FoF, I think you have a slight misconception of the process. Should marine choose not to go through the second selection process, he will simply ensure that one other candidate will receive a Senatorial nomination. Since the Senatorial process is much more competitive, this candidate will probably receive a congressional nomination regardless. Therefore, whether or not marine continues with the nomination process may only affect, at the most, one other candidate.
Candidates with LOAs are still responsible to complete the MOC nomination process.
Each MOC may, by law, nominate 10 candidates for each opening which he has at the Academy. He may, by law, choose any one of the three methods which I outlined above. For simplicity, let’s just look at one opening. marine gets a congressional nomination from his first interview. We are not sure what type of nomination this is since he never told us. It could be a primary nomination or he could be the ninth alternate, though, with a LOA, probably not. With that said, the MOC is not necessarily privy to the fact that marine has a LOA. Again, let’s assume that the Congressman only has one opening and either (1) he selected another candidate as primary or (2) he allowed the Admissions Dept to do a competitive selection and they selected another candidate. In either case, marine, as stated below by JAM, enters the national pool and competes with everyone in the nation who has qualified but did not receive their MOC’s nomination. LOAs are not a factor. The Academy selects utilizing whole person points, commencing with the highest and working their way down until the class is filled. It is highly unlikely that someone with an LOA will be turned away but it is possible through a variety of reasons.
Just_A_Mom said:
Think about this: If Marine's Senator uses the competitive method then all 10 slots go to the academy for the pick. He has an LOA so he is good but what if one or more of the 10 have LOA's?? The academy can only pick one of those for the nomination and if he is not picked then he goes into the national pool.
He should cover his bases and go to his interview and try for a primary or to be the #1 pick in his congressional district.
Absolutely. JAM is entirely correct. All candidates should cover all their bases.
Candidate for 2011's mom said:
I thought the LOA worked a little different. It sounds like Just A Mom is saying that even with a nomination the LOA recipient may not get to go if there is another LOA in that MOC district. I thought the LOA doesn't count against the MOC 1 open slot. They still nominate 10 (of which the LOA recipient must be one of them) but the LOA gets to go in without being charged as the one slot of that MOC. In our area our MOC told us that last year he was able to send 6 (or maybe 7) to USNA even though he had only one slot because there were several LOA's in our district.
Am I totally confused? My daughter has an LOA and MOC has verbally said she will get nomination but they can't make it official until after interviews in December. It sounds like Just a Mom says even with an LOA and a nomination my daughter could be out of luck. Incidentally, she already passed DoDMRB.
The LOA candidate, if he or she is nominated against a MOCs available openings will count against that MOC. Your district had competitive candidates and they were selected, as per JAM, through the national pool by the Admissions Dept. so your MOC did not actually “send” them himself. Perhaps he is boasting a little too much.
In summary, usually the LOA guarantees a slot, either through the MOC actual nomination or through the national pool. However, applications are up this year, there is a rumor of USMA starting a LOA “war”, and a LOA does require a MOC primary nomination. Low mid-year grades could lower the total whole person points. Once the candidate enters the national pool without a primary MOC nomination, selection is based entirely on the whole person concept. Therefore, a LOA with a primary nomination is the only guarantee. Cover all bases. Get as many and as high a nomination as possible.
I hope this hasn’t continued to be too confusing.