Nominations, the more the merrier

Ethands15

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Well I was fortunate enough to get noms from both of my senators and my representitive, which just blew me away. Will 3 noms significantly help me? Also, is there any way to update my activies page for USNA? I already turned it in but I have since completed more stuff. Any input would be great, Thanks!
 
You may have 3 nominations but you are only allowed to have 1
 
You may have 3 nominations but you are only allowed to have 1
It's not a matter of "being allowed to have one" it is more a matter of "you really only need one"--as far as the answer to the actual question, hopefully someone else can answer whether 3 is better than 1.
 
Having 3 nominations from your MOC's means that you will compete on three slates of candidates. Each MOC submits a list of up to 10 names for each slot available. If you rank #2 on each slate submitted then it won't help you - you will be competing in the national pool for an appointment. Provided you are triple qualified.

How meaningful it is to get three nominations really depends on what state you are from. I have seen kids on here with three who did not get an appointment.
If you are from a very competitive state like Virginia, Texas, CA, FL or PA then you are probably a very high quality candidate to get three noms. In some of these states it is impossible to do so since the MOC spread out the nominations because the competition is so stiff.
 
You can have as many nominations as you can garner up - no limit. Only one nomination is used for the appointment. The more nominations that a candidate has the easier it becomes for the academy to get the best class. If you are your senator's nominee 2 and senator nominee 1 has another source of a nomination - lets say congressman and he/she is also the best on that slate and you are clearly better than nominee 2 on that slate then they will charge the congressman with the guy/gal in front of you and move you up the senator's slate for you to get the appointment.

The Academy wants you to try for as many nominations as you are eligible to apply for as it really makes filling the class easier. It gives the Academy a lot of latitude in moving candidates to get the best class.
 
In Texas, the Senators and MOC compare slates so there are no duplicates. A candidate can only get one nom (not including Veep, Pres, etc) from the Congressional path in Texas.
 
Well then I guess both of my kids have been anomalies in the state of Texas as both received multiple nominations - Congressman and one Senator. Class of 2010 and class of 2012 (although turned down appointment in the end)
 
Cornyn's office in Texas issued their slate ahead of some of the MOC's, so I guess it is possible. Hutchison's office specifically said that they would not nominate anyone who was able to get a MOC nom.

Congratulations, you have great kids!

It does make sense in a big, competitive state for Senators and Reps to confer and give as many deserving kids noms as possible.
 
Excellent point - NT
The State of Texas doesn't make the rules. Each individual MOC makes their own rules. Some decide that if you receive a nomination from elsewhere then they will not give you one. One cannot make generalizations about a state. These MOC 'policies' vary widely and can even change after an election and a new MOC is in place.



This can vary between congressionmen in a state. It usually depends on how competitive the congressional district and the state is.

Think about how your Congressman can ruin it for you - hypothetically......
One of your Senators thinks you are one of the top 10 in the whole state and nominates you. You are clearly heads above all other candidates in your Congressional district, but since you have a 'nomination' your Congressman refuses to nominate you. If you had been nominated you would have ranked #1 in your congressional district and won an appointment. Now that appointment is going to a weaker candidate.
The academy ranks your senator's list and you rank #4. Not bad but not good enough for an appointment. You must compete in the national pool - against all others in the country. You could end up on the waitlist and without an appointment.
 
Hutchison's office specifically said that they would not nominate anyone who was able to get a MOC nom.
Kay Bailey Hutchison will only give a nomination to those who are not good enough to get a nomination from their Congressman/woman?
Wow. Surprising that she would nominate lesser candidates than a US Representative.
 
^^^^^

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon and often has to do more with timing than qualifications per se. In some competitive states, the MOCs as a group want to ensure as many students as possible have noms. Thus, one will not nominate a candidate to a particular SA if that candidate has a nom to that SA from another MOC source. (Some apply it just to a specific SA -- i.e., would give someone a nom to a different SA; others will only allow one nom per candidate period).

Thus, if the Rep makes his/her choices first, and the Sens won't duplicate a nom, in theory, the Sen could be picking "lesser qualified" candidates. However, in a state as large as TX, there are probably many, many very highly qualified candidates so that, even if Sen. Hutchinson makes her decisions after every single Rep in the state and the other Sen has done so, I imagine there are still lots of great candidates from which to choose.

While we can debate the timing aspects, this process makes a certain amount of sense in that it should give as many Texas students as possible the opportunity to compete for an appointment. If we assume that the MOCs as a group end up selecting the best candidates, it really doesn't matter whether the Sens or the Reps nominate the "most highly" qualified candidates of the bunch.
 
Thanks USNA1985 for the clear explanation. I do not think KBH is thinking her slate is somehow "lesser" than all the Congressman's. I understand her motive to be to get the most qualified kids nominations. Plus, think how it reduces her selection committee's workload if they automatically do not consider all those applicants who already have a nom, either from MOC or Cornyn.

This allows her to sift through and perhaps give a USNA nom to a kid who got a nom for USMA or other SA from a Congressman.......

I think all the kids who get this far are quite qualified. I do not think it means Applicant X is "better" than "Applicant Y" because they got a Senator nom. Often, in Texas particularly, it is a timing issue.
 
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