competitive nomination district?

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how do you determine if you are in a competitive district for nominations? city or county population?i am in cincinnati,ohio.
 
You don't. Seriously any district is competitive if more than one person is applying. The more applicants, the more competitive. Certain areas have historically large numbers.., think locations with strong Navy presence or history of people attending.
 
This gets asked a lot but the answer is always the same. You can only apply for a MOC NOM based on where you live. Even if you find statistics that show how competitive your particular area was in the past, what would you plan to do differently as a current applicant? I doubt your parents are going to move to the other side of the country just because it appears there are less competitive areas elsewhere. Better to focus on the things you can control since you have no idea how many others are applying during this current cycle or how 'competitive' any of them are.
 
Yeah as stated above this is one of those things where that information doesn’t really help. The only scenario where I could see this being relevant is maybe if your parents are divorced and live in separate congressional districts and you can choose which to consider as your residence. I remember seeing a congressional research report years ago that had the number nominated to each SA from each district in the country. It might be outdated now but if you spend some time on google maybe you’d conjure something.

But again it probably isn’t useful information! Whether your district is competitive or not, you still must take nothing for granted, do your best on your application, and have solid plan Bs/Cs in place. Even if you were the only one applying from your district, what if they don’t find you qualified academically or medically for whatever reason. Or if you were in the most competitive district in the country, you still would give it a shot because the only way you definitely WON’T get in is by not applying.
 
I would also think your BGO will have a good idea of the number of applicants. My son's BGO told him our state has about 900 applicants to USNA and about 40 get appointments. When I did the math on 40 appts, that was just about in line with our states population relative to the total US population. That information, while interesting, wasn't really relevant to my son's application.
 
When competing for one nomination in your district, it only takes one candidate with superior credentials vs. yours to make it a competitive district. Eyes in the boat. Focus on what you can control.
 
It doesn't make any difference, besides they are all competitive. Control everything you can and put your best foot forward.
 
My kid's. The most competitive ever. Because it includes Annapolis in its jurisdiction. 🤣

(MD - district 03)
 
What is said above is very accurate. Many years ago, I had a candidate with divorced parents, one from a VERY competitive district and one from a (at best) medium competitive district. He obviously chose the "less competitive" one. He got multiple nominations but no appointment because there were people more competitive than he was.

Clearly, those in less populous or otherwise less "competitive" areas, have an advantage in securing a nom. But that doesn't always translate into an appointment. IOW, even if your family was willing to move to North Dakota, you only need to have 3 people more competitive than you in the entire state (who win the 3 slates) and you may lose out.

It is also true that those in hyper-competitive areas do well in the national pool (those with noms who don't win their slates) and/or are very competitive for a Presidential appointment (for those eligible). So, it may be better to be 7/10 on a slate in a super-competitive area than being 2/10 in a less competitive area.

In the end, make yourself the best candidate you can. It's all you can do.
 
A fairly decent barometer would be total involvement in JROTC. Simple math would let you know that more JROTC cadets means more service academy applicants. We have 150 cadets at our high school with a total of 1300 students. Its like that all over NorthWest Florida. But we have like 5 huge bases for every branch, so our area is highly competitive. What area is the best; only admission committee would know.
 
usna1985 said:
It is also true that those in hyper-competitive areas do well in the national pool (those with noms who don't win their slates) and/or are very competitive for a Presidential appointment (for those eligible). So, it may be better to be 7/10 on a slate in a super-competitive area than being 2/10 in a less competitive area.
Click to expand...

I just went back and looked at my MOC's press release from June regarding appointments to the Service Academies from the district. The total number was Twenty Nine with Seventeen accepted to USMA* and Nine into USNA. I think that there were two slates to USMA this year and one to USNA. When we did interviews in the fall the Academy with the most applicants in the district was USNA. Considering that most of the appointments were from the National Pools, I'd venture that it is pretty competitive.

As for the immediately prior comment, I know of one high school in the district with a JROTC unit (a VoTech) and nobody from there was listed among the appointees.

* Seventeen accepted into USMA was tied for number one in the US this year.
 
Your MOC’s office may publish the number of applications they received by academy, and that will give you an idea about how competitive your district is.

The most competitive districts sometimes limit their applicants to apply for only one academy nomination, so that would give you a clue.

Knowing how competitive your district is could possibly help you, mainly if you are applying to more than one academy. For example, if your MOC receives a lot more applications for one particular academy than the others, then your chances of receiving a nomination to that one could be lower. This may influence which nomination to apply for if you are one of those kids who are on the fence about which one is your top choice.
 
All of the conjecture really is a mute point. No one knows from one year to the next who your competitors are. Maybe statistically your district isn’t competitive and then, bam! USNA has an active BGO and a great outreach for STEM and NASS and suddenly you have multiple applicants.

Redistricting happens.

You cannot control this. Ever. No matter what the prior stats are.

You can only put the best application forward you can and prepare and nail your interviews, while being able to articulate a desire to serve that is backed up by your plan B applications and application results.
 
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