Principal Nomination?

Delia90504

5-Year Member
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What is a principal nomination and why would someone receive one? If the academy rejected someone with a principal nom, would this open up slots for other potential candidates in the same district?

Mom of a USNA 2015 Candidate
 
Principal nomination is one of the options available for the MOC to use in making their nominations for available slots charged to them. If the MOC chooses to make a principal nomination they have the option of ranking the remaining nine spots of the ten they are allowed or they can make nine unranked noms. If the principal is qualified, that candidate must be offered the appointment, if not qualified and the remainder of the slate is ranked, the SA is required to go down the list. If the remainder of the slate is unranked the SA can offer the appointment to the candidate they deem most qualified. From reading this forum and other sources, principal nominations are not used by the majority of MOC's. Most submit a competitive slate, where the SA is allowed to rack and stack and choose which candidate to make the offer to. I think that I have read somewhere that maybe close to a third of the MOC's use the principal option.
 
Delia, the answer to your question is yes, if the potential candidate you refer to has received a nomination from that MOC.
 
Thank you for the information. I guess the unknown variables may likely be contained in the qualification measures.
 
...If the academy rejected someone with a principal nom, would this open up slots for other potential candidates in the same district?
1. The precise answer is "maybe." No matter how the remaining nominees may be ranked, none would be considered absent of being 3Qed.

2. USNA mythology or legend frequently portray MOCs as pervasively submitting unranked slates. I've never seen any evidence to support this beyond what some might suggest is conventional information. And in any case, it would change every 2 years, with the transition of MOCs.

In any case, that information, even if it's vaguely accurate, which we don't know, is of no real value to any individual. All that matters is what each candidate's MOC and/or Senator have done.
 
2. USNA mythology or legend frequently portray MOCs as pervasively submitting unranked slates. I've never seen any evidence to support this beyond what some might suggest is conventional information. And in any case, it would change every 2 years, with the transition of MOCs.

I could never figure out how anybody could KNOW that most MOCs do not rank their nominees unless that information came directly from the academy's Admission Board.

Yet, it has been repeated so many times, it's probably true.

Also, if you think about it, it is the most politically neutral position a politician can take. Doing it any other way is fraught with potential political problems. If the MOC submits a slate of 10, unranked nominees - whoever did not gain an appointment has only the academy to blame - not the MOC. Oftentimes, children of influential, community leaders apply to the service academies. The MOC may feel pressure to nominate that candidate even if they are not as competitive as others. But if that nominee is not appointed, the MOC can say, "Don't blame me! I did my job. I nominated him/her."
 
Memphis, we're in total agreement on this. Your logic makes political sense. Still, my original contention and your concurrence ... it's all speculation unless someones willing to tell, tell.

Until then, it's part of the myth.

Conversely, it's a part of the myth that makes no diff anyway.
 
I'm not sure any SA can provide an answer that is good for more than 2 cycles . . . and even then.

What do I mean? This year, the 535+ MOCs can do it a certain way -- principal/ranked/unranked. Next year, any of them can change his/her approach. Any time an MOC changes, things can change -- or not. And, MOCscould take different approaches for each SA.

My guess is that the numbers/percentages that a SA Admissions office gives out is the info it has for the past year or so. It may or may not remain accurate as time passes, but that's not the SA's "fault."

At the end of the day, it's something a candidate can't control.
 
...My guess is that the numbers/percentages that a SA Admissions office gives out is the info it has for the past year or so. ...

So '85 ... you're a BGO. Have you EVER been told precisely by your USNA admissions officers what numbers/%s are ranked (1-10), ranked (1, then unranked), unranked?

If so when and what were the numbers.:confused:
 
So '85 ... you're a BGO. Have you EVER been told precisely by your USNA admissions officers what numbers/%s are ranked (1-10), ranked (1, then unranked), unranked?

If so when and what were the numbers.:confused:

No.

However, I don't attend every BGO summer training nor have I attended any of the HUB training sessions, of which there are many each year. Nor do I have any information on what USAFA or USMA or USMMA may be putting out to their equivalent of BGOs. While I don't believe the information is affirmatively presented, it could well be provided in response to a question from a BGO during Q&A.

My point is that there could be some information provided at some point by some source and that information would probably be accurate as of the year it was provided.

I'm not sure that BGOs really care about this information -- nor that USNA would provide it to us in the normal course -- as we aren't intimately involved in the noms process. It may be interesting, but that's about it.

And finally, it really doesn't matter what the percentages are. A candidate is bound by whatever process his/her MOCs use. The fact that 99% of the MOCs use a different process than yours doesn't change that fact. Thus, I don't see why it matters what the overall percentages are.:confused:
 
1. The precise answer is "maybe." No matter how the remaining nominees may be ranked, none would be considered absent of being 3Qed.

I'm wondering if a candidate can be qualified in the three areas, have a principal nomination yet still be rejected? Does a candidate that is minimally qualified stand less of a chance than a candidate that is maximally qualified? The only qualification area that seems to be black and white is the medical portion.:confused:

I will say this for sure...this selection process for my DS has been more riveting, with twists, turns, heart stopping action and suspense, than any movie, book or story I've ever heard of or seen.:shake:
 
At the end of the day, it's something a candidate can't control.

Although it may be true that a candidate cannot control it - it is still useful information. Knowing that your MOC has decided to rank the nominees, and you are #8 out of 10 should tell you that your energies could be better directed toward "Plan B".

Because "Plan B" just got promoted to "Plan A".
 
True. What I meant is that there is no use in knowing the overall percentages of principal, ranked and competitive slates in the country.

It can help to know what your MOC does, although not all will reveal their approach.
 
There is a simple answer to this debate. Ask your MOC's office what system is used in compiling his/her slate of nominees. My experience is that most of them have no problem responding to that question - and why should they? It is the MOC's decision to make. As 1985 stated, the only ones that matter to to a candidate are those of the MOCs to which he/she has applied. The rest are patently superfluous.
 
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