From a competitive district?

[bookreader]

Just curious about this. I have read several posts here where the poster will state that they are from a competitive district. My question is how do you know if you are from a competitive district?

We are from NJ - district 7. My guess is that we are in a competitive district but I don't know this for a fact. My son has already been accepted to WP but I am curious about this since I've seen it mentioned often on this forum.

Thanks in advance.

 

[nukepharm]

I too am curious about this. I have asked before, but never really resolved it. At the MOC event it seemed to me that it was very competitive, but how do you know? OH -1

 

[frenzymando]

If you live by a military base your district is likely to be competitive.

Since you are in NJ, your district may be competitive since the test scores in NJ as a whole are very high.

 

[USNAhopeful88]

I think any district in Virginia, Maryland, Texas and California are considered to be extremely competitive as well as most New England and southern states. Some states on the west and midwest aren't always as competitive. You can usually determine by how many kids apply for noms. From your area i believe. Some districts will have hundreds and some will have like 10.


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[bookreader]

We have been to several Academy Days over the past few years (in NJ) and they have always been packed. When my son went for this interview with his MOC, the place was also packed with other students. I believe that this MOC had to schedule two days for all the interviews.

This made me suspect that we are in a competitive area, but I wondered if there was a more definitive way to know.

 

[845something]

There is no definitive way to know about competitiveness, but as illuded to it is a combination of number of applicants and how strong those candidates are when looking against a national pool. You may get an impression to the number of candidates applying; however, you often don't know how many want a particular academy. Some districts may have lots of candidates, but West Point may be the top choice for only a few or nearly all. Next you'd be surprised how many candidates have no real shot at earning a nomination/becoming qualified. Usually a district will end up with a distribution in the quality of a candidate to include some on the below the qualification level to that one that could compete nationally. The more competitive a district, the more of those nationally competitive candidates there are.

Putting that together, you can literally have neighboring districts where there is little to no competition for a particular academy in one district and the other that ends up with a majority of candidates appointed. It's most dramatic in urban areas, but there are some states that you can see it at play. It is not a function of proximity to military bases, which although they help with concentrating the interest in a small group directly around the base (dependents of service members), most people, and high schoolers in particular, have no interaction with anyone from the base. Go 20 miles and that increases exponentially.

Add in any given year there could be variations in candidates applying and a historically easy district could become really difficult to gain admission from if there is that one stellar candidate. That is why everyone on this forum will tell you to control what you can - your own application - and make it as strong as possible while always having a backup plan.

 

[waggingtails]

NJ-7 is a highly competitive district because it takes in a number of affluent communities with high achieving high schools such as Millburn, and well educated families, resulting in very high test scores for its applicants.

 

[MemberLG]

For me, the best way to define a competitive district was how hard is to get a nomination. Certain districts in MD seldom give out all 10 nominations for West Point due to lack of candidates asking for West Point nomination, whereas in the same district many candidates will get turn down for Navy nomination.

 

[bookreader]

Since the Naval academy is in MD, I guess I"m not too surprised that there would be more interest in that academy over WP.

I just looked up NJ congressional district 7. I had no idea that it was so large - and wealthy. Yes, SAT scores are high here (and almost all kids have extra SAT classes/tutors). We are also not that far from WP, so I thought that this might also increase the competition for WP.