Switching Nominations

foamspoon

foamspoon

Daughter USNA Class of 2027 - Daughter USCGAS
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Nov 28, 2022
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My daughter was told by her MOC when she received her nomination, that if she had a change in her first choice to let him know. From a media source, we found out a candidate (very qualified, I would have picked him too.) with the same MOC nomination has received and accepted their appointment. She is still without a nomination to USMMA. Would it be wise to wait or see if the nomination can be switched to USMMA?
 
A MOC can give nominate up to 10 applicants for each SA opening they have. The fact someone else got an appointment really has nothing to do with your status. That seems to be a common misunderstanding on this forum. A MOC NOM isn't the only source of NOM's. EVERY SA advises you apply for every NOM for which you are eligible, hopefully you have done that. The SA will eventually decide where to charge the NOM for everyone given an appointment. You may never know where your NOM was charged.

Hopefully she originally put down the SA that was truly her first choice. Trying to 'game' the NOM system is generally a bad idea and many other threads discuss that. I would focus on which SA is her top choice and not be concerned about what other applicants have done.
 
time2 said:
A MOC can give nominate up to 10 applicants for each SA opening they have. The fact someone else got an appointment really has nothing to do with your status. That seems to be a common misunderstanding on this forum. A MOC NOM isn't the only source of NOM's. EVERY SA advises you apply for every NOM for which you are eligible, hopefully you have done that. The SA will eventually decide where to charge the NOM for everyone given an appointment. You may never know where your NOM was charged.

Hopefully she originally put down the SA that was truly her first choice. Trying to 'game' the NOM system is generally a bad idea and many other threads discuss that. I would focus on which SA is her top choice and not be concerned about what other applicants have done.
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They both had the same nomination source. That candidate has received the appointment from that nomination source. It was publicly posted by the candidate and the MOC. No one is trying to "game" the system. The MOC offered the possibility of changing the nom when it was offered during their phone call in the fall.

That was the only nomination she received.
 
I guess we will wait. Thanks for the replies.
 
foamspoon said:
It was posted by the MOC and the candidate that it came from the MOC's nomination.
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@foamspoon - There are some finer details here that more experienced contributors are trying to help you solidify before being able to recommend.

Here are a few quick nomination facts:
1) A student needs a nomination as part of the entrance requirement for 4 out of 5 US Service Academies
2) Just because your MOC nominates you, it does not mean that administratively the SA will "charge" your seat to the MOC. The SA wants to get as many qualified applicants into the school as possible and this may mean that your seat is administratively assigned to a lower performing congressional district that did not have a qualified applicant but did have an available seat in this year's class. For instance, there were no applicants in district 4 of state ABC -- that seat will get assigned to a candidate from a different state through administrative means. Applicants and MOC staff members GENERALLY NEVER ACTUALLY KNOW WHO THE SEAT IS CHARGED TO because it does not matter.
3) Each MOC can have 5 students at each of the Big 3 in any year that are officially"charged" to their district, but there is no upper limit of constituents from a single district that can be at the school because the others may be administratively tagged to other nominating authorities. I have had 5 students from 1 high school enter USAFA in the same year. How would that work in a 1:1 rule -- 2 Senators and 1 MOC.... the other two still got in because of the flexibility behind this system.
4) Depending on graduation or disenrollment, this could mean that there are 2 (or more) "slates" or from same MOC can receive a nomination.
5) A student having a NOM is powerful - even in cases where their nominating authority has been assigned a charged NOM out of their list of 10 (or multiple slates). This is because you have achieved the criteria of receiving a NOM, and then there are administrative juggling that can occur outside of your visibility that can mean the student is still appointed because they claimed a seat from state XYZ that went unfilled.
6) USMMA can take a nomination from any MOC from your State - not just the district you live in. You can literally call ANY MOC in your State and ask if they have filled their slate of nominees to USMMA. With a little work, any student should be able to do this EVEN after the "deadline" for those offices. I received one this way -- in March of my senior year from a different congressional district.

Its a complex topic, but understand it is not binary. 10 students are nominated per slate. The Academy "charging" one appointment to that slate does not rule out the other 9 who could still be appointed but charged to other districts or nominating authority slots. This is confusing to most because the student does not apply for further reconsideration. This is simply part of the larger process each admissions cycle.
 
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SA admissions determines where to charge NOM's.................NOT the MOC. Sometimes the MOC may not use the terminology as precisely as SA admissions.
 
Great information already given.

MOC’s will most always take credit for all SA Appointees in their District. They just aren’t always the nominating source “charged” to the appointments.
There are many examples of multiple (sometimes dozens) Appointees who live in the same district. This looks extremely favorable to the MOC, and they will be sure to get any and all “credit “ via media.
As stated above, there are many ways/sources these Appointees nominations are “charged” or even received outside of the MOC’s control. Appointees shouldn’t care what nomination source was charged for their appointment, only care that they had a nomination that led to an appointment.
 
If USMMA is not your daughter’s first choice, I would advise not switching the nomination to there. It’s still possible for her to receive an appointment for her first choice as long as she has a nomination, regardless of the other person receiving one.
 
Also, USMMA noms can come from any MOC in your state of residence. I remember a Jan 31 due date but I’m not sure if that is true for USMMA as well? We were ready to start knocking on doors of other MOCs, if DS didn’t earn one from his original three options….
 
foamspoon said:
They both had the same nomination source. That candidate has received the appointment from that nomination source. It was publicly posted by the candidate and the MOC. No one is trying to "game" the system. The MOC offered the possibility of changing the nom when it was offered during their phone call in the fall.

That was the only nomination she received.
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It is confusing. But you are incorrect to draw the conclusion that bc someone else posted that their nominee got an appointment, that the appointee will ultimately be CHARGED to that MOC. It’s true that their nominee received an appointment. They are correct in stating that. But, that appointee may be charged to a completely different source in order for more appointments on the MOC’s slate. Often this charging and settling the class goes into the AC year, even. And no one knows where the appointment is actually charged. Could be the MOC, could be somewhere else.

Every year there are multiple candidates from one slate that receive an appointment.

You cannot draw a conclusion of your own, bc we are not privy to how an appointee is ultimately charged.

Search this question for tons of discussion about the charging of noms.

Bottom line: you cannot make assumptions about your viability for an appointment based upon someone else’s appointment from the same slate. And you are in the game, until you receive word from admissions that you are no longe being considered for an offer of appointment.
 
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foamspoon said:
My daughter was told by her MOC when she received her nomination, that if she had a change in her first choice to let him know. From a media source, we found out a candidate (very qualified, I would have picked him too.) with the same MOC nomination has received and accepted their appointment. She is still without a nomination to USMMA. Would it be wise to wait or see if the nomination can be switched to USMMA?
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You can obtain nominations from any MOC from your state for USMMA. I receive multiple emails from USMMA admissions stating to reach out to them if you do not have a nomination, as they will try their best to find one for you!
 
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