jcleppe -- in the three APFTs that go into the OMS calculations... 1st Sem MSIII, 2nd Semester MSIII, and LDAC, do any of those three component scores for APFT get bonus points for surpassing 300? I suspect it counts only for image and perception and would get points in other "subjective" areas of OMS components like PMS eval, TAC eval, etc. Does that sound right to you?
I believe you are correct, but if you look at the APFT scores from LDAC each year they post the scores that include the extra points. While you are right that getting a straight 300 will give you the same OMS points as say a 325, the higher score can count towards getting closer to the Top 5 at LDAC. The higher scores also help as you stated the position of a cadet on the battalion OML which counts toward OMS points.
I talked to a parent of a current MS4, he has a 3.18 GPA, Overall E at LDAC, and a 300 on all 3 APFT's. This cadets OMS score is 80.6. The weak point other then the GPA was his battalion ranking, 12/16.
I compared this to my son who graduated last year, he had a 3.5 GPA, Overall E at LDAC, and a 300 on the two battalion APFT and a 285 at LDAC (The last year new LT's did the scoring) My son was ranked 2/14, his final OMS score was 93.7
You can see how important the battalion ranking and PMS eval can be, just adding the 3.2 points for the GPA would have only raised the first cadets score to 83.8.
There are cadets that have strong GPA's but weak APFT's and vise versa, both can effect the OMS score quite a bit. It's clear that balance is important. Being low on the battalion OML means a cadet may not get the opportunities other cadets receive, such as summer training, CULP, and leadership positions. All of these can effect the OMS score.
The best thing a cadet can do is try and have a well balanced file, if they are not at the top of the GPA ladder then get the highest APFT they can and vise versa.
This is the reason some cadets push to get as high above the 300 score they can, every little bit helps.
You are right though, a 300 at LDAC will give you the max OMS score, I don't believe they give extra OMS points for anything above the 300.