Nomination Essays

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mariop26

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Aug 28, 2017
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Hello,
In the process of applying to the Vice President, Congress, Senator, and etc. for a
nomination, I have noticed a reoccurring essay prompt, "Explain your reasons for wanting to attend a military service academy."

Once I have completed and polished this essay, can I copy and paste it and send it to all of the service academies that require this essay? Or do I have to continusoly rewrite the essay. I understand that some representatives require word limits so I would have to tailor the essay to the specific word counts.
 
Does your rationale for wanting to attend a military service academy change based on the nomination source?

If not, you should definitely not write a separate essay for each nomination source. You may tailor it somewhat if one nomination source severely restricts the word count

Get your English teacher involved early.
 
Make sure you get the nomination applications in on time. I know the deadlines in Florida for the senators is the first or second week of September.
 
While cut and paste is often good enough, you should consider the audience and try to tailor it to the specific question and to the audience. There are often subtle differences in how a question is worded, and not all nomination source are the same -- For example, a subtle reference to the MOC's own military service (without looking to pandering) might might your application stand out above the rest. Good luck.
 
Agree with the above. That said, there could be different reasons for different SAs. For example, if you really want to serve on (or below) the water, that would obviously apply to USNA and USMMA (USCGA doesn't require noms). If you want to lead ground troops or be a SEAL or fly drones, that might only apply to certain SAs.

So, if the reason is the same for all, the same essay is OK. However, you don't want it to appear as if you were too lazy to write more than one essay (NOT saying you are -- just that you don't want an essay that looks so generic that it appears you are trying to make it fit every question possible). Thus, if there are subtleties that make certain SAs appealing or other reasons that your response might legitimately differ depending on the SA, question asked, nom sources, etc., then start with a basic response and include those additional points as appropriate.
 
First, nomination essays are different than the academy application essays. So make sure you understand the distinction. The academies usually ask more specific questions, but you are correct in that each seems to at least inquire about your motives. For sure you will be able to do a lot of cutting and pasting, and it wouldn't be held against you should you reuse some of the language you used in another essay. Indeed, I don't think anyone would even know. The problem is that each question has its own twists, and also different rules, like character limits, so you still may need to be creative. But if you have created the perfect paragraph, which would apply uniformally, and you know want to get that little masterpiece for each academy and MOC, no need to reinvent the wheel.
 
Know your audience.

The content can be essentially the same, but write each essay in a voice that addresses the reader.

As Judge Brovol said, MOC essays are distinct from an academy admissions essay.
 
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