Hmmmmm......sorry it makes you sick to realize there are not as many wonderful, outstanding kids outside the DFW metroplex.......us hicks out here in West Texas are pretty sure the top end of our smaller classes (my sons was relatively large at 323, but we know lots in classes of less than 30) are every bit as outstanding as the top end of your large classes in the metroplex.
I know of kids in small school districts who cannot get in the top ten percent or even half of their class with an A average. Bet that's not the case in your large schools!
I'm wondering if maybe the bottom end of your large classes is larger than the bottom end of our smaller classes.........
Rest assured, some areas are indeed more competitive. However, remember too that MOC's are divided up relative to population. You got more MOC's in DFW than we do out here in the hinterlands. If it is USNA you are talking about, then coastal areas with a large naval presence are naturally more competitive. Even more so than DFW. All SA's have more applicants/interest coming from military areas, of which DFW is not the strongest by a long shot.
???? Re-read my post and starting a flame war here is inappropriate, at best. I was referring to how many congressional slates are open vs people not applying in many rural districts b/c of the very reasons you state; less military presence. Any issues you may have with this fact ought to be taken up with the ALO's, MALO's and B&G officers that pointed this out to me!
I made no reference to smaller class quality of applicants but simply the statistical fact that it's harder to compete in schools with 3000+ students of drastically varying resources. In the metro you have kids from private academies and public schools all competing for the same few MOC Nom slates.
There are more stories of students moving around in the metroplex just to gain higher class rank or just across the town to get into another MOC's district to be more competitive. Those kind of issues are much less likely in rural areas b/c it's a lot harder to move to other districts out there b/c they are larger geographically. Within 5 miles we have 3 congressional districts.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=TX
There's probably 1.5M plus population on Tarrant county side alone. Most of that is our district.
No reason to be defensive about anything. If you read ANY of my posts I am more than proud of all the candidates I've met. All the candidates have to meet high criteria to gain appointment; however, there is more emphasis in metro schools for class rank, G.P.A., etc. b/c a lot of these students have the resources to apply for private ivy league universities where that is the primary criteria. The academies have wider criteria that helps candidates present a more comprehensive assessment of their qualifications.
Having said all this I'm sure the bottom end of the metro schools are larger, they have thousands of students. This isn't a city slicker vs country bunkin' comparison. The original question was whether it was very competitive here in Texas for USNA? Short answer from the size of the information seminars, and we went to them all! Yes! However, there were times when we were 1 of 2 families and other times we were 1 of hundreds so I really don't need to validate my information more than that to say we've witnessed these things first hand.
At any rate...please don't take offense to comments made here. These young people are all impressive to me and I genuinely am proud of them all.
Again my advice is simple...
Go for it! In the end you are competing with yourself, first and foremost. We've seen it all when it comes to this adventure from candidates getting nominations they didn't even ask for and LOA's to candidates who are not competitive academically at all and even appointments to candidates who stayed at the academy 1 day before leaving b/c they had no idea what a military academy was like. Everyone's journey is slightly different and that's what it makes even more special.
From my understanding the academies try to offset greater interest from coastal areas with higher acceptance rates from the rest of the country. The AFA hardly accepted anyone from our area for Summer Seminar despite an incredible number of applicants from here b/c of this same reason. They try to get a broader representation at the academies.
Bottom line....apply, apply, apply for everything. You never know what you're going to get unless you do. Do your best and you won't have any regrets. Give your MOC's every opportunity to give you something even if it's not your first choice. That's what our DS did and he couldn't be happier with the results.