Sending SAT/ACT Scores to ALL of Your State's US Congressmen?

birdwatcher4125

5-Year Member
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May 28, 2018
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Greetings, My DS is applying to USMMA and we discovered that he can apply for a nomination to ALL eight of our state's US Congressmen. But, that means sending additional SAT & ACT score reports to seven additional congressmen, which amounts to a $175 expense that I wasn't planning on. I'm willing to do this if necessary, but I thought I'd check to see if there's another way that doesn't punch me in the wallet so hard.
 
That is a difficult question to answer without more information. You are correct that your DS could theoretically win a nomination from any Congressman in your state. Many of the service academy people in the congressional offices do not realize this unique aspect of USMMA and they will reject your son's application unless your DS gently educates them. If he elects to apply to all for a nomination, I would have him call each office first so they will be expecting his application and will have time to confirm that they can nominate someone outside their Congressional District. Keep in mind that just because they can does not mean they will.
Most Congressmen require test scores to come directly from ACT or SAT, but not all. But some will accept a screenshot of your DS's scores, so obviously if that is the case you could save some money.
What state are you in? If it is not a very competitive state (meaning USMMA is not well known and there are fewer applicants) and your son has above average test scores and grades, I would save the money and send scores only to your Representative rather than all of them. My 3 kids who applied to USMMA all got nominations from our Congressman, so we did not have to deal with that issue.
It also makes a difference if USMMA is your DS's first choice academy. Some Congressmen only give one nomination per applicant, while others will give more than one. Ours gives multiple noms.
Does your Congressman have a service academy information night? You could find out more there. Our Congressman came right out and asked more students to apply for noms to West Point and Kings Point because he usually did not get enough applicants to fill his slate for those two. Your experience may differ greatly.
Bottom line, I would hold off on sending scores everywhere until your DS can gather more information about his own Congressman.
 
We debated applying to all our congressmen, but in the end we decided to just apply to the two senators and our congressman. USMMA was my son’s first choice school. He received nominations from our congressman and one senator. It’s not just the ACT/SAT scores that you have to multiply by 8 or 10, it’s also the reference letters and essays. Most likely they will all have slightly different essay requirements. Unless you are from a competitive state, I wouldn’t bother with any extra nomination applications. Also, some offices will accept the score report you download yourself from the ACT/SAT sites.
 
kpmom2013 & jbs123

I thank you both, that's exactly the kind of guidance I needed and was looking for.

As I write this my DS is on the phone calling the seven other congressmen's offices to find out if they will even consider him for a USMMA nomination, while I'm searching internet media archives to see how many USMMA nominations these other congressmen have made in previous years, and if any of them were from outside of their districts.

We have eight total US House Reps here in Wisconsin. One of them is House Speaker Paul Ryan who only nominated one person to USMMA last year, but you have to request an application to be sent to you from his office, his application deadline is in nine days (ridiculously soon!) and we can't get anyone from his office on the phone. SNARL!!!

Well, that was therapeutic. Thanks for the decompression. You guys are great!
 
You are correct that your DS could theoretically win a nomination from any Congressman in your state. Many of the service academy people in the congressional offices do not realize this unique aspect of USMMA and they will reject your son's application unless your DS gently educates them.

Could you explain this further? Is this mentioned on the USMMA website? Is this bending the rules?
 
Wisconsin generally has very few candidates for USMMA. In my son’s 4 years at USAFA I only saw one USMMA cadet at the All-Academies Ball. I don’t think that it would be worth applying to all of the representatives if it involves the cost of sending scores to them.

Stealth_81
 
Stealth_81

Now that is a very encouraging thing to hear......I mean read! Thank you very much for that!
 
You are correct that your DS could theoretically win a nomination from any Congressman in your state. Many of the service academy people in the congressional offices do not realize this unique aspect of USMMA and they will reject your son's application unless your DS gently educates them.

Could you explain this further? Is this mentioned on the USMMA website? Is this bending the rules?

This is not bending the rules and is indeed a unique advantage for USMMA applicants. It can be found in the Admissions section of the web site and states:

  • Candidates must be nominated to the Academy by a U.S. Representative or U.S. Senator from your State of Residence/Domicile.
  • A candidate does not have to reside in the same Congressional District as his/her nominator (a Member of the U.S. House of Representative CAN nominate a candidate who resides in a District other than their own, as long as it is in their (the nominator's) State/Territory). This differs from nominations to the USMA, USNA, and USAFA.
 
Wisconsin generally has very few candidates for USMMA. In my son’s 4 years at USAFA I only saw one USMMA cadet at the All-Academies Ball. I don’t think that it would be worth applying to all of the representatives if it involves the cost of sending scores to them.

Stealth_81

There is at least one in the class of 2021 from Wisconsin. I do not know about other classes. @birdwatcher4125, I would also encourage you to get in touch with the USMMA liaison for Wisconsin. They can be very helpful and supportive during the process. :)
 
Thanks azmilmom, that's one of the things DS will be doing tomorrow or Friday. I really appreciate you folks helping us out. The fact that so many parents of current & past SA appointees are willing to spend their time sharing their knowledge & experience with us newbies is just wonderful!
 
Wisconsin generally has very few candidates for USMMA. In my son’s 4 years at USAFA I only saw one USMMA cadet at the All-Academies Ball. I don’t think that it would be worth applying to all of the representatives if it involves the cost of sending scores to them.

Stealth_81

There is at least one in the class of 2021 from Wisconsin. I do not know about other classes. @birdwatcher4125, I would also encourage you to get in touch with the USMMA liaison for Wisconsin. They can be very helpful and supportive during the process. :)


At the WI/IL Welcome Aboard Event in June there were at least 3 2022 candidates from WI. There were 8 from both states together and I don't remember how many she said were from WI but I have in my memory 3-4.
 
According to https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33213.pdf (4-13-17) there are four appointments allotted to Wisconsin every year. But, on one of our congressmen's websites (I can't remember which one, but I did see this just yesterday) it read that there are six allotted appointments to Wisconsin. I also read somewhere on this forum or on collegeconfidential.com, a while back, that Kings Point was expanding the campus with the intent of growing the enrollment to somewhere over a thousand midshipmen. If this rumor is true, then that may explain an increased allotment of appointments to the states. However, most of what I just wrote may be complete hogwash, so please don't take my word for it. If there's anybody with actual knowledge about any of this, please let us know.
 
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