MOC Nomination - choose now?

CrewMom

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My son has been wanting to go to the Naval Academy since his freshmen year. It has been his first and only choice. He's now beginning the full-blown application process and wants to finish it up this summer prior to starting his senior year.

As a naggy Mom :rolleyes:, I have encouraged him to also apply to USMA and USAFA. So as he started pulling down the applications from our MOC's websites, we got a surprise. Our senators say that you have to specify which academy that you are interested in and that you are only 'eligible' to apply for one with them. So theoretically, you could apply for USNA with one senator, USMA with the other, and USAFA with the congressman to spread out your chances.

So it's really driving the decision to choose which academy now, so given that....I think that my son will only apply to USNA and try for nominations with all three MOC's. I think it's a shame because all of the academies are excellent.

To my way of thinking though, this is silly. Do all states do it this way or is just us?
 
I think the bigger question here is what does your son want to do? Does he want to serve in the Air Force, the Army or Navy or Marine? Most of the MOC's ask you to rank the service academies that you are applying to. I don't think it is wise to lie and say that you want to go to the Air Force Academy with one MOC and then tell another something different. Where does your son want to serve? He should be honest and tell all MOC's the same thing. My son only wanted to serve in Navy/Marine so he only applied to USNA. When asked that question on the MOC applications (ranking) he put a "1" beside USNA and a "0" beside all others. Hope that helps.
 
my state does it he same. im applying to USAFA as well as USNA but only because the app process is very similar and i might as well. but im putting USNA down for my pic on all MOC apps. if your son gets a nomination to another academy could he live with going there and then serving the required years in that branch? do they have his preferred career in that branch?
 
He should apply for USNA with all three sources. You said it's your son's dream of going to USNA and that's all he's wanted to do. The more nominations to USNA the greater his chances of getting an appointment. It's all about your son and what he wants.
 
He should apply for USNA with all three sources. You said it's your son's dream of going to USNA and that's all he's wanted to do. The more nominations to USNA the greater his chances of getting an appointment. It's all about your son and what he wants.

This is what I would recommend as well.

My son was the same. USNA was all he wanted. It's the only school he applied to!! He applied to all sources for a nom to USNA. He had no desire whatsoever to go to any other academy or any other school.

Once he got one nom, he notified his other sources, so they could give their noms to someone else.

I think this is common practice.
 
My son had the opposite situation. He wanted Navy and only Navy. Our congressman's office was encouraging everyone to apply to all academies. My son only indicated USNA as a choice. A representative in the office called the house after reviewing son's application. My son wasn't home, so he asked me why he only applied to USNA. I told him that he only wanted to serve in the Navy. By the time MOC interviews came around, son already had NROTC scholarship, so he knew he would be a Naval Officer.
 
My son was asked during the interview process with all three MOC's which academies he was interested in, he recieved a secondary nomination to a different academy but never applied to it... USNA all the way for him as well!
 
The nomination process differs depending on where you live on the country. In our state, Colorado, applicants are encouraged to apply to every possible nominating source (2 state senators, Congressional Representative and Vice President) and to apply to every academy and to every ROTC branch. Students are asked to rank order their Academy choices (1-4) on each congressional nomination packet (or to indicate that they would only accept a nomination to certain of the academies). During congressional interviews students are asked if they have applied to every nominating source, every Academy and every branch of ROTC -- if they have not, they have to be able to explain why they have not. In Colorado, Senators and Representatives have historically tried to give each qualified applicant a nomination to at least their first choice Academy -- some truly outstanding students receive more than one nomination to more than one Academy but that is the exception, not the rule. It is important to understand the nominating procedure(s) in your state and to follow any advice given/published by the nominating sources available to your son or daughter. Do not miss deadlines established by the nominating sources and follow all directions exactly (if application says attach a photo -- then be sure to do that -- if the application says do not attach a photo or to limit essay answers to one page or to list only your sophomore through senior extra-curricular activities, then be sure to follow those directions). We found it helpful to attend as many of the public meetings hosted by the congressional offices as possible -- each one gave us a little bit of additional information that made the application process more manageable.
 
This is what I would recommend as well.

My son was the same. USNA was all he wanted. It's the only school he applied to!! He applied to all sources for a nom to USNA. He had no desire whatsoever to go to any other academy or any other school.

Once he got one nom, he notified his other sources, so they could give their noms to someone else.

I think this is common practice.

Why did he request to get nominations to the other academies if he only applied to USNA? :confused:
 
We found it helpful to attend as many of the public meetings hosted by the congressional offices as possible -- each one gave us a little bit of additional information that made the application process more manageable.

We did this too. We started attending Academy nights during his freshman year. It was there that he learned about ROTC options. Each year the application process seemed to make a little more sense. Our son did apply to all nominating sources, but only stated Navy. When I asked him why he wasn't applying to other academies, he replied: "Why would I go to school with people that don't want to be in the navy?"
Made sense, I guess. Why go to Air Force Academy when you want to join the Navy and someone else really wants that spot at AFA.
 
My state (PA) does it the same way. You have to pick an academy to request a nomination for. I have been visiting every academy and plan on making an informed decision mid-July, after USMA swim camp. I plan on deciding what my number one choice is and then asking all my nomination sources for that one place. I want to maximize my chances for my number one choice. Just my two cents.
 
This is common among the more competative area's to try and maximize the number of nominations that can be provided, also the congressmen often compare nominations so they won't double nominate people, which if this is the case in your area, stick to one academy that your son really wants to go to.
 
The nomination process varies by Senator and Congressman. Ours is a very competitive state, and our "senior" senator waits until the "junior" senator and the Representatives have made their nominations before scheduling interviews.

The first question asked by the "senior" senator's staff member when scheduling the interview is if the candidate has already received a nomination from any source. If the candidate already has a nomination, congratulations are extended, but no interview. The rationale is to give as many constituents as possible an opportunity for appointment.

It is highly unusual in our state for a candidate to receive a nomination to multiple Service Academies from the Senators. For the Representatives, it most likely depends on the number of applicants in the particular District.

An appointment to an Academy that one has little interest in attending cannot be used as a bargaining tool to gain an appointment to the Academy of interest (unlike financial aide negotiations) and hinders the ability of another candidate to gain an appointment to the Academy of their dreams.

Good Luck to all.
ENSmom
 
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