2 Nominations... both to USAFA.

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xcmum

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My DS is applying to both USAFA and USMA (as well as for AFROTC & AROTC scholarships). Both applications were complete- USAFA beginning of November and USMA end of December. He was excited to receive his 1st nomination from our MOC in Dec. and on his USAFA portal today, it now shows an additional nomination from our Senator, which is great!

Like many on here, though his USMA portal showed a complete application in Dec/beginning of Jan., he was notified last week that he needs to retake the CFA with video showing the pullups & pushups (his first CFA, he did slightly above average on both of those, maxed mile, situps, shuttle run, & average on his BBall throw).

The problem now is he is wondering if it really matters if he retakes the CFA for USMA since he doesn't have a nomination for there. He has been to both academies (AFA SS last summer) really likes both of them & says he could really see himself at either. He is bummed because his dad is a West Point grad & he really wanted to have the option of going there as well.

What do the experts on here think? Is the USMA option totally off the table now since he doesn't have a nomination for there?
 
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He was told to retake the whole CFA since they wanted to see the pull ups and push ups within the sequence of the actual test. The only event on the CFA that he performed avg to slightly below average on would have been the darn BB throw.
 
Has he confirmed he only received a USAFA nom from his moc? WP has been slow to post the noms on the portal. Is it possible the moc nominated him for both SAs and it just hasn't posted yet?
 
IF he doesn't have the nom for USMA, I can see why he might not think it's worth repeating the CFA, however, if he didn't have an issue with it (Other than BB throw) then why not just get it out of the way? Never know the outcome. Plus I know there are various posts regarding options if you don't get a nomination but I have read that you can still pursue USMAPS without a nom. Might want to clarify that with admissions or your RC.
 
Does he qualify for a Presidential nom?
My question is - why would WP ask for him to retake his CFA with a video if he had no chance of an appointment.
Maybe the MOCs have not submitted their slates to WP yet - which WP would be aware of.

He can always contact his FFR (if he has one) or his RC and ask the questions that you are wondering about.
 
Jebdad- you bring up a good point. We are assuming he only received nominations to USAFA from both his MOC & Senator since the USAFA portal is the only one showing the nominations. Maybe there is hope, if WP is just slower to post nominations on their portal.

Thank you 3cmkids & buff81-it does seem odd that they would request he retake the CFA if he doesn't have a chance without a nomination. His strong desire to attend the service academy & to serve as an officer will ensure he follow through with the retake, he is just a little disappointed at the moment. As I type this, he is outside practicing the BBthrow.
 
xcmum said:
it does seem odd that they would request he retake the CFA if he doesn't have a chance without a nomination.
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One hand does not always know what the other is doing. USMA does not necessarily know what nominations each candidate may still be in the running for and RC could be just concentrating on getting complete files.

Best to call MOC and confirm - if no nomination, call RC and ask for guidance.

Mistakes do happen. One year a candidate opened USNA portal and saw nomination. Two hours later nomination was gone. MOC explained there was a mix-up and when they realized USMA was 1st choice, they changed it. They only give 1st choice unless other choices don't have enough candidates to fill slate.
 
There is also VP nomination. More of a long shot, but if he has an impressive application it is possible for sure.
 
This happened to my 2012 grad. He called his congressman and asked if he could be moved to the slate for the other academy (he had an LOA, so one nom was plenty for him). It was no problem to get on the list (at that point, others had been deemed not qualified for one reason or another). Just ask...it cannot hurt.
 
The videos, at least in my experience, were not a request to retake the entire CFA. They were referred to as "verification videos" in the email and it was supposed to be two separate videos. They only asked for pushups and pullups, there was nothing about verifying or retaking any other events. The instructions were to "get as close to or better than your scores from your official test".

I assumed that they wanted videos from me since I did my official CFA at USNA summer seminar and USMA either doesn't trust those scores or wanted to make sure that I was still in shape.

Did your son take the CFA at USAFASS?
 
My DS listed USMA as his first choice on all three MOC nomination applications (2 senators and 1 representative). He received a nom for WP from both senators fairly early in the process. (We were told a second nom doesn't help the application.) He ended up contacting the rep's office to make sure he was being considered for a nom to USAFA prior to the interview for that particular nomination slate. Otherwise, according to the office, he would have only been considered for USMA for this nom as well. As a result, he ended up receiving a nom to the USAFA as well although he still ended up at USMA anyway, class of 2020.
 
EdDatKU said:
My DS listed USMA as his first choice on all three MOC nomination applications (2 senators and 1 representative). He received a nom for WP from both senators fairly early in the process. (We were told a second nom doesn't help the application.) He ended up contacting the rep's office to make sure he was being considered for a nom to USAFA prior to the interview for that particular nomination slate. Otherwise, according to the office, he would have only been considered for USMA for this nom as well. As a result, he ended up receiving a nom to the USAFA as well although he still ended up at USMA anyway, class of 2020.
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A second nomination DOES help a candidates chances of admission to an academy. It is like having a second lottery ticket. Each nomination puts the candidate in a pool of up to ten candidates, one of whom will win that MOC slot. Thus, it is better by a factor of two to have two nominations for one academy.

Example. If you have a nomination from your congressman and both senators, you will be in three separate competitions to win an MOC slot. If you receive only one nomination you have only one chance at winning a slot (not counting the NWL, which requires only a single nomination, but then you are in a pool of thousands.

Last year, when my son was completing his nomination applications with the MOC's, he listed West Point as #1 on each application. Our congressman gave him a nomination to USMA, USNA, and USAFA, and then one senator gave him another nomination to USMA. He then wanted a second nomination to USNA, so he had two for both USMA and USNA, so he asked the committee members during his last senator interview if he could change his order of preference, and they accommodated him. Its up to the committee what they do.
 
Sneak- yes my son took the CFA while at SS.

Thank you to all for your replies and insight. My son does have a call into his MOC about the possibility of being added to the USMA slate. Though he knows it is a long shot, there is still a chance (slim) of a VP nomination. He did retake the CFA (videoing the pull ups & push ups as requested) He did do better on the BB Throw -67' which still isn't the best, but I'm pretty sure it is at least average. Luckily being a cross country & distance track runner, maxing the mile both times was pretty easy for him. Now it is another wait and see. :)
 
Update- my DS was able to reach our MOC last week & thankfully they said they would happily contact USMA about seeing if there was still time to add him to their slate. This afternoon, his RC contacted him to inform him that he did in fact receive a nomination from our MOC. Happy day in our house! We know there is still the stressful wait to see if there is an offer of appointment, just happy that he is now in the running with the nomination.
 
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