Thank you for the reply. So does that mean if 3 are chosen for Naval Academy and 3 for West Point, that leaves zero chance of getting into USMMA or USAFA with the 5 Total that can go?
It may help you to get some clarity, especially differentiating between appointments (offered by the 5 SAs) and nominations (at least one is required, available from various sources, including state elected representatives, except for USCGA [no noms]), by reading in depth the Stickies at the top of the Nominations forum here on SAF. Go read or re-read this now, especially the FAQs and the Congressional Guide.
There is no answer to your question except “it varies.” It is safe to say there will be some number of appointments from each state. As noted above, there could be residents of a state who are offered appointments, whose noms were Presidential, or ROTC, or JROTC, or VP, etc., who may or may not have obtained an additional nom from their elected representative or the two Senators. It is usually not known until late in the process what source the actual appointment is “charged” to, if ever. If an appointment is offered, the joy will be so great, where the nom is charged will be inconsequential.
All candidates who are offered appointments must be qualified scholastically, medically, physically (CFA). At four of the SAs, they must have at least 1 nom. A nom is simply another required element of the package, albeit one that takes a bit of work.
Where the numbers get funny, and you can get cross-eyed from browsing the dozens of threads diving deep into noms available per state, is that each elected rep can have so many mids/cadets “charged” to him or her at any one time at the 4 SAs. They can nominate a certain number each year. They can use one of a few different ranked or unranked methods for their slate (list).
Have fun browsing the numerous threads mentioning the “national pool” or “national waiting list” or “NWL.” That’s how you can hear about candidates being offered appointments who are residents of State X, who got a nom from Rep Y, whose appointments are not charged to that Rep but are chosen from a national pool, an authority the SAs hold for filling out the class. This is when, like Alice, you know you have fallen down the rabbit hole into an alternate universe.
The SA Admissions teams work closely with elected reps’ offices to track how many chargeable slots are available each year. Just keep in back of your mind the nom is the required ticket, and “the pool” is a possibility.
The candidate should read each SAs website carefully. USMMA, uniquely, does not have some categories of noms but accepts noms from elected representatives from other Districts in the candidate’s state.
Bottom line - there is nothing the candidate can do about any of this. He or she should put their best possible application(s) together for the SAs leading to the Service in which they are interested, apply to as many nom sources for which they are eligible, and not worry about things out of their control.