Hows this process work?

U

usna.hopeful19

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Oct 22, 2014
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Hello,

I just got off the phone with my BGO and he said I should be receiving an loa to usna in the mail shortly. I was wondering if for nominations, I would count towards my MOC's slate? My senators/congressman only have 1 vacancy each but I know there are about 4 LOAs in my district alone this year. Does a nomination for an LOA recipient count as a vacancy? To me the numbers dont seem to work out if there are about 20-30 LOAs per state (estimate) but only 30 nominations overall usually.


EDIT: I saw somewhere that as long as you are not the principal nom, it should not count as a vacancy?
 
I think you are jumbling LOA's and NOM's......these are 2 separate things issued independently. LOA's are issues by USNA to promising candidates they want to encourage to continue the process so as not to lose them to other civilian colleges due to USNA's longer application timeline. USNA has never publically indicated how many LOA's they issue each year, so I have no idea where you got that figure.

NOM's are issued by your MOC. Where a NOM gets issued can be different from where it is eventually charged by USNA. There are several prior threads that discuss that aspect in more detail and it isn't something a candidate needs to worry about.

Most LOA's have wording that indicate you are guaranteed of an appointment IF you complete the other application requirements AND get a NOM.
 
I am afraid you are operating off of wrong assumptions, bad information, and lack of knowledge of things way beyond your control. That's not your fault because many people want to know how the system works but it is far more complex than counting up noms and vacancies (as you call them) in a class. To skip to the chase, you cannot predict what nomination source gets "charged" your appointment simply because all that is done AFTER I-day at the Academy. They want to see who really shows up. Then the paper shuffling is done to tidy up who got what from whom. That is why every candidate is highly advised to get all the nominations from all possible sources----it gives the Academy more wiggle room as to who to "charge" your appointment to.

That figure of 20-30 LOAs per state is pure fantasy. The Admissions Board is the only entity to know the number of LOAs and it really does not affect you. You have got one----thank your lucky stars and now apply for as many nominations as you can.
 
usna.hopeful19 said:
I just got off the phone with my BGO and he said I should be receiving an loa to usna in the mail shortly. I was wondering if for nominations, I would count towards my MOC's slate? My senators/congressman only have 1 vacancy each but I know there are about 4 LOAs in my district alone this year. Does a nomination for an LOA recipient count as a vacancy? To me the numbers dont seem to work out if there are about 20-30 LOAs per state (estimate) but only 30 nominations overall usually.


EDIT: I saw somewhere that as long as you are not the principal nom, it should not count as a vacancy?
Click to expand...

First, congrats on your LOA. Second, an LOA is contingent on YOU securing a nom. While some MOCs are favorably disposed to giving a nom (one of their 10 slots) to an LOA recipient, there is no guarantee of this.

If you receive a nom, yes, you count against the 10 people your MOC can nominate to fill his/her vacancy. If you are appointed, you may or may not be "slotted against" that MOC; that's a technical question that is beyond your control and has no effect on your appointment.

There are not 20-30 LOAs per state. Some districts/states with a lot of qualified candidates may indeed have that many. Other states will be luck to have 20 applicants -- let alone qualified applicants or LOA recipients.

The bottom line is that, if you are medically and CFA qualified and secure a nom (and don't get into legal/drug/alcohol trouble), you will receive an appointment. So do your very best to secure a nom.
 
BGO and LOA

usna.hopeful19 said:
Hello,

I just got off the phone with my BGO and he said I should be receiving an loa to usna in the mail shortly. I was wondering if for nominations, I would count towards my MOC's slate? My senators/congressman only have 1 vacancy each but I know there are about 4 LOAs in my district alone this year. Does a nomination for an LOA recipient count as a vacancy? To me the numbers dont seem to work out if there are about 20-30 LOAs per state (estimate) but only 30 nominations overall usually.


EDIT: I saw somewhere that as long as you are not the principal nom, it should not count as a vacancy?
Click to expand...

I'm curious to know if it is common for a candidate's BGO to know that a candidate will be receiving a LOA or the status of a candidate's application once submitted. We've been told they do not know and even if they did, they would not tell us.

IF they do know, why is it improper for them to tell the candidate-our DS would love to know if he's "competitive" or not earlier rather than later as he's now focused on his other applications and scholarship apps.

1985, can you shed some light on this.
Thanks
Dad of
USNA 2019 hopeful, USAFA 2019 hopeful, AF/NROTC 2019 hopeful
 
IF they do know, why is it improper for them to tell the candidate-our DS would love to know if he's "competitive" or not earlier rather than later as he's now focused on his other applications and scholarship apps.
Click to expand...

USNA Admission's policy is that BGOs cannot tell candidate their scholastic qualification or offer of appointment status. Your son/daughter is more than welcome to give Admissions a call, but they normally do not give out that information.
 
usnabgo08 said:
USNA Admission's policy is that BGOs cannot tell candidate their scholastic qualification or offer of appointment status. Your son/daughter is more than welcome to give Admissions a call, but they normally do not give out that information.
Click to expand...

How then do people know they are 3Qd? (Understand that I am not challenging your assertion, just trying to understand how some people come by that knowledge.) If USNA normally does not give out information regarding scholastic qualification, and your BGO may or may not tell you if you passed the CFA, isn't the only part of 3Q one can know with certainty the DoDMERB part?
 
usnabgo08 said:
USNA Admission's policy is that BGOs cannot tell candidate their scholastic qualification or offer of appointment status. Your son/daughter is more than welcome to give Admissions a call, but they normally do not give out that information.
Click to expand...

Thank you,
Seems that some BGO's are willing to let candidates know their status while ours is not and we respect that fact.

We'll know this academic year for sure so we wait.
 
If BGOs are giving scholastic and appointment information out then they are not following USNA Admission's policy. There will always be some who don't follow policy.
 
from my understanding, some who say they are 3Q probably had to go through the wavier process and been granted their wavier. Again, my understanding is that the USNA will only seek a wavier for those that have been deemed qualified academically and physically which if this is the case, once a wavier has been granted makes the candidate 3Q...correct?
 
MammaMia said:
How then do people know they are 3Qd? (Understand that I am not challenging your assertion, just trying to understand how some people come by that knowledge.) If USNA normally does not give out information regarding scholastic qualification, and your BGO may or may not tell you if you passed the CFA, isn't the only part of 3Q one can know with certainty the DoDMERB part?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, it is only Board qualification that we are asked not to discuss with candidates. I am not aware of any issue discussing the CFA (we only know whether a candidate passed, not achievement in each element), and as you point out, you already know the outcome of the DODMERB examination.

In general, I simply advise my candidates to develop the best overall, whole-person profile that they can possibly achieve, and continue to work on improvements (e.g., retake SATs, excel in STEM). While waiting is uncomfortable, you have to let the process unfold.
 
BGOs are permitted to tell candidates their CFA status. However, we do NOT see the actual scores, so we only know if the candidate passed/failed. This info is also available from the RD.

We are NOT permitted to provide Admissions Board status -- basically, because status can change and we are not an "official" source. Some BGOs do give out this info (in violation of the policy) but those who do make it more and more likely that the information won't be provided in the future, so not too smart.

I typically do NOT provide LOA status. I would hate to tell a candidate an LOA was on the way and then have something change. I let them tell me.:smile:

As for appointment status -- typically we are notified long after the candidate is notified, so it's never been an issue. Again, however, I wait for the candidate to let me know.
 
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Thanks for the information. We are in "wait and see" mode - everything done but the noms. (Also in "applying to plans B and C mode"!)
 
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