One thing to clarify from this string of posts. And maybe I am reading it wrong. Your WCS (Whole Candidate Score) is assigned by the Admissions Board at the SA. Your MOC application for nomination is entirely different. They do not have your WCS in front of them when deciding to rank their slate, choose a principal nominee, or which slate to place a candidate on if they happen to have two slates. Your MOC and/or their committee are deciding their slates depending upon your app and /or interview.
A better way to describe the nom types might use the following terminology:
1. principal with unranked slate (top dog gets appt if qualified, others unranked, academy decides.
2. principal with ranked slate (MOC ranks top to bottom)
3. Unranked slate of names (I believe this was called competitive earlier) It is my understanding most MOC's submit an unranked slate of names and the SA decides who they want.
When we call the unranked slate "competitive," some folks seem to get the idea that MOC has access to SA's scoring system or that the slate is actually ranked by the MOC........
Another note, once SA looks at unranked slates and chooses an appointee, the other nine go into that national pool to compete for appointment among all others in the pool.
Yes, it is perfectly acceptable to ask MOC what type of slate they submit.