New Jersey Lautenberg and Menendez

Hang in there, pasquinel! These letters seem to have really gone out late.
 
Our expected letter of rejection from Lautenberg came on Friday...
 
Hi can I ask what the rejection letters say from Lautenberg's office? A cut and paste of the meat of the letter would be great. I still have not received any letter from Lautenberg's office and would welcome the chance to be prepared.....Tx Pasquinel
 
Hi can I ask what the rejection letters say from Lautenberg's office? A cut and paste of the meat of the letter would be great. I still have not received any letter from Lautenberg's office and would welcome the chance to be prepared.....Tx Pasquinel

Boy that is glutton for punishment...I wouldn't give it another thought...it is actually behind you now and I would look forward to good news instead. In any case, here is the letter...

Dear abc,

I regret to inform you that after careful consideration of your application, I am unable to provide you with a nomination to a Service Academy. A Panel of experts and members of my staff interviewed over 400 young adults interested in pursuing an education at a United States Service Academy. My job was a very difficult one because so many bright, talented and focused young people like you wanted my nomination this year.

I want to thank you for your desire to dedicate yourself to our country and I wish you the very best of luck in all your endeavors. You should be commended for taking the time and showing the commitment necessary to go through this nomination process. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Michael Pock at my Newark office at 973-639-8700.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Lautenberg
 
thanks Blueskies I just want to be prepared will not be looking in my rear view mirror anymore like you suggest
 
My son recently (in the past two weeks) received a rejection letter from Lautenberg...interestingly, he had applied for the nomination last year (received one from Ferguson/Lance) and is completing his plebe year at USMA. If you haven't heard anything, don't be shy about calling. It doesn't appear to be a perfect system :)
 
Hello all,
I am a junior from Bergen County and I was just accepted to SLS 2010. I am in the process of starting nominations. My congressmen are Menendez and Lautenberg. How many nominations are each congressman allowed to give? Is this a competitive district? How difficult is it to get a nomination (here versus another place)? I am just a bit nervous because it seems that there are many qualified candidates, and Bergen County is notorious for producing excellent academic, athletic, and leadership candidates, though I do feel that I am a very well rounded young woman. Any information or help would be greatly appreciated, seeing as you all have more wisdom in this area than I.
Thank you very much,
WP hopeful
 
Don't Defeat Yourself...

I am afraid that you are already getting on the wrong path here. You are already worrying about things that you cannot control. The number of nominations allowed, competitive area, that the other candidates are better than you, etc. If you peruse through a lot of the advice given out on these forums, you will realize a common theme...don't worry about what other people bring to the competition (SA appointment is a competition, make no mistake about it!), but rather make your personal package the best that you can and most importantly, that it is a reflection of you as a person and what your strengths and weakness are and what you can contribute to the OFFICER pool! Do not fall into the trap of enhancing your candidate package with ECAs that you are not passionate about just because that is what you think the admissions board wants to see. They will see through all that. Even if you get away with it, can you maintain the farce for 4 years or throughout your military career?

Make your candidate package a reflection about your beliefs, your passion, what you think is important in a leader. Bolster it with your memorable and personal experiences and more importantly, show them how all of these experiences have made you a better person and possibly a worthwhile leader. With that in mind IMHO, grades, GPAs, SATs, ACTs, ECAs, leadership positions, awards, recommendation letters, sports activities will all follow you and help describe you as the person of character that you would like others to see you as. Do the best that you can and that in your heart you have given it your best shot.

A wise man once said...

If you cannot do something about it, why worry?
If you CAN do something about it, why worry?

In other words, between now and the day you get your Appointment Letter (or your rejection letter...), you have to leave out useless verbs such as worry, regrets, doubts, etc. as they will do you no good! The least that you can get out of the admission process, irregardless of the outcome is that you have a better understanding of yourself and what you are capable of!

Know Thyself! (Socrates...)

Good Luck! :thumb:

GO NAVY! :tomcat:
 
My congressmen are Menendez and Lautenberg.

You are getting your senators and your congressman/woman confused. Menendez and Lautenberg are US Senators. Your congressman depends on where you live, you can look it up online if you don't know who it is.

There are many threads (some sticky) on this forum about nominations. Take a cruise around the forum and read up. Good Luck!
 
Thanks 2014-scada. I'm just nervous about this because it is really something huge. I just wanted to know because I was interested, not because I would focus on this rather than the important things that I can control. :)
And..
Subdude-That's what I meant, sorry. They keep saying congressional nomination so I write that instead. Scott Garret, I believe, is the congressman for me. Anyway, I am still just curious if anyone has any pertinent information that I can use or some tips, etc in dealing with these congressmen/senators. I'm giving this all that I have, so any help at all would be helpful. Even if you have recieved a nomination from a different senator/congressman (seeing as I am the first from my school and extended family to apply to a service academy).
Thanks so much!
 
We understand what you are going through...

Each MOC/Senator typically nominates 10 candidates. In NJ they try their best not to have overlapping nominations. This gives them the ability to nominate 30 applicants total (theoretically speaking...) as you said, there are a lot of deserving candidates. So the MOCs coordinate and exchange notes. Remember you only need one nomination to qualify for an appointment. So having more nominations is not proof that you are more qualified than others. All you need is one (1).

You are nervous...We have all been there...parent, student, applicant, brother, sister. the admission process is not for the faint of heart. But if you really have your heart set on it...then GO for it.

Unfortunately, I doubt if anybody really has the numbers that you are seeking for. The economy could be a factor, but IMHO, the numbers are really driven by the realization of a lot of people (responsible students such as you...) that the Service Academies (SA) provides an environment 2nd to none in education and leadership training. All the candidates drawn to the SAs are smart, driven, motivated, physically fit, service-minded and involved individuals. The fact that you have even considered it already places you in that elite group. Now all you have to do is to sell the idea to a group of strangers called the Admissions Board who have years of experience in knowing what works and what does not as a compilation of traits in a prospective candidate. There are some candidates who in the beginning think of it as free education...but they soon realize after reading through the forums, blogs and the abundance of information around that it does not seem so free after all. It does come at the price of hard work, self-sacrifice and dare I say it...the ultimate sacrifice even for some.

To summarize, nobody really knows the actual numbers or how competitive it is. In my State (NJ), and District (7th), I always thought it was, that is why my DD and I had the mindset to go all out and plunge into this with both feet and not settle for any half-baked attempts at completing the admissions process. There was always something you can do better or improve on your application. Maintain or improve your GPA, keep taking the SATs and ACTs until you are satisfied, RUN and play sports so that you will do better on your CFA, get involved with your community, volunteer, lead in school organizations and lastly be visible in the world you live in. More importantly, document all of it and ask other peoples help, i.e. teachers, parents, school officials...your guidance counselor will be one of your best friends. Make them proud of you and show them that their trust in you will be rewarded. Letters of recommendation from them will stand out if they are involved with a lot of the things that you do and thereby become more personal and heart-felt.

The rest you know what to do...

GO NAVY! :tomcat:
 
Okay, thanks. Yes, I am a runner for three seasons so I am in very good shape for that and I have improved my push-ups from 25 to 34 so I am max for everything except push-ups, but I am still working on that. I have my Girl Scout Gold Award, Assistant Coach for the Special Olympics, am attending SLS and Girls State, am in NHS and top 10% of my class, have gotten 8/8 possible varsity letters so far and county recognition in them, etc.... The only thing is I am waiting for my SAT scores back. It's actually funny because normally West Point does not come up in our paper as being one's possible college choice, however, there was a girl from a couple of towns over who is very smart and good at basketball and her top school choices are all Ivys and West Point, so I found that interesting. Overall, I think I am a well qualified candidate, my only concern is the nomination, and if I get one, I feel that I can get accepted. Thanks for the advice.
 
Attended a reception for Scott Garrett's Nominees last night. The speaker said at least 2 or 3 times that there were more nominees than appointments. So, even in a competitive district like NJ5, there are many kids with noms who have not recieved appts.
 
Hey everyone, so I've definitely done my research and I now have a better understanding of how all of this works. Everyone on here that is already going into their academic year, Congratulations! I was hoping that someone would take time out to quickly answer my question. I am just about to send in all my nomination packets (Scott Garrett, Menedez, and Lautenberg) and I read on Garrett's packet that a competitive candidate will have over a 700 in BOTH math and critical reading. Is this accurate? Is there still hope if I only have in the mid-upper 600s? It only confuses me because the Middle 50 SAT scores reported for west point are around the 600-680 range. Did anyone recieve a nomination with SAT scores below 700s?
Thanks :)
 
Notice the key word COMPETITIVE. In other words, he is saying historically those that get the nom from him are in that range. It doesn't mean you should not apply!

You should apply, and highlight all of the other things within your background. You also have time to re-take the SAT come Oct. to amp up your scores.

I am sure there are cadets that got the nom with lower stats., but I bet my life that they also had some sparkling EC's to over look the SAT scores. That is my point. The MOC's know the system works on a WCS basis, and PAR is one part, EC's are the other. The MOC is going to want to mimic that Whole Candidate system when they nom. any candidate. You could have a 2400 with a 4.0 uwgpa and still not get the nom, because you never did anything else, but hit the books.

The only answer anyone can give you is that you have 0% chance of getting a nom if you don't apply! Apply, it can't hurt you. Don't worry about if this is true or not. Remember every yr the pool of applicants change, you just have to do the best you can.

Good luck.
 
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