Questions About Noms and LOAs

usmausmausmausma

usmausmausmausma

USMA Class of 2028
Joined
May 19, 2023
Messages
133
Hey everyone, just had a few questions about nominations for those who hold LOAs...

I know that the typical routine for questioning is first to try and peruse the forum for answers. However, in my case, I am still pretty confused even after doing this, so I thought to ask my questions here and see what everyone thinks. As an FYI, these questions are only relevant to MOC nominations.

Does "getting a nomination" mean that you are on an MOC's slate of up to 10 people, or does it mean that you are the principal nominee?
Assuming that the MOC uses either of the two principal nomination methods, when people on the forum say that they received a nomination, does this mean that they are the principal nominee or just on that slate of up to ten candidates?

If you have an LOA to, let's say, USMA and you are on the slate of 10, does this mean that you are guaranteed an appointment (assuming the only condition left for the LOA is to receive a nomination)?
Currently, my understanding is that if you are not the principal nominee, even if you have an LOA, you will be entered into the NWL if the principal nominee does get appointed and that nomination is charged to the MOC. Though, I read usna1985's pinned post and they said that "IF you have a Letter of Assurance (LOA) and are otherwise fully qualified, ANY nomination is sufficient for an appointment." So, in any of the three MOC nomination methods, does this mean that as long as an LOA holder is on the slate of up to 10 candidates, they will get appointed (if the nomination is the only condition to be fulfilled and they only applied for MOC/VP nominations)?

Any insight or answers would be greatly appreciated! In my case, I have an LOA to USMA but am still waiting to hear back about nomination results from my Rep. next Monday. But, with my confusion regarding the above two questions, I've been kind of stressing out (probably for nothing) wondering if I got the principal nomination or not 😅. Regardless, let me know what you think! Thank you all in advance.
 
Many times the candidate doesn’t know. Most MOC do not use the principal nom method. 6 months after induction my son found out he was the principal nom. He had no idea. I would guess most people that get noms here are not principal.

Getting a nomination means you are on their slate.

Yes. An LOA, with any nomination, and 3 q, with all conditions met on the loa - will be an offer of appointment.
 
Let me address your two questions.
- Q: Does "getting a nomination" mean that you are on an MOC's slate of up to 10 people, or does it mean that you are the principal nominee?
- A: Yes, a nomination means you are one of up to 10 nominees. If a principal nominee is named, then the nominations will be either the 'principal' or an 'alternate' nominee. The designation will be clear in the letter sent to you.

- Q: If you have an LOA to, let's say, USMA and you are on the slate of 10, does this mean that you are guaranteed an appointment (assuming the only condition left for the LOA is to receive a nomination)?
- A: Yes, if you receive a nomination with an LOA and you satisfy the requirements of the LOA, you will receive the appointment. For most LOAs, it specifies being medically and physically qualified, plus receiving a nomination. In your scenario, the nomination will trigger the appointment.

I hope that helps. And congratulations on the LOA!
 
Academician said:
Let me address your two questions.
- Q: Does "getting a nomination" mean that you are on an MOC's slate of up to 10 people, or does it mean that you are the principal nominee?
- A: Yes, a nomination means you are one of up to 10 nominees. If a principal nominee is named, then the nominations will be either the 'principal' or an 'alternate' nominee. The designation will be clear in the letter sent to you.

- Q: If you have an LOA to, let's say, USMA and you are on the slate of 10, does this mean that you are guaranteed an appointment (assuming the only condition left for the LOA is to receive a nomination)?
- A: Yes, if you receive a nomination with an LOA and you satisfy the requirements of the LOA, you will receive the appointment. For most LOAs, it specifies being medically and physically qualified, plus receiving a nomination. In your scenario, the nomination will trigger the appointment.

I hope that helps. And congratulations on the LOA!
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Excellent, thank you so much! This does clear up a lot of confusion for me so I really appreciate it.
 
A1Janitor said:
Many times the candidate doesn’t know. Most MOC do not use the principal nom method. 6 months after induction my son found out he was the principal nom. He had no idea. I would guess most people that get noms here are not principal.

Getting a nomination means you are on their slate.

Yes. An LOA, with any nomination, and 3 q, with all conditions met on the loa - will be an offer of appointment.
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Ah, I see now. I had thought that all the noms received here were principal noms! Thank you for clearing things up.
 
this is great information on this thread!
DS has a nomination and an LOA how long typically until he officially receives an appointment? can I buy everyone in the family West Point gear for Christmas?
 
Armymom93 said:
this is great information on this thread!
DS has a nomination and an LOA how long typically until he officially receives an appointment? can I buy everyone in the family West Point gear for Christmas?
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Depends on if you want to get them what they want or what you want to give them.

I would get USNA gear to be safe.

We don’t know when. :)
 
Armymom93 said:
this is great information on this thread!
DS has a nomination and an LOA how long typically until he officially receives an appointment? can I buy everyone in the family West Point gear for Christmas?
Click to expand...
If you haven’t read the pinned post at the top of the Nominations forum, that is an excellent summary of noms.

Has yourson been informed he is fully qualified? Medical/DoDMERB Q or waiver + athletic/CFA, those are obvious. Academic/scholastic, all the other stuff that is evaluated, may or may not be known.

Fully qualified + nom = eligible for appointment. Add in LOA, certain offer. No telling when.
 
ozli24 said:
Hey everyone, just had a few questions about nominations for those who hold LOAs...

I know that the typical routine for questioning is first to try and peruse the forum for answers. However, in my case, I am still pretty confused even after doing this, so I thought to ask my questions here and see what everyone thinks. As an FYI, these questions are only relevant to MOC nominations.

Does "getting a nomination" mean that you are on an MOC's slate of up to 10 people, or does it mean that you are the principal nominee?
Assuming that the MOC uses either of the two principal nomination methods, when people on the forum say that they received a nomination, does this mean that they are the principal nominee or just on that slate of up to ten candidates?

If you have an LOA to, let's say, USMA and you are on the slate of 10, does this mean that you are guaranteed an appointment (assuming the only condition left for the LOA is to receive a nomination)?
Currently, my understanding is that if you are not the principal nominee, even if you have an LOA, you will be entered into the NWL if the principal nominee does get appointed and that nomination is charged to the MOC. Though, I read usna1985's pinned post and they said that "IF you have a Letter of Assurance (LOA) and are otherwise fully qualified, ANY nomination is sufficient for an appointment." So, in any of the three MOC nomination methods, does this mean that as long as an LOA holder is on the slate of up to 10 candidates, they will get appointed (if the nomination is the only condition to be fulfilled and they only applied for MOC/VP nominations)?

Any insight or answers would be greatly appreciated! In my case, I have an LOA to USMA but am still waiting to hear back about nomination results from my Rep. next Monday. But, with my confusion regarding the above two questions, I've been kind of stressing out (probably for nothing) wondering if I got the principal nomination or not 😅. Regardless, let me know what you think! Thank you all in advance.
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You have already gotten advice, adding this: have you read the sticky tab at the top of the Noms forum? It might make things even clearer for you.
 
Capt MJ said:
If you haven’t read the pinned post at the top of the Nominations forum, that is an excellent summary of noms.

Has yourson been informed he is fully qualified? Medical/DoDMERB Q or waiver + athletic/CFA, those are obvious. Academic/scholastic, all the other stuff that is evaluated, may or may not be known.

Fully qualified + nom = eligible for appointment. Add in LOA, certain offer. No telling when.
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yes, he is fully qualified including DODMERB and CFA. he has had an LOA since August.
he’s done a great job being patient with the nomination process it’s me who wants some certainty ha ha
 
Armymom93 said:
yes, he is fully qualified including DODMERB and CFA. he has had an LOA since August.
he’s done a great job being patient with the nomination process it’s me who wants some certainty ha ha
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Hope for soon, plan for mid-April, be surprised, son should answer all calls and have a professional voicemail set up, or if there is no call, prepare for the excited yell from the portal location.
 
justdoit19 said:
You have already gotten advice, adding this: have you read the sticky tab at the top of the Noms forum? It might make things even clearer for you.
Click to expand...
Do you mean usna1985 and TacticalNuke’s threads? I did read those but I just wanted a confirmation on something that’s been confusing me for a long time.
 
ozli24 said:
Do you mean usna1985 and TacticalNuke’s threads? I did read those but I just wanted a confirmation on something that’s been confusing me for a long time.
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Yes, that’s what I was referring to (and posted at the same time as CaptMJ, same info).

Do you have your question answered?
 
One slight ‘tweak’ of an answer….bc this may be a piece of what you are looking for:

Academician said:
- A: Yes, a nomination means you are one of up to 10 nominees. If a principal nominee is named, then the nominations will be either the 'principal' or an 'alternate' nominee. The designation will be clear in the letter sent to you.
Click to expand...

You may never know if you are a Principal, or not. Some MOC’s tell their nominee, some don’t. They aren’t required to do so. My experience is that they do not, for the most part.

Additionally, at least at USNA, even if you receive a Principal nom, that doesn’t mean others on the slate cannot receive a nomination from that slate. And lastly, where the candidate is charged may not be to that MOC after all is said and done (again, at USNA). So readers, don’t assume if someone from a slate is offered an appointment, that it’s ’game over’ for you.
 
I agree that some MoCs may not notify students of the 'alternate' status, but in my experience, 100% for all of my students (including with my own nomination) were clearly advised of their status. A minority use the principal nomination process, but when they do, the principal and alternates should be notified of their specific status -- some clearly are not advised, but it should be a minority of that population (we hope!). :)

And, we all agree that a nomination is a good thing, even if it is an alternate, as it will allow a candidate to earn an appointment even if the 'principal' earns the appointment through the MOC slate. That happened for me.
 
A1Janitor said:
6 months after induction my son found out he was the principal nom.
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If I remember correctly, your son had an LOA? It's interesting to see how a MOC would give the principal nom to someone who already has an LOA. Wouldn't they want more of their candidates to receive appointments to the service academies?
 
purpleCarrot said:
If I remember correctly, your son had an LOA? It's interesting to see how a MOC would give the principal nom to someone who already has an LOA. Wouldn't they want more of their candidates to receive appointments to the service academies?
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There were 6 that applied for nominations. Nobody else was appointed from this district.

I disagree with the use of principal nominations in general.

The reality is the Academy could have appointed more than one from this district no matter if there was a principal nomination or not.
 
A1Janitor said:
There were 6 that applied for nominations. Nobody else was appointed from this district.

I disagree with the use of principal nominations in general.

The reality is the Academy could have appointed more than one from this district no matter if there was a principal nomination or not.
Click to expand...

I thought it would make more sense for the MOC to give another one of the 6 candidates a principal nom so that the academy would appoint two students from that district: your son with the LOA and the kid with the principal nom (because the MOC would want to increase representation of their own district).
 
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