Settle a 'dispute' please!

Old Navy BGO said:

time2 said:

I agree, if more was better, then the MOC's who coordinate to avoid duplicate NOM's would actually be reducing the 'chance' for an appointment for a given applicant. Having more NOM's does provide USNA more flexibility on where NOM is eventually charged.

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Very true -- but I suspect that many don't fully understand how the process works, or perhaps their objective is to reach as many of their constituents as possible. I suspect the coordination happens more at the Senate level , and withing a political party.

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Current Texas Senators do not duplicate nominations. They also send their slates to (at least some) Representatives. I have seen a letter stating an applicant earned a spot on a Rep's slate, but was removed based on Senator's nomination. This was definitely within the same political party.

It hurts applicants IMO. It's hard enough in Texas without MOCs working against them.

I understand where you are coming from - if you can get more than one nomination it can increase your placement odds, or you might be the top on the Congressman's slate, but in the middle on the Senator's slate. This is obviously more work for the committees to take this extra step, but keep in mind their whole goal is to get as many kids from Texas into the academies.

Frankly, I don't see that having more than one nom helps significantly, because most will be going into the national pool. I understand the point of the academy having flexibility, but if the academy wants you, they will find a spot for you as long as you are on an MOC's slate. What this does do is open more opportunities to those who are less qualified academically and have the opportunity to go to one of the prep schools.

For example, if DS received both a Senatorial and Congressional appointment, he would still be in the national pool (and not charged to a Texas MOC) because he doesn't have 1500 SAT/34 ACT. So that would be a wasted duplicate nom in DS's case.

More importantly, for the top kids, if they had three noms for an academy from Texas, there would be two less kids nominated, so that would reduce your odds of getting a nom and staying in the game at this point.

Much ado about nothing. Two noms are fantastic. No need to supersize.

Forgot to add:
You should always apply for the VP nom, whether you already have a nom or not. It takes five minutes, and IMO it shows that you are willing to get into the academy any way you can.

Imboden said:

Forgot to add:
You should always apply for the VP nom, whether you already have a nom or not. It takes five minutes, and IMO it shows that you are willing to get into the academy any way you can.

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I can't imagine the admissions committee reviewing a candidate and saying, "oh my goodness, he only has two nominations."

Two nominations is AWESOME.

USMA 1994 said:

I’m not sure I agree with all this flexibility talk and we may be giving people the wrong idea. To gain an appointment, you must have a nomination. Each nomination source has a set number of appointments, MOC 1 per year, Presidential 100, ROTC 20, etc. For each nomination, you compete for that appointment. Having more than one nomination allows you to compete more than one time. I’m not sure the lottery ticket is the correct analogy as it implies luck. You could have five nominations and if you are the last ranked candidate on each slate you have less chance of an appointment than a candidate who just has one nomination but is the highest ranked candidate on that slate. The only time flexibility would come in to play is if the candidate is ranked on top of a multiple slates like Senator and Representative’s. They could “slot” the #1 candidate to the Senator and then the #2 candidate on the Representative’s slate would get an offer. NWL and AA appointments are at large and you do not have to win a slate. Bottom line is to apply to everything you are eligible for.

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Above you stated there are 20 ROTC nom/appointment possibilities. How about JROTC?

This happened to me. Sen. Cornyn sent a letter saying I didn't get his nomination because Sen. Cruz was nominating me and they do not double nominate. Sen. Cruz office called and congratulated me on getting his nomination, but they were pulling the nomination because my local MOC wanted to nominate me. Sen. Cruz's staffer said it wouldn't hurt my chances because if you are a strong enough candidate to win a slot on his list, you will be scored very high in the national pool. She also said Texas Senators have about 80% get appointments.

bub6 said:

USMA 1994 said:

I’m not sure I agree with all this flexibility talk and we may be giving people the wrong idea. To gain an appointment, you must have a nomination. Each nomination source has a set number of appointments, MOC 1 per year, Presidential 100, ROTC 20, etc. For each nomination, you compete for that appointment. Having more than one nomination allows you to compete more than one time. I’m not sure the lottery ticket is the correct analogy as it implies luck. You could have five nominations and if you are the last ranked candidate on each slate you have less chance of an appointment than a candidate who just has one nomination but is the highest ranked candidate on that slate. The only time flexibility would come in to play is if the candidate is ranked on top of a multiple slates like Senator and Representative’s. They could “slot” the #1 candidate to the Senator and then the #2 candidate on the Representative’s slate would get an offer. NWL and AA appointments are at large and you do not have to win a slate. Bottom line is to apply to everything you are eligible for.

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Above you stated there are 20 ROTC nom/appointment possibilities. How about JROTC?

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The 20 applies to both ROTC and JROTC. My personal opinion is that a high school candidate will have a hard time competing against college applicants in this category. The scoring system gives additional weighting to successfully completing a semester of college that is not available to high school students. With that said, having the nomination still would allow competing on the NWL and AA later in the process.

USMA 1994 said:

bub6 said:

USMA 1994 said:

I’m not sure I agree with all this flexibility talk and we may be giving people the wrong idea. To gain an appointment, you must have a nomination. Each nomination source has a set number of appointments, MOC 1 per year, Presidential 100, ROTC 20, etc. For each nomination, you compete for that appointment. Having more than one nomination allows you to compete more than one time. I’m not sure the lottery ticket is the correct analogy as it implies luck. You could have five nominations and if you are the last ranked candidate on each slate you have less chance of an appointment than a candidate who just has one nomination but is the highest ranked candidate on that slate. The only time flexibility would come in to play is if the candidate is ranked on top of a multiple slates like Senator and Representative’s. They could “slot” the #1 candidate to the Senator and then the #2 candidate on the Representative’s slate would get an offer. NWL and AA appointments are at large and you do not have to win a slate. Bottom line is to apply to everything you are eligible for.

Click to expand...

Above you stated there are 20 ROTC nom/appointment possibilities. How about JROTC?

Click to expand...

The 20 applies to both ROTC and JROTC. My personal opinion is that a high school candidate will have a hard time competing against college applicants in this category. The scoring system gives additional weighting to successfully completing a semester of college that is not available to high school students. With that said, having the nomination still would allow competing on the NWL and AA later in the process.

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Thank you. What is AA later in the process?