Nomination Error?

T

TheUnderdog

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
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I applied for a nomination from my congressman for West Point. I was told that I received a nom for the Air Force Academy, I mentioned to the interview panel that I only applied for West Point and made sure they knew that. My congressman told me today that I needed to open up a file to the AFA immediately so I can get the nomination. I went to open up a file for the AFA and the portal says that the online application has been closed since December 31st. I’m at a loss for word right now and I have no idea what to do. West Point has been my number one and I have no idea about the AFA Someone please give me some advice because my mind is racing right now.

Thank You,
TheUnderdog
 
Have you contacted your FFR or MALO? That seems to be the first person to ask.
 
First thing, are you okay with attending AFA? The answer should be yes as in my 7 plus years being an West Point admissions office volunteer, I only heard a handful of good answers why an applicant is only applying to only one SA, not all SAs. There are difference between services, but your desire to attend a SA should be based on desire to serve and become a military officer. So if someone tells me I can only serve the country by attending West Point and not Air Force Academy, it's very hard for me to believe.

However, I still do respect whatever decision an applicant makes.

So you are willing to apply to AFA, you need to contact the admissions office and hope for the best. In reality, if you have a nomination and completed your application for West Point, completing your application to AFA shouldn't be hard. SAT/ACT scores have to be sent officially, sometimes West Point will accept unofficial copy (I don't know about AFA). Your medical and CFA can be transferred. Eassys, replace West Point with AFA and adjust, your activities and teacher's evaluations, do it again.

As for why you got a nomination to AFA and West Point, if could have been a mistake so confirm with your Congressman. More likely the reason is you didn't make the cut for West Point nomination. But he might had extra nominations to AFA, so he gave it to you as a consolation prize.
 
I have no problem attending the AFA. I have contacted my FFR and RC to see what their opinions are. I am awaiting a reply from my congressman's office to confirm that the nomination is correct
 
TheUnderdog said:
I have no problem attending the AFA. I have contacted my FFR and RC to see what their opinions are. I am awaiting a reply from my congressman's office to confirm that the nomination is correct
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My cadet only applied to West Point. He won an AROTC scholarship to 2 state universities and that was his backup plan. He only wanted to serve in the Army.
 
Call their admissions office for sure. Find "Steve" ALO on this forum under Airforce Academy and ask for help. He is EXTREMELY helpful and would be able to give you some direction I would think.

Good luck...funny, at our MOC interview for our DS this weekend out of 22 there probably 3/4ths were there for AFA! Too many were there asking for it as their single choice which makes me cringe a little, too. It's their choice but if I was on the board that would not be what I'd want to hear. All or nothing.

Anyway, good luck and can't he NOM you for the USMA anyway? Did he already make a Principal Nom for West Point?
 
They did not have anymore Noms for West Point. I called the AFA's Admissions and told them my situation and they said that they could not make any exceptions. I still really dont know what to do at this point.
 
chiromed0 :Good luck...funny, at our MOC interview for our DS this weekend out of 22 there probably 3/4ths were there for AFA! Too many were there asking for it as their single choice which makes me cringe a little, too. It's their choice but if I was on the board that would not be what I'd want to hear. All or nothing.

I agree with you Chiromed0, but with all the discussion about some MOC's not giving out nominations to some candidates because they have already received one, it sometimes makes sense. My DS applied to both USNA & USMA last year. One MOC representative mentioned that it would be very difficult for them to give him nominations to both academies - their reasoning being is that they wanted to give as many applicants as possible nominations. By selecting one SA, it allowed that MOC the ability to still give out the additional nominations to other candidates - in other words "spreading the wealth". Maybe not the right way to go about it, but in my sons case he was able to obtain 3 noms because he chose WP as his SA of choice!
 
TheUnderdog-
Did you apply for noms from your Senators? And the VP?
If so, then you still may receive a nom from one of them for USMA.
 
TheUnderdog said:
They did not have anymore Noms for West Point. I called the AFA's Admissions and told them my situation and they said that they could not make any exceptions. I still really dont know what to do at this point.
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I am not sure there is anything you can do. The deadlines are firm. I would let your congressman know the situation but you are probably at the end of the trail. Sorry.
 
Vonfritz, I am just trying to get further clarification to your post above.

Using this years numbers in my congressional District as an example (nad I know they change from year to year)
5 requested USAFA nominations
7 requested USNA nominations
and 20 requested USMA nominations

So in your line of reasoning (... that sounds sarcastic and it is not meant to -this is a real question not rhetorical)

So in your line of reasoning it would be best to ONLY request a nom to USMA if that is the first choice because if noms are requested to USAFA and USNA as well, the MOC is more likely to give the USAFA or USNA noms and save the USMA noms for people who ONLY want USMA-especially since so many wanted USMA?
 
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buff81 said:
TheUnderdog-
Did you apply for noms from your Senators? And the VP?
If so, then you still may receive a nom from one of them for USMA.
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I did not receive nomations from the Senators, and have not heard anything back from the VP yet.
 
Unfortunately, the states very close to each SA get more requests for those academies. This appears to be the case. They had extra slots at AFA, so offered you one. So sorry.
 
TheUnderdog said:
I did not receive nomations from the Senators, and have not heard anything back from the VP yet.
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So it sounds like you did apply for all the noms you could. Although it doesn't look hopeful, since you haven't heard from the VP perhaps you're not at the end of the road yet. Maybe we're all just picking up on the vibe of gloom?
 
2Steaktacos,
All I meant by the post was that in some situations it can be easier to obtain multiple nominations if you choose 1 SA. That was the case for my son. While he initially applied to 2 SA's - West Point was his first choice! Looking at USMA, USNA & USAFA, each MOC has the capability to award 10 nominations to each academy. Theoretically, they could award 30 nominations. There are many applicants who apply for a nomination to each SA - nothing wrong with that! From what I have heard, many MOC's want to give as many applicants a chance for appointment by awarding them a nomination. Again, in my sons case, by specifying West Point as his only choice he was able to obtain nominations from each MOC - and it still allowed the MOC to give additional applicants nominations to the other SA's.
 
TheUnderdog said:
I did not receive nomations from the Senators, and have not heard anything back from the VP yet.
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Tough situation. So sorry. If you were my candidate, I would tell you to contact the Reps office again and tell them that the USAFA app deadline has passed. Just see what they say. They may not can do anything, but you will never know if you don't ask.

Other things to consider-
- as stated above, there is always the VP but realize that there is only one (maybe 2) VP noms to be awarded.
- Next decide it you would be perfectly happy going the AROTC route or is WP really your dream. If you really want WP - go to college for a year and apply next year. Enroll in AROTC. Take classes that mimic WP Plebe year. You will have to apply again for a nom, but possibly with a successful semester of college under you belt, you might be in a better place for a nom. And if you are in AROTC you will be eligible for the AROTC nom.
Good luck :thumb:
 
Simple but hard fact. You need not make the cut in your District for WP but the competition for the AFA in that District was not as competitive.
To answer other posts - my son who in the Class of 2015 finishing his Plebe year did not apply to the other Academies. To many people the three Academies are not equal. It is very conceivable that a person wants the Army, Navy or Air Force and does not want the others. My son was determined to be a leader and he felt that the type of leadership in an Army platoon was more to his liking than the leadership in the AF or Navy
 
VonFritz said:
2Steaktacos,
All I meant by the post was that in some situations it can be easier to obtain multiple nominations if you choose 1 SA. That was the case for my son. While he initially applied to 2 SA's - West Point was his first choice! Looking at USMA, USNA & USAFA, each MOC has the capability to award 10 nominations to each academy. Theoretically, they could award 30 nominations. There are many applicants who apply for a nomination to each SA - nothing wrong with that! From what I have heard, many MOC's want to give as many applicants a chance for appointment by awarding them a nomination. Again, in my sons case, by specifying West Point as his only choice he was able to obtain nominations from each MOC - and it still allowed the MOC to give additional applicants nominations to the other SA's.
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This is a dilemma that occurs every year for many candidates - how to request noms if interested in more than one SA.
Do you put as your #1, different SAs for each MOC or do you put a single SA as your #1 across the board.

I've been to my fair share of Field Force Conferences, Academy Days and AIMs and this question has come up many times.
The clear and consistent advise from WP is: make a choice. Choose your #1 academy and go all in by putting it as your first choice with each MOC.

I'm sure there will be those who don't agree with this and have stories where they hedged their bets and put different SAs as their #1 for different MOCs and it worked out for them. But we also heard stories where candidates split their #1's and ended up with no nom to any academy and therefore no hope for an appointment. The thought is that it is just too risky to split your #1s.
 
I think this candidate has a different situation. They sound like they would have applied but didn't know to apply. It's truly screwed up.

In our case, although I can't imagine it is different for other areas, our DS was told by everyone to apply to everything and everywhere. This includes the admissions rep from AFA, ALO's, B&G officer, MALO's, alumni and the MOC's office. So he did. So far AROTC 4yr scholarship, LOA from USMMA, 2 Nom's to USMA and he is still waiting on NROTC, USNA, AFA to respond. Doesn't mean he will get an appointment but at least he's got some offers on the table. Point being there is some wisdom in applying for everything you can get your hands on. More options, more chances to make better choices.

Good luck with this and I'm sorry for your dilemma.
 
chiromed0 said:
I think this candidate has a different situation. They sound like they would have applied but didn't know to apply. It's truly screwed up.
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Lost you me here.
Are you referring to the OP? My last post was not addressing the OP's situation but rather relaying West Point guidance to the subject in the conversation between VonFritz and 2Steaktacos.

chiromed0 said:
In our case, although I can't imagine it is different for other areas, our DS was told by everyone to apply to everything and everywhere. This includes the admissions rep from AFA, ALO's, B&G officer, MALO's, alumni and the MOC's office. So he did. So far AROTC 4yr scholarship, LOA from USMMA, 2 Nom's to USMA and he is still waiting on NROTC, USNA, AFA to respond. Doesn't mean he will get an appointment but at least he's got some offers on the table. Point being there is some wisdom in applying for everything you can get your hands on. More options, more chances to make better choices.

Good luck with this and I'm sorry for your dilemma.
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That's fine if the candidate is happy with going to more than one of the Academies, but what if the candidate doesn't want everything or everywhere.
Some want only one academy or ROTC program. Some would be happy attending more than one of the academies or ROTC programs.
 
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