SA Nomination Rank

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lionelronaldo

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Joined
Jul 12, 2022
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Hello all,
I just had a quick question regarding my chances of being nominated.
If I have an LOA to West Point, but rank it #2 and USNA (NO LOA) #1 for my congressional nomination, what are the chances of me still getting the nomination to West Point?
 
No one here knows for sure. There are 535 MOCs, hence 535 different nomination processes. Many here would say that with an LOA, you’ll get a nom, regardless of how you rank the SAs. But one thing I know after having two kids go through the whole SA/ROTC application process: There’s no such thing as a sure thing.
 
lionelronaldo said:
Hello all,
I just had a quick question regarding my chances of being nominated.
If I have an LOA to West Point, but rank it #2 and USNA (NO LOA) #1 for my congressional nomination, what are the chances of me still getting the nomination to West Point?
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There is absolutely no way of knowing.

Elected officials may conduct their nominee selection process any way they wish, by whatever method, using whatever factors. If the elected official collaborates with others in the state, they may agree to not duplicate names across their slates or only give 1 nom to any candidate, no matter how many SAs the candidate has applied to or how they have ranked them. Candidates may even receive a nom to a SA they haven’t applied for.

Much will depend on the strength of your competition for those noms.

Don’t over-game it. I’m in the camp here on SAF that believes you should rank your SAs consistently in the order in which you want them, across all nom applications, if you know who your number 1 is.

I believe most of the time nominating officials understand the significance of an LOA and try to help the candidate out by giving them a nom. There may be some nominating officials who do not give a nom to someone with an LOA, for whatever reason, which could include a belief “the service academy will ‘find’ them a nom.”
 
Everyone I’ve known who’s tried to game the system has ended up with a nom to a SA that wasn’t their first choice and no nom to their first choice SA. So agree fully with stating your preferences in order. Also, research the SAs as much as possible so you’re confident in your choice and can articulate to the MOC committee why you want what you want.
 
lionelronaldo said:
Hello all,
I just had a quick question regarding my chances of being nominated.
If I have an LOA to West Point, but rank it #2 and USNA (NO LOA) #1 for my congressional nomination, what are the chances of me still getting the nomination to West Point?
Click to expand...
@lionelronaldo,
We can't even tell you your chances of being nominated to West Point if you rank it #1 with a LOA. The only way to get any guidance that might prove trustworthy would be to have conversations with the MOCs' staffs responsible for the nomination process - if they will discuss the issue with you. My own advice is to always be candid and never try to game things. Remember that just because WP gave you a LOA does not mean that your MOC owes you a nomination to WP even if you rank it first. If the MOC (his/her panel, etc.) consider other candidates to be more worthy of the nomination, they may not nominate you. This is not to say the LOA is not important. It is clearly significant. But, it doesn't get you past the CFA, medical qualification, or the requirement of a nomination, or any other conditions listed.
 
It’s worth mentioning again, having a seemingly outstanding candidate with an LOA does not guarantee admission. The interviews can literally make or break a candidate. There is a reason why the MOCs are part of the process.
It is true that if an MOC does not give a NOM to an LOA recipient, the SA “may” find them one if they don’t have one from any other source. It’s also true that there are LOA recipients that don’t receive Nominations or Appointments.
So the message is, do not take any part of the application process lightly. A rockstar candidate with poor evaluations/recommendations or poor interviews may fall short of an appointment .

Agreed that a candidate should list their SA preferences ranked honestly (if known).

After his interviews DS received a call from one MOC asking if WP was indeed his #1 preference, his reply was a solid affirmative. The MOC said “We’ll get you there!”
Needless to say we had no idea what that meant, or what to make of the remark, but it sounded exciting.
Some time later DS received a letter from the MOC stating he issued DS a Principal Nomination to WP and congratulations.
It was definitely good on the MOC to confirm with DS that his SA ranking was indeed WP #1 so as to not waste the PNOM on someone gaming the system or even uncertain of their choice.

Best of luck in your pursuit of your #1 SA Appointment!
 
OP: don't be wary of picking up the phone and calling the designated MOC(s) staff person(s) to discuss your ranking questions. They are usually very willing to help and may give you insight that you are not aware of.
 
Quick example of how this stuff doesn’t work as you may expect: DD applied to the three DOD SAs. In her MOC interviews, she was clear about her pecking order: #1 USNA, #2 USMA, #3 USAFA.

When noms came out, she was given a principal nom to USMA, and an unranked nom to USNA. So much for preferences! (She’s one of the rare candidates who had a nom “found” — to USAFA, much later in the process. As mentioned above, don’t count on this happening.)
 
lionelronaldo said:
Hello all,
I just had a quick question regarding my chances of being nominated.
If I have an LOA to West Point, but rank it #2 and USNA (NO LOA) #1 for my congressional nomination, what are the chances of me still getting the nomination to West Point?
Click to expand...
If you have an LOA to West Point you are competitive for the naval academy as well.. I’m assuming. If you want to go to Navy, be confident that you will get in, don’t settle for WP just for a easier nomination.
What is your SAT score if you don’t mind me asking, and congrats, you are in a win win situation.
 
landlover said:
If you have an LOA to West Point you are competitive for the naval academy as well.. I’m assuming. If you want to go to Navy, be confident that you will get in, don’t settle for WP just for a easier nomination.
What is your SAT score if you don’t mind me asking, and congrats, you are in a win win situation.
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1410 (740 Reading, 670 Math)
 
My son had a LOA to USMA and he got a call out of nowhere for a nomination to USMA from our Senator after she did not even give him a interview last December. He was all in for USAFA and our Congressman got him his nomination and it was weird how that popped up after he basically was going USAFA or AFROTC. I think they do clean up on the LOA people once they cannot find enough qualified applicants. We live in AZ.
 
"I did not attend SLE nor did I apply for it. I still need to pass medical, do CFA, get SOE's from all teachers, and do candidate statements. However I do have SAT scores on file, transcripts on file, and had an interview with my Field Force Rep."

Congratulations on your LOA. I am surprised you were able to get an interview with your field force rep without having completed a bulk of the application, and I am even more surprised you obtained an LOA without having your candidate statements completed, limited SOE's and no validation with regards to your physical fitness (CFA). I was under the impression LOA's went out to early birds who have completed the bulk of requirements and scored well across all "graded" metrics? I was not aware your SAT's and Transcript alone could obtain an LOA? Do you mind me asking what state you reside in and any other insights into your extra curriculars?
 
VF81 said:
I was not aware your SAT's and Transcript alone could obtain an LOA?
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VF81 said:
Do you mind me asking what state you reside in and any other insights into your extra curriculars?
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LOAs are given for any number of reasons, all rounding up to this: The SA “must have” this candidate, and it’s seen enough to believe the person is worthy of “locking in.” There’s no secret formula to it — at
least one that we mortals on SAF know or understand. Admissions has its criteria, and they’re not telling.

While many LOAs are given early in the cycle, there’s not necessarily a correlation or causation. DD got three LOAs — two in February, one in late April.

Seeing someone’s stats or what state they’re from will shed no light on your own circumstances. Every situation is different. Eyes in the boat! Concern yourself only with things you can control.
 
I'd be interested to see if there will be a proliferation of LOAs over the next few years. The military is having one of its biggest recruiting crises in a while and there is now an emphasis on getting into the talent pool early.
 
MidCakePa said:
LOAs are given for any number of reasons, all rounding up to this: The SA “must have” this candidate, and it’s seen enough to believe the person is worthy of “locking in.” There’s no secret formula to it — at
least one that we mortals on SAF know or understand. Admissions has its criteria, and they’re not telling.

While many LOAs are given early in the cycle, there’s not necessarily a correlation or causation. DD got three LOAs — two in February, one in late April.

Seeing someone’s stats or what state they’re from will shed no light on your own circumstances. Every situation is different. Eyes in the boat! Concern yourself only with things you can control.
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What he said.

The key being - the LOA is a class-building took that Admissions uses when, how and why it wants. You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out “why that person and not me.”

Every year we say LOAs are like unicorns. If one wanders into your portal, rejoice, but don’t spend any energy going to hunt for one.
 
Capt MJ said:
What he said.

The key being - the LOA is a class-building took that Admissions uses when, how and why it wants. You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out “why that person and not me.”

Every year we say LOAs are like unicorns. If one wanders into your portal, rejoice, but don’t spend any energy going to hunt for one.
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I just deleted an entire post.....DS is not concerned why should I be? Nobody likes a complainer - Eye on the prize ---
 
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