How Do Nominations Work/When Will I Find Out If I am Competitive?

Y

YoitsFly

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Jul 29, 2022
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I recently received an LOA from a different service academy. I would be happy to attend that service academy, but USAFA is my top choice. I have my nomination interview for my senators and representative coming up and I selected USAFA as my number one choice for all 3 nomination sources. I saw something about a national pool with nominations, so how does that work? Do I just need to be top 10 in the nomination slate to get a nomination to the academy if I have an LOA, or do I have to be number 1, or do I just have to be top 10 in my district/state? Should I try to spread out my nominations and try to get a nomination for each academy from each source or keep my order how it is and leave USAFA as the top for all 3?

I'm just a little confused how this national pooling process works and what counts as a nomination. I do not want to receive a nomination for USAFA and be denied by the school while not receiving a nomination to my LOA academy and missing out on attending any service academy. When will I hear from USAFA if I am accepted/LOA/am competitive?

Thanks in advance.
 
You have many skeins of tangled thought going on in your pile of questions.

Let’s start with the last paragraph.

Realistically, it is quite possible to have an LOA and not be offered an appointment, because you don’t have a nom or are not fully qualified or don’t meet a condition stated in the LOA. It is also possible to have a nom for an academy and not be offered an appointment, even if fully qualified. Hundreds of applicants every year are fully qualified with noms, and there is not enough room in the class to offer them all appointments. It is all also true most cadets and midshipmen at service academies did not receive an LOA.

This is why you are always advised to have a set of non-SA alternate plans, such as college ROTC. There are many college and prep school re-applicants in each class. AROTC, NROTC and AFROTC are also sources of noms.

Now, noms. I’ve provided a link below that helps you see all the sources and numbers for noms. There are ones you apply for and ones the SA controls.

For the Senators and Representative, they can have 5 appointees charged to each of them at any one time at each SA. This usually means there is one appointee in each class whose appointment is charged to, say, the Rep, and 1 class with 2, for a total of 5 spread over 4 classes. Much depends on how many appointees graduated last May, because that will determine how many “slots” of the 5 are open in the next cycle.

Using our Rep, he or she can submit a slate (list) of up to 10 names for a slot, using a variety of methods to rank or not rank. They are free to use whatever process they wish in selecting their nominees. They are also free to collaborate with other elected officials in the state and do things like agree to not duplicate names across slates or only give 1 nom, regardless if the candidate has applied to 4 SAs.

One of the fully qualified applicants on the slate will be offered the appointment that is eventually “charged” to the Rep. You may hear that referred to as “winning the slate.” Here is the key to understanding the “pool” concept: the SA can shop through any other fully qualified nominees on that slate and offer them an appointment, charging those appointments to nom authorities they manage, per established guidelines. Those appointments are not charged to the Rep, though for publicity purposes, elected officials tend to gather up all appointees in their Distruct, regardless of nom source for press release purposes.

I believe USMA tells candidates if they are fully qualified (CFA, DoDMERB/medical, academic/scholastic). You might hear this called “triple qualified” or 3Q. I do not believe USNA and USAFA do so.

The SAs encourage you to apply for every nom for which you are eligible. Though you only technically need 1, if they wish to offer you an appointment, they have more flexibility as to where to charge the appointment.

There is much you cannot control about all of this. Put forth your best effort, be sure you have alternate plans and go PT when the stress gets to you.



Lastly, you may not hear about an appointment until well into April. Go look at the appointment list thread for the Class of 2026. You’ll see the bell curve of appointment deliveries.
 
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Capt MJ said:
You have many skeins of tangled thought going on in your pile of questions.

Let’s start with the last paragraph.

Realistically, it is quite possible to have an LOA and not be offered an appointment, because you don’t have a nom or are not fully qualified or don’t meet a condition stated in the LOA. It is also possible to have a nom for an academy and not be offered an appointment, even if fully qualified. Hundreds of applicants every year are fully qualified with noms, and there is not enough room in the class to offer them all appointments. It is all also true most cadets and midshipmen at service academies did not receive an LOA.

This is why you are always advised to have a set of non-SA alternate plans, such as college ROTC. There are many college and prep school re-applicants in each class. AROTC, NROTC and AFROTC are also sources of noms.

Now, noms. I’ve provided a link below that helps you see all the sources and numbers for noms. There are ones you apply for and ones the SA controls.

For the Senators and Representative, they can have 5 appointees charged to each of them at any one time at each SA. This usually means there is one appointee in each class whose appointment is charged to, say, the Rep, and 1 class with 2, for a total of 5 spread over 4 classes. Much depends on how many appointees graduated last May, because that will determine how many “slots” of the 5 are open in the next cycle.

Using our Rep, he or she can submit a slate (list) of up to 10 names for a slot, using a variety of methods to rank or not rank. They are free to use whatever process they wish in selecting their nominees. They are also free to collaborate with other elected officials in the state and do things like agree to not duplicate names across slates or only give 1 nom, regardless if the candidate has applied to 4 SAs.

One of the fully qualified applicants on the slate will be offered the appointment that is eventually “charged” to the Rep. You may hear that referred to as “winning the slate.” Here is the key to understanding the “pool” concept: the SA can shop through any other fully qualified nominees on that slate and offer them an appointment, charging those appointments to nom authorities they manage. Those appointments are not charged to the Rep, though for publicity purposes, elected officials tend to gather up all appointees in their Distruct, regardless of nom source for press release purposes.

I believe USMA tells candidates if they are fully qualified (CFA, DoDMERB/medical, academic/scholastic). You might hear this called “triple qualified” or 3Q. I do not believe USNA and USAFA do so.

The SAs encourage you to apply for every nom for which you are eligible. Though you only technically need 1, if they wish to offer you an appointment, they have more flexibility as to where to charge the appointment.

There is much you cannot control about all of this. Put forth your best effort, be sure you have alternate plans and go PT when the stress gets to you.



Lastly, you may not hear about an appointment until well into April. Go look at the appointment list thread for the Class of 2026. You’ll see the bell curve of appointment deliveries.
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Thank you Capt MJ for the thorough, clear explanation of how the nomination process works! I appreciate you!
 
Thank you Capt MJ. This helps a lot.

Does this mean I just need to be one of the 10 individuals the congressmen lists for the service academy to get the nomination because I have an LOA? So I can still list USAFA as my number one and try to get principal nom for USAFA and still get a nomination for my other service academy with an LOA as long as I am one of the top 10 individuals?
 
YoitsFly said:
I saw something about a national pool with nominations, so how does that work? Do I just need to be top 10 in the nomination slate to get a nomination to the academy if I have an LOA, or do I have to be number 1, or do I just have to be top 10 in my district/state?
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Given the fact you have received an LOA from this other SA, you do not need to win the slate to receive an appointment to that SA. You simply need to be one of the 10 receiving a nomination on a MOC's or Senator's slate (or have any other type of nomination) and meet other qualifying standards or conditions described in the LOA. The "national pool" you appear to be referencing is only available to those with a congressional/senatorial nomination. If your district/state is not in the business of limiting you to a single academy, it is likely that you do not need to worry about re-ordering your SA preferences. Many on this forum, myself included, would suggest you state your actual preferences in their actual order and stay away from any efforts to game the nominations.

As far as when will you hear from USAFA, nobody can answer that question. It could happen anytime from October through May or even June. Don't expect to hear about a LOA at all or whether you are competitive.

Congrats on the LOA and good luck with nominations and offers of appointment.
 
YoitsFly said:
Thank you Capt MJ. This helps a lot.

Does this mean I just need to be one of the 10 individuals the congressmen lists for the service academy to get the nomination because I have an LOA? So I can still list USAFA as my number one and try to get principal nom for USAFA and still get a nomination for my other service academy with an LOA as long as I am one of the top 10 individuals?
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If you don’t mind me asking, what Congressional district are you from?
 
YoitsFly said:
Thank you Capt MJ. This helps a lot.

Does this mean I just need to be one of the 10 individuals the congressmen lists for the service academy to get the nomination because I have an LOA? So I can still list USAFA as my number one and try to get principal nom for USAFA and still get a nomination for my other service academy with an LOA as long as I am one of the top 10 individuals?
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Our son had a LOA to USAFA in early Dec of his app year and his congressman did not do interviews until January. He was told by his ALO to bring a copy of his LOA to his interview so they were aware. They want to nominate candidates who have the highest chance of being accepted. Our son was made the primary nominee and had his choice of USAFA and USMA. An LOA is a great start, keep working hard on the nom, school, athletics and apps!
 
Ranchinmom said:
Our son had a LOA to USAFA in early Dec of his app year and his congressman did not do interviews until January. He was told by his ALO to bring a copy of his LOA to his interview so they were aware. They want to nominate candidates who have the highest chance of being accepted. Our son was made the primary nominee and had his choice of USAFA and USMA. An LOA is a great start, keep working hard on the nom, school, athletics and apps!
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Thank you for this advice. I notified my board and had my interview a few days ago. They told me they communicate with the other nomination sources in the state to minimize duplicate nominations. They kept asking me why I listed USAFA as my top school when I had an LOA to a different SA so I had to explain that USAFA has probably not reviewed my application yet and I would still like to try to get a nomination for them in case I am accepted there. They said they will try to put me lower on the list so I go into the national pool and won't waste a guaranteed spot from them for the SA I have an LOA to and I will still compete for the top nomination to USAFA.
 
YoitsFly said:
Thank you for this advice. I notified my board and had my interview a few days ago. They told me they communicate with the other nomination sources in the state to minimize duplicate nominations. They kept asking me why I listed USAFA as my top school when I had an LOA to a different SA so I had to explain that USAFA has probably not reviewed my application yet and I would still like to try to get a nomination for them in case I am accepted there. They said they will try to put me lower on the list so I go into the national pool and won't waste a guaranteed spot from them for the SA I have an LOA to and I will still compete for the top nomination to USAFA.
Click to expand...
The goal is a nom. Unless the elected official uses the principal nomination system (the SA must offer an appointment to the principal nom on the slate, if fully qualified, regardless of how USAFA views the slate), USAFA is free to rack and stack the fully qualified applicants on the slate and select the candidate they are going to charge to the elected officials official as one of his or her 5 total at the SA. As noted before, USAFA can also offer appointments to other fully qualified candidates n the slate, and charge those to nom authorities they control, per established guidelines.

At a certain point, it is all out of your hands. Then you go do some hard PT to bleed off stress.
 
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