Strange Circumstance - Recruited Athlete vs Congressional District

TX2023

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Candidate was/is being recruited for athletics but received a call from the coach who said candidate would be better off not being recruited because they currently rank #1 in their congressional district and have the best chance of an appointment being at the top of their district. Coach told candidate that as a recruit, they would likely not get the top district appointment although they would still likely get a nomination but not a guaranteed appointment.

This is complicated because obviously this could change with new applications. Has anyone heard of this situation?
 
To be totally honest I am not sure how a coach would know all the others who are applying the for a nom or have a package to USNA. One, it’s early in the process and probably very few, if any, have been scored yet by USNA. Has the candidate completed their MOC interview? Have all of them been completed? Two, how MOCs score is totally different then how USNA scores. Three, what kind of slate does this MOC usually use. Four, the coach has no clue how a recruited athlete will do in a MOC interview. A nom does not equal an appointment. One must have a nom to get an appointment.

I am really scratching my head here on this one. If I read between the lines and make many assumptions I am guessing the coach is also making tons of assumptions. The candidate might not get the top spot (principal or #1 slot if ranked) because they are recruited and the MOC would move them down the list because they would ‘assume’ USNA will figure out how to get them in with a Nom is my biggest guess of what the coach was trying to say. If this is the case... I don’t buy it. That is assuming the MOC uses a ranked or principal method and that the candidate will be #1 and be bypassed because they are recruited. Those are so many assumptions and if/what scenarios it’s crazy.
 
Candidate was/is being recruited for athletics but received a call from the coach who said candidate would be better off not being recruited because they currently rank #1 in their congressional district and have the best chance of an appointment being at the top of their district. Coach told candidate that as a recruit, they would likely not get the top district appointment although they would still likely get a nomination but not a guaranteed appointment.

This is complicated because obviously this could change with new applications. Has anyone heard of this situation?
The fact that NavyHoops is head scratching makse me wonder as well. My guess would be that the coach thinks that TX2023 is just a real strong candidate and that he/she wants TX2023 to work hard to get a nom under the MOC so the coach doesn't have to pull strings to try and get a Supt nom or something else that they can use for another recruit. It's shouldn't change the strategy for TX2023...try for every nom type you can, put your best package together in every way possible, and have Plans, B,C, D ready. But I'm a newbie to posting, so please excuse me if I'm way off.
 
That is strange. And what does it really mean anyhow? That the candidate is to tell MOC’s “actually, I’m NOT a recruit”? Maybe it’s simply wordplay. coach wants applicant to go all in for receiving a nomination outside of “recruiting”.

Still don’t really understand how it makes a difference anyhow. Coaches always (in our experience, and only makes sense) want applicants to try and secure their nomination through any means available.
Another scenario (and a long shot...) could be communications between coach and MOC indicate there was discussion. Which leads to coach to suggest this, as he would then still have the ability to secure a DIFFERENT additional candidate. Our experience was that ds’s coach wanted to know who and when DS had applied to...our assumption was that there was communication between coach and moc’s).

Either way, it at the very least leaves the applicant confused as to what and how to respond in an interview, if nothing else.

Could it be that the coach is trying to let down applicant in a kind way, in essence saying “we aren’t recruiting you anymore”? Has the OP already had an official visit? Could this be the Coaches way of cancelling a visit (are coaches allowed only so many official visits??)? All things that are rolling around in my head.

Curious post OP has!
 
Very curious ..and very troubling if any Coach has that degree of input into the Admission process.
I'm skeptical.
 
Agree with you Old Navy. I have some assumptions and think the coach doesn’t understand what they are saying, is crossing paths with info or something we have no clue about.
 
Maybe the coach is just talking about getting a nomination and not appointment? The coach could possibly be thinking if an LOA was issued for an athlete they sometimes are not given the nomination. This happened to my dd who was told by the congressional staff although she was one of their top ranking candidates they were not going to nominate her because with the LOA/athletic recruiting they believed she would get a nomination elsewhere and "it wasn't fair" to other candidates in her district. Her coach mentioned they had been running into this scenario which was frustrating for them. Not sure if LOA was issued in this case but it is a possible scenario.
 
To be totally honest I am not sure how a coach would know all the others who are applying the for a nom or have a package to USNA. One, it’s early in the process and probably very few, if any, have been scored yet by USNA. Has the candidate completed their MOC interview? Have all of them been completed? Two, how MOCs score is totally different then how USNA scores. Three, what kind of slate does this MOC usually use. Four, the coach has no clue how a recruited athlete will do in a MOC interview. A nom does not equal an appointment. One must have a nom to get an appointment.

I am really scratching my head here on this one. If I read between the lines and make many assumptions I am guessing the coach is also making tons of assumptions. The candidate might not get the top spot (principal or #1 slot if ranked) because they are recruited and the MOC would move them down the list because they would ‘assume’ USNA will figure out how to get them in with a Nom is my biggest guess of what the coach was trying to say. If this is the case... I don’t buy it. That is assuming the MOC uses a ranked or principal method and that the candidate will be #1 and be bypassed because they are recruited. Those are so many assumptions and if/what scenarios it’s crazy.

The communication from the coach indicated the coach was contacted by Admissions to notify the coach that candidate was #1 in district. Not sure why or the relevance but it lead to coach removing recruit status since the candidate would be viewed differently. Candidate has applied to all nomination sources. MOC purportedly does Principal nomination; however, the nomination window is still open, no interviews have happened, and obviously no nominations have been awarded. And of course, the applications are still open. Also, no idea how the MOC scores. Guessing the Coach does not want to use any influence with admissions for candidate but coach did say if candidate isn't #1, the coach will add them back as recruited. Thanks for the feedback - this is nerve wracking.
 
Get the offer of appointment, then decide on whether to be an athlete on the team or not.
That's my opinion. Everyone has one. ;)
 
Very odd. Slates are not close to being completed yet so very doubtful that district rankings have even begun.. Also don't even think that kind of communication between coach and admissions is allowed. This does not pass the smell test at all.
 
Not sure how admissions would even have that info... it’s October. Deadline to apply is Jan 31st. So being #1 based upon completed apps is very suspect. Even if there are other completed apps... they probably haven’t been scored yet as admissions has only met for a few weeks this year. To be honest, not sure admissions would even give that info out, even to a coach. I just don’t buy that story from the coach.

Obviously we are getting this all second hand, but I am guessing this coach is either straight up lying, doesn’t understand the process or is trying to say the candidate is no longer being viewed as a recruit and doesn’t want to tell that straight.

Bottom line, if your DS wants to attend USNA go ahead with the process. If playing that sport is a deal breaker for him at USNA then I would have a lot more convos with the coaches. Good luck.
 
The communication from the coach indicated the coach was contacted by Admissions to notify the coach that candidate was #1 in district. Not sure why or the relevance but it lead to coach removing recruit status since the candidate would be viewed differently. Candidate has applied to all nomination sources. MOC purportedly does Principal nomination; however, the nomination window is still open, no interviews have happened, and obviously no nominations have been awarded. And of course, the applications are still open. Also, no idea how the MOC scores. Guessing the Coach does not want to use any influence with admissions for candidate but coach did say if candidate isn't #1, the coach will add them back as recruited. Thanks for the feedback - this is nerve wracking.

Does a MOC contact admissions with their slate of candidates prior to them starting their interviews? That doesn't make sense (although I'm no expert)

Also, when the applicant is a recruited athlete, how would the MOC know that? Is that something that is flagged on the candidates application by admissions? I can see if the recruited athlete has a LOA, then the MOC could see that, just wasn't sure how they know the applicant is being recruited.
 
Having gone through it with a Bluechip, I don’t understand how being a recruited athlete could hurt your application.

Could it be the coach does not want to use one of his few Bluechip spots on your candidate? Maybe the coach thinks he/she will get in anyway, or the coach has others ranked ahead on the sports Bluechip board.
 
Having gone through it with a Bluechip, I don’t understand how being a recruited athlete could hurt your application.

Could it be the coach does not want to use one of his few Bluechip spots on your candidate? Maybe the coach thinks he/she will get in anyway, or the coach has others ranked ahead on the sports Bluechip board.

I don’t think the issue is with the application itself, but more on the Nom side. And what the coach is saying makes no sense. Reading between lines (and I am making a big assumption that the coach is saying) that because the candidate is noted as a recruit, the the MOC may not give them a nom, because they assume USNA is going to ‘find’ them a Nom. To take it a step further (with more assumptions)... this coach isn’t going to expend capital to get this recruit in and was hoping because of their stats they would get in on their own. As I said... all assumptions and guesses on my part.
 
According to the coach, candidate could win Principal or Primary Nomination which would result in an automatic appointment if candidate was not listed as a recruit because the MOC would still give a nomination to the Recruited Athlete but would not give the Principal or Primary nomination. Supposedly Coach has information from admissions. On the same day, BGO contacted candidate to Communicate that Admissions had contacted BGO to make sure candidate had completed a Remedial request which had been done. Coach then texted the next morning to communicate to get Remedial done ASAP which again had been done. We have no idea what any of this means - not sure if it’s bad news that candidate is out of running for being recruited or good news that candidate may be well positioned for congressional district or none of the above. Again, it just seems strange.
 
Again, I find what the coach is saying that the candidate is #1 per admissions is not true. Admissions has no idea who has applied for a nom for that MOC, especially if the application hasn’t closed. How that MOC scores is also another variable. MOC panels use a whole host of ways to score and rank candidates and it’s not how admissions does. Honestly, just as you are doing, keep at it, let the cards fall where they may.
 
Admissions rank all cadets from Day one of their application. While it is not complete, they know where each candidate sits. After his second post, it sounds like the MOC may use the principal nomination and the coach would rather save his blue chip for another candidate. TX 2023, send me a PM as to what district your in.
 
I don’t disagree with you 1994, but it’s Oct. USNA definitely scores candidates. How they ran and if they rank us another story. Who knows how many have been scored at this point, application doesn’t close until Jan, and they haven’t scored all apps yet. It’s way too early to be saying someone is #1 in a district if the app is still open and it’s Oct, not mid-Jan. Even if the MOC uses a principal method, it doesn’t mean the panel will hand this candidate that spot. Not to mention although USNA generally recognizes principal noms, it’s not 100% due to US code being slightly different on the language. I do agree that this coach doesn’t appear to want to use a blue chip.
 
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In my experience, coaches say a lot of things. I'd like to tell you all are 100% true, but that is not always the case. For example, a number of years ago, a coach told a candidate she had been waitlisted after she had received a TWE. I finally had to break the news to her . . . she was pretty devastated. And that's not the only example in just my limited experience.

Also, as others have said, blue chip status can come and go as coaches figure out how many they have an on whom to use them.

The bottom line is that any recruit should pursue a USNA appointment as if not recruited. That is the safest approach. If a blue chip or other benefits from athletics should come along, so much the better.

Admissions rank all cadets from Day one of their application. While it is not complete, they know where each candidate sits.

I'm not sure this is correct. They score people but I'm not sure they rank people, as in a list. What matters is how people stand vs. those against whom they are competing -- MOC slates, Presidential nominees, National Pool.
 
The RCs at West Point know 100% where each candidate is currently ranked on their local MOC slate. And while it can change daily, they are usually willing to share that that information with candidates. A meeting with your RC is a critical step if you can find a way to do it. We host events where the RC comes to our region and meets with each applicant. "USMA1994; you are currently #3 on your slate. Your ACT scores and leadership profile are a little lower than the competition. If you can increase your ACT to above 32, you would be closer to the top"

I would assume that the other academies do the same but cannot say for certain.
 
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