West Point #2 / USNA #1?

L

lionelronaldo

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First and foremost I hope everyone reading this is having a fantastic day so far. I want to preface this post by saying that it is an extreme honor to be selected to attend any of the SA's, and by no means do I intend to sound ungrateful in this post.

Today I recieved a LOA to USMA in my candidate portal. However, since I was a little kid USNA has always been my dream school. As far as nominations go, should I list USMA as my #1 since I have the LOA, or should I try my odds and list USNA as my #1 (I live in an extremely competitive district and state).

Thank you for any feedback regarding this!
 
Congrats on the LOA!

I would have a sit down with yourself and ask why USNA is your dream school. In other words, do you want to be a Naval/Marine Officer over an Army Officer or do you just like Annapolis more than West Point. I love my alma mater through and through, but it is a means to an end at the end of the day. Four years by the Severn comes and goes. After that, you see the same Navy/Marine Corps as the ROTC and OCS/PLC grads. I would look more at the opportunities that lie after USXA. What do you want to do for your military career? The Army, Marines, and Navy all offer unique jobs. They also offer some similar ones. If you don't know specifically, research the different branches and see which one(s) you can see yourself in.
 
You may also want to visit each if time allows before your congressional packet is due. I believe that the LOA would entitle you to an overnight visit with a Plebe at West Point, to get a feel for the place. I know DS (he is at WP) hosted a high school senior who had Navy as first choice. After his visit the senior said the visit had helped him evaluate his options and that WP had risen as a possibility for him. Not sure where the fellow ended up.
 
My son got an email about potentially getting a LOA (maybe an email letter of encouragement?), but they want to see his HS transcript first...unfortunately, his school is shut down for summer but it looks like LOAs are starting to go out and he is, no pun intended, in a similar boat to the OP.
 
Gosh, an LOA to someplace you can see yourself, and would be happy to serve beyond the (relatively) short 4 years spent there, is a pretty sweet thing!! I sure would tell my own to think long and hard about that one.

Visit, explore, and talk to all the people you can.

This subject comes up every year. You can use the search tool for more discussion/advice already offered.

BTW, are your nom sources ones that will only nominate you to one branch? If not, you may actually receive a nom to both. But one is almost a sure thing. And especially if your nom sources ‘spread the wealth’, and you expect to receive only one, I would sure think hard about the *almost* sure thing, with an LOA, if serving in the Army is something you are interested in.
 
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Congrats on the early LOA. After 4 years, you transition out of N*ot College and it's the real deal. Those services have different missions, which one can you see yourself being a leader?
 
lionelronaldo said:
First and foremost I hope everyone reading this is having a fantastic day so far. I want to preface this post by saying that it is an extreme honor to be selected to attend any of the SA's, and by no means do I intend to sound ungrateful in this post.

Today I recieved a LOA to USMA in my candidate portal. However, since I was a little kid USNA has always been my dream school. As far as nominations go, should I list USMA as my #1 since I have the LOA, or should I try my odds and list USNA as my #1 (I live in an extremely competitive district and state).

Thank you for any feedback regarding this!
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Congrats!!

If you don't mind me asking,

Did you go to SLE?

What don't you have in yet on your application?
 
+10 to all the advice above. Reinforcing the notion that the service branch should matter more than the school: Which branch best aligns with your career aspirations and cultural expectations? Because that will matter most in the long run.

Think beyond your “dream job,” whether it be infantry or subs or armor or jets or logistics or cyber. Ask yourself, “What if I don’t get (or don’t qualify for) my first choice?” Would you be satisfied with what your #2 or #3 or #4 choice might be? Again, this cuts right to the branch’s mission and the various jobs that go into fulfilling that mission.
 
I understand your dilemma about being from an extremely competitive district. I agree with the advice above, but I have another thought.
This may be challenging, but ask people you know and try to do some personal research about your district. Of previous candidates from your district who are just like you who applied to academies, how many can you find who received appointments to USNA (not nominations, but actually appointments), and how many can you find who received appointments to USMA? If the answer is very different, that may help you make your decision.

For example, if you can identify multiple candidates who are just like you who received appointments to USNA, then it may be worth the risk of ranking USNA number one for the representative’s nomination. If you can’t find a single candidate like you who ever received an appointment to USNA, then I would say to rank USMA first for your representative’s nomination. The reason I say this is because it may be that you need to have some extra special edge over all the other wonderful candidates who are applying in order to actually receive an appointment. Do you have an extra special edge? Something that sets you apart from the pack so that USNA will choose you instead of all the other amazing candidates? If not, you may want to seriously consider if USMA could be a good fit.

Keep in mind that you could rank one academy first for your representative’s nomination and the other academy first for your two senators’ nominations. That would give you at least a small shot at receiving a nomination to both.
 
landlover said:
Congrats!!

If you don't mind me asking,

Did you go to SLE?

What don't you have in yet on your application?
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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 LOA. There are some excellent points mentioned by everyone above. My DS was in the same situation few months back. He had LOA from USNA and he was fortunate to get acceptance into USMA, USNA and USAFA. Which added to further confusion on decision making (he was worried about getting into one). There are tons post on making decision towards a SA. Also think about what you want to do post your education is important. It is also not your committed service time but how would you align yourself for civilian transition and professional career.

As said above if you attended any SLE then it will give you good feel. Visit campus ( stay overnight, if allowed by SA). You will feel the chemistry

My DS has a overnight visit to USMA and that helped him to make his decision.

Such an early LOA mean you are top of the list. I am sure you will come to decision soon.

All the best.
 
All great advice so far. No one has mentioned the possibility of cross commissioning upon graduation. It's my understanding that could be an option. If you wound up at West Point, but still ultimately wanted a post-grad career in the Navy, you may be able to cross commission.
 
alliern said:
All great advice so far. No one has mentioned the possibility of cross commissioning upon graduation. It's my understanding that could be an option. If you wound up at West Point, but still ultimately wanted a post-grad career in the Navy, you may be able to cross commission.
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My general understanding of this is that it is almost unheard of in todays day and age. Very rare. Not something to base a decision on for sure.
 
Cross commissioning is rare. It should never be counted on as guarantee. Usually less than a handful a year to none do this every year. It can be done, but is extremely rare and never a guarantee.
 
Vegas72 said:
My son got an email about potentially getting a LOA (maybe an email letter of encouragement?), but they want to see his HS transcript first...unfortunately, his school is shut down for summer but it looks like LOAs are starting to go out and he is, no pun intended, in a similar boat to the OP.
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Attempting to get transcripts during the summer is definitely a challenge! USMA received my DDs but for some USNA has not. Still seeing a potential LOA must be very exciting! Congrats on the potential LOA:)
 
I concur with all that is stated above. You need to think more about what you want to do after the Academy than the Academy itself. Ultimately that is what will drive your happiness long term.

As far as nominations go...

If you have an LOA from West Point and list them as the #1 preference on your application you are highly likely to get a nomination from that source. MOC's offices want to get candidates appointed to the academies and with an LOA in hand, West Point has said "We Want You". In most cases (unless you give the office a reason NOT to nominate you), the office will use one of the 10 slots to give you a nomination.

West Point will only issue ~150 LOA's nationally each cycle (this can vary but it is rarely more than 10-15% of all appointments) so the odds that you will have the only LOA or one of just a couple in your House district for WP is highly likely.

When my DS went through the process a few years ago and interviewed with our MOC's office he was fortunate enough to have an LOA to USAFA (where his only requirement was to obtain a nomination). When he presented the letter to the committee during the interview, several members of the committee had never seen an LOA and had to read it to understand what it was (and this committee interviewed for all 4 SA's). As we were leaving, one of the committee members came out and told us he was getting his nomination and congratulated us on his pending appointment.

I only mention that story to tell you that you have a golden ticket to West Point. If you satisfactorily complete the rest of the application requirements your likelihood of getting in is about as close to 100% as you can get. You just need to decide if that is what you want. Go visit the campus, talk to Army officers, and see if this is the path you want to follow. If after that your heart is still with Navy, then I would tell you to follow your heart.
 
DS was in the same position 2 years ago. He was set on USNA until he visited USMA. I highly encourage you to visit both. He was upfront with his MoC about his aspirations and in the end had 2 noms for USNA and 1 MoC nom to USMA. He realized after visiting USMA that if he were to attend USNA he'd likely branch Marines and in the end he said "I like the woods more than I like the ocean". He is very happy with his decision
 
MMM3 said:
Attempting to get transcripts during the summer is definitely a challenge! USMA received my DDs but for some USNA has not. Still seeing a potential LOA must be very exciting! Congrats on the potential LOA:)
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DD had her transcript sent to USNA about a month ago , but it still isn’t showing in her portal . She contacted USNA admissions and they confirmed receipt of transcript , but they said it wouldn’t show in her portal until someone at USNA could validate it .The SAT scores are showing as received.
 
Wahoo Fan said:
For example, if you can identify multiple candidates who are just like you who received appointments to USNA, then it may be worth the risk of ranking USNA number one for the representative’s nomination.
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I say this respectfully, without knowing @Wahoo Fan but believing that they have good intentions: Do not try to game the system. There are too many variables and too many unknowns to see this as a winning strategy. You may know some, or even all, of someone’s credentials. But that doesn’t mean that you really know why they won offer of appointment. And you don’t know what the field looked like that year. It’s the reason why the savvy veterans of SAF are loathe to respond to “chance me” posts.

Play it straight and rank the SAs in accordance with your true preferences. If you feel the need to hedge by naming one SA #1 for one MOC, and another SA #1 for another MOC, do so only if you’re truly indifferent and/or open to attending either one. Beyond that, gaming the system may make you believe you’re increasing the chances of getting at least one, but you may find yourself with none at all.
 
Yes, the MOCs who receive a lot of nom applications may ask for only one choice of SA. This happened to DS2026 for Senatorial nom. He put his #1 choice and got the nomination for it. It seems the panel may be different for each SA nomination request because the interviews were scheduled on the same day. He was only allowed to interview to one panel to accommodate other applicants (some didn't get interviewed).

The other MOC asked for ranked choice. DS2026 got noms for both, he only wanted USMA first and USAFA second. He is now in Beast at USMA, halfway done.
 
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