Nomination Strategy

If a candidate simply wants to serve and go to an academy, then this is truly the dilemma. If they list the same order on their nomination requests, and they get the nomination to that academy, what happens if they are not admitted into that academy, but they are into another one? I've seen that mentioned on these boards, too. So, I don't think it is about bragging rights to say they got noms into multiple academies, but that they have the opportunity to get into one of them! No nomination; no appointment. Like someone else mentioned, why even apply to multiple academies, if they MOC won't give appointment to more than one? I know our DS would be thrilled to attend any of his 3 choices, even though he does have one that would be his favorite. If he doesn't get into that one, but he gets into another one, then he would be happy. The only saving grace for him in all of this is that he will have the Presidential nomination, and while it's ultra competitive, will still give him a chance at any of the 3 if he is deemed admissible by the academies. Unfortunately, not everybody has that option. I just don't think I consider changing the order with different nominating sources as gaming the system. I concur with others that the MOCs are trying to game the system to make everybody happy. If they simply choose the very top candidates on every slate and let the academies do their jobs, then we wouldn't have to worry about this.
 
Jebdad,

There is a lot of info and good advice to sort through, but you might want to think about breaking it down into a simple two-pronged approach...


1) Have your candidate think about what service branch they want to be in; not what SA. The SA's are far more similar than different and all of them are exceptional at every level. Where the differences really come is after commissioning. Think about the different kinds of mos/afsc/rate (ie "jobs") that are interesting. Think about the lifestyle/deployments. Let those kinds of factors guide their decision.

If after all of that, they truly don't have a preference, then...

2) Consider listing the #1 choice as the SA in your state/district that has the least competition. The fact is, in many states there is a marked difference in the number of candidates interested in certain SA's. This is driven by proximity, types of local military bases, etc. For example... In NY and Vermont typically West Point is more popular than Annapolis. Conversely, there is a ton of applicant interest for AFA in TX and Florida. Again... Only if your candidate TRULY doesn't have a branch preference and just wants to serve in general, this might be something to consider.

Hope this helps and congrats to your family for their desire to serve.
 
If they simply choose the very top candidates on every slate
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The problem is that "very top" is in the eye of the beholder.:smile:

When I say "game" the system, I don't mean that in an entirely negative sense and I definitely understand the challenges that candidates face. Lots of folks say, "I really want to go to X SA but, I'd rather go to Y SA than not go to any SA." In that situation, the candidate may very well end up with an appointment to Y and not to X. And, too often, I hear that they're unhappy with Y.

If one chooses to "split" the noms among more than one SA, then he/she shouldn't "grouse" when receiving a nom to one that was named a "first choice" but wasn't really a first choice. I'm not here to defend MOCs, but they can't read your mind.

If X and Y are more or less equal, you could potentially improve your odds of getting an appointment somewhere by "splitting" noms. However, as noted, if you have a strong preference for a particular SA, give it 100%. And, if you have a chance to talk to the committee during an interview, you could explain that your clear preference is X but that you want to serve and if there is no chance of an appointment to X, you would accept one to Y. However, not all MOCs give you that chance to "speak your mind."
 
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+1 MedB and USNA

MedB drives home a point...do not look at this as the next 4 years. Look at it as the next DECADE. You will be 27 on a good day...longer if you go rated. I know very few officers that walked 5 years to the day.
~ if they send you overseas for your first tour, and that tour is 3 years....you don't have the option to not accept an assignment back state side and that will incur 3 more years. I just put you at 6 as non-rated.
~~ Take TA for Grad degree and you earn your Masters at the 4 year point, you are now at 7. At that point, if it is 366+ days prior to this, they can move you back overseas and you can't 7 day opt non-vol. They own you. I now have you at 9 or 31.

Don't think it doesn't happen, because at least for the AF it does.

I am not even addressing employment. Ask LITS about how when he walked the economy was in a downturn and it took him 6 months of life ing off his savings before he started his 2nd career. The economy tanks in 2024 and now you are married with a pregnant wife what do you do? Do you bolt or stay for 1 more tour?

USNA also brings up the point that if you place all 3, be willing to accept any of the 3. Our DS placed only 1. He was a military brat (AF) and although his Dad did 2 joint assignments with the ARmy, DS was adament he did not want to jump out of perfectly good airplanes or land an airplane on the size of a postage stamp located on a football field (Carriers in the ocean). He wanted his runway to be exactly where he left it 4 hours ago after completing his mission! That left only on branch...AF.

I think when you talk to military parents with candidates, most of their kids that place 3 on their list do so because they looked at their career options upon commissioning. They don't game the system just to attend an SA.

Getting in is step 1 out of 1461...if my math is correct that is how many days for 4 years. There has never been a commissioning class since I have been here that has had 100% rate. There are threads on every SA forum every year....I want to leave, what now?
~ Maybe if they had thought twice before listing 3 SAs the rate would be higher. No flaming jmpo.

Don't assume that because you only placed 1 or 2 SAs you are decreasing your chances or they will see it as you don't want to defend this great nation. My DS put only 1 and 1 alone. He got every nomination.

Flip side, I have a very good friend where they were from Colorado Springs, he played the rotate the mom's, but only placed USNA and AFA. The MoCs talked. He got a principal to the AFA and no other nom. USNA was his dream. His folks contacted the MOC and asked for his nom. to be switched to USNA. Fortunately for him the candidate that got principal to USNA also gamed it and wanted AFA. They agreed to swap. However, if that other candidate wanted USNA our friend's DS would have been SOL or relying on the VP because he didn't have an LOA and no MOC to USNA.

Just saying think before you submit.
 
jebdad said:
DD is applying to AF, WP, and Naval Academy. The two senators require you to only list your first choice. The congressional moc has the applicant rank them in order of preference.

DD would be thrilled to gain acceptance to any of the three. She is undecided on a career path but knows she wants to serve. If pushed, she would probably admit that WP is a slight favorite.

What is the best way to approach this? She was thinking about putting Navy on one senator app, AF on the other and ranking WP as her top on the congressional MOC. The senators apparently compare slates to avoid duplication.
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OP, I know it's been years since you first posted. I find myself going through the same thought process now. Above all my goal is to serve. If pushed, WP probably comes out on top. How did your DD end up approaching this? How did things work out. Would also be curious to hear from others, especially in MD, how they approached this. Was surprised that Senators Van Hollen and Cardin allowed you to only choose 1.

Thank you.
 
DeepWaters said:
OP, I know it's been years since you first posted. I find myself going through the same thought process now. Above all my goal is to serve. If pushed, WP probably comes out on top. How did your DD end up approaching this? How did things work out. Would also be curious to hear from others, especially in MD, how they approached this. Was surprised that Senators Van Hollen and Cardin allowed you to only choose 1.

Thank you.
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Elected representatives are free to run their nom process in any fashion they choose. It is not uncommon in several states that no matter how many SAs a candidate applies to, they are limited to earning only 1 nom overall, because that particular group of Senators and Representatives believes in “spreading the wealth” and not duplicating names on each others’ slates and/or not giving a nom to more than 1 SA. They are also each free to choose their slate method, whether with a principal nom, unranked, etc. They may or may not choose to have interviews. It’s just a fact of the process that it can be very different from state to state. It can change as elected officials change.

@jebdad is still around, so you may be in luck, and no doubt others will comment on strategies they used.
 
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I don’t think there is only one right answer to this. It depends largely on the state you are in, the competitiveness of your district, what your preferences are, and the strength of your application.

My son only applied to USNA. His plan b was not another SA, though he did secure a nomination to MMA.

Although Senator nominations in NY are competitive, our district usually doesn’t get 10 nominations for any SA. We know several candidates that secured nominations to several academies because of this. Communicate with your your MOC.

I don’t think using different strategies to secure different nominations is gaming in a bad sense.
 
DeepWaters said:
OP, I know it's been years since you first posted. I find myself going through the same thought process now. Above all my goal is to serve. If pushed, WP probably comes out on top. How did your DD end up approaching this? How did things work out. Would also be curious to hear from others, especially in MD, how they approached this. Was surprised that Senators Van Hollen and Cardin allowed you to only choose 1.

Thank you.
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Wow. Funny to see an old thread of your's resurrected and having so many years of experiencing the process for hindsight. I reread the thread and recalling being kinda miffed when a poster said to list your one top SA on all nomination requests. I was thinking, don't they get it, DD just wants to serve and will be happy anywhere - we gotta increase the chances by sprinkling out the odds. Several years later, post graduation, having additional children apply and get accepted at an SA, I have evolved on my opinion.

Do your due diligence on what it is you want to do as an officer - lead troops on the ground, support or fly aircraft, ship, sub, marines, operate a vessel, lead a cutter......etc. Once you have the answer to that, apply to that SA. If you don't get it, apply again. Use ROTC as a backup as well. This, to me is the best advice there is. Ultimately, I do not believe that someone would be completely fulfilled anywhere. It's not about the SA experience, it is about what comes after. I did not get that before, but I do now.

At some point when child 2 was applying the light bulb went off. "why in the world are they doing all this work to apply to an SA that is not their number one choice.?"

Funny story to end an long post. My DD listed different SAs as her top with all of the different senators and MOCs. At one point it looked like the writing was on the wall that she was headed to academy X with the one nomination she had. In our state it is very uncommon to get two nominations. Not sure we really understood that at the time. What you would have thought would have been a moment of elation was the opposite as she realized it truly was not the path she wanted. It was only due to a mistake on the paperwork on our part that she got a nomination to her true first choice and she never looked back. We talk about that all the time. Be careful what you ask for by listing an SA as your top choice as you might get it. Sounds strange but you need to make sure it truly the path you want.

I think the "be happy at any of them" candidates are very rare and probably only truly exist when there is overlap of mission. Otherwise, make the decision of what you want to do first and apply second.
 
Earlier in the thread the question was posed, what is the drawback to listing different SA's as first choice with MOC's?

In our DS's experience, he did apply to 4 SA's. He listed his first choice as USNA on all 4. He was asked why by panelists. He answered.
Lo and behold, walk in to Senator 2's office 2 weeks later, several of the panelists from Senator 1's office were present. Same question was asked. Would be strange to have to explain why 2 different SA's were your number 1 choice. IOW, were you lying the first time you answered the question, or are you lying today?

And we were mistaken to think that the Senator that let him know she had designated him principle would be charged his appointment. It was in fact, the other Senator who called to let him know about his appointment, that confused the heck out of me.

Lots of moving pieces on the chess board as the academies try to pull in the candidates that will form the best class each year.
 
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