Alternate Nom from MOC

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grateful_river

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Dec 5, 2015
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My DS heard from another candidate that he met at the MOC interview in Nov. That candidate has LOA from SA (he's a recruit athelete). The candidate also got an alternate nom from this MOC & the rationale is he's already got in to SA. My DS got alternate nom as well from this MOC but no LOA. The boys think that MOC did this to force the SA to slot him to some other source, so then the MOC will use his principal nom for a 3Q candidate but not as strong...I just want to put this out to the forum & would like to hear your take on this issue.
Thanks
 
Possible likely outcomes,

No principal nomination
one appointment - Candidate with LOA gets in, no one else
two appointments - Candidate with LOA and the most qualified candidate from the district
three or more appointments - Candidate with LOA, the most qualified candidate from the district, and candidate(s) qualified enough to get appointed from the National Waiting List

Principal nomination (with the principal nomine not being the candidate with LOA)
two appointments - Candidate with LOA and Principal noimee
three or more appointments - Candidate with LOA, Principal nominee, candidate highly qualified enough to get appointed from the National Waiting List

If your MOC is using the Principal nomination, he or she is taking a chance that other candidate(s) are highly qualified to get appointed from the National Waiting List. So if other candidate(s) don't get appointment through the national waiting list, the MOC will not have more appointments and sent a less qualified candidate to SA.
 
grateful_river said:
Oh, it looks to me like a game of poker politic!
Click to expand...

Hence MOC should just nominate best qualified candidates and not try to maximize the number of appointments for their district. If MOC wants to maximize the number of appointments from his or her district, they should hold academy days, get SA admissions offices to send representatives to their districts, mention SA opportunities/encourage young men and women to consider SAs, and so on, not try to manipulate the nomination.

In a true competition, the results tend to based on merits (there are exception and SA admissions have many exception). But MOCs adding their "game" into the process makes it less fair.

Life is not fair. Try to explain to a candidate that the MOC wanted to maximize the number of appointments from his or her district. He or she gave the Principal nomination to a less qualified candidate to ensure he or she gets an appointment and decided to take a chance with you. And if you didn't get an appointment, you were unlucky and the candidate with the principal nomination got lucky.
 
Thanks for your inputs. I told my DS that I am truly proud of him for his desire to serve our country, and he should know that if hes does not get an appointment it's not a reflection on him but it's the way the selection process is so subjective on many variables. Life is unfair indeed.
 
grateful_river said:
Thanks for your inputs. I told my DS that I am truly proud of him for his desire to serve our country, and he should know that if hes does not get an appointment it's not a reflection on him but it's the way the selection process is so subjective on many variables. Life is unfair indeed.
Click to expand...

Yes. For USMA Class of 2019, 2360 candidates were full qualified, of only 1257 were admitted. And these 1257 were not the top 1257 out of 2360.

http://www.usma.edu/admissions/SitePages/Class Profiles.aspx
 
DS got the call yesterday from our Congressman that he got the appointment to USAFA. Sure enough, this morning we got the auto message to check the portal regarding appointment. We did not expected to hear from the USAFA until March because DS is an alternate nom. What a pleasant surprise! To all alternate nom candidates out there, keep the faith. We're so grateful.
 
Congrats grateful_river! My DS received a "competitive alternate" nomination from our Senator and received an appointment to WP in the first wave (Jan '14), so it does happen. (no LOA, only nomination for WP)
 
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