take you probably until you receive the fat package or thin letter to understand the process. Even after candidates get their appt, they call and ask the regional who were they assigned to (if they had mult. noms). SOme kids will call the MOC, and the MOC will say we had 6 out of our slate appt., but we do not know was charged to us yet!