Brothers competing for nominations?

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May 22, 2018
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Here I am, once again expressing my anxiety on this forum. Please forgive me, but I am just at a loss.

My youngest son is pursuing a nomination for USNA class of 2023. He is diligently working and I am so proud of him. He is 16 years old.

My older son, who is enlisted in the Army, has decided to apply to USMA as an enlisted candidate for the class of 2023. He is 21.

If they both succeed, I will have two sons starting at different service academies in the same year.

Here is the dilemma: my oldest son is encouraged to apply for MOC nominations as well as his commander’s nomination. However he has said he will not try to get an MOC nom because he doesn’t want to compete with his brother.

What are the chances that both boys with the same last name and same home address will not receive nominations in the same rural state?! I am so freaked out about this. I feel both sons should do everything they can to reach their goals. But I do wonder how it would be for them if one gets it and the other does not.

Any wisdom out there or anecdotes of brothers securing nominations?
 
I also have the same question. I have a twin sibling applying to the same SA and same nomination sources for USNA 2023. I'd love to hear some feedback on the OP's concerns!
 
FYI: The USNA has had many twins (both identical and fraternal) secure Offers of Appointment to the same class. I think I heard that this year there were two sets of twins. I know for a fact that I talked to the parents of one set of twins attending I-Day last week.

While it is commendable that your oldest son doesn't want to compete with his sibling, someone else will be more than happy to.
He should in fact, apply to all nomination sources. That decision is entirely up to him, though.

A member of congress may nominate up to 10 people for each opening they have at a service academy. A member of congress may have no more than 5 "credited" appointees at any service academy.
This means that in a perfect world (with no nominees at any academy), an MOC could nominate up to 50 people in a single year, for the various academies.
 
There are several factors that will go into this. MOC will want you to rank your choice of academy. Older sibling will probably just want to apply to USMA and if younger is only working on USNA than that shouldn't be a problem. They actually aren't competing against each other since each academy has its own slate from the MOC.

I have sons who both applied to SA in the same year. Between them they rec'd 7 nominations from our MOC. They had different interests so didn't compete against each other on the slate.
 
Many twins get noms and attend the same year, at all nom-required SAs. Many more siblings attend in different years, with noms from same sources.


Your enlisted son should have a shot at the noms reserved for enlisted applicants, if unable to obtain from other sources.

Presumably they will both apply for VP.

Additionally, your enlisted son may find himself going to MAPS, which would mean he needs a nom for 2024. Of course, age could be a factor for him. If he is going to be older than 23 by a 2024 reporting day, I believe he would be ineligible.

And - I believe USMA Admissions strongly encourages applying for noms from all sources for which eligible, period. I encourage both your sons to do that, and let others figure the how-to out if both make the grade. The optics of two siblings attending in the same year, assuming both are well-qualified applicants, will be intriguing and attractive. The MOC and Senators have more than one nom to give out each year. I say go for it.
 
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And - I believe USMA Admissions strongly encourages applying for noms from all sources for which eligible, period

^^ ALL of the SA's recommend that. Wording on their website specifically has that statement.
https://www.usma.edu/admissions/SitePages/Steps.aspx
https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Apply/index.php#fndtn-panel3-Steps-for

Important for your sons to understand the application process in order to not make bad decisions. If they are interested in different SA's, they aren't competing against each other. As mentioned above, MOC can submit 10 NOM's for each opening they have at a specific SA. Getting a NOM is only part of the process of getting an appointment.

(Even if they WERE applying to the same SA, as someone else asks above, they could still BOTH get NOM's and eventually appointments.)
 
Isnt their an assumption that the two would be competing against each other. I mean if they had all of the identical scores and achievements or even if they were close to each, you can assume they are fighting for the same spot. In reality one could way ahead of the other and they were never really competing with each other. If the stronger of the two decides not to apply, all that means is that someone else is going to get it as the weaker sibling was never going to get it in the first place.
 
The difference here is the sources for appointment. If your son that is active duty is truly qualified, he will get charged to the Secretary of the Army bucket no matter what other nominations has has. There are 75 openings for active duty soldiers each year and they usually do not fill those spots. A fully qualified candidate with this nomination is pretty much automatic. The real hurdle is to become qualified.
 
If they're applying and seeking noms to different academies I don't see where the competition comes in at all. Maybe I'm just obtuse. They generally have 10 noms available to each academy. The competition is with those seeking noms to the same academy. Just my 2 cents.
 
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Here I am, once again expressing my anxiety on this forum. Please forgive me, but I am just at a loss.

My youngest son is pursuing a nomination for USNA class of 2023. He is diligently working and I am so proud of him. He is 16 years old.

My older son, who is enlisted in the Army, has decided to apply to USMA as an enlisted candidate for the class of 2023. He is 21.

If they both succeed, I will have two sons starting at different service academies in the same year.

Here is the dilemma: my oldest son is encouraged to apply for MOC nominations as well as his commander’s nomination. However he has said he will not try to get an MOC nom because he doesn’t want to compete with his brother.

What are the chances that both boys with the same last name and same home address will not receive nominations in the same rural state?! I am so freaked out about this. I feel both sons should do everything they can to reach their goals. But I do wonder how it would be for them if one gets it and the other does not.

Any wisdom out there or anecdotes of brothers securing nominations?
1. As mentioned, they are only competing against each other for nominations if they apply to the same SA.

2. Which state/congressional district you live makes a big difference. You mention it is a rural state so I assume it is not New York, California, Texas, Florida, etc. If your state has a small population that has only one or two congressional districts, your concerns about them competing against each other even for the same SA may be moot - there may be more nominations available than candidates.
 
Every candidate for all academies should seek every nomination he/she can get, and get as many as possible. Every candidate should figure he/she is competing against the world, and do everything possible to increase the odds of appointment. My son applied to three academies and got multiple nominations and appointments.

There are at least ten nominations each MOC can give to each academy. Some times twenty. It would be foolish for your son to decline a nomination opportunity believing it may somehow lead to his brother not getting one. If the brother has a competitive enough application to ultimately get an appointment he will get a nomination, even if the other son used one of the MOC's nominations.

Don't over think this stuff. Candidates should just doggedly pursue an appointment with with everything they have. The academies want to see toughness of character as well as maturity and insight. Throwing himself on a sword needlessly illustrates nothing.
 
Really not competing with each other if one is applying for USNA and one for USMA. However, if their names are close , perhaps a note to the MOC staffer to make sure they are not confused would be helpful.


The USNA has had many twins (both identical and fraternal) secure Offers of Appointment to the same class.
> Happens all the time. I had a company mate with Identical (and when your head is shaved, identical is identical !) twin brother in the Company right next to ours. First week of Plebe Summer, sitting in King Hall filling out paperwork (by the way, the first week of Plebe Summer has alot of paperwork to fill out), Detailer looks over at the table across the way, then looks at my companymate -- big barking voice, DO YOU HAVE A BROTHER HERE ? Yes Sir.... followed by "DON'T YOU TRY SWITCHING PLACES ON ME!"
 
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