How big of a factor is the competitiveness of your district?

Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard

Bancroft Escapee
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Got my TWE from USNA today much to my dismay. Considering that I surpassed the average academic and extracurricular stats reported in the 2020 class profile, I am wondering if maybe it just came down to the slate, as I have heard that my district (NY-4) is one of the most competitive in the country, and if I had lived someplace else perhaps I would have been accepted. I have already decided that I will reapply next year, but I'm really not sure how I could improve my chances further if I'm still going to be pitted against another overachiever again. Since the lease is up on my flat this year, I may move a few towns over to a new district if that helps. How can competitiveness for a particular district be measured? I'm thinking school performance but what else is a factor? Thanks and good luck to all in achieving your goals.
 
The competition in your district is the biggest unknown, has a large impact on what happens and cannot be predicted year to year. Areas with higher populations typically are more competitive because you have more people to compete against but it only takes one person applying to make your district tough in any given year. There are always exceptions, but most individuals get an appointed from a competitive slate. If you only have one nomination, you are only going to compete on one slate. If you are not a super candidate that just had an even better super candidate on your slate, coming of the NWL as a high school student is a uphill battle. Moving congressional districts may or may not help you next year because you just do not know.

You will hear that academies love re-applicants. What people should be saying is that objectively, the academies value a successful semester of college and the scoring system gives additional points that are not available to high school students. This is what makes it difficult for a high school student to compete with the college students of the NWL and service connected nominations.

The best advice I can give is to do an honest self-evaluation on what your application was missing. You can follow up with admissions, but if you are honest with yourself, you will most likely come to the same conclusion. If you are lacking in one of the area you will have to do extra work over the next nine months to improve those areas. You also should go to college and join an ROTC program. ROTC cadets are eligible for a service related nomination and appointment. You get another slate to compete on. You need to do well in challenging classes similar to what you would see at the academy. There is a sticky about the steps to re-apply, but basically the process resets and you have to start over including applying for nominations. There is a bunch of good information in that post, but the bottom line is that you need to have had a strong high school career and maintain that level of excellence in college. If one area of your application is below average, you will have to do extra work to bring it up.
 
I read somewhere on-line that NY-13 and some areas in Brooklyn have gone for a year with no candidates or very few applying to any of the academies. I don't know where you are looking to move, but the city is much more vibrant than Long Island(I am originally from LI).
 
My understanding is that certain districts are very competitive but there are states that have very few nominations because no one really applies. Also affecting who gets in is how the MOCs in your state work together or not. In Florida, we've been told that they do compare Noms and slates and try not to duplicate SAs Noms and slates for the same applicant but many other MOCs do not. It also matters how many applicants that MOC already has in the Academy. There is a limit as to how many they can have at one time. There are just so many variables that are unknown in any given year.
 
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@JaxNavyMom111 - Best avatar of a SA candidate parent EVER!
 
USMA 1994 said:
The competition in your district is the biggest unknown, has a large impact on what happens and cannot be predicted year to year. Areas with higher populations typically are more competitive because you have more people to compete against but it only takes one person applying to make your district tough in any given year. There are always exceptions, but most individuals get an appointed from a competitive slate. If you only have one nomination, you are only going to compete on one slate. If you are not a super candidate that just had an even better super candidate on your slate, coming of the NWL as a high school student is a uphill battle. Moving congressional districts may or may not help you next year because you just do not know.

You will hear that academies love re-applicants. What people should be saying is that objectively, the academies value a successful semester of college and the scoring system gives additional points that are not available to high school students. This is what makes it difficult for a high school student to compete with the college students of the NWL and service connected nominations.

The best advice I can give is to do an honest self-evaluation on what your application was missing. You can follow up with admissions, but if you are honest with yourself, you will most likely come to the same conclusion. If you are lacking in one of the area you will have to do extra work over the next nine months to improve those areas. You also should go to college and join an ROTC program. ROTC cadets are eligible for a service related nomination and appointment. You get another slate to compete on. You need to do well in challenging classes similar to what you would see at the academy. There is a sticky about the steps to re-apply, but basically the process resets and you have to start over including applying for nominations. There is a bunch of good information in that post, but the bottom line is that you need to have had a strong high school career and maintain that level of excellence in college. If one area of your application is below average, you will have to do extra work to bring it up.
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Thank you for your detailed reply. Do you know if it is not too late to join an ROTC program in time for class of 2022 admissions? I thought the deadline for ROTC scholarships had passed, or is that something separate?
 
It is not too late to join xROTC as a non-contract cadet or midshipman, but it IS indeed too late for ROTC scholarships for Fall of 2017.

You can apply for a scholarship and reapply to the academies while participating in xROTC.

My DS was a non contract Army ROTC cadet after receiving a TWE from USNA. Before the end of his first year he was awarded a 3 and a half year AROTC scholarship.
 
Kierkegaard said:
USMA 1994 said:
The competition in your district is the biggest unknown, has a large impact on what happens and cannot be predicted year to year. Areas with higher populations typically are more competitive because you have more people to compete against but it only takes one person applying to make your district tough in any given year. There are always exceptions, but most individuals get an appointed from a competitive slate. If you only have one nomination, you are only going to compete on one slate. If you are not a super candidate that just had an even better super candidate on your slate, coming of the NWL as a high school student is a uphill battle. Moving congressional districts may or may not help you next year because you just do not know.

You will hear that academies love re-applicants. What people should be saying is that objectively, the academies value a successful semester of college and the scoring system gives additional points that are not available to high school students. This is what makes it difficult for a high school student to compete with the college students of the NWL and service connected nominations.

The best advice I can give is to do an honest self-evaluation on what your application was missing. You can follow up with admissions, but if you are honest with yourself, you will most likely come to the same conclusion. If you are lacking in one of the area you will have to do extra work over the next nine months to improve those areas. You also should go to college and join an ROTC program. ROTC cadets are eligible for a service related nomination and appointment. You get another slate to compete on. You need to do well in challenging classes similar to what you would see at the academy. There is a sticky about the steps to re-apply, but basically the process resets and you have to start over including applying for nominations. There is a bunch of good information in that post, but the bottom line is that you need to have had a strong high school career and maintain that level of excellence in college. If one area of your application is below average, you will have to do extra work to bring it up.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your detailed reply. Do you know if it is not too late to join an ROTC program in time for class of 2022 admissions? I thought the deadline for ROTC scholarships had passed, or is that something separate?
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Actually, congressional districts all have around the same amount of people. More populated areas have more districts. Two things effect the competitiveness of the district; demographics, and proximity to military bases. Many kids and their families don't know that the academies are some of the most prestigious schools in the country, nor do they know how they work. Others just have no interest. Rural areas and sometimes urban areas can have less people applying. On the other hand suburban areas, and particularly those areas familiar with the value of an academy education, will have an abundance of applicants with the highest level of competitiveness for admission to any college.

The competitiveness of any district will change from year to year though. Just depends on the kids applying. And the least competitive district can have a couple gems on a given year who have to fight it out for a single spot.

The objective of any candidate should be to present an application which would win a spot even off the NWL should the moc slots be awarded to others who have a better application.

ACT scores at or above 32, particularly in math and English. Class standing in top 10-15%. Multiple varsity team sports, and maybe team captain. Officer position in student council or NHS. Working a job while doing everything else. Great CFA scores. Solid teacher evaluations. Are you there?? If not, worry about getting there, and don't spend another second worrying about the competition.
 
brovol said:
Kierkegaard said:
USMA 1994 said:
The objective of any candidate should be to present an application which would win a spot even off the NWL should the moc slots be awarded to others who have a better application.

ACT scores at or above 32, particularly in math and English. Class standing in top 10-15%. Multiple varsity team sports, and maybe team captain. Officer position in student council or NHS. Working a job while doing everything else. Great CFA scores. Solid teacher evaluations. Are you there?? If not, worry about getting there, and don't spend another second worrying about the competition.
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Brovol, I find myself agreeing 200% with everything you write. We must be on the same brain wave!
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AROTC-dad said:
It is not too late to join xROTC as a non-contract cadet or midshipman, but it IS indeed too late for ROTC scholarships for Fall of 2017.

You can apply for a scholarship and reapply to the academies while participating in xROTC.

My DS was a non contract Army ROTC cadet after receiving a TWE from USNA. Before the end of his first year he was awarded a 3 and a half year AROTC scholarship.
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Does it matter which branch of ROTC it is? The school I'm most likely attending offers just Air Force and Army programs. Could they be a path to USNA or only their respective academies?
 
galileo.galilei said:
brovol said:
Kierkegaard said:
USMA 1994 said:
The objective of any candidate should be to present an application which would win a spot even off the NWL should the moc slots be awarded to others who have a better application.

ACT scores at or above 32, particularly in math and English. Class standing in top 10-15%. Multiple varsity team sports, and maybe team captain. Officer position in student council or NHS. Working a job while doing everything else. Great CFA scores. Solid teacher evaluations. Are you there?? If not, worry about getting there, and don't spend another second worrying about the competition.
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Brovol, I find myself agreeing 200% with everything you write. We must be on the same brain wave!
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If you find yourself agreeing with me frequently you may wish to get therapy, and avoiding discussions with my wife. Lol
 
As stated above MOC Representatives are equally balanced by population per district; more populated states make it much more competitive for the 2 Senators' nominations however.

USMA and USNA are both very close to the most densely populated and most affluent areas in the nation; this has a direct effect on local SA applicant pools who also seek Ivy League and similar caliber admissions. Affluence of districts nationwide directly correlates to academic achievement as a function of school spending, peer group, and family support. So yes; certain districts are inherently more competitive than others. I recall an example from CT where a 1500 SAT was needed to 'win the district' where just 30 miles away a 1300 would do it.

Go to your best Plan B school, study and workout like crazy, and reapply next year. Best of Luck !
 
It's not a head stuck between two rolls of TP?

Moderators and forum friends, please excuse my childish post today. The weather is very nice and my brain is having some weird reaction...
 
common sense dictates that the more applicants the slimmer the chances. I live in the district that includes Annapolis, Maryland and there are typically about 300 applicants for 15 nomination slots each year (5 for each school). And of course keep in mind that a nomination is not a guarantee of getting in, about a third of nominated students are actually accepted. USNA gets around 19,000 applicants for 1,100 plebe slots which works out to an acceptance rate of less than 6%
 
The best way for a re applicant to improve their file is to retake and retake the ACT/SAT.
Also, make As and Bs in your college classes to show that you can succeed in college.
 
I live in the district that includes Annapolis, Maryland and there are typically about 300 applicants for 15 nomination slots each year (5 for each school).
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Actually, each MOC typically has one vacancy each year (sometimes 2) and can nominate up to 10 people for each vacancy. So, with 2 Senators and one Representative, candidates are typically competing for 1/30 slots. Of course, Senators cover the entire state so earning a Senator's nom is by definition more competitive.

USNA gets around 19,000 applicants for 1,100 plebe slots which works out to an acceptance rate of less than 6%
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True . . . and not true. 17,000-19,000 candidates START the process. This could mean nothing more than attending NASS or completing an interest card. They may never do anything more to further their application. A much smaller number actually complete their applications -- it varies from year to year, but it's well under 50%. Of that, a smaller number is triple qualified and an even smaller number is triple Q'ed with a nom. So, if you are 3 Q'ed with a nom, your chances for an appointment are much better. Though many great candidates still receive turndowns, it's nowhere close to 94%.

As to the OP's question, with smaller and smaller class sizes (for USNA at least), it becomes increasingly important to win one's MOC slate. You are correct that it's more difficult to do so in a very competitive congressional district. However, it is also more likely that the #2, #3, etc. candidates in those districts will make it out of the National Pool. Moving to a less competitive district is great, if you end up being #1. That said, it only takes one person that year to edge you out . . . and you can't predict whether that will happen. So moving for the sole reason of improving one's position on the MOC slate is a very dicey proposition.
 
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