How many service academy appointments does each state get per academy?

Aztec Tiger

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How many service academy appointments does each state get per academy? Looking specifically for New Mexico. Thank you.
 
New Mexico has 3 congressional districts, right? If so, then 1 per congressional district and 1 per senator, for a total of 5 that are allotted. Now that does not mean only 5 from NM in total can go, as there can be appointees who get in through many other methods, such as Presidential, VP or Superintendant nominee appointment channels. Or those pulled off the national wait lists, etc.
 
New Mexico has 3 congressional districts, right? If so, then 1 per congressional district and 1 per senator, for a total of 5 that are allotted. Now that does not mean only 5 from NM in total can go, as there can be appointees who get in through many other methods, such as Presidential, VP or Superintendant nominee appointment channels. Or those pulled off the national wait lists, etc.

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?
 
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.
 
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?
No. Appointments/allocations for one academy do not affect the other academies.

I'm not familiar with USMMA and USCGA, but do know the procedures are different.

For USMA, USNA, and USAFA there is no limit to the number of appointments from any given state or district. Many candidates are appointed, but not charged to a MOC.

You can search for a detailed explanation of the byzantine system on previous threads, but suffice it to say that a qualified candidate with a nomination is limited only by the predetermined size of the incoming class and competition from other qualified candidates.
 
CaptMJ is spot on...again.

Let me give you a real-life example. Years ago when I was a young ALO, our US Senator had three openings at USAFA. Each MOC (House and Senate) is allowed five "identified" appointees at any SA at one time. So...he had three openings (graduations, resignations, etc.) He agreed with the ALO's to fill only two, and keep one available for the next year. MOST MOC's do this to always have an opening each year.

So...long story short, 20 young men and women were nominated for those two openings. And the system took over...

At the end of the cycle there were two "identified" appointees "credited" to our Senator. The other 18 nominees were put in the qualified alternate pool. And in the end, when the dust settled...12 of them were offered appointments! That had never happened here in history! Every ALO received a very nice hand-written thank you from the Senator.

The meaning of all this? You can't guess how they system will work, what will happen, how many, when, etc. It just happens. Your goal is to be the most qualified of the bunch. Beyond that...

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
A nom is simply another required element of the package, albeit one that takes a bit of work.

One of the more frustrating aspects of the nom process is that it is not standardized and each member of Congress can have different requirements.

USCGA - no nomination is required.
 
One year from a very small State we had Thirteen Appointments to USNA. All were from the ten nominations allowed from each member of Congress each year. Not all were Charged but they all got in.
 
One year from a very small State we had Thirteen Appointments to USNA. All were from the ten nominations allowed from each member of Congress each year. Not all were Charged but they all got in.
How would you know that they were all Congressional Noms? Maybe some were children of retired Active Duty/Reservists or other nomination category.
 
At the "Welcome Aboard" lunch at the Capitol while my Mid met with the incoming new appointees I met with the parents. Only one father was prior service and child did not qualify for any appointments other than Congressional Nomination. All the other parents had no idea what the next four {Nine} years would be like.
 
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