Does there being recruited athletes from my area lower my chances at appointment?

J

JD25USNAprospect

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Mar 25, 2020
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I have a completed my application for the class of 2025 and am currently waiting patiently to hear from USNA and nomination sources. My question is simple and exactly as the title implies. I have seen two students from the high school class of 2021 in my area commit to USNA (though not my high school, they are in the same congressional district). How does this impact my chances?

It is important not to dwell on things we cannot control. I cannot control where I live or the success of those around me, but I feel motivated to seek some wisdom from those who have participated in/observed this process for a while! Whether it is a direct answer to the question I named this discussion by, or any advice about not being a recruited athlete in a very competitive area, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
 
One answer could be this: depends on which sport. And by this, I mean that my own sons sport required him to apply for regular noms and he obtained 3. I also strongly believe that he would have gotten those 3 not as a recruit, too, as he was highly competitive. And received all 3 (younger brother, not a recruit, also received 2 noms). BUT, some athletes are blue chipped in. Perhaps going via NAPS, or with one of the sports “chips”.

Also...and this is key....students ‘committing’ doesn’t mean they have an appointment. They may not be 3q. And as already stated, they may...but via a different vehicle than through a normal nom slate appointment. Like NAPS, or a coaches “blue chip”.

So...it depends!

Adding, you can Google each nom source for their press released slate of candidates and see if the athlete is on the slate. Then you will know if you are competing against them on that slate. Or not. If you aren’t sure if they publish their list, look for prior years to see if they do. And when. All of ours in our state publish their slates.
 
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My son had a recruited football player in his district, and didn’t worry much about it. He got his nom and appointment.

We don’t know if the athlete got a nom or appointment.
 
Undetermined.

The MOC can list 10 nominees - that does not eliminate you.

Of the 10, all 10 could legitimately receive appointments, but would be charged behind the scenes to other nominating authorities.

Any of the 3 candidates could also receive a nom from a Senator, the Vice President, or even a Superintendent.

Other local candidate success is not necessarily impacting on your own success because there are no hard geographic limitations - only a fairly hard limit on the TOTAL number of appointees that can be in the class.

I have seen 5 from a single high school enter a USAFA class in a single admissions cycle. That breakdown was 1 football, 2 baseball, 1 band, and 1 IB scholar.

Like you said - focus on what you control, you do you, and see where the chips lay come June.
 
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JD25USNAprospect said:
I have a completed my application for the class of 2025 and am currently waiting patiently to hear from USNA and nomination sources. My question is simple and exactly as the title implies. I have seen two students from the high school class of 2021 in my area commit to USNA (though not my high school, they are in the same congressional district). How does this impact my chances?

It is important not to dwell on things we cannot control. I cannot control where I live or the success of those around me, but I feel motivated to seek some wisdom from those who have participated in/observed this process for a while! Whether it is a direct answer to the question I named this discussion by, or any advice about not being a recruited athlete in a very competitive area, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
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Your question reminds me of an issue that both of my kids faced. At the time of our first, we speculated that it would negatively impact the chance of appointment. In the end, we had no way of knowing exactly what had occurred in terms of charging appointments to the MOC nomination. My conclusion was that it was a fools errand to worry about the other candidates in our district. That doesn’t mean there will be no impact, but I think the best approach is to put worrying about other local candidates out of mind. Second kid had multiple kids to same academy go from our district. Again, we really don’t know how that played out. And we truly did not care. Try not to worry about this.
 
justdoit19 said:
One answer could be this: depends on which sport. And by this, I mean that my own sons sport required him to apply for regular noms and he obtained 3. I also strongly believe that he would have gotten those 3 not as a recruit, too, as he was highly competitive. And received all 3 (younger brother, not a recruit, also received 2 noms). BUT, some athletes are blue chipped in. Perhaps going via NAPS, or with one of the sports “chips”.

Also...and this is key....students ‘committing’ doesn’t mean they have an appointment. They may not be 3q. And as already stated, they may...but via a different vehicle than through a normal nom slate appointment. Like NAPS, or a coaches “blue chip”.

So...it depends!

Adding, you can Google each nom source for their press released slate of candidates and see if the athlete is on the slate. Then you will know if you are competing against them on that slate. Or not. If you aren’t sure if they publish their list, look for prior years to see if they do. And when. All of ours in our state publish their slates.
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Thank you very much for the detailed response. I will be sure to see if I can find press releases - truth be told I didn't know that was something nomination sources did!
 
JD25USNAprospect said:
Thank you very much for the detailed response. I will be sure to see if I can find press releases - truth be told I didn't know that was something nomination sources did!
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Ours does. Maybe yours doesn’t. They can do whatever they want, they are all run individually. And it wont mean anything, similar to what other posters have said. But it will satisfy your curiosity if you are competing with them on your slate.
 
shiner said:
Undetermined.

The MOC can list 10 nominees - that does not eliminate you.

Of the 10, all 10 could legitimately receive appointments, but would be charged behind the scenes to other nominating authorities.

Any of the 3 candidates could also receive a nom from a Senator, the Vice President, or even a Superintendent.

Other local candidate success is not necessarily impacting on your own success because there are no hard geographic limitations - only a fairly hard limit on the TOTAL number of appointees that can be in the class.

I have seen 5 from a single high school enter a USAFA class in a single admissions cycle. That breakdown was 1 football, 2 baseball, 1 band, and 1 IB scholar.

Like you said - focus on what you control, you do you, and see where the chips lay come June.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the response, it really helps to put things in perspective. It is definitely easy to let things I cannot control get in my head during this waiting process, but thoughts and discussions like this challenge me to rise above and continue improving my mindset. Thank you!
 
justdoit19 said:
Ours does. Maybe yours doesn’t. They can do whatever they want, they are all run individually. And it wont mean anything, similar to what other posters have said. But it will satisfy your curiosity if you are competing with them on your slate.
Click to expand...
Either way, thank you for the information!
 
SA-parent said:
Your question reminds me of an issue that both of my kids faced. At the time of our first, we speculated that it would negatively impact the chance of appointment. In the end, we had no way of knowing exactly what had occurred in terms of charging appointments to the MOC nomination. My conclusion was that it was a fools errand to worry about the other candidates in our district. That doesn’t mean there will be no impact, but I think the best approach is to put worrying about other local candidates out of mind. Second kid had multiple kids to same academy go from our district. Again, we really don’t know how that played out. And we truly did not care. Try not to worry about this.
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Thank you for the response. It is easy to get distracted with worry, but everyone is running their own race and I all I can do is focus on my own.
 
There were 2 athletes that "committed" in our district so we wondered the exact same thing. However my DS received a principal nom and just accepted an appointment so in the end it didn't impact him. I know each case is different but don't get discouraged. Good luck!
 
An athlete can commit, and that is certainly a meaningful thing to them and reassuring to the SA’s athletics program, but the athlete must be found fully qualified and have a nom from one of the several sources they either apply for or are managed by the SA. Or they decide to send them to prep, and the next year, they must be fully qualified with a nom.

There is also no way of knowing what other noms the athlete has obtained.

Eyes in the boat, follow your own course, don’t look right or left, for here be [Stress] Dragons. Hic sunt dracones.
 
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Just speaking from my personal experience—my area was pretty competitive for nominations. I intended to play a sport at Navy (not a blue chipped athlete) and still another person from my high school got in the same year. We graduated high school together and did plebe summer in the same wing! And I believe at least two other people from our district got in as well. Anything’s possible! 😄 Good luck and keep us posted!!
 
gabby1723 said:
Just speaking from my personal experience—my area was pretty competitive for nominations. I intended to play a sport at Navy (not a blue chipped athlete) and still another person from my high school got in the same year. We graduated high school together and did plebe summer in the same wing! And I believe at least two other people from our district got in as well. Anything’s possible! 😄 Good luck and keep us posted!!
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To keep you posted - I have received a nomination from my PA Senator! I got a 'No' from the other Senator and I'm still waiting to hear back from my Representative and USNA itself!
 
I'm a teacher and my district sent two students to the academy in one year. One was a recruited football player who was a good kid but football was his entrance ticket, the other was a female XC runner who was a great kid but average runner. So in short everyone who is taken takes someone's spot but it's possible to have several from the same district or area gain entrance.
 
thateuropalegendlad said:
Also from PA for USNA....which senator was yes/no and when did you hear from Senator Casey?
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Hi!! I received a no from Toomey in a letter on 1/19/2021. Then on my USNA portal yesterday there was a nomination listed from PA Senator 2 - which could only be Casey. However, I haven't heard any official word from Casey yet...the date received was listed as 1/19/2021 so I figured something is in the mail... While I am excited, I am a little anxious to have some official word from Senator Casey. Have you heard from either Senator?

Which congressional district are you from in PA?
 
JD25USNAprospect said:
Hi!! I received a no from Toomey in a letter on 1/19/2021. Then on my USNA portal yesterday there was a nomination listed from PA Senator 2 - which could only be Casey. However, I haven't heard any official word from Casey yet...the date received was listed as 1/19/2021 so I figured something is in the mail... While I am excited, I am a little anxious to have some official word from Senator Casey. Have you heard from either Senator?

Which congressional district are you from in PA?
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I actually just received word from Representative Houlahan (PA06) and have received her nomination - if that happens to be where you are from!
 
JD25USNAprospect said:
To keep you posted - I have received a nomination from my PA Senator! I got a 'No' from the other Senator and I'm still waiting to hear back from my Representative and USNA itself!
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Final update: I have received an offer of appointment! Some of the recruited athletes and I have already reached out to one another. Very excited to know some people from home before going into plebe summer.

Quite funny to look back on this forum to see the small things I was worrying about!

I am so happy that it worked out and I am so excited for the challenges that lie ahead! Beat Army!
 
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