Illinois nominations

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redear1998

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Just wondering if any 2021 Illinois applicants have heard from Senator Kirk (who "may" call candidates for an in-person interview) or Senator Durbin (who appears to not do interviews)?
 
DS emailed Kirk's office requesting an update on his status (he hadn't heard a thing since the receipt of his completed packet in early September), he received an email back stating since Kirk was leaving office he would not be nominating anyone for this year.

Similar email sent to Durbin's office and he has not received a reply.

What district are you in? We are District 11, son has an interview with Bill Foster's committee on Friday.
 
"Oh my" re Kirk. But have your DS check his portal -- DD just received a nom from "Senator 1" (Durbin) for USNA dated today! For Congressional, we are in District 7 and haven't heard anything since submitting the application (completely understandable since Congressman Davis' grandson was murdered Nov. 18). Good luck!
 
That's weird because I just received in mail informing me I've been nominated to USAFA by Kirk! Just confirmed on my portal as well. I hope I can receive a nomination for USNA by Roskam now...
 
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redear1998 said:
AH_IWTBP - congrats! Did Kirk do interviews?
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Thank you! He did not. He is known for not giving interviews, as far as I know. Durbin DOES do interviews. I have not been contacted by his office so I'm guessing Kirk already shared the information with him so they don't re-nominate candidates. Roskam's committee did tell me Kirk was probably not gonna nominate since Duckworth is taking over his seat, but I received one!
 
AH_ -- funny, I had heard the opposite about interviewing! My DD was not asked to interview with Durbin (or with Kirk). The nom in her USNA portal is dated DEC05. The letter from Kirk is dated DEC01.
 
Then I believe your DD was competitive enough to not be interviewed! Congrats to her! I do believe they could have changed the process because of the election this year.
 
I was sent to this thread by another member - I received a nomination from Kirk (USNA) and Durbin (USAFA). Both updated in my portal today, with no interviews. USAFA is my top choice, so I hope I can reach out to Kirk and have him give the USNA nomination to another deserving applicant. I thought they worked together in order to not double-nominate candidates. Best of luck to all!
 
What a crazy year in politics! You never know what is going to happen!

DS happen to walk upstairs as the house answering machine clicked off (one we never pay attention to, it's only there to make the internet cheaper!), he was curious and listened to the message, it was from someone with Congressman Foster's office saying how sorry she was that he missed his interview and was checking to make sure everything was ok. WHAT?! The last correspondence with them was in early September and that his application was complete. No email, call, portal update, snail mail. Nothing. They just randomly assigned him a date and time! And DS almost swears he never gave them the home phone number. So weird. After a weekend of devastation and panic (especially after receiving the info that Kirk wasn't nominating), he received a response back that they can interview him next Friday and that letters were sent in the mail the week of thanksgiving notifying candidates of their interviews. So bizarre though that they assign a date and time and just assume the kids are just going to show up. They are 3 hours away plus through Chicago traffic. One would think they would expect an RSVP. When DS1 interviewed with Foster 3 years ago, he had 3 different Saturday's to choose from and several time slots to commit to. Apparently DS2 is just assigned Friday at 5:30. What a weird year!
 
Dial the gate said:
What a crazy year in politics! You never know what is going to happen!

DS happen to walk upstairs as the house answering machine clicked off (one we never pay attention to, it's only there to make the internet cheaper!), he was curious and listened to the message, it was from someone with Congressman Foster's office saying how sorry she was that he missed his interview and was checking to make sure everything was ok. WHAT?! The last correspondence with them was in early September and that his application was complete. No email, call, portal update, snail mail. Nothing. They just randomly assigned him a date and time! And DS almost swears he never gave them the home phone number. So weird. After a weekend of devastation and panic (especially after receiving the info that Kirk wasn't nominating), he received a response back that they can interview him next Friday and that letters were sent in the mail the week of thanksgiving notifying candidates of their interviews. So bizarre though that they assign a date and time and just assume the kids are just going to show up. They are 3 hours away plus through Chicago traffic. One would think they would expect an RSVP. When DS1 interviewed with Foster 3 years ago, he had 3 different Saturday's to choose from and several time slots to commit to. Apparently DS2 is just assigned Friday at 5:30. What a weird year!
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Dial the gate said:
What a crazy year in politics! You never know what is going to happen!

DS happen to walk upstairs as the house answering machine clicked off (one we never pay attention to, it's only there to make the internet cheaper!), he was curious and listened to the message, it was from someone with Congressman Foster's office saying how sorry she was that he missed his interview and was checking to make sure everything was ok. WHAT?! The last correspondence with them was in early September and that his application was complete. No email, call, portal update, snail mail. Nothing. They just randomly assigned him a date and time! And DS almost swears he never gave them the home phone number. So weird. After a weekend of devastation and panic (especially after receiving the info that Kirk wasn't nominating), he received a response back that they can interview him next Friday and that letters were sent in the mail the week of thanksgiving notifying candidates of their interviews. So bizarre though that they assign a date and time and just assume the kids are just going to show up. They are 3 hours away plus through Chicago traffic. One would think they would expect an RSVP. When DS1 interviewed with Foster 3 years ago, he had 3 different Saturday's to choose from and several time slots to commit to. Apparently DS2 is just assigned Friday at 5:30. What a weird year!
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My DD received nominations from both Kirk and Durbin for the USNA last week. Neither senator interviewed her.

DD received a letter from Bill Foster the week of Thanksgiving with an appointment for 12/3 at 1:30. When she arrived for her interview, the administrative assistant had no record of her appointment and she was not on the list of candidates to interview. Fortunately DD had the letter from Foster's office confirming her appointment with her to show the assistant. The assistant wanted to re-schedule the appointment, but DD politely said she would rather interview that afternoon instead of rescheduling.

DD said several of the interviews lasted only a few minutes while others lasted 15-20 minutes. The interviews were done by two retired Army servicemen. Representative Foster was not present.
 
I don't know who told you Kirk is not giving out nominations this year, but that is absolutely not true. My DD received a nomination from Kirk last week for the USNA.
 
maskry said:
My DD received nominations from both Kirk and Durbin for the USNA last week. Neither senator interviewed her.
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Maskry -- I always thought our senators didn't duplicate nominations, so double congrats to your DD!

Update re IL07 -- DD received a call today from congressman's office with a nom to USNA.
 
The communication from Kirk's office has been comical (only because a sense of humor is required with this process!) DS received an email stating they would not be interviewing. Maybe 2 days later he received an email stating he was not selected for an interview. Another day passes and he receives an email that he was not selected for a nomination. In the last few days, he has received at least 6 letters in the mail (all addressed to him) stating he was not selected for a nomination. We get it already!! Lol

The Foster drama was crazy! DS went to his rescheduled interview (that they changed the time for about 4 times, but we were thankful to have it!). There was a kid sitting there for almost 3 hours, they kept taking people in front of him. He told DS, every couple of kids, they would tell him he was next. DS offered him to go in front of him and the staff person told them both no. DS's interview was about 10 minutes. He said they were nice, but a weird experience. He said he wanted to say, I'm not ready to leave, I have answers to 50 more questions! Too funny.

Congratulations to everyone who got a nom!! Good luck moving forward!
 
I hope things work out for your DS with Foster. My DD is a Naval Sea Cadet and she brought her service jacket (her file from the Cadets) and the interviewers asked her about her trainings and experiences in the Cadets. She was in the room for 25 minutes and enjoyed the conversation until the administrative assistant came into the room and reminded the men there were several other candidates waiting.
 
maskry said:
My DD received nominations from both Kirk and Durbin for the USNA last week. Neither senator interviewed her.

DD received a letter from Bill Foster the week of Thanksgiving with an appointment for 12/3 at 1:30. When she arrived for her interview, the administrative assistant had no record of her appointment and she was not on the list of candidates to interview. Fortunately DD had the letter from Foster's office confirming her appointment with her to show the assistant. The assistant wanted to re-schedule the appointment, but DD politely said she would rather interview that afternoon instead of rescheduling.

DD said several of the interviews lasted only a few minutes while others lasted 15-20 minutes. The interviews were done by two retired Army servicemen. Representative Foster was not present.
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Congrats on the nomination! Your DD must be a really strong candidate to receive both senators noms to same SA. It is certainly contrary to how they say they handle the situation - i.e Durbins letter says he doesn't duplicate noms. No offense to your DD but it's frustrating on the outside looking in with respect to the senators that they would both nominate to same SA. I could understand different SA's (although even that is contrary to past and communicated standard procedure). No basis in this other than seeing Kirk's office operate in past, but it appears as though they didn't put a lot of effort into process this year possibly due to the election loss. That's unfortunate as there were a lot of applicants who gave it all they had I'm sure.
 
jebdad, no offense taken. Yes, I believe my DD is a strong candidate, but I'm just da mom. If you won't take my word for it, just ask her grandmother! I understand your point though.

For those still in the interviewing process, Foster's interviewers asked DD if she had applied for the NROTC scholarship. (She did and she received the MO scholarship to the University of San Diego.) After congratulating DD on the scholarship, they commented that many interviewees had an "Academy or bust" attitude. It is important for everyone applying to the SA's to have plans B-Z in place. Remember, everyone who has made it this far is a strong candidate, but only 1600 or so will receive an appointment.

Good luck everyone!
 
Has anyone heard any nomination news from Congressman Rodney Davis? Are they likely to be announced before the end of the year?
 
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