Nominations

ontothefray22

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Dec 22, 2016
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No matter if the MOC uses the principal nominee process or unranked candidates, 10 people competing for one seat get a nomination?
 
There are a couple of ways MOCs can choose to slate candidates,

One of these ways is a competitive slate. The grand majority of these contain 10 candidates (the exceptions are the MOCs that experience a lack of applicants). With the competitive slate, the MOC sends in a list of ten names along with the number of vacancies they want filled and the Service Academy chooses one or more candidates from the list. The remaining candidates are placed back on the NWL.

The second way is a slate that has a principle nomination and competitive alternates. This means that if the person in the #1 slot is qualified all the way around, they will get an offer. If #1 turns out not to be qualified for whatever reason, the Academy will choose the candidate it likes best from the alternates.

The third is a slate that's completely ranked. This means that if #1 is qualified then #1 gets the slot, but if not then #2 does, and it just keeps going down the list until #10...

So no matter how your MOC chooses to do it, it'll typically be 10 candidates competing for one seat, but there may be more than one vacancy. Some MOCs will tell you how they structure their slate and/or how many vacancies they have. Some will not.
 
...

The second way is a slate that has a principle nomination and competitive alternates. This means that if the person in the #1 slot is qualified all the way around, they will get an offer. If #1 turns out not to be qualified for whatever reason, the Academy will choose the candidate it likes best from the alternates....
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Since this is the general Nominatons forum, I will interject that USNA has a bit more leeway, which I have learned from several posts here over the years. They are not required to take the principal nom. I believe they usually do.

Good layout of the various nom approaches, which I think is helpful for those just starting their research.

One of the fun threads that comes back like a zombie every year is the “principal” vs. “principle” usage one. Maybe we will see it again...
 
I think it can be either but I didn't actually check any of the nomination guides when I went to spell it.

I just checked a couple and most of them use "principal." I assume that's because it means that something is the first in rank. "Principle" is a rule/law, so it could also be fitting since principal/principle nominations get an offer if they are qualified.

That's funny that there's usually a thread discussing it! I didn't know that.
 
Capt MJ is correct. US Code dictates this and the language for USNA on principal Noms is slightly different. Although USNA usually recognizes a principal Nom, it is not required by law. Also, remember being 3Q and the Nom process are seperate. Someone has to be 3Q in order to even be competitive on a slate.
 
And USNA no longer tells applicants if they are 3Q, so at least some of the discussions in prior years about not getting an appointment, could be the result of those ASSUMING they were 3Q who had a principal NOM. Two separate and unrelated processes.
 
Now, does an MOC always have a seat open/have to have a seat open? Or is it up to them?
 
Now, does an MOC always have a seat open/have to have a seat open? Or is it up to them?

They are slotted a certain number of seats per academy. So as candidates graduate it opens up a seat. Normally one or two seats per year.
 
Now, does an MOC always have a seat open/have to have a seat open? Or is it up to them?
The MOC usually has at least one seat open. With the help of the SA's the process is much better managed today than decades ago and there is an effort to make sure that multiple seats are not filled in one year if it will result in no vacancies the following year.

A key point is that although multiple appointments can result from a single nominating slate, no nominations, and hence no appointments, can be made if the MOC does not have a vacancy.

It is a Byzantine process, but in most cases the SA determines how the appointment will be charged if the candidate has multiple nominations or there are multiple appointments from the same slate.
 
Now, does an MOC always have a seat open/have to have a seat open? Or is it up to them?
The MOC usually has at least one seat open. With the help of the SA's the process is much better managed today than decades ago and there is an effort to make sure that multiple seats are not filled in one year if it will result in no vacancies the following year.

A key point is that although multiple appointments can result from a single nominating slate, no nominations, and hence no appointments, can be made if the MOC does not have a vacancy.

It is a Byzantine process, but in most cases the SA determines how the appointment will be charged if the candidate has multiple nominations or there are multiple appointments from the same slate.

If there is a cadet who is a turnback for year, taking 5 years to graduate, then could that be a circumstance where there would not be an open seat? Are December grads counted as a taken slot, too, even if they won't be there the full year?
 
If there are no open seats some years, why do some MOCs even conduct interviews?
I have never heard of a MOC conducting interviews for which there are no openings.

It is unusual for a MOC to have no vacancies. With 4 SA's that require nominations, it is unheard of for a MOC to have no vacancies at all 4 academies. They would conduct interviews for those that have vacancies.
 
Now, does an MOC always have a seat open/have to have a seat open? Or is it up to them?
The MOC usually has at least one seat open. With the help of the SA's the process is much better managed today than decades ago and there is an effort to make sure that multiple seats are not filled in one year if it will result in no vacancies the following year.

A key point is that although multiple appointments can result from a single nominating slate, no nominations, and hence no appointments, can be made if the MOC does not have a vacancy.

It is a Byzantine process, but in most cases the SA determines how the appointment will be charged if the candidate has multiple nominations or there are multiple appointments from the same slate.

If there is a cadet who is a turnback for year, taking 5 years to graduate, then could that be a circumstance where there would not be an open seat? Are December grads counted as a taken slot, too, even if they won't be there the full year?
That's part of the admissions "black box." Not sure how they account for those situations, but I am not aware of any situations in which it caused a problem.
 
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