Competitive states

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Prepswimmom

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I am curious - what are the most competitive states from an admissions standpoint?


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Prepswimmom said:
I am curious - what are the most competitive states from an admissions standpoint?
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I'm sure it varies to some extent from year to year depending in part on the candidates. However, in the sense I think you mean it, think states that are regionally proximate to the particular academy (making it locally known and popular) and states with large military populations. Also, think states with simply large populations, making Senatorial nominations more competitive. So for USNA the list would certainly include Maryland and Virginia (proximate and military), probably California (both size and San Diego) and New York (size), Texas (size), etc etc. Some of those big square states out west? Probably not so competitive. I don't know if there is actually a list but they certainly wouldn't let a mere nobody like me to see it. :biggrin:
 
What about in terms of high GPA and test scores? Are there states more difficult than others to get in from?


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I would assume that it is much harder to get into the academies from a highly populated state (i.e. Pennsylvania) than it is to get in from say Wyoming. Any of the "under-represented" districts would fall into this category too.
 
How do you find under represented districts?


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navymomwannabe said:
I would assume that it is much harder to get into the academies from a highly populated state (i.e. Pennsylvania) than it is to get in from say Wyoming. Any of the "under-represented" districts would fall into this category too.
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Absolutely true!

And, it's not just the population in PA that makes it competitive.
The MOC slate is full of HIGHLY qualified candidates that competed for the nomination.
 
I think it is very difficult to generalize on competitiveness. Population of the state as a competitive indicator is a little misleading though I agree that it does impact ability to get a Senator's nom. However, congressional districts are sized roughly based on population - in NY the average district is about 700k people (in 27 districts). In Montana, it has 1 district of 1 mm people.

Also, many districts in big cities are not competitive - in our district (750k people) there were 5 candidates interviewing with our rep for all of the academies (3 Navy, 1 AF, 1 MM). I would interpret that as a virtual 100% probability of getting a nom unless a candidate has a clear deficiency of some type. I understand that LA, SF and Chicago have similar dynamics. At least 2 things are at play here - 1.) many underperforming urban public schools with no advocates guiding kids toward the academies and 2.) Many private schools and high achieving public schools with 95+ of kids who go to college after graduation and who are focused on 'name brand' public or private universities only.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown by state over time and also who is taken off of the NWL by state.

Just my thoughts on this, anyway.
 
JShawshank said:
I think it is very difficult to generalize on competitiveness. Population of the state as a competitive indicator is a little misleading though I agree that it does impact ability to get a Senator's nom. However, congressional districts are sized roughly based on population - in NY the average district is about 700k people (in 27 districts). In Montana, it has 1 district of 1 mm people.

Also, many districts in big cities are not competitive - in our district (750k people) there were 5 candidates interviewing with our rep for all of the academies (3 Navy, 1 AF, 1 MM). I would interpret that as a virtual 100% probability of getting a nom unless a candidate has a clear deficiency of some type. I understand that LA, SF and Chicago have similar dynamics. At least 2 things are at play here - 1.) many underperforming urban public schools with no advocates guiding kids toward the academies and 2.) Many private schools and high achieving public schools with 95+ of kids who go to college after graduation and who are focused on 'name brand' public or private universities only.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown by state over time and also who is taken off of the NWL by state.

Just my thoughts on this, anyway.
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Good points. I certainly agree, especially in regard to urban districts in large cities. It's like real estate... location, location, location!
 
crazy politics

due to crazy Illinois politics and their quasi illegal redistricting, we went from one of the most competitive districts in the state to one of the least competitive districts (based on amount of people requesting noms)...and we never moved.

This a was after son #1 got in (so not helpful) but plenty of time for daughter to apply.

Keep in mind if there are only two applicants from your district applying and the other applicant has a 36ACT, is a native american who speaks fluent Chinese and Russian, president of StuCo and can pitch a fastball 100 miles per hour then you now live in an incredibly competitive district.
 
Vista - I was just thinking I should have said "not competitive for a nomination" when I was commenting in my previous post for the exact reason you mentioned. Even with 2 or 3 candidates in the same district with a nom they could all be very competitive for appointment. That's what the NWL is for and why I think it would be interesting to see if there are any trends by geography over time....
 
Possibly one of the states not listed is one of the most competitive - Hawaii. We have bases/commands for every branch of service as well as NSA, host high level commands such as USPACOM, and have a lot of military retirees on top of that because of the climate! Due to our size we have few MOCs. I'm guessing over 50 kids interviewed at each MOC and the lists that I saw published for nominations had 30+ unique names per MOC.
 
JShawshank said:
Vista - I was just thinking I should have said "not competitive for a nomination" when I was commenting in my previous post for the exact reason you mentioned. Even with 2 or 3 candidates in the same district with a nom they could all be very competitive for appointment. That's what the NWL is for and why I think it would be interesting to see if there are any trends by geography over time....
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JShawshank, your point is excellent. Some applicants will fare better on their slate and some will fare better in the National Pool.
 
Pennsylvania is absolutely a competitive state. The nomination letter from my Senator said that over 400 candidates applied for his nomination. Now I did not get a Senator nomination, but you can see some real numbers here. In March I'll find out at my MOC nomination ceremony how many applied from my district, 16th. I'm interested to know.
 
I really wished the academies reported the statistics as to how many people apply from each district, state, etc. I think it would be very interesting and informative. I suppose if they did this, though, there would probably be some families who would be willing to extreme things, such as move into a certain district where hardly anybody applies, just to increase their chance of getting that appointment. Hmmmmmm........
 
Senator Warner in Virginia said he received over 700 applications! That's competitive!
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
I really wished the academies reported the statistics as to how many people apply from each district, state, etc. I think it would be very interesting and informative. I suppose if they did this, though, there would probably be some families who would be willing to extreme things, such as move into a certain district where hardly anybody applies, just to increase their chance of getting that appointment. Hmmmmmm........
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Possibly. Perhaps some are zealous enought to go to the length of moving. With those stats, people could know the "good spots" to be from.
 
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