Principle Nomination

You can find the answer in the "congressional nomination guide" in the sticky at the top of the nomination forum. But to quote the guide
"When the Member specifies a principal candidate, that individual will be appointed to a DOD academy as long as he or she meets all other admission criteria. If the principal candidate is disqualified, the service academies will appoint the first fully qualified, ranked alternate, if specified by the Member. In circumstances where Members do not specify a principal candidate or ranked alternates, one individual from among the Member’s nominees who is found to be fully qualified will be appointed by the academies to serve as cadets."

Although a principal nomination is not a guarantee to an appointment, it is as close as it gets
 
True, but last year there were several disappointed principal nominees that floundered on the wait list and need received appointments. That ruffled a lot of feathers.
 
No, it does not. You still have to be 3Q as determined by the SA. USNA, for example, no longer routinely tells candidates if they are 3Q, so some of the discussions last year seemed to be wrapped in people who ASSUMED they were 3Q and couldn't understand why they did not get an appointment.
 
Letsdothis said:
Oh... But principle with 3Q is pretty sure thing. That's what I meant. Sorry I wasn't more clear.
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No it isn't. I direct your attention to the post by usnabgo08 on the USNA page under LOA's and his comments about principle nominations for clarity on the subject.
 
From USNA website:
  • Nominate 10 candidates for each vacancy, permitting the Naval Academy to evaluate and select them for admission on a competitive basis;
  • Designate one principal nominee and nine other candidates as alternates, ranked in order of preference; or
  • Nominate one principal nominee and nine other candidates as competitors, permitting the Naval Academy to select the alternate competitors for admission.
Maybe I am missing something, but it seems as if a principle is 3Qed, then she is getting an appointment based on this language.
 
Here is the quote from usnabgo08 I was referencing:

"That is not true. USNA does not have to accept a principal nominee whether they are triple qualified or not.

Each Senator, Representative, and Delegate in Congress, including the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, is entitled to nominate 10 persons for each vacancy that is available to him under this section. Nominees may be submitted without ranking or with a principal candidate and 9 ranked or unranked alternates. Qualified nominees not selected for appointment under this subsection shall be considered qualified alternates for the purposes of selection under other provisions of this chapter.
Notice that the language does not state that if the principal is found qualified, that USNA must offer them an appointment. You might be thinking that is the logical reason for having principal and unranked, but legally, it doesn't say that. The only real "guarantee" is that each MOC is entitled to 5 MIDN at USNA."
 
I can see it from the perspective of both of our posts. I think the third bullet of my post indicates the principal gets admitted. It seems as if the word permitting is telling, but I really don't have enough info/knowledge to continue the discussion.
 
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Just FYI, I read somewhere on hear that the reason some 3Qd principal noms didn't get appointments last year was because some MOCs were voted out and new MOC submitted additional noms. Resulted in some being wait listed and not ultimately appointed. Sounds a bit sketchy to me, but who knows. Seems like noms should be one per office per year, not per MOC.
 
HopefulDad3210 said:
Just FYI, I read somewhere on hear that the reason some 3Qd principal noms didn't get appointments last year was because some MOCs were voted out and new MOC submitted additional noms. Resulted in some being wait listed and not ultimately appointed. Sounds a bit sketchy to me, but who knows. Seems like noms should be one per office per year, not per MOC.
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If so, my guess is that the new MOC likely changed the principal nomination to at large nomination. A new MOC could have submitted additional nominations but still kept the principal nomination given out the prior MOC. For West Point, I believe MOCs are supposed to submit their nominations by January 31st. If so the new MOC has a plenty of time to change things. I doubt any SA admissions office will fight a MOC office about changing the nomination slate based on what previous MOC submitted. Also, if the principal nominee was less qualified than some other candidates, the admissions office would like the nomination slate not having a principal nominee.
 
I think the real story here is that it sounds like a one-off, or at least outlier, situation. The candidate book that Navy sells at the yard indicates that 3Qd principal noms will be admitted.
 
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