Academies Aware of MOC Nomination Procedures?

[A1Janitor]

Wait...what?! Isn't the congressional district tied to the candidate's residence? How can this be true under the law?

Who can get nominations from MOC, yes.

But what if the top 5 candidates in the country are from the same district. One wins the slate and is in.

The other four - they want ... so they put the pieces of the puzzle together. What if one district has no nominations that are qualified .... should they place one of the best candidates in or would the appoint an unqualified person?

 

[NavyHoops]

They don’t appoint someone from MD under the slate from WY. Essentially what happens is once all the slates are filled for the class they will have X amount of offers out. Then they also have the other nom sources. All the candidates who didn’t win their slate but got a nom go to the NWL. They must take the top 150 off the NWL per US Code. After that, USNA has discretion to round out a class. So the less slates that are submitted from a MOC, or maybe no one was 3Q on a slate or maybe no one applied from that district the more opportunities off the NWL. There are so many scenarios to all this we could go on for hours. I hope that makes sense.

 

[ThePatternisFull]

Wait...what?! Isn't the congressional district tied to the candidate's residence? How can this be true under the law?

Sorry if I wasn't clear. In my example I was showing where the appointment is charged. As Hoops said this can go on and on sufficient to say the academy has a process that works! Yes it can be questioned and debated but they get it right more than wrong!

 

[ThePatternisFull]

Who can get nominations from MOC, yes.

But what if the top 5 candidates in the country are from the same district. One wins the slate and is in.

The other four - they want ... so they put the pieces of the puzzle together. What if one district has no nominations that are qualified .... should they place one of the best candidates in or would the appoint an unqualified person?

If none qualified none get in. This is what I was attempting to explain. But I did not do a very good job. Sorry. This entire process is very complicated. My advice is just try to win your slate.

 

[MidCakePa]

Seems completely logical that an SA would not use number of nominations as another data point for whether that candidate merits appointment. The SA has all the information it needs across academic record, test scores, leadership examples, teacher assessments and CFA. Beyond that, the highly variable, highly inexact nomination process adds almost nothing to determining one’s worthiness.

Perhaps this oversimplifies, but let’s try: If you have three noms but the SA doesn't rate you high enough, you will not get in. If you have no nom but the SA rates you very highly, they will find a nomination for you. That’s exactly what happened to DD, who despite having LOAs and noms for two SAs, lacked a nom for #3. But #3 wanted her, so they found her a nom.

Another angle: When many candidates score multiple noms, it actually helps the SA more than it helps individual candidates. That’s because this gives the SA more flexibility to fit all the puzzle pieces together.

 

[okboomer]

If none qualified none get in. This is what I was attempting to explain. But I did not do a very good job. Sorry. This entire process is very complicated. My advice is just try to win your slate.

Let’s see if I can further the discussion or perhaps clarify... the endgame is still 1,100 cadets a year and the endgame doesn’t change, but where the puzzle pieces come from may change. 535 MOCs out there. If every one of them has a candidate that is 3Q’d with a nom, 535 of those 1,100 are filled, reducing the amount of flexibility that Admissions ultimately has whereas if only 500 MOCs have a 3Q with a nom candidate, then Admissions has 35 additional slots at their disposal. Those 35 do not get charged against the MOC’s quota but the SA still gets their 1,100 cadets. Simplifying sources and other factors I know but that is the point trying to be made I believe.

 

[MOC5th]

Wait...what?! Isn't the congressional district tied to the candidate's residence? How can this be true under the law?

This scenario isn't possible. It would delegitimize the entire process. Congressional offices that don't submit a slate retain that vacancy slot for the next year. It does mean the academy has an additional slot to fill from their national pool, but that cadet will not be charged to a MOC who didn't nominate them. If the applicant received a nom from MD-7 then they are competing in the national pool and don't need to look elsewhere for a nom.