Nomination weight

PAParentUSNA

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
57
Question,

Do certain nominations carry more weight then others?
Example, MUST a candidate have a MOC nomination? OR,,, would a Senator Nom. ONLY be enough?
Here comes the "whisper down the lane" talk.
I have "heard" that other then a Presidential, you must get your MOC nom.
A Senator or JROTC alone does not carry as much weight.
MOC alone=Great
MOC+Senator=Greater Yet
JROTC alone=not much
Senator alone=ok, maybe not enough.
I have wondered this for awhile, but last week I spoke to another candidate's parent who had a Senator Nomination last year, and did not get an appointment.

Does anyone have accurate information?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Nominations are nominations, they are not weighted.

A Senator nomination is not "worth more" than a Congressman nomination (both of whom ARE Members Of Congress or MOCs).

Having multiple nominations allows the admissions department some flexibility in appointmenting the candidate as they can "shape" the pool of candidates around from one legal nomination pool to another, resulting in a better chance of appointment for the candidate (he's competing in more than 1 applicant nomination pool).

The Senator's nomination is spread among the entire state, while a Congressman's nomination is spread among his district (about 650,000 people).
 
A nomination is nothing but legal permission for the academy to appoint you. No nomination weighs more than any other. All you need is one nomination to get in, regardless of the source.

The more nominations you have the better as the academy will have more flexibility in appointing you.

You may have heard this because you will primarily compete with others who received the same nomination and the smaller the pool of people the less stiff the competition us (generally but there are those tough districts). Therefore, with a nomination from a Senator you will compete with the top of your state while a nomination from your congressman will put you up against others in your district. Once you do this initial competition then you will be put in a national pool were you compete with everyone. At this point, you are competing with an even larger group.
 
Well yes, if the MOC gives the Nominated his number one nomination, if that is how they nominate.

They have two options in their nomination process: 1) all nominated are equal and the academy choices the best candidate or 2) they have the option of using a rated tier slate, with one at the top, and the rest in succession in case the nominee declines. That would place a candidate on the top of nine other nominations.
 
Info from recent AIM

First post; my son is applying to the USMA for the class of 2014.

Over the past several months I have been lurking in these forums to pick up tips to help with my son's application. In a word, the forums here have been outstanding. My son has completed his file; is cleared by DoDMERB; and is in the process of pursuing a nomination.

We've been to several AIM sessions in the past two years, and many of the questions posed recently have been answered in one of the presentations we viewed.

So it is time to share back to the community here. I can't yet attach the file due to my recent registration, but let me excerpt some of the info regarding nominations, and the demographics for the class of 2012:

Total admitted and accepted: ~1300
--- 536 from Congressional appointments
--- 355 from service connected appointments
--- 400 from the National Waiting List

Further breakdown:
For the 355 Service connected appointments, they are from this pool of nominations:
--- 100 Presidential nominations
--- 85 from Regular Army components
--- 85 from Reserve Army components
--- 20 from ROTC and JROTC
--- ~15 for sons & daughters of deceased or 100% disabled veterans
--- UNLIMITED sons & daughters of Medal of Honor winners

From personal knowledge, I do know of some who have received nominations, but did not complete their file and finish their application. Also, some who are nominated are disqualified due to failure to pass their medical or CFA.

Here is how the funnel was filled:

539,107 in the list of prospects compiled from a number of sources (SAT/ACT, National Merit, sports, school records, inquiries)

36,959 were contacted in some way
10,000+ were inspired enough to open a candidate file
3,500+ were nominated
2,000+ were fully qualified
~1,600 were selected, and offered an appointment at the academy
~1,300 were enrolled

Some of you out there will wonder how the nominations offered match up with the other numbers mentioned above.

Recall that each Senator and Congressman can only have 5 active nominees actually enrolled at each service academy. It's not always one for each graduating class, but rather their nominations that are acted on can only result in 5 people attending the academy. I think this is called the primary nomination. Also recall that congressman and senators can nominate multiple people, up to 10 for each academy (I think that is right). Anyway, not every primary nominee actually makes it all the way thru the process, so the slots may get shuffled off to the National Waiting List for other applicants.

It's actually quite complicated. But the best way to view it is that the admissions team tries really hard to make sure that the best candidates are matched to the available slots.

When we visited the academy last year, we talked to some potential cadets who had received multiple nominations from their state.

I hope this info is useful to those on the quest for an appointment. Just remember neither a nomination, nor an offer of admission alone will get you into West Point. You need each component. And even if you are academically qualified, have passed the CFA, have been deemed qualified by DoDMERB, and have received a nomination, you still may not get offered an appointment. Why?

For everyone meeting all these requirements, the admissions staff assigns a score to your file, based on how well you did academically, on your essays, your ACT/SAT, your sports/clubs activities, your public service, your teacher recommendations, and on the CFA. Points are assigned for each, scores are compiled, and the applicants are ranked by the admissions board. The 1600 or so at the top are offered appointments, and around 1300 accept and are admitted. I'm not sure what score might result in an LOA. The scores are not revealed to the candidate.

Yes some people receive appointments, yet do not accept for a number of reasons. There are injuries; their are last minute changes of heart; there are even those who receive appointments to more than one academy.

I hope I have shed some light based on what I've learned over the past year. PM me if you would like me to email you a copy of the entire presentation, or I'll figure out how to attach a file if I can.

Also, if your state has a parent/graduate liaison organization, be sure to attend an AIM and get to know the liaison people for your state. Many of these "clubs" work with the regional admissions officer and help you navigate thru the process. The person assigned to my son has been quite helpful.

The USMA Admissions website does have a lot of information. Yes, a lot of information. Do spend the time reading everything. And read it more than once. If you are a potential cadet reading this message, get a parent, guardian, or advisor to help you with the process. At the recent AIMwe attended, the staff said the process is intentionally complicated to filter out the candidates who aren't really serious. Applying to an academy will be much harder than any college application.

In the meantime, My son, my wife, and I await progress in his quest for an appointment.
 
PAParentUSNA- I remember discovering this forum last year when we started this quest and being amazed (and panicked) by the number of candidates who had nominations from BOTH of their senators AND their MOC. I quickly learned that experiences vary and your state can matter a lot. In our state, the sens and reps apparently try to maximize the number of candidates with nominations. My son received a nomination from one senator and the very next day someone from our MOC's office called to congratulate him and ask if he wanted to continue with the MOC interview process. He definitely got the impression that he would probably not be getting the MOC nomination because he already had one from the Senator and he decided to not continue pursuing the MOC nom. Several months later he received a letter from our other senator informing him that she had waited until all of the nominations from the other senator and MOCs had been given before she gave out her nominations so that she could essentially "spread the wealth" to candidates who had not yet received nominations. Bottom line is that my son received an appointment with his one senatorial nomination.
 
Question about nomination for Coast Guard Academy

Would having a nomination for the coast guard academy improve your chances at getting in? What are the chances that they will pass the law that says you have to have nominations?
 
Would having a nomination for the coast guard academy improve your chances at getting in?

No, having a nomination for the Coast Guard Academy will not improve your chances at getting in as there are no such things as CGA nominations.

What are the chances that they will pass the law that says you have to have nominations?

My opinion? It's going to happen, not sure of when it will take effect.
 
Great post M2inOR.

Here's some additional information on the 2013 Class.

Applications: 11107
Qualified Candidates: 2058
Offers: 1500-1600
Admitted: 1299
Nominations: 3729


This means that about 75% of qualified candidates receive an offer for appointment with about 65% of qualified candidates accepting offers.

As the statistics show, nominations far exceed the number of offers.

Good luck and thank you for considering a career of service to our great country.
 
We were told on R-day that 1304 had accepted appointments but 5 would not be part of the class of 2013 for medical reasons. Bubblewrap!!!!!
 
Back
Top