Academy "finding" you a nomination

bigbody

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Good Morning! I've typically heard that with an LOA, the Academy will "find" you a nomination, in the event that you do not secure one from your MOC. How common is this? Where is this nomination taken from (less competitive districts, VP nom, etc.)?
 
Good Morning! I've typically heard that with an LOA, the Academy will "find" you a nomination, in the event that you do not secure one from your MOC. How common is this? Where is this nomination taken from (less competitive districts, VP nom, etc.)?
No. The SA might use a Nom source they control IF you are REALLY competitive and they want YOU over almost all others in that class-lots of factors. Do not place you bets that a SA will find you a nomination. There is almost always someone more competitive than you.
 
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It’s extremely rare for an SA to “find” you a nom. So don’t count on it.

This, in fact, happened to DD. USAFA sent an LOA in very late April — just days before the May 1 acceptance deadline — and “found” a nom a couple days later. But at that point, DD was already committed to USNA. Other than that, I can count on one hand the number of similar stories I’ve seen here in the past five years.
 
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I'm confused on one point (and if my terms are not used correctly, please let me know).

1) If a candidate is 3Q and has an LOA, and ends up on their MOC's slate of 10, but is *not* the principle nominee, am I correct that they still receive an appointment?

2) And if they do get that appointment, since they are not charged to the MOC, does someone else or some other department charge them, or do they get the appointment with no charge assigned?
 
I'm confused on one point (and if my terms are not used correctly, please let me know).

1) If a candidate is 3Q and has an LOA, and ends up on their MOC's slate of 10, but is *not* the principle nominee, am I correct that they still receive an appointment?

2) And if they do get that appointment, since they are not charged to the MOC, does someone else or some other department charge them, or do they get the appointment with no charge assigned?
For Q1, go read the Sticky pinned to the top of the Nominations forum. The SA has the ability to offer appointments to other fully qualified candidates on a slate, because they have a nom. The SA controls some other nom authorities they can charge appointments to. One appointment on the slate will be charged to the elected official. If the principal (yes, it’s principal in this usage) method is used, then if that candidate is fully qualified, they will be offered an appointment.

Q2. See response above. All appointments are eventually charged to a nom source.
 
If a candidate is nominated but not selected as the principle they are placed on the NWL (Natl. Wait List) and compared with others on the same list. The Academy has some magic formula of criteria to then select candidates from the NWL. It is not just as straight forward as best test scores or WCS. Admissions will consider a multitude of factors in selection from the NWL to fill vacancies in the upcoming class (like region represented, sex, etc..) Those candidates offered appointments from the NWL are not charged to MOC, but they still have nominations (which is all that is needed besides 3Q to be in the running. Everyone on a MOC’s slate is considered to have a nomination and “yes” as pointed out above - many with LOAs that fail to get a nomination are closed out come February. Also understand that some MOCs May occasionally have more than one slot open for a given academy in a year.
 
If a candidate is nominated but not selected as the principle they are placed on the NWL (Natl. Wait List) and compared with others on the same list. The Academy has some magic formula of criteria to then select candidates from the NWL. It is not just as straight forward as best test scores or WCS. Admissions will consider a multitude of factors in selection from the NWL to fill vacancies in the upcoming class (like region represented, sex, etc..) Those candidates offered appointments from the NWL are not charged to MOC, but they still have nominations (which is all that is needed besides 3Q to be in the running. Everyone on a MOC’s slate is considered to have a nomination and “yes” as pointed out above - many with LOAs that fail to get a nomination are closed out come February. Also understand that some MOCs May occasionally have more than one slot open for a given academy in a year.
If a candidate is nominated, they compete for their slate. Most MOCs don’t use the principal method. If you don’t win the slate, you can be put in the NWL if you are competitive.

Best WCS matters.
 
MOCs must use one of three types of slates (for each academy opening-usually one):

1. Principle with 9 ranked
2. Principle with 9 unranked
3. 10 un-ranked

MOC's may or may not tell Nominees which type of slate they have decided to use. SA's prefer 10 un-ranked, as the SA can choose who, if any (they must also be 3Q) gets an appointment. For those nominated as a Principle with no LOA, they will get appointed unless they are not 3Q.
 
Where is this nomination taken from (less competitive districts, VP nom, etc.)?
One place it is not taken from is a "less competitive district." There is no statutory authorization to permit a service academy to charge an appointment to a MOC if the cadet candidate is not "from" the district or state.
 
One place it is not taken from is a "less competitive district." There is no statutory authorization to permit a service academy to charge an appointment to a MOC if the cadet candidate is not "from" the district or state.
Unless it’s USMMA, which has its own slightly different set of nom authorities and legal standing, differing from the DoD SAs by applicants being able to apply to any Representatives in their state for noms, but no service-connected or VP noms, among other variations.
 
Now if we could just gently shift away from heavenly “ascension” into the military to the far less celestial but appropriate “accession,” all would be well.
I giggle when I hear sports announcers say "call in the calvary" instead of "cavalry." My old CO crossed out, in red ink, the word "Cypress" and corrected it to "Cyprus" on a JO's post operation report message. As a JO, I explained to COMNAVAIRPAC the single point lift system on our aircraft after another crew had a jettison mishap. One word the admiral locked onto in the message was "inadvertant." He asked pointedly, was it "inadvertant" or "uncommaned?" One word could indicate pilot error, the other aircraft system problem. At any rate, here's to more candidate nominations, principal or not.
 
I am curious, if the candidate that is offered an appointment turns it down. Does the SA then pick another person from that MOC slate to offer? What if the MOC has less people currently at the Academy due to candidates being kicked out or leaving on their own. Does the SA offer additional appointments the next cycle so MOC have 5 charged to them, or do they stay on schedule of 1 per year (with a second every 4 years)? Not that it really matters in the long run, I am just trying to figure out how it all works.
 
I am curious, if the candidate that is offered an appointment turns it down. Does the SA then pick another person from that MOC slate to offer? What if the MOC has less people currently at the Academy due to candidates being kicked out or leaving on their own. Does the SA offer additional appointments the next cycle so MOC have 5 charged to them, or do they stay on schedule of 1 per year (with a second every 4 years)? Not that it really matters in the long run, I am just trying to figure out how it all works.
The SA can certainly choose another fully qualified candidate from the slate as the one chargeable to the elected official.

If there is an unplanned departure of a midshipman or cadet charged to an elected official, the staffers and the SA determine the strategy going forward. Perhaps next cycle there are 2 slates and 2 appointees charged to the official. Lots of flexibility there.
 
If there is an unplanned departure of a midshipman or cadet charged to an elected official, the staffers and the SA determine the strategy going forward. Perhaps next cycle there are 2 slates and 2 appointees charged to the official. Lots of flexibility there.
Generally though, they do not refill that slot in the next class as it could lead to zero openings in the class after the departed mid was supposed to graduate and neither the Academy nor the MOCs want to have a "zero year".
 
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