Continue with Nomination Interview after appointment

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NavyUMO

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My DS has appointments to all three SAs and is still formulating his decision on which to attend. He received his nomination through the disabled veteran category. He still has both senate nominations still in the works (interviewed at both and is waiting on a final decision due out in December. He also has our Representative's interview scheduled for 12/2. He is inclined to let all know (they should already know but just in case) that he has nominations to all three. Is that a wise course? I am always disinclined to "burn a potential bridge" but maybe I am just paranoid!
 
If he has full-fledged offers of appointment in hand, then his work is done. No need for any other noms. He should focus his energy on choosing the ideal fit, reaching his ideal fitness, and enjoying what remains of senior year. Close the loop by canceling the nom process with MOCs, so that others can benefit from his good fortune. Any noms he got now would be superfluous — bragging rights, if you will, and that’s just not necessary. Well done by him.
 
Strong disagree here. The SAs all recommend applying for all noms that you qualify for. They want this applicant enough to offer appointment at this time with just the one nomination in hand but MIGHT want to charge the actual appointment to a different source.
There is a maximum number that can be appointed with this nom. Imagine a scenario where your DS is the best of 25 nominees that qualify for the disabled veteran nom (so far) . Admissions knows that it is very unlikely that enough better qualified folks will apply in the time left so they've made an offer. Note that there are at least 5 others that they want that they can't accommodate. Further imagine that your MOC's slate which has not been submitted yet will have only 5 applicants and your DS is the best of them. USNA might very well charge your DS to the MOC's acount so as to bring in one more from the disabled vets slate.
 
OldRetSWO said:
Strong disagree here. The SAs all recommend applying for all noms that you qualify for. They want this applicant enough to offer appointment at this time with just the one nomination in hand but MIGHT want to charge the actual appointment to a different source.
There is a maximum number that can be appointed with this nom. Imagine a scenario where your DS is the best of 25 nominees that qualify for the disabled veteran nom (so far) . Admissions knows that it is very unlikely that enough better qualified folks will apply in the time left so they've made an offer. Note that there are at least 5 others that they want that they can't accommodate. Further imagine that your MOC's slate which has not been submitted yet will have only 5 applicants and your DS is the best of them. USNA might very well charge your DS to the MOC's acount so as to bring in one more from the disabled vets slate.
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??? he already has appointments to all three SAs.
 
OldRetSWO said:
Strong disagree here. The SAs all recommend applying for all noms that you qualify for. They want this applicant enough to offer appointment at this time with just the one nomination in hand but MIGHT want to charge the actual appointment to a different source.
There is a maximum number that can be appointed with this nom. Imagine a scenario where your DS is the best of 25 nominees that qualify for the disabled veteran nom (so far) . Admissions knows that it is very unlikely that enough better qualified folks will apply in the time left so they've made an offer. Note that there are at least 5 others that they want that they can't accommodate. Further imagine that your MOC's slate which has not been submitted yet will have only 5 applicants and your DS is the best of them. USNA might very well charge your DS to the MOC's acount so as to bring in one more from the disabled vets slate.
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100% agree. Provides more flexibility in terms of where they will assign the appointment in hand — re Disabled Vet nomination, or potentially MOC nominations.

The admission’s office always encourages applicants to pursue all nominations to which they are eligible.
 
NavyUMO said:
My DS has appointments to all three SAs and is still formulating his decision on which to attend. He received his nomination through the disabled veteran category. He still has both senate nominations still in the works (interviewed at both and is waiting on a final decision due out in December. He also has our Representative's interview scheduled for 12/2. He is inclined to let all know (they should already know but just in case) that he has nominations to all three. Is that a wise course? I am always disinclined to "burn a potential bridge" but maybe I am just paranoid!
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I would have your son ask admissions what they would like him to do. Last year my daughter reached out to both her BGO and her admissions counselor after receiving her offer of appointment to USNA asking whether she should withdraw her congressional nomination applications. She was told to keep her congressional nomination applications open. She was told she would not be hurting another candidates chances. For her representative interview the interviewer already knew about her offers of appointments and congratulated her before she had a chance to say anything and still asked her plenty of interview questions. For the Senator interview she told both interviewers when they asked her something at the beginning of the interview. They also congratulated her and continued with the interview. She did pick up a couple of more nominations from her representative.
 
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Some interesting alternate viewpoints here. If it were my kid, I’d ask them what the best use of their time was — given that they already had offers of appointment in hand, i.e. mission accomplished. Time is a precious and finite thing. In a world where we must always determine the best way to spend our time, I suspect there’ll be different answers depending on who you ask.
 
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I’d be inclined to advise your son to let the 2 Senate nominations processes play out to give the SAs more room to move things around if he does receive additional nominations

I think he might feel an “itchy kind of awkward” if he didn’t mention his 3 appointments to the MOC board on 12/2
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I think asking Admissions is the right thing to do. There really is no harm in continuing with each nominating source process. If no interview is required, all of the work has been completed. If an interview is required, it is another OPPORTUNITY for DS/DD to practice their professional skills and maybe take lessons learned from an earlier interview and apply them in subsequent interviews. If DS/DD is required to report or is asked about receiving an appointment, be truthful…and if the nominating source doesn’t nominate DS/DD, no harm no foul and if they do, then it’s one more egg in the basket. As mentioned above, it might also help other candidates receive an appointment, but that will always be an unknown.
 
It would be disingenuous to keep this information from MOC selection committees, particularly if directly asked. Not saying this is the case with the information provided, but something to consider.
 
Admissions wants you to apply for all the noms you can, even after an appointment, to give them flexibility. I personally strongly disagree with that. In the case above, seeking (and getting) another nom might free up a nom for another child of a disabled vet. But it would take away a nom from someone who only has MOC options. And there are a lot more of those. It also seems a bit unseemly to show up for a nom interview saying you already have an appointment. If I were on the MOC committee, my first question would be: “Why are you here [and wasting my time]?”

USNA gave this candidate an appointment, knowing they likely will have to charge that person to the disabled vet category. That was their choice. They could have waited to offer an appointment until the candidate had the opportunity to apply for additional noms.

Why should the candidate have to continue the nom process with no benefit to him/her and “waste” the time of the MOC committees - just to make life easier for USNA or any other SA?

As an aside, there will be plenty of time in life to practice interviews. Not a good enough reason, at least IMHO.

Obviously, divergent views on this topic. There is no “right” answer. The OP has been able to see/read these views and can now make a decision.
 
My DD has been appointed and will continue the interview process because it could free up her DAV nomination or MOC nom. Furthermore, adding additional interview experience will only help her moving forward and she recognises this.
 
usna1985 said:
Why should the candidate have to continue the nom process with no benefit to him/her and “waste” the time of the MOC committees - just to make life easier for USNA or any other SA?
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Is it really wasting the time? How many appointments are handed out before MOC interviews occur (most, if not practically all, happening prior to Dec). We can take the sample size from the forum and extrapolate it across the country…how many (on average) are we talking about per Senator or Congressman? Maybe one or two interviews…so 30-60 mins max you are saving?

MOCs are free to run their nomination selection process…if they don’t want someone in contention for a nomination if/when they receive an appointment, then they should make it clear in the nomination application instructions. This is the prerogative of the MOC and not the nomination panel.
 
I agree with USNA1985. My kid only qualifies for MOC or VP nom. Nothing else. He received his USAFA LOA after the Congressman's interview and was put on USNA slate but not USAFA even though he rated them both #1 on application and explained his desire to serve in either branch. Now he waits to see if he gets a Senator's nom which he did tell he had the LOA but majority of candidates in our state want USAFA so chances are against him to make a slate. He will be ecstatic to receive an appointment to either SA but if he ends up with neither, even with an LOA, because someone with a previous non-MOC appointment was put on the Congressman or Senators's slates pushing my kid or another highly qualified candidate off, then I don't see how this helps anybody? An appointment is secured. Let the others have a shot.
 
Swiss_Miss said:
I agree with USNA1985. My kid only qualifies for MOC or VP nom. Nothing else. He received his USAFA LOA after the Congressman's interview and was put on USNA slate but not USAFA even though he rated them both #1 on application and explained his desire to serve in either branch. Now he waits to see if he gets a Senator's nom which he did tell he had the LOA but majority of candidates in our state want USAFA so chances are against him to make a slate. He will be ecstatic to receive an appointment to either SA but if he ends up with neither, even with an LOA, because someone with a previous non-MOC appointment was put on the Congressman or Senators's slates pushing my kid or another highly qualified candidate off, then I don't see how this helps anybody? An appointment is secured. Let the others have a shot.
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While I understand the frustration - I would caution applicants to go in with two number ones. While it seems like a good approach, it is giving the MOC committee an out to handle it the way they did. Since USNA is a first choice for the applicant - they gave him what he wanted, allowing them to give USAFA to another candidate.

The situation where someone interviews with an appointment in hand is rare, and likely didn’t happen in your case.
 
usnabgo08 said:
Is it really wasting the time? How many appointments are handed out before MOC interviews occur (most, if not practically all, happening prior to Dec). We can take the sample size from the forum and extrapolate it across the country…how many (on average) are we talking about per Senator or Congressman? Maybe one or two interviews…so 30-60 mins max you are saving?

MOCs are free to run their nomination selection process…if they don’t want someone in contention for a nomination if/when they receive an appointment, then they should make it clear in the nomination application instructions. This is the prerogative of the MOC and not the nomination panel.
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30-60 mins max interview..... PLUS 4-5 hours of driving each way (for some candidates). Total - all day long. I agree with USNA1985.
 
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