How does national waiting list work?

The National Waiting List consists of 150 qualified USMA applicants, all of whom USMA wants to admit but cannot offer an appointment to. Normally this occurs when the applicant has a solid application, but lacks one critical piece -- the district/senatorial nomination.

For the most part, each MOC may nominate up to 10 candidates, but only ONE is offered appointment. Of course, sometimes one or more of the nominated kids who did not secure the appointment will be competitive enough that USMA slots them on National Waiting List.

People can get in off the National Waiting List .... it is just a big game of hurry up and wait. Similar to DODMERB, just do what you can and continue to polish and update your files in order to keep your application as up to date and competitive as you can. You can always find new ways to spice up your application. Many NWL candidates don't hear anything back until as late as mid-late JUNE, so do not lose hope if it seems like it's taking forever. Take it in stride.

The bad news: it is quite rare for offers of appointment to be declined. This means that those slotted on the NWL are less likely to receive the appointment.

The best advice is to just work on being the best candidate possible, improving all aspects of your application, and formulating a solid back-up plan.

If you're still young, you can always reapply as well! In the wise (scripted) words of Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind, "After all, tomorrow is another day!"

There is no way to predict a "likelihood of admission" or anything like that, because it is entirely contingent upon your spot on the NWL.

Until you hear something, keep an open mind and be diligent. Good luck!
 
high2024hopes said:
The National Waiting List consists of 150 qualified USMA applicants, all of whom USMA wants to admit but cannot offer an appointment to. Normally this occurs when the applicant has a solid application, but lacks one critical piece -- the district/senatorial nomination.

For the most part, each MOC may nominate up to 10 candidates, but only ONE is offered appointment. Of course, sometimes one or more of the nominated kids who did not secure the appointment will be competitive enough that USMA slots them on National Waiting List.

People can get in off the National Waiting List .... it is just a big game of hurry up and wait. Similar to DODMERB, just do what you can and continue to polish and update your files in order to keep your application as up to date and competitive as you can. You can always find new ways to spice up your application. Many NWL candidates don't hear anything back until as late as mid-late JUNE, so do not lose hope if it seems like it's taking forever. Take it in stride.

The bad news: it is quite rare for offers of appointment to be declined. This means that those slotted on the NWL are less likely to receive the appointment.

The best advice is to just work on being the best candidate possible, improving all aspects of your application, and formulating a solid back-up plan.

If you're still young, you can always reapply as well! In the wise (scripted) words of Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind, "After all, tomorrow is another day!"

There is no way to predict a "likelihood of admission" or anything like that, because it is entirely contingent upon your spot on the NWL.

Until you hear something, keep an open mind and be diligent. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this is not entirely correct. Go to the stickies at the top of the page and read up on admissions information and then do a google search for Title X admissions.
 
cptenca said:
high2024hopes said:
The National Waiting List consists of 150 qualified USMA applicants, all of whom USMA wants to admit but cannot offer an appointment to. Normally this occurs when the applicant has a solid application, but lacks one critical piece -- the district/senatorial nomination.

For the most part, each MOC may nominate up to 10 candidates, but only ONE is offered appointment. Of course, sometimes one or more of the nominated kids who did not secure the appointment will be competitive enough that USMA slots them on National Waiting List.

People can get in off the National Waiting List .... it is just a big game of hurry up and wait. Similar to DODMERB, just do what you can and continue to polish and update your files in order to keep your application as up to date and competitive as you can. You can always find new ways to spice up your application. Many NWL candidates don't hear anything back until as late as mid-late JUNE, so do not lose hope if it seems like it's taking forever. Take it in stride.

The bad news: it is quite rare for offers of appointment to be declined. This means that those slotted on the NWL are less likely to receive the appointment.

The best advice is to just work on being the best candidate possible, improving all aspects of your application, and formulating a solid back-up plan.

If you're still young, you can always reapply as well! In the wise (scripted) words of Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind, "After all, tomorrow is another day!"

There is no way to predict a "likelihood of admission" or anything like that, because it is entirely contingent upon your spot on the NWL.

Until you hear something, keep an open mind and be diligent. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this is not entirely correct. Go to the stickies at the top of the page and read up on admissions information and then do a google search for Title X admissions.
Click to expand...
My apologies! My source was a bit outdated.

Each Senator, Representative, and Delegate in Congress, including the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, is entitled to nominate 10 persons for each vacancy that is available to him under this section. Nominees may be submitted without ranking or with a principal candidate and 9 ranked or unranked alternates. Qualified nominees not selected for appointment under this subsection shall be considered qualified alternates for the purposes of selection under other provisions of this chapter.

In addition, there may be appointed each year at the Academy cadets as follows:
150 selected by the Secretary of the Army in order of merit (prescribed pursuant to section 4343 of this title from qualified alternates nominated by persons named in paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (a).

If it is determined that, upon the admission of a new class to the Academy, the number of cadets at the Academy will be below the authorized number, the Secretary of the Army may fill the vacancies by nominating additional cadets from qualified candidates designated as alternates and from other qualified candidates who competed for nomination and are recommended and found qualified by the Academic Board. At least three-fourths of those nominated under this section shall be selected from qualified alternates nominated by the persons named in paragraphs (2) through (8) of section 4342(a) of this title, and the remainder from qualified candidates holding competitive nominations under any other provision of law.

So all that mumbo jumbo is just basically saying that there are reserved slots for each of the mentioned applicant statuses (enlisted soldiers, NWL recipients, honor grads of designated honor schools, etc.) that the Secretary of the Army can choose to nominate from if he so desires. So, if I'm understanding this correctly, there's actually not a cap for the NWL recipients. Theoretically speaking, all 150 can receive the appointment.
 
No. The info is still incorrect. Every candidate who is 3Q and has a nomination goes on the national waiting list. As people are appointed via MOC noms, Presidential Noms, etc, they are taken off the list. Then, by law, they offer appointments to the remaining top 15o on the list. Then they can appoint additional folks off the list to round out the class in any way they desire.

This stuff isn't hard.
 
It is easier to describe it by what it is and what it is not.
The NWL is the pool of qualified candidates who are waiting to be offered admissions. It is exactly where you want to be if you do not have an appointment yet.
It is not a regular college 'Wait List'--which means everyone else has been admitted and you are waiting for someone who is already admitted to drop out.
Right now, if you do not have an appointment, the NWL is the best place to be.
 
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