Two Principal Nomination Mistake

parentofmen

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Jan 16, 2010
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Our MOC (or his staffer) went into nomination process with the belief he had two principal nominations. My son received one of them. Unclear as to what happened, but assume that when staffer went to submit nominations, they were advised that there was only one principal nomination allowed. The two principal nominations went back to the board and the other young man won out. Obviously my son is upset (to put it mildly) as are we. Something was mentioned about him being an alternate principal nominee, but out son was so upset didn't ask any questions. We want to get clarification on this. Can there be alternate "principal" nominations, or is he merely #2 on the list of nominees, and accordingly is just put in with others for the general pool of those nominated? Anyone ever heard of this happening?
 
The important thing is that your son got a nomination! Having that he still is in the running for consideration for an offer of appointment. Granted he does not get the priority that a principal nom receives, but being a principal nom does not ensure an offer, just first consideration - the candidate still has to qualify across the board. Take a look at the numbers of slots available to nominating sources vs the 1,220 - 1,250 vacancies in the Class of 2014. A good number of those vacancies will be filled by Qualified Alternates! Do your best and keep your file information updated going forward. All is not lost - it just became more challenging! Learning to deal with a bit of disappointment and adversity builds character! Best wishes.
 
Our MOC (or his staffer) went into nomination process with the belief he had two principal nominations. My son received one of them. Unclear as to what happened, but assume that when staffer went to submit nominations, they were advised that there was only one principal nomination allowed. The two principal nominations went back to the board and the other young man won out. Obviously my son is upset (to put it mildly) as are we. Something was mentioned about him being an alternate principal nominee, but out son was so upset didn't ask any questions. We want to get clarification on this. Can there be alternate "principal" nominations, or is he merely #2 on the list of nominees, and accordingly is just put in with others for the general pool of those nominated? Anyone ever heard of this happening?

I have never heard of an "alternate principal nomination".

If I recall, the MOCs have three options as to how to submit their nominations.

1. Submit all 10 with no preference indicated. No principle nomination. Basically, the MOC allows the academy to choose from the lot. From what I hear, this is the what the academy prefers.

2. They can designate one of the ten as a principle nominee. All the others are considered alternates, in no particular order.

3. Or, they can rank them, from 1 to 10. My understanding is that this is rarely done.

In any case, many non-principle nominations are going to result in appointments.
 
Thanks to both of you for responding. My son is waiting for a letter from the MOC to let him know exactly what was meant. He was given the impression he was an alternate principal nomination, and the remainder of the nominations were not ranked. Of course, he is appreciative of the nomination, just disappointed after the initial excitement of a principal nomination. And 1964BGO, you're correct, he does look at it as a challenge. A quote that hit home with him: "Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people."
 
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It could be that the MOC designated a principal and a first alternate, then listed 8 other nominees without ranking them; effectively this could produce the effect of a principal and an alternate principal.
 
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