What are considered the "highly competitive districts"?

[OldRetSWO]

> As a practical matter, unless we have a BGO from the specific District on this Forum, no one can really tell you "how competitive" a particular district. We can talk in generalities about regions, and what attracts a lot of Candidates, but when you get down to the fine details, only someone with actual knowledge of applicant numbers would know. (Even the BGO might not know ..if there are multiple BGO's in the District, then they would only know what they see).

That said, after looking at the specifics of the district, I'd say that the area close to DC in Montgomery County will probably have the sort of high schools and parental education/income that generally leads to more qualified applicants. However, much of the district is pretty different from that so I would presume that it is not as competitive as some of the other Maryland districts. As has already been said though, it only takes one applicant with a higher overall score than you to make it competitive FOR YOU.

 

[Heatherg21]

And in every district the applicant pool varies from year to year.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

And in every district the applicant pool varies from year to year.

You'd be surprised about how consistent it is.... I've been a BGO for at least 15 years now, and our Applicant pool is pretty consistent. Sure the names and faces change, but the numbers and general characteristics of the applicants remain the same. I will say however that success breeds success.... if a popular, well liked student from a school gets appointed to USNA , its is very common to see several applicants from the same school the next few years,

 

[Heatherg21]

You'd be surprised about how consistent it is.... I've been a BGO for at least 15 years now, and our Applicant pool is pretty consistent. Sure the names and faces change, but the numbers and general characteristics of the applicants remain the same. I will say however that success breeds success.... if a popular, well liked student from a school gets appointed to USNA , its is very common to see several applicants from the same school the next few years,

The consistency is interesting to me. We are rural, but have a large Army base and 2 Air Force Installations nearby. MOC offices told our DS that they had many applicants, and USAFA led the list. I assumed (incorrectly) that being landlocked meant not too much interest in USNA or USMMA but they indicated USNA was very competitive and that they had more interest in USMMA than past years. I would say a very active parent group and possibly forums might be contributing to that if I had to guess.

I can see where there might be a snowball affect. Our school has only sent one to USNA that we know of. But our son receiving an appointment was celebrated among his peers and drew interest from staff. I hope it encourages others to strive for a difficult yet fulfilling goal.

 

[Therese_In_Denver]

> but when you get down to the fine details, only someone with actual knowledge of applicant numbers would know.

If your DS/DD recognized anyone on the nom interview panels, that's a good resource. DS's USMA liaison was the one who explained Colorado to us and he knew from being on several congressional MOC panels in recent years.