LOA BUT no nomination.

bambino

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
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Nov 24, 2008
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Hello,
My son received a LOA in early October, and was interviewed by all of his Congressmen. Incredible to me, but he did not recieve one of the 10 nominations given by each(they use Competitive method). He is devastated, but not giving up! Any advice from those in similar situation? Where does he go from here? One office claimed,"the competition was incredibly stiff this year..."They recommended going to a civilian school for a year?? He has a 4.2 weighted, 3.98 unweighted GPA and 32 Math, 32 English ACTs. I do not see what another year in college will do. BTW, he did not apply for VP nomination(my bad)- I felt certain he would get at least the MOC nomination-esp with the LOA. I have heard some Congressman do not give nominations to kids with LOA's since they want to spread the wealth to others, feeling comfortable that the LOA applicants will get one from somewhere?? That sounds ridiculus to me. I am a USNA alumnus, but bilged voluntarily when they dropped the premed major in early 70s(1% good go direct to med school-didn't think that was me...worst decision of my life.
Any advice would be appreciated.
 
The best advice would be... to call the regional director and explain the situation.

Hopefully your son will receive a nomination some other way.
 
One of my senator's board members who interviewed me told me that if I found myself in such a situation then all hope is NOT lost. He felt confident that if I were to call the Naval Academy then they would hook you up with one. Remember that the Superintendent also has nominations that are available. Though this is just what this man told me, I have no way to verify it.
 
Thanks for the reply. He will definitely give them a call
 
Bambino,

Do not give up....Contact your BGO. Have them work with you and Admissions to see how competitive your son/daughter is for the class and perhaps USNA will find another Congressman (i.e. from another state) to assign to your student. If USNA wants your student, they will find a nomination for him/her. State your case.

Caution: If you start this process be CERTAIN that your student will take the offer when/if it's presented to them. People have gone to great effort to get noms only to have the offer refused.
good luck.
 
My son is in the same situation and received an LOA too. To date he has not been contacted for an interview either. He applied for all nominations available. Guess I will be calling the Senators and Congressman's offices tomorrow.
 
Good luck. I hope they grant the interview; more importantly though, nominate him. My son was interviewed by all three and still no nomination. What state are you in?
 
Bambino,

and perhaps USNA will find another Congressman (i.e. from another state) to assign to your student.

The SA cannot give an appointment from one MOC to another. It cannot be done. The candidate MUST be appropriately appointed to their specific MOC, not another. Several reasons- one is the other MOC will want that slot next year.... not to mention it is absolutely not allowed). The SA can give a sup nom or VP. The fact that an LOA is issued implies that the SA wants the candidate. There are lots of reasons this situation can occur, which I won't take time to explain ... I recommend that you 1st confirm for certain that none of the MOC's for which he applied is giving the nom (did he get a declination letter from each?). It is still very early in the nom process- the slates do not have to be at the SA until the end of January. Many MOCs hold their cards close until the deadline. So confirm that all 3 MOCs have actually turned in their slate. If they have turned it in, have the CANDIDATE call the SA to discuss the situation with their admissions rep. Failure to make the call sends the message that this it isn't important to the candidate. So the candidate must make the call and let the SA know the depth of desire to attend. The waiting game in this situation may be long - appointments with MOC nom go first then they figure out the sup noms. If a student was at a prep school, it is also more common than you'd think for a nom not to be received. In this case - the LOA bodes well but is not a guarantee. So the candidate must show the SA their level of interest.
 
2011's Mom emphasized a crucial point above. Many parents post on this forum with plans for contacting some official - but it should always be your son or daughter - the CANDIDATE - making the contact. My son recieved this advice and took it to heart when applying for USAFA - he made it clear to us that we were not to contact anyone on his behalf, that he would take care of it - and he did. Sometimes we suggested that he call someone, and sometimes we would help him figure out what he should say, but he always did it himself. This shows the academies that it is truly the student, not the parent, who is interested, and it gives the candidates good practice for handling issues themselves, which they absolutely have to do once they arrive at an academy.
 
The candidate needs to make all calls - be it congressional offices or the Academy. There is absolutely no reason why the candidate can not do this - You hear over and over on this and other boards "no time in the school day"... Do not fall for it. They can make the time if this is important to them. Make the call from the schools guidance/ college counseling office.

Remember there are also the VP nominations...
 
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