I have been super duper confused. When the USAFA board is choosing who goes to USAFA or not, am I being compared to everyone else in the world that's applying, or am I only being compared to a small pool, such as other people in my state/congressional district? If the latter is the case, since I am from a mainly rural Alabama district, are my odds better than someone from, say, anywhere New York or California? Please let me know how this works. All answers are greatly appreciated.
How do Senatorial/Congressional slates work in terms of acceptance rate?
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Old Enlisted Marine
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Hopefully this helps
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Another way to think about is all the nomination “buckets” for which you are eligible. Your entire application will be evaluated according to the holistic “whole person” model used by the SA. If you have a nom from an elected official, you compete with other fully qualified people on that slate. If you are eligible for a Presidential nom, you compete against everyone else who is fully qualified and eligible for one of the set number of those the SA can use to charge an appointment to.
One of the interesting things is that the SAs have the ability to offer appointments to fully qualified individuals on a slate in addition to the one that will actually be charged to the elected official. Those appointments get charged to another nomination authority that allows them to do that.
You can go to school in the document below.
One of the interesting things is that the SAs have the ability to offer appointments to fully qualified individuals on a slate in addition to the one that will actually be charged to the elected official. Those appointments get charged to another nomination authority that allows them to do that.
You can go to school in the document below.
A short answer is BOTH. You are being compared to everyone in your nomination slate (often multiple slates for those who get a House of representatives nomination in addition to a Senatorial nomination, and possibly others like the Presidential nominations for kids of active duty military/retirees, as well as some others.)
You are also being compared to EVERY nominee if you are not appointed from one of those slates as the admissions people fill out the rest of the class.
Often times appointees will never know which group they were put into for their appointment.
The more nominations the easier it is for admissions to find an appointment slot for you too.
Furthermore, the details get more confusing.
You are also being compared to EVERY nominee if you are not appointed from one of those slates as the admissions people fill out the rest of the class.
Often times appointees will never know which group they were put into for their appointment.
The more nominations the easier it is for admissions to find an appointment slot for you too.
Furthermore, the details get more confusing.
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I wanna add as I did not understand this till I was told by the admissions.
Every nomination you receive is another chance you are looked at. I really didn't understand what that meant. I applied for everything but only knew I received two. If you apply for vice even if you don't receive it they look at it ( which makes sense as they have to look to give), and they also look at it if you don't have nomination. This means my application was looked at four different times. Not just compared against different groups at different times but actually looked at reread with new knowledge every time. My application never changed but their perspective could have.
This is why it's important to apply for every nomination. You may only need one to get in but you might need the committee to look more than once look at your application.
Every nomination you receive is another chance you are looked at. I really didn't understand what that meant. I applied for everything but only knew I received two. If you apply for vice even if you don't receive it they look at it ( which makes sense as they have to look to give), and they also look at it if you don't have nomination. This means my application was looked at four different times. Not just compared against different groups at different times but actually looked at reread with new knowledge every time. My application never changed but their perspective could have.
This is why it's important to apply for every nomination. You may only need one to get in but you might need the committee to look more than once look at your application.
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Lots of legal language to dive into, but if I were summarizing it for someone new to the topic, here is how I would explain it:
Think "Hunger Games" - you first compete against your nomination slate(s). For this reason, the more nominations you receive, the more rounds you have to compete for an appointment. Should an applicant not "win" their slate, they are placed into the National Wait List which could be considered the consolation bracket of the "games"/admissions cycle. On the NWL, you could consider yourself "down," but not OUT of the game yet. Applicants can linger on the NWL until the start of Basic Cadet Training for the admissions year. The start of BCT marks the true END GAME of the "games"/application cycle. People will be offered appointments right up until the start of BCT to maximize the "yield" for the class, but understand there are limited seats on the bus. When one declines, it potentially opens the door for the next appointee.
We start the "games"/admissions cycle off with roughly ~1450 possible offers of appointment. We know some will decline AND our goal is to have at least 1100 enter into the next class. As the Admissions team selects "slate winners" from around the country, we begin to draw down on that number of total appointment offers available for the cycle. Some Congressional districts will NOT submit nominees. Some Congressional districts will NOT have "QUALIFIED" nominees. These gaps create opportunity for those on the NWL. As a result, you see MULTIPLE applicants selected from the more competitive districts around the country. I have seen 5 from the same high school in the same "games"/admissions cycle.
Think "Hunger Games" - you first compete against your nomination slate(s). For this reason, the more nominations you receive, the more rounds you have to compete for an appointment. Should an applicant not "win" their slate, they are placed into the National Wait List which could be considered the consolation bracket of the "games"/admissions cycle. On the NWL, you could consider yourself "down," but not OUT of the game yet. Applicants can linger on the NWL until the start of Basic Cadet Training for the admissions year. The start of BCT marks the true END GAME of the "games"/application cycle. People will be offered appointments right up until the start of BCT to maximize the "yield" for the class, but understand there are limited seats on the bus. When one declines, it potentially opens the door for the next appointee.
We start the "games"/admissions cycle off with roughly ~1450 possible offers of appointment. We know some will decline AND our goal is to have at least 1100 enter into the next class. As the Admissions team selects "slate winners" from around the country, we begin to draw down on that number of total appointment offers available for the cycle. Some Congressional districts will NOT submit nominees. Some Congressional districts will NOT have "QUALIFIED" nominees. These gaps create opportunity for those on the NWL. As a result, you see MULTIPLE applicants selected from the more competitive districts around the country. I have seen 5 from the same high school in the same "games"/admissions cycle.
Focus on getting the best application possible and don't try to compare yourself to other applicants... You need to get approval both from the academy and a nomination source (at least one). You will not be admitted if the academy or the nomination source doesn't think you are qualified. If you do have a competitive application package, coming from a rural area can definitely increase your chances of getting a nomination and maybe even a principal nomination (which is a golden ticket to the acacdemy if you are "3q").