Don't mix apples (Nomination academies; West Point, Annapolis, Merchant marines, and Air Force), with oranges (Non-Nomination academies; Coast Guard). The fact is; while MOST MOC's no longer RANK their slate with a "Principle" nominee,,,,, SOME STILL DO. Most give a slate of 10 to the respective academy, and have them choose the one that scores the HIGHEST on the academy's scoring. The MOC is there to provide a list of 10. However, if the MOC DOES RANK their slate, and they have an open slot, and the nominee is qualified in ALL areas of the academy's criteria, then that Principle nominee is guaranteed the appointment.
Now the coast guard and the merchant marines can't physically do this. It's not possible. There's 453 representatives alone. These academies don't have that many slots. The Merchant Marines do use nominations, but they do the "Competitive" process. "Best overall scores, from that MOC's slate, get the open slots". That's also how the majority of Army/Navy/Air Force MOC slots are filled. But the fact remains that they CAN rank their slate and offer a "Principle Nominee". Our last state's representative ALWAYS ranked her slate of ten. She believed it was HER responsibility to say who deserves the appointment. "Obviously they all have to be academy qualified". The most recent representative, gives a slate of 10 to the academy, and allows them to choose.
This is NOT a problem with the nomination process. Many have rationalized allowing the academy to choose, by saying it brings in the BEST from each state/district. Truth is, it is the MOC's responsibility to put "Their Best" into the academy. They have given back that responsibility to the academy because like MOST of our congressmen and senators, they are derelict in their duties. But they'll lie and say they are trusting the academy. If that was true, then there'd be absolutely NO reason for a MOC interview. Everyone gets an ALO interview. Have the academies ensure that they have 5 from each representative at the academy at one time, 5 from each senator, 100 each year from presidential, etc.... and let the academy just choose the best from all the applications and ALO/MALO/BGO interviews. Don't need nominations. The reason behind Nominations, was because it's the MOC's Responsibility to choose the best from their state that they want at the academy.
What is troubling is the coast guard minimums you mentioned. I hope these aren't actual numbers. Anyone can get into the coast guard with these numbers.
If you are the son of an Admiral, then you are automatically accept as long as you meet the "minimum" requirements such as SAT math of 400, reading at 350, writing at 200, GPA at 2.5 etc...
Hell, the merchant marines, Minimum qualifying scores for the SAT Reasoning Test are 510 for Critical Reading and 560 Math. Actually, I looked up the coast guard. They specifically say that they DON'T HAVE MINIMUM STANDARDS. Damn!!!! Granted, those they are accepting have decent scores, but the other branches are pretty proud of saying you'll have at least e.g. 25 ACT in basket weaving or 560 SAT underwater painting.