2 (or more) Nominations

2026

2026

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2021
Messages
158
Hello all! I have seen this type of question here on the forums but I want to get specific.
We are thrilled that my son has 2 nomination interviews set up and we believe one source gives out a principal nomination and the other source asks to be notified immediately if a nomination is given by another source.
Question: let’s say my son receives a regular nomination and not the principal nomination from the one source. Isn’t it true that the academy must give the principal nomination recipient an appointment if all else qualified? And if an appointment is given out to someone else and my son is on the slate but the source already has 5 cadets charged, then my son can’t get an appointment from that source correct? And then to extend my question: if that scenario is in play and then my son informs the other source of his nomination to the first source and the 2nd source nomination is pulled, then has my son “lost” his chance to get an appointment?
And does anyone have stories of how they/their candidate worked through this process?
Any insight would be great and most helpful!! And PS: I understand these questions are assuming he gets even 1 nomination which he would be so humbled to receive……just trying to think through some scenarios.
 
If DS receives his first nomination but someone else on the slate is picked as the principal and you know the other 4 slots are already taken. I personally would not be making any notifications. I'm sure someone with much more experience will speak up if I am steering you in the wrong direction.
 
Old Enlisted Marine said:
If DS receives his first nomination but someone else on the slate is picked as the principal and you know the other 4 slots are already taken. I personally would not be making any notifications. I'm sure someone with much more experience will speak up if I am steering you in the wrong direction.
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Thank you -you captured the heart of the issue. Will also look for other input from experienced sources!
 
Old Enlisted Marine said:
If DS receives his first nomination but someone else on the slate is picked as the principal and you know the other 4 slots are already taken. I personally would not be making any notifications. I'm sure someone with much more experience will speak up if I am steering you in the wrong direction.
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iirc - each source asked my son if he already had a nomination.
 
Let’s take them one at a time:

If a candidate is the MOC’s principal nominee and is fully qualified, they will get an offer of appointment.

If a candidate has a nom but the MOC’s five assigned slots are taken, that candidate can still receive an offer of appointment. Their nom would simply be charged to another source.

If a MOC’s interview panel asks whether the candidate has a nom, they should be forthcoming. However, I have not heard of a situation in which a nom has been “pulled.” Perhaps has happened — I’ve just never heard of it. Typically, a candidate is informed that they won a nom and that’s that.

Now, more importantly, don’t waste precious time and energy on something you can’t control (other than the candidate putting their best foot forward). Really no point in playing with scenarios that don’t exist. First things first: Win a nom, regardless of source. After that, if an SA truly wants the candidate, they’ll make the offer of appointment.
 
Go to the Sticky post pinned at the top of the Nominations forum - recommended reading.

Regardless of which fully-qualified applicant on the slate is offered the appointment which will be charged to the elected official, ALL fully qualified individuals on the slate are also eligible to be offered an appointment by the SA. The SA has guidelines to follow, but they control a nominating authority where they can charge additional appointments off the same slate, if they choose. These are not charged to the official.

Yes, the elected official can have up to 5 appointments charged against them at each SA at any one time. That usually means 1 per year, occasionally 2. It all depends on how many graduated in May or have left the SA. The official can submit up to 10 names on a slate for each vacant slot, so this could be 1 slate or 2, given above.

Principal nom does, yes, generally mean if that individual is fully qualified, the SA offers them an appointment, regardless of how the SA may have internally ranked the candidate. Don’t forget “fully qualified” is key; the applicant can also be applying to other SAs or schools and decline.

I’m in the camp of full transparency. If an applicant is asked if they have received a nom from another source, I believe they should answer truthfully. If they are asked to bow out because they have another nom, because that is the way an elected official likes to do business, I think that should be respected. There is also the “make them tell you no” camp. Do what seems to be most right and respectful. Take the long view. If a candidate does not get in first time and is a re-applicant to same nom sources next year, how can actions taken reflect on them?
 
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Nomination sources can talk to each other, especially if we're talking about congressman vs. senator here. Very easy for a staff member to pick up the phone and ask the other two points of contact for that state.

Might be shooting yourself in the foot if you choose not to notify, and they find out anyway--they might take that the wrong way. Some very competitive districts/states will use any reason to filter candidates, including failure to follow instructions.
 
Thank you all for your insight. I am putting these thoughts/scenario forward to get insight into a process that is well-known to you all/experts. I know my feelings on what should be done (full transparency) but I am also having open discussions w/ our DS b/c this is HIS process and I want to see how HE is going to handle the situation if it is presented to him. If I am able to offer him guidance/facts then I surely want to do that and that is the reason for the post.
**One more thing: I also ask b/c in a recent post a candidate said they got one nom and then had to "withdraw" their application from another nom source b/c they had one nom already. So the concern is pulling out of a nom process before the results (poss offer of appointment) of your current nom process are known. But as above, it sounds like as long as a nom is in hand even if the MOC already has their 5 cadets then the nom can be charged to another MOC, etc. Is that correct?**
Thank you @MidCakePa @A1Janitor @Capt MJ =I have seen your posts for years and have such respect for your much needed and used knowledge and your commitment to these young candidates and the whole ROTC + SA process. Your dedication to the forum and your thoughtful responses day in and day out are SO appreciated and we are honored by your contributions -THANK YOU!!
( @Old Enlisted Marine: didn't want to leave you out -thank you for your reply this early AM -much appreciated!!)
 
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nuensis said:
Nomination sources talk to each other, especially if we're talking about congressman vs. senator here. Very easy for a staff member to pick up the phone and ask the other two points of contact for that state.

Might be shooting yourself in the foot if you choose not to notify, and they know anyway--they might take that the wrong way. Some very competitive districts/states will use any reason to filter candidates, including failure to follow instructions.
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Thank you so much -this has crossed or mind as well. Following their instructions is key....just hope my DS would not be "informing" himself out of an appointment....but it does not sound like it works that way.
 
In our state, the Senators coordinate. Our DS was selected to interview with both., of which he did The Senior Senator made his choices (he did appoint Principals) and notified the other Senator's office. Our son was notified he had a nomination from Senator 1 (he was not the Principal) and then received a letter from Senator #2 indicating he was not chosen, as they had been informed by the Senator #1 of that nomination The Senators did NOT coordinate with the Representatives in our state, however, so our DS did get a nomination from the Representative, who did not appoint a Principal.
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
In our state, the Senators coordinate. Our DS was selected to interview with both., of which he did The Senior Senator made his choices (he did appoint Principals) and notified the other Senator's office. Our son was notified he had a nomination from Senator 1 (he was not the Principal) and then received a letter from Senator #2 indicating he was not chosen, as they had been informed by the Senator #1 of that nomination The Senators did NOT coordinate with the Representatives in our state, however, so our DS did get a nomination from the Representative, who did not appoint a Principal.
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Great thank you for the reply. Did your DS get an appointment from one of those nom sources?
 
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Capt MJ said:
Sometimes the smoke doesn’t clear on the nom sources until much, much later. Admissions moves things around until they get everything aligned. The important thing is the appointment. Once that’s in hand, no one cares where it is charged.

You might want to do the “advanced course” on all the nom sources.

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Yes, correct as always: having patience while the smoke clears is paramount I assume. And I have seen that pdf in the past but will send along to DS and we will all give it a good read. Thank you kindly!!
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
In our state, the Senators coordinate. Our DS was selected to interview with both., of which he did The Senior Senator made his choices (he did appoint Principals) and notified the other Senator's office. Our son was notified he had a nomination from Senator 1 (he was not the Principal) and then received a letter from Senator #2 indicating he was not chosen, as they had been informed by the Senator #1 of that nomination The Senators did NOT coordinate with the Representatives in our state, however, so our DS did get a nomination from the Representative, who did not appoint a Principal.
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which state are you? I got nom from my congressman but haven't heard of anything from Senators. Do you get nom for only 1 SA?
 
2026 said:
Great thank you for the reply. Did your DS get an appointment from one of those nom sources?
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He was never told who his appointment was "charged" to. Someday, he will request a copy of his USMA file to find out, just from a curiosity standpoint.
 
exodus said:
which state are you? I got nom from my congressman but haven't heard of anything from Senators. Do you get nom for only 1 SA?
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AZ. He got a nomination to USMA from the Senator, only, and he got nominations to both USMA and USNA from the representative. He ended up with appointments to both academies. Interestingly, he had an LOA to USNA, but not USMA, so were surprised that Senator gave the appointment to USMA and not USNA.
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
AZ. He got a nomination to USMA from the Senator, only, and he got nominations to both USMA and USNA from the representative. He ended up with appointments to both academies. Interestingly, he had an LOA to USNA, but not USMA, so were surprised that Senator gave the appointment to USMA and not USNA.
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I believe the elected officials often believe those with LOAs will somehow have a nom “found” for them by the SA that issued the LOA, as in “the SA has already promised X an appointment, so let them find X a nom.”
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
Interestingly, he had an LOA to USNA, but not USMA, so were surprised that Senator gave the appointment to USMA and not USNA.
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You won’t necessarily find logic in the assignment of noms. DD in her MOC interviews made clear that USNA was her first choice and USMA second. MOC nominated her to both — but principal nom to USMA and non-principal nom to USNA. Go figure.
 
MidCakePa said:
You won’t necessarily find logic in the assignment of noms. DD in her MOC interviews made clear that USNA was her first choice and USMA second. MOC nominated her to both — but principal nom to USMA and non-principal nom to USNA. Go figure.
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Oh, having sat on those boards for many years I think I can tell you exactly what happened with her.

1. She was THE #1 choice of the board for USMA
2. She was NOT the #1 choice of the board for USNA

So...she was offered as she was. I've seen that more times than I care to remember.

It's NOT uncommon.
 
flieger83 said:
Oh, having sat on those boards for many years I think I can tell you exactly what happened with her.

1. She was THE #1 choice of the board for USMA
2. She was NOT the #1 choice of the board for USNA

So...she was offered as she was. I've seen that more times than I care to remember.

It's NOT uncommon.
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Well, in the year DS got his nominations, he indicated on his Senators' applications that he wanted to be considered for nominations for 2 Academies the he had applied to and they had him rank ordered them. He had put USNA #1 and USMA#2. The Senator's committee had different interview boards for each academy and they only offered the opportunity to interview with one board, which they selected to be the USMA board. So, who knows if they thought his packet didn't look strong enough to be in the top group of USNA applicants, but thought he was in the top for USMA, or if they decided since he already had an LOA to USNA that they he didn't need his nomination. We'll never know. There are 2 new Senators since and they may look at this completely different now. I bet Flieger83 would know what has changed here in AZ since we have had our change in regime in Senators since back in fall of 2014 when he went through the process.
 
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