Let's see. . . where to begin? I guess, first off, I would consider my son very AVERAGE (and below average when comparing to the CC crowd). In fact, to ward of depression last year

(when reading all of the fabulous stats of the college confidential applicants), I kept telling myself, "This is just a small sampling of ALL of the candidates."
But there must have been something in his package that the academies liked because he got a LOA from USNA and USMA. He had to plow through a DoDMERB issue (braces). But with a promise from the orthodontist that they would be off by the end of March, he was granted a waiver from the three academies to which he applied. He did not get a LOA from AFA. However, they were the first to send an offer of appointment. Btw, since that was his first choice -- that is where he is. And for as much as one can love the first year, he is loving it and doing pretty well. We are thankful.
JAM, I think you are exactly right when you said, "...the academy uses these nominations for those candidates whom they want to appoint and who were not able to secure another nomination. In your son's case - he was left off obviously because his MOC's awarded him his first and second choices."
Yes, USMA knew he applied to other academies and that USMA was his 3rd choice. (A Maj. working in admissions called him in January. He was very forthright with his preferences.)
Pima, there was nothing fancy about the letter from Mr. Cheney. In fact, it looked just like the one he received at the beginning of the process that said something like, "thank you for requesting a nomination...we are passing your name on to the academy...don't send us any more information...we'll be in touch..." So when the nomination arrived (son was out of town) I figured it was just a "thanks, kid, but no thanks" kind of thing. I called our son to tell him that a letter had arrived and asked him if he wanted me to open it. He said yes. And then I about died from shock. "It is my pleasure to inform you that I have nominated you..." With him still on the phone, I went through the rest of the mail and on the bottom of the pile was THE big envelope from USMA. Again, with his permission, I opened it and could not believe my eyes!!