National Waiting List

[center56]

DS received his wait list letter yesterday. He is assuming that means he didn't win the first senate slate he was nominated on. He still has his interview for the congressional slate on the 7th. He still has hope.

 

[VonFritz]

Center56,
Good luck on the Congressional nomination interview! Without knowing anything about your son's file, he still has a lot of life left - even if he doesn't obtain the congressional nomination. First, even though he was probably not the vacancy winner, it is not uncommon for several candidates receive appointment from the same Senatorial slate. It depends on how competitive the state is and where your son aligns with the other candidates. Second, the NWL is designed so that the USMA has a pool of about 350 qualified candidates to draw from to round out the class. They look at leadership, athletic abilities, minority status etc... That is where my son landed last year - he unfortunately, never received an appointment. He is re-applying this year and hoping his perseverance pays off. Long and short, stay in touch with your RC - if your son has a strong file or fits into one of the categories West Point is looking to fill your RC can assist in finding a spot for him. Best of Luck

 

[AaronChurchill]

I agree with the above post. I lost both senate seats, but because I already had a Presidential as well as ROTC nomination, West Point placed me on the national waiting list. Holding a congressional nomination is an incredibly less competetive position to be in. So as long as he gets the congressional nom, I should think that he has a good chance of gaining an appointment because he is already found by the board to be fully qualified for admission.
You only compete with other candidates who have the exact nomination as you, so when you hold only a presidential or ROTC nomination, you are competing with literally hundreds of other candidates. Once you gain a congressional nomination, your competition lessens to no more than 10 candidates. This is because each state representative is in his or her own nominating category. So a candidate holding a nomination from David Scott, which is in the GA-13 category (Georgia-13th voting district) will not compete with any candidates but the other GA-13 nominations. Each congressman can only have 10 attending one academy at a time, so it would be easy to assume that there are usually no more that 6 or 7 nominations from one congressman to one academy per year.
That said, the senators and your son's congressman do talk to eachother to ensure that they do not give three nominations to the same person. I was denied by both senators within a week of submitting my applications. on 21 NOV of this year I gained my congressman's nomination, and on 15 DEC I gained the appointment to USMA. If your son gains the congressional nom, I would say that he has more than just a hope of an appointment, given the fact that he is already fully qualified for the academy.

 

[mom3boys]

Each congressman can only have 10 attending one academy at a time,

Actually, that number is 5. However, if someone has an LOA, they only need to appear on the slate...anywhere on the slate. The year my son was appointed, he received his senator's nomination. At the reception the senator said 9 of his 10 had been offered appointments. The 10th one had a DoDMERB issue he couldn't get waived. These cadets could have had LOA's or they could have just been ranked high on the NWL. It is way too early for anyone on the NWL to give up hope. We are just at the very beginning of "appointment season."

Good luck to all!
Mom

 

[BigNick]

That is great for that Congressional district but I can tell you that is is VERY UNUSUAL for a congressman to get that many in West Point. They must have been an EXCEPTIONALLY great group.
These are numbers are from an official West Point document and not speculation. Taken from the official Class of 2015 Profile (google to download a copy).
1261 Cadets entered (1247 US and 14 International Cadets). Now the sobering news. 2,540 were considered FULLY qualified by West Point (3Qd) and HAD Nominations. However, only 1,261 entered -about half. Therefore getting a nomination and being fully qualified is great but you are competing with some really strong candidates and you must be much more than just qualified and have a nomination. Work hard to improve your record. If you are not in the upper half of the NWL you have a very poor chance of getting an offer.

 

[oldcorpsdad]

Anything is possible depending on the quality of the candidates. See below.

May 13 2011
Congressman Gerry Connolly will hold a ceremony and reception Sunday to recognize 49 students from Fairfax and Prince William Counties in the 11thCongressional District who will be entering the military service academies in the fall. Thirty of the 49 students along with their parents will be in attendance.

Connolly’s appointments to the service academies are chosen through a rigorous selection process conducted by a 12-member advisory board composed of current military officers and graduates of the service academies. All advisory board members reside in Northern Virginia.

Of the 49 high school seniors appointed to the service academies, 27 will attend the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, eight will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, 13 will attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, and one will attend the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point.

 

[Hooah1775]

Anything is possible depending on the quality of the candidates. See below.


May 13 2011
Congressman Gerry Connolly will hold a ceremony and reception Sunday to recognize 49 students from Fairfax and Prince William Counties in the 11thCongressional District who will be entering the military service academies in the fall. Thirty of the 49 students along with their parents will be in attendance.

Connolly’s appointments to the service academies are chosen through a rigorous selection process conducted by a 12-member advisory board composed of current military officers and graduates of the service academies. All advisory board members reside in Northern Virginia.

Of the 49 high school seniors appointed to the service academies, 27 will attend the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, eight will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, 13 will attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, and one will attend the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point.

Wow! 27 from one Congressional District is incredible! Is it fair to assume that due to proximity to the Pentagon, that a large majority received Presidential Nominations?

oldcorpsdad -- Is there any further breakdown by Nomination?
...still a great number for one district!

Go ARMY!!