If I'm not the principal nominee can I still receive an appointment?

My friend and I believe that he was the principal nominee, because at the Congressional Nomination interviews, they told him that he will be accepted. A few weeks later, he received an email stating his appointment. Does this not bode well for me? I still received a nomination, but I believe that I was one of the other 9, unordered (there's no number next to my nomination on the application).

Yes.

I sure hope so

Yes, you still can get one. Nominations are sort of a large jigsaw puzzle. It is part Science and part Art. So in this scenario if your assumption is true that your friend received the principal nom, if he is 3Q, the chances are pretty high he will receive this appointment. No guarantees. USNA is different than USMA and USAFA, as principal noms are not a guarantee if 3Q. The US Code for USNA is written slightly different. It is rare for a candidate who is 3Q with a principal to not get an appointment but there is no guarantee. As long as you are one of the 10 on the nomination slate, regardless of the type of slate submitted (ranked, unranked, etc), you qualify to be put on the NWL. Plug in NWL in the search feature and there is lots of good info on here about that. The Art of Noms for the admissions board is they will move people around to different slates that they are qualified for. When appointees actually realize who appointed them at some point Plebe year it is sort of surprise who they are ultimately are charged to. Hang in there, I have seen as many as 6 kids from 1 high school receive appointments. Northern VA has dozens of appointments a year, because that area has tons of presidential nomination candidates and those who are highly qualified and come of the NWL.

time2 said:

Yes.

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yes, this does not bode well for me?

NavyHoops said:

Yes, you still can get one. Nominations are sort of a large jigsaw puzzle. It is part Science and part Art. So in this scenario if your assumption is true that your friend received the principal nom, if he is 3Q, the chances are pretty high he will receive this appointment. No guarantees. USNA is different than USMA and USAFA, as principal noms are not a guarantee if 3Q. The US Code for USNA is written slightly different. It is rare for a candidate who is 3Q with a principal to not get an appointment but there is no guarantee. As long as you are one of the 10 on the nomination slate, regardless of the type of slate submitted (ranked, unranked, etc), you qualify to be put on the NWL. Plug in NWL in the search feature and there is lots of good info on here about that. The Art of Noms for the admissions board is they will move people around to different slates that they are qualified for. When appointees actually realize who appointed them at some point Plebe year it is sort of surprise who they are ultimately are charged to. Hang in there, I have seen as many as 6 kids from 1 high school receive appointments. Northern VA has dozens of appointments a year, because that area has tons of presidential nomination candidates and those who are highly qualified and come of the NWL.

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Thank you for the detailed response. I reside in a Navy town (jax, FL) so I thought that 3 appointees would be pushing it (a rowing recruit for another school got a LOA as well)

I was the principal nominee on my senator's bid. I received my appointment shortly after. However, just yesterday, I saw that my senator posted on Twitter that another candidate he nominated received an appointment as well. So two of his ten nominees have now received appointments. I believe it is very possible and that you just need to keep the confidence high and keep your eyes set on your goals. I hope I see you next summer as my shipmate.

I am candidate also going through the process this year. After reading thread after thread here is the bottom line. You have no control over the process. This is the scariest part at least for me because I like to have control. But this process is teaching me to let go and keep the faith. It is a skill that will serve me well in the military when I have no control. Keep securing plan B- Z and keep the faith. You will end up where you are suppose to be and there is always next year. I wish you the best of luck.
- NotCollege

You definitely can. I was nominated by my senator and my congressman and the senator's office told me 9/10 of their nominees were appointed last year.

Navyboy17 said:

I was the principal nominee on my senator's bid. I received my appointment shortly after. However, just yesterday, I saw that my senator posted on Twitter that another candidate he nominated received an appointment as well. So two of his ten nominees have now received appointments. I believe it is very possible and that you just need to keep the confidence high and keep your eyes set on your goals. I hope I see you next summer as my shipmate.

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Thank you! I'm also applying to USMMA, and NROTC. I'll be in the Navy one day, whether it's through Annapolis or not.

Thank you NavyHoops, your response was my best news so far today!

NavyHoops said:

area has tons of presidential nomination candidates and those who are highly qualified and come of the NWL.

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I have read conflicting info on the NWL in this forum. It appears that you can be on this NWL with only the presidential nom, not just MOC noms. Please confirm.

^^ That is incorrect, the NWL is not just for those with presidential NOMs. Also where a NOM gets charged may be different from where it was issued.

iceking1152 said:

yes, this does not bode well for me?

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Your heading asked if you can still be appointed. That answer is yes.

I have a question, on my portal it says under nominations:

"congress/senator 2"

Does that mean I am the #2 ranked candidate on the senators list? Or something completely different?

#2 references the junior senator from your state not your ranking on your MOC slate

The Jacksonville area is obviously very large and has a large Navy contingent, I wouldn't be surprised if there are 6-12 kids appointed from that area to USNA. I live in a decently sized city slightly smaller than Jacksonville with no Navy bases. We had 8 direct appointees/year the last two years and 4 to NAPS one year and 3 the next year. Out of all the direct admits there was only 1 recruited athlete. All NAPS appointees were recruited athletes. With your Navy size you will have more Presidential nominees than I do in my city. No two cities are alike, just giving some numbers to hopefully give you perspective. I know you are all driven type As and that want answers to this process. I always say that the application is your first experience in the military to the "hurry up and wait" lifestyle that awaits you. You will hurry up and wait more than you ever fathomed while in the military. Just wait until your 0-4 promotion board is released, yet it won't get signed because of some weird excuse and you have to wait 3 additional months to know if your career will continue. Just a list of things you will hurry up and wait for... summer assignment orders, service selection, ship/school dates selections (which will change), waiting for flight school to actually start (just ask any pilot), your airframe, your first set of orders, your second set of orders, selection for schools, selections for command, more orders, etc. It never ends. None of these are short waits and they often change just when you think you have it figured out. Just think 10 years for now when you are waiting for orders and you have a spouse who is pregnant and you think you are headed overseas and scheduled to deploy once you get there. Or you are a dual military couple and trying to see if you will be co-located to start a family. Or dual military and your orders are to two different states. I could go on for days. I remember being in your shoes, we were all anxious. I only say all this to give perspective. Learning to deal with the wait, stress and anxiety of military hurry up and wait is something you all have to learn, this is the first of those. Its why so many of old guys and gals say to focus on what you can control, its one of the best coping mechanisms. Good luck to all, hang in there.