DD is applying to AF, WP, and Naval Academy. The two senators require you to only list your first choice. The congressional moc has the applicant rank them in order of preference.
DD would be thrilled to gain acceptance to any of the three. She is undecided on a career path but knows she wants to serve. If pushed, she would probably admit that WP is a slight favorite.
What is the best way to approach this? She was thinking about putting Navy on one senator app, AF on the other and ranking WP as her top on the congressional MOC. The senators apparently compare slates to avoid duplication.
This is a tricky question and one that faces many candidates. Here's my view based on many years of seeing candidates go thru this issue . . .
If your DD would be TRULY HAPPY at more than one SA, then it makes sense to "split" her preferences on MOC applications. IOW, if she gets a nom to (for example) AF, she will jump up and down and not say, "OK, but I'm really hoping for WP."
If she has a preference, she should put that first (or only) on all applications. The reason is that, several times over the years -- including last year -- I've had a candidate come to me with the following scenario:
"I put WP first on my Senator applications and Navy first on my Rep application and I got 2 noms to WP and none to Navy. What do I do?"
And I say, "Go to WP." Seriously. Remember, MOCs are about making constituents happy. If you put X SA first on your application, the MOC's committee will (obviously) assume that it was your first choice. So do I. When they give the nom to your "first choice" SA to you, they assume you're thrilled. When you then "pout" that you didn't get a nom to some other SA, everyone raises their eyebrows.
My personal opinion is that some candidates try to game the system and end up with noms to more than one SA -- either b/c they want to have more time to make their choice or b/c they want to be able to tell everyone "they"could choose among more than one SA. Not saying everyone has these reasons but they are common.
In the end, you have to choose eventually. Choose now. Give yourself the best chance to get into the SA of your dreams. If you TRULY have more than one SA in your dreams, then you're in a great position.
Three other notes. The above applies only to candidates who are in competitive states/districts -- some candidates can easily get noms to multiple SAs b/c there aren't a lot of people where they live who want to attend a SA. Second, you can always get this question in person from an MOC committee verbally during an interview -- i.e., "I see you put WP first (or only) but would you accept a nom to Navy?" Be prepared for that. Third, don't forget about USCGA, which doesn't require noms at all!