How competitive is it to gain a nomination in Indiana?

SamAca10

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This goes for all of the academies. How many people apply? How many people are successful in obtaining a nomination?
 
This is a great question to ask your senator and congressman. Their aids will have the exact #'s for you.
 
Mom is correct, ask the MOC. We were AD and did not know which state we should ask for a nom so we called the state we had "AF residency", which was AK. The MOC said they have 40(sen) or so every yr. Of course we had to apply from NC, which stated that the yr before they had 170(he still got all 3 noms from the state...it is about your record, if it shines, you will get it) Think about it will vary, because it is going to be based on how many Cong are in your state, if you have 20 cong, all of those kids that apply to them will apply to the Sen., thus reducing your chances for a Sen. This is also why states like NY and TX say if you get one nom from a source we want to know because they want to spread the wealth.

Again, I would call the cong., ask them, then you can do some guesstimating on how many will apply for the sen.

Also it will differ for demand by different states, i.e. CO is right next to the AFA, they have an incredibly high demand for AF nom. NY is going to be the same for USMA, MD for USNA. Then look at some areas within the state. Pensacola FL has pilot training so they get a lot for both USNA and AFA. At DS's high school, nobody applied for USMA, 7 applied for the AFA. We were stationed right outside of SJAFB


BTW for the class of 12, the terre haute representative submitted only 1 name for the AFA. Now we don't know if only 1 person applied, or if he decided only the 1 student was worthy.
 
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Pima is right about competitiveness for certain states(and about the rest). I live in Florida, and I know 5 or 6 kids who have interest in the academies, and all of them have interest in USAFA and USNA. It seems a lot of kids like AFA for some reason.

If you ask the question about how competitive it is to obtain a nom to your sen. congressman, will they tell you how competitive it is to obtain one in your district, or just your state?

USMAalltheway
 
Your senator will state on avg or last yr they had XXX applicants. They may also say this yr we will have 2 slates (the SAs can have 5 cadets charged)..theortically they could have more, i.e. they have 2 available in June, and come the end of BCT their appt DORS, and that means they could appt 3, they do not have to have 5 at anytime, it is just their max.

Your Cong's office will also tell you how many appts they have for 14. I will state for us the congressional district was gerrymandered, he was the only one in an hs class of 298, that belonged to a different MOC...his MOC's district covered 70-100 miles north. The other was the rest of our city and 20 miles away, different county. Nobody from our county and Congressman Jones received a nom, DS was the only one that received it from Butterfield. In our County with 2 MOC's, 7 AFA applicants and only 1 got it.

The MOC's can opt to do one slate of 10 or 2 slates of ten if they have the ability to have 2 appts. Typically they will do the 20. They will also tell you how they submitted the list...i.e. alphabetically, principal, or principal with alt. Only about 30% of MOC's will do principal. Sen. Dole had 2 slates, when DS applied,the list was submitted alphabetically, being at the end of the alphabet he was on the second slate. The good news, we had 18 out of Doles 20 that received appts (some were Pres, some were cong, and there was also Burrs since they don't talk). The original was 16, I know that it went to 18, becasue DS opted ROTC over AFA, and he was the 2nd to do it and they wanted to exit interview him why he went ROTC over AFA. Both him and the other candidate did it for the same reason or so Dole's office said. They were military children for their last 18 yrs and opted to be college kids with a committment to the AF, instead of the feeling that they were now ADAF.
 
The simplest answer to the age old questions of "how competitive is it to get a nom?" or "am I a competitive candidate?" is IT DEPENDS. It depends upon who applies this year. Are they super stud mathletes as well as athletes? Has there been a bunch of recruiting in your area/state that has raised the level of interest in SA's? Keep in mind that it is all relative. You are compared to your fellow applicants. Some years your app may stack up better, others not so much.

One thing's for certain.....do all you can to improve, highlight your application. You cannot control anyone else's. Have your app reviewed by someone who knows you well and someone who does not know you well. Sometimes, a stellar candidate does not get that "stellar-ness" transferred to the paper application! Dig deep to answer the questions and make sure your answers reflect your individuality.

I review apps annually for a national scholarship in my field. 98 % of the letters of rec and the applicant's answers to specific questions are so similar it is eery. Think long and hard about what you put on paper, both to the SA and the MOC!
 
jenny is right, nobody can give you a clear cut answer there are just too many variables...if you asked that ? and said I have a 950 SAT, we would probably say no way no matter where you are from. If you say I have a 1400, 9 APs (all scored 5), Class President, Valedictorian, 300 hrs volunteer, but no hs sports and reside in MD, only applied for USNA, than it becomes not so clear cut,
 
You live in Indiana too? I know three people interested in the AFA, two thinking about USNA, and three trying for USMA at my school alone (1400 students). Not sure how many are eligible for a nom, but that seems like a lot from one town.
 
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