Questions about the oft mentioned "competitive district" - how to research?

bringbacknelsoncruz

5-Year Member
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Jun 25, 2016
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Hello.

I've searched the internet and reached out to our congress person but I am yet able to discover how competitive our district is.

Many posts mention their area being competitive. For instance, Northern Virginai is often mentioned.

How would I find out how competitive our district is?

Thanks for helping out this newbie who truly has read many many posts
 
This gets asked a lot on here. The reality is you can only apply for a NOM to the MOC associated with the parents legal residence. So it isn't likely they are going to move to X if you happen to think it is 'less' competitive then where you currently reside. Best to assume ALL areas are competitive and focus on other aspects of your application that you can readily control/impact. Are you more/less likely to apply based on what you find out? Calling your MOC to ask about this isn't recommended. Some areas of the country have more applicants since there are more military installations in that area. There is really nothing you can do to change that.
 
There isn't anything I know of that is published that shows how competitive each congressional district is for SA appointments. And like @time2 says it's not like you can change your congressional district. It is not going to change the effort you put into the nomination and you always need back up plans. Also competition will be different for each of the SA. As a generalization Colorado will be more competitive for USAFA and Maryland more competitive for USNA. I do respectfully disagree with @time2, you could call your Congressman's and/or Senator's office and ask (anonymously as a constituent) how many applicants they have gotten in the past for SA appointments. Is one SA more sought after than another. How many open spots do they have for the class of 2021. How many were appointed from our district. You could ask on this forum "How competitive is my congressional district" and specifically identify your district, but since there are no real published statistics you will just get vague generalities, just like these responses.
 
This gets asked a lot on here. The reality is you can only apply for a NOM to the MOC associated with the parents legal residence. So it isn't likely they are going to move to X if you happen to think it is 'less' competitive then where you currently reside. Best to assume ALL areas are competitive and focus on other aspects of your application that you can readily control/impact. Are you more/less likely to apply based on what you find out? Calling your MOC to ask about this isn't recommended. Some areas of the country have more applicants since there are more military installations in that area. There is really nothing you can do to change that.
I agree with everything you write. I just thought that because it is mentioned so often how competitive a poster's district is that somewhere there was data in terms of nominations in an area. Thank you for replying.
 
There isn't anything I know of that is published that shows how competitive each congressional district is for SA appointments. And like @time2 says it's not like you can change your congressional district. It is not going to change the effort you put into the nomination and you always need back up plans. Also competition will be different for each of the SA. As a generalization Colorado will be more competitive for USAFA and Maryland more competitive for USNA. I do respectfully disagree with @time2, you could call your Congressman's and/or Senator's office and ask (anonymously as a constituent) how many applicants they have gotten in the past for SA appointments. Is one SA more sought after than another. How many open spots do they have for the class of 2021. How many were appointed from our district. You could ask on this forum "How competitive is my congressional district" and specifically identify your district, but since there are no real published statistics you will just get vague generalities, just like these responses.
Thank you for responding. We live in a very liberal area in California. One would think that not many kids would be interested however I just heard of two outstanding young ladies in our city who are very interested in the USNA and USAFA and went to the summer seminars. So just our luck, it will be a super competitive year!
 
Thank you for responding. We live in a very liberal area in California. One would think that not many kids would be interested however I just heard of two outstanding young ladies in our city who are very interested in the USNA and USAFA and went to the summer seminars. So just our luck, it will be a super competitive year!

Sounds like you may be in the Bay Area? We are on the Central Coast...this year we had 4 kids appointed to the Military Academy from Monterey/Salinas alone, so for our MOC, they won't have an a open USMA spot until next year as one of our friends that graduated a few years ago is a senior this year., so sounds like that SA is competitive in our area. And I'm thinking with no spots at USMA, it might make the others more competitive for our MOC area.
Plus we have Naval Postgraduate School 10miles away so lots of Navy brats.
 
Sounds like you may be in the Bay Area? We are on the Central Coast...this year we had 4 kids appointed to the Military Academy from Monterey/Salinas alone, so for our MOC, they won't have an a open USMA spot until next year as one of our friends that graduated a few years ago is a senior this year., so sounds like that SA is competitive in our area. And I'm thinking with no spots at USMA, it might make the others more competitive for our MOC area.
Plus we have Naval Postgraduate School 10miles away so lots of Navy brats.
Just because there are 4 kids from your district going to USMA that does not mean that all 4 were allocated to your MOC. The academies have some flexibility as to where and how they match up appointments with nominations. The academies manage the MOC nominations and they try to insure that they can always fill a slot every year. That does not mean that there is an opening, but just because there were 4 going into the class of 2020 it does not mean your MOC will not be able to nominate for 2021.
 
Just because there are 4 kids from your district going to USMA that does not mean that all 4 were allocated to your MOC. The academies have some flexibility as to where and how they match up appointments with nominations. The academies manage the MOC nominations and they try to insure that they can always fill a slot every year. That does not mean that there is an opening, but just because there were 4 going into the class of 2020 it does not mean your MOC will not be able to nominate for 2021.

Oh really? Okay, when I was reading the rules that how i read it. And actually yes these 4 were all his nominations/choices per his statement to the local newspaper that he made the final decision for the nominations, that's why I was wondering about the other being more competitive. But now I see what you mean about one being allocated to a general appointment, etc. to allow that spot next year, and still being able to say they got their nomination. DS not interested in USMA, but good to know there can be an opportunity for a child that is.
 
My MOC has at least 3 going to USNA and he will be able to make nominations this year for the class of 2021.
 
My ALO told me Oregan has tons of districts that don't get filled if that helps you

This is true, or at least it was. When I applied for a nomination in Oregon (way back in 2007) I simply wrote a letter with my stats to my congress woman, and a week later she called me and said she was nominating me. I didn't even interview and I don't think she even filled all her slots. A decent gauge seemed to be how familiar the schools were with the SAs. My guidance counselor thought I was enlisting...
 
I mean yeah they can't. But your goal shouldn't be to worry about how competitive your district is. If you're not a good candidate you'll just get weeded out by the West Point admissions board.
 
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