2 nominations

My son got a nomination from both his senator and congressman. Since he only needed one to receive the appointment, does that mean that he's preventing another student from receiving a nomination?

Kangaroo said:

My son got a nomination from both his senator and congressman. Since he only needed one to receive the appointment, does that mean that he's preventing another student from receiving a nomination?

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Yes, but it also improves your son's chances of appointment by being on two slates rather than one.

Since he only needed one to receive the appointment, does that mean that he's preventing another student from receiving a nomination?

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Not necessarily. In some states and districts, there may not be a sufficient number of qualified applicants to fill a single slate. Thus, multiple MOCs may list the exact same candidates. Take, for example, North Dakota. There are 3 MOCs, which means at least 30 slots in a year (and possibly more if one of the MOCs has 2 noms that year). In some years, there may not be 30 qualified candidates in the state who want to attend a particular SA. Thus, two or even all three MOCs may list some or all of the same candidate(s) on their slates. In that case, you're not taking a slot from someone else b/c there isn't anyone else.

In a competitive region, if one candidate receives 2 noms it MAY mean that another deserving candidate didn't get one. However, it's more complicated than it seems. For example, the Senator thought the candidate was the very best in the state and, in the district, there were only 8 other qualified candidates. In that case, maybe the candidate is "taking" one of the Senator's slots from someone else, but not one of the District's slots b/c they weren't filled.

At the end of the day, the MOCs make their selections. Sometimes they get together to "spread the wealth" in terms of noms and sometimes they don't. There's nothing the candidate can do about it, however it turns out. You earned the nom b/c the MOC considered you the most deserving. If someone else didn't earn that nom, it's really not your issue.

In any event, it's important to "keep" both noms. Here's why. Let's assume Candidate A gets a nom from both the Senator and her Representative. When the SA looks at the Senator's slate, the candidate is ranked (either by the Senator OR by the SA itself), #8 of the 10 candidates on the slate. However, in the District, the candidate is #1 of 10. The higher you rank on a slate, the more likely you are to receive an appointment so, in this case, the odds are looking good based on the Rep's slate but not so good with the Senator. Conversely, in a state where one district is hyper-competitive and the rest of the state not so much, the opposite could happen -- the candidate isn't ranked very high within the district but, when compared to the less competitive candidates on the Senator's slate, is ranked much higher.

Since you don't know your ranking nor do you know anything about the others on your slate(s) -- i.e., their qualifications, their medical status, their interest in the same SA -- you want to keep all of your eggs in the basket.

The above said, being on more than one slate doesn't always improve your chances and I've seen many candidates even in a hyper-competitive area with 2 MOC noms receive turndowns. For example, if you are ranked (by the SA) at the bottom of both slates, you may end up the victim of the "numbers game" and still not receive an appointment. Or, the MOCs may think you're terrific but your teachers and BGO don't and/or the MOC loves you but your record just isn't that strong compared to your competition.

Bottom line: more than one nom is never a bad thing -- sometimes a good thing -- but never determinative (and in some cases, not even "better").

My ds just received a second nomination. Hope it is a good thing.

I would like to ask a similar question about multiple appointments. How does it work when someone gets appointments to two or three academies? Do the service academies wait for a decline, then offer that spot to someone else? For instance, if my DD were to be fortunate enough to get an appointment to her number one choice, would the courteous thing to do be to withdraw her application from the other academy rather than waiting to see if they offer her an appointment as well? Or do the SAs realize that many candidates have applied to more than one SA, so they initially offer more spots than they expect to be accepted?

They offer more spots than end up accepting appointed. The number fluctuates annually but they look at stats of trends of offered appointment vs accepted appointments because they know some kids will turn down an appointment for various reasons. If, for some reason, a SA ends up having too many offers declined they will reach out to the wait list. Each SA manages their wait list differently. Some years no one will be appointed from the wait list and others a dozen or more can be.

It's your DD's call on what to do. If she is dead set on a #1 that is her call to withdraw. There is nothing wrong with waiting to see all her options and then making a decision. She has earned all of the Options to make a well informed decision.

Next Generation said:

I would like to ask a similar question about multiple appointments. How does it work when someone gets appointments to two or three academies? Do the service academies wait for a decline, then offer that spot to someone else? For instance, if my DD were to be fortunate enough to get an appointment to her number one choice, would the courteous thing to do be to withdraw her application from the other academy rather than waiting to see if they offer her an appointment as well? Or do the SAs realize that many candidates have applied to more than one SA, so they initially offer more spots than they expect to be accepted?

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If DD has the appointment to #1 and absolutely knows that is where she wants to go, then it makes sense to accept the appointment and withdraw the other application. However, is she is not absolutely sure, she should wait to see if she gets both and then make the decision. Once she then makes her decision and informs the academy that she is not going to, then if that creates an open spot in the class, they will offer the slot to somebody else. My DS got his #1 choice appointment first and then the #2 choice about a month later. In the end, he decided to go to what was originally #2 after he did his overnight visit there.

The above scenario is exactly why I recommend candidates to wait unless they are 100% without a doubt. If there is an ounce of doubt on the choice or if you have haven't visited and plan to, I say wait. The draw of being wanted can be very powerful to anyone, especially a 17-18 year old kid. If you have visited both and she knows 100%, the other door closes if she withdraws and is fine with that, then she can make that call. It may or may not open the door for another candidate. No guarantee it does, too many factors to even guess as each scenario is unique.

Thanks for the responses!

We are looking at both sides of the coin - although we WISH we were among those choosing between two, at this point we are still among those who are "waiting." When we read about all these fantastic kids who are receiving multiple appointments, we can't help but wonder how that impacts our DD's chances of an appointment. Further, the stress we are under makes us want to be considerate of other "waiters" by choosing quickly if it indeed would open up another spot for another deserving candidate.

So what I hear you saying is that the SAs will create a slightly larger list of appointees than their desired class size, then offer more appointments than they expect to be accepted. Only if their accepteds come in low (and they wouldn't know that for sure until after May 1, correct?) will they offer additional spots from their wait lists, and those spots would be just a few at best.

Although I had to practically force her to visit her second choice because she was so committed to her first, after visiting both places, she is truly conflicted about which is her number one choice now. We are not sure she will be appointed to either, but if she is appointed to both, at least she can take her time in choosing without feeling guilty about it.

Another question. NavyHoops mentioned the "draw of being wanted" - after offering an appointment, will the SAs "woo" her with offers of additional visits or promotional materials, or is the appointment their final communication until she accepts it? She has already visited her top two choices (we held off on the third choice unless she receives an appointment there), but one visit was simply the "three-hour tour" vs a weekend visit at the other SA. It would be nice to have a longer visit there to learn more about the careers available within that branch.

Since this is not the first rodeo for all the academys and they are well aware that appointees (as well as good candidates) are agonizing between choices, overnight visits are certainly available. Each academy has its own version of an overnight visit and the best thing is to get ahold of the appointee/candidate's BGO/ALO/FFR and ask for their help in setting up a visit. The academys also know that appointees wait until the last minute before jumping so they are normally very amiable to getting last-minute visits set up. If such is the case, a candidate needs to ask immediately as time is growing short.

So the answer to your question is: No, there will be nothing more scheduled from the Academy after an offer of appointment, but you can initiate a request for a visit.