USNA Nominations Slating Questions

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FEARTHEGOAT2020

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So this year my congressman has 2 slots open for USNA. This is awesome news especially knowing that he has fewer than 20 students that even applied for nominations. The last I heard there were 14 students that applied for a nomination, but not all that applied received a nomination. My question is, with the two slots and him not able to fill both slots entirely how will he slate? Will it be one slate of 14? 2 of 7? one of 10 and one of 4? if anyone has insight into how the nomination slating process works my parents and I both are fairly curious as to how they will go about this.

Can they have a slate of 14, with the two slots or is it still limited to slates of 10?

Thanks for your time and thanks to everyone for asking and answering great questions, I have learned so much from you all. Let me know if my questions are unclear and I can attempt to clarify them.
 
MOC can have up to 5 attending at a time. For each opening MOC can nominate UP TO ten. Technically, MOC does not even have to submit a slate. Therefore, MOC could just submit one slate with up to ten and hold the other slot until next year. Once the MOC submits one or two slates with 1 to 10 NOMS each, the academy will pick and charge one appointment per slate (assumes someone is 3Q). The others on each slate (up to 9) go into the fish bowl to compete nationally. I believe around 150 get selected from the fish bowl (my term)

http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Step...US-Senators-Representatives-and-Delegates.php
 
Each slate can have a maximum of 10 and how the MOC decides to split it up depends on their preference. Each slate can also be a submitted in a different method (i.e. one competitive and other principal, both competitive).

Edit: exactly what Craig said...if they choose not to use the open vacancy, then there would be only one slate.
 
There is a difference between an MOC nominating ten for each slot, as compared to nominating twenty for the two slots. My son is one of twenty kids nominated for two open USMA senator slots. I thought that meant he could be selected by USMA to fill either of that senator's open slots. Does anyone believe that a nomination is specific to a particular slot? I did not think ifca MOC has two open, that they designate ten for slot A, and ten for slot B, and thus my son should hope he gets lucky and was given a nomination for the skit that has the weakest candidates.
 
How do you know if your MOC has a open slot or how many he or she has attending a SA currently? Is this information available? Thank you in advance.
 
You can ask your MOC how slots they will be nominating for. Typically, they don't treat that information as something secret.
 
brovol said:
There is a difference between an MOC nominating ten for each slot, as compared to nominating twenty for the two slots. My son is one of twenty kids nominated for two open USMA senator slots. I thought that meant he could be selected by USMA to fill either of that senator's open slots. Does anyone believe that a nomination is specific to a particular slot? I did not think ifca MOC has two open, that they designate ten for slot A, and ten for slot B, and thus my son should hope he gets lucky and was given a nomination for the skit that has the weakest candidates.
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A nomination is specific to a slate (slot). Yes, they nominate up to 10 per slate. Yes, it may help if you are strongest candidate on slate. GA does a good job coordinating candidates on their slates. They try not to duplicate names. By doing that, they can maximize the number of appointments from the State. This past year 70+ kids had appointments to USMA if I recall correctly. Remember, once the academy picks the one to be charged to the slate, the other 9 (up to 9 per slate) go into the fish bowl to compete nationally.
 
Year2020 said:
How do you know if your MOC has a open slot or how many he or she has attending a SA currently? Is this information available? Thank you in advance.
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In our case the senator did a news release publishing the names of each candidate she gave a nomination to. The list had ten nominated to usafa, and twenty each to USMA, and USNA.

If the nominations were slot specific then theoretically an MOC could give two nominations (one for each open slot) to the same candidate.
 
Craig said:
A nomination is specific to a slate (slot). Yes, they nominate up to 10 per slate. Yes, it may help if you are strongest candidate on slate. GA does a good job coordinating candidates on their slates. They try not to duplicate names. By doing that, they can maximize the number of appointments from the State. This past year 70+ kids had appointments to USMA if I recall correctly. Remember, once the academy picks the one to be charged to the slate, the other 9 (up to 9 per slate) go into the fish bowl to compete nationally.
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Craig, Sir question? If a candidate has the best WCS out of the ten on a slate he or she will be selected by SA? If fully qualified of course?
 
Year2020 said:
Craig, Sir question? If a candidate has the best WCS out of the ten on a slate he or she will be selected by SA? If fully qualified of course?
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Someone more knowledgeable than me can answer, but I do not believe that is true. The academies can put who they want if it is a competitive slate of nominees. On the other hand, I thought that the National Waiting List is based on wcs. Someone will I am sure correct this if inaccurate, and I won't argue. Lol.
 
Year2020 said:
Craig, Sir question? If a candidate has the best WCS out of the ten on a slate he or she will be selected by SA? If fully qualified of course?
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The following is my personal opinion since I don't sit on the selection committee. The committees are tasked with selecting the best candidates while meeting certain objectives. I would suspect this is true with most schools. The military strives to have their officer corps representative of their enlisted corps. Maybe sometimes they take someone with a WCS that is lower to achieve this objective. I would also argue that a lower WCS doesn't mean you are less qualified or you will be less of an officer. WCS is a way to apply some form of comparison/standard. I would suspect there is a certain minimum WCS they will accept. Not sure how much, if any, subjectivity can be applied to WCS. In the end, the goal of admissions is to select candidates that can be successful in completing the program and ensure a top quality supply of officers to the fleet. One thing I always thought was special about the academies was their diversity (geographical, ethnic, income, etc.). SA's have candidates from every corner of America. You will find this diversity will enrich your educational experience by opening your mind to other life experiences and beliefs. I believe it is why our military is one of the most adaptive and responsive in the world.

So think big picture. Each year, the SA has a certain number of appointments to fill. They do this through Congressional, Presidential, Sec Navy, etc. Candidates with multiple nominations give the SA flexibility in how they slot appointments. The SA will pick a candidate from slate (assuming one is qualified) and "charge" that account. The others on the slate (up to nine) get thrown into the "fish bowl (my term)" where they compete nationally with all the other "leftovers" from around the country. If you think about that and remember what I said above about GA it will start to click. Theoretically, you could have 20 receive appointments in a state just from the two Senators' slates (two that get charged direct to the Senators and 18 that get SECNAV (fish bowl)). When my DD went through the application process, she had two nominations (Senator and Congressman). On both slates were individuals with LOA's (that will make one nervous). While she had extremely high stats, she did not have an LOA. Having an LOA may not mean you have a higher WCS either. To this day, we do not know how she was appointed (charged). She received her appointment early December. My DS had two nominations (Senator and Congressman) and no LOA. He did not go to summer seminar. He received his appointment in March. I throw this out because many get caught up having an LOA's and/or having attended summer seminar. There are many more factors than LOA and SS attendance.

All this is a long winded and a rambling way to answer your question. I've seen stats in the past that would indicated once you are triple qualified and have a NOM, your odds are generally 50-50. If your WCS is strong you likely will prevail in the end. How you prevail is affected by many factors and circumstances. It is not always clean cut. Each State has its own personality. How the candidates are nominated (competitive, principle) and when slates are submitted can vary. All impact timelines. So be patience and good luck. Continue to work all avenues for commissioning (NROTC) because strange things can happen.
 
It's about 45% for those fully qualified (3Q + mom) to receive an appointment.
 
Craig said:
The following is my personal opinion since I don't sit on the selection committee. The committees are tasked with selecting the best candidates while meeting certain objectives. I would suspect this is true with most schools. The military strives to have their officer corps representative of their enlisted corps. Maybe sometimes they take someone with a WCS that is lower to achieve this objective. I would also argue that a lower WCS doesn't mean you are less qualified or you will be less of an officer. WCS is a way to apply some form of comparison/standard. I would suspect there is a certain minimum WCS they will accept. Not sure how much, if any, subjectivity can be applied to WCS. In the end, the goal of admissions is to select candidates that can be successful in completing the program and ensure a top quality supply of officers to the fleet. One thing I always thought was special about the academies was their diversity (geographical, ethnic, income, etc.). SA's have candidates from every corner of America. You will find this diversity will enrich your educational experience by opening your mind to other life experiences and beliefs. I believe it is why our military is one of the most adaptive and responsive in the world.

So think big picture. Each year, the SA has a certain number of appointments to fill. They do this through Congressional, Presidential, Sec Navy, etc. Candidates with multiple nominations give the SA flexibility in how they slot appointments. The SA will pick a candidate from slate (assuming one is qualified) and "charge" that account. The others on the slate (up to nine) get thrown into the "fish bowl (my term)" where they compete nationally with all the other "leftovers" from around the country. If you think about that and remember what I said above about GA it will start to click. Theoretically, you could have 20 receive appointments in a state just from the two Senators' slates (two that get charged direct to the Senators and 18 that get SECNAV (fish bowl)). When my DD went through the application process, she had two nominations (Senator and Congressman). On both slates were individuals with LOA's (that will make one nervous). While she had extremely high stats, she did not have an LOA. Having an LOA may not mean you have a higher WCS either. To this day, we do not know how she was appointed (charged). She received her appointment early December. My DS had two nominations (Senator and Congressman) and no LOA. He did not go to summer seminar. He received his appointment in March. I throw this out because many get caught up having an LOA's and/or having attended summer seminar. There are many more factors than LOA and SS attendance.

All this is a long winded and a rambling way to answer your question. I've seen stats in the past that would indicated once you are triple qualified and have a NOM, your odds are generally 50-50. If your WCS is strong you likely will prevail in the end. How you prevail is affected by many factors and circumstances. It is not always clean cut. Each State has its own personality. How the candidates are nominated (competitive, principle) and when slates are submitted can vary. All impact timelines. So be patience and good luck. Continue to work all avenues for commissioning (NROTC) because strange things can happen.
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Thank you Craig for the detailed answer. I "fit" right into your explanation on every level except the LOA. I have a plan B and C and D. Patients too. I will sit back and enjoy the ride. Thanks again!
 
Capt MJ said:
I love the typos that make quirky sense. I wonder if the percentage is the same for a "3Q+ dad." This is posted with gentle enjoyment, no intent of meanness. Usnabgo08 posts always add worthwhile content.
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The percent did vary based on sex, etc. Last time I looked at stats was 4 years ago. I hate spellcheck. Did a text two weeks ago without my glasses. It was quite funny reading it later with them on.
 
The classes prior to the Class of 2010 (ballpark estimate right now) had about 2500 (give or take) fully qualified candidates for about 1500 offers, which is 60%. What is happening now is there are more fully qualified candidates (as a result of more scholastic qualifications) and a smaller number of offerings. Thus, the % of receiving an appointment, given that a candidate is fully qualified, is lower than the past.

As with my class, being fully qualified was very significant because the appointment % was high...however, with today's classes, it is still a significant hurdle, but deflated % (as a result of the Admissions Board finding more candidates scholastically qualified). In no way am I trying to compare apples to oranges, but the fact is that if the AB hands out more Qs, that affects the stats.
 
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