What does this letter mean?

Now, if you have an LOA and receive any kind of nomination, WP will get you in one way or another - they have either saved a slot from a congressman or one of the NWL slots for you. Therefore I agree, LOA+nomination and you are in.

I've lost the reference, but I found the specifics on this about this time last year.

From memory, LOA holders cannot be assigned another congressman's slot, nor does the waiting list factor in.

It's just the raw math itself- if you add up all the charged slots *which are appointed*, plus presidential, rotc, NWL, etc, there are still gaps vs their targeted class size. (that's what I lost, someone did the math nicely)

So if you were nominated in some form (on a slate, etc), 3Q, and had an LOA, they could just appoint. No need to play with other MOC slots, NWL, etc.

It's the same way that although they are required to take 150 of the NWL, they often appoint more.

My understanding is the NWL candidates have to be taken solely in WCS order. Since one of the purposes of LOA's is to balance the class composition for various reasons and does not necessarily align with WCS. (Athlete, Scholar, diversity, whatever)

There was some pretty good info on this last year- references to the actual code which defines the rules, as well as input from the RC's. I also found the congressional nomination document on the web (it's a public document) which had very detailed info by service academy on their process, preferences, etc. It had specifics on how NWL, LOA's, etc were to be treated.

But all of this is somewhat academic. Ultimately, it all boils down to things the candidate can control:
- Do your best with your MOC interviews, especially if they use primary method or ranked slate
- Get a nom, in the sense of getting on a slate
- Become 3q
- Work to have the best WCS you can, so that you'll compete well on the competitive methods as well as NWL
- Additional noms can help, but not always possible. Nor as much of a factor as the above

Everything else is just stuff that candidates (and more often parents) worry about and micro-analyze while waiting for news. But it's not something candidates can game to improve odds.
 
BigNick,

I'm going to be blunt. I know how the process works; I think your perceptions of nominations are slightly skewed. Your information about everything regarding the NWL, different types of nominations, etc is pretty much 100% factual but based off of your use of the quotes around 'nomination' I get the feeling that you believe the word 'nomination' is synonymous with 'appointment' (which it is not). JMHO.

The fact of the matter:
A nomination is simply the legal authority through congress or the DoD to offer someone an appointment. Every nomination pool (congressional, presidential, service-connected, etc) has a limited number of cadetships. Those not offered appointments through those cadetships go onto the NWL; their nomination is still equally as valid as the candidate who was admitted through one of the allotted cadetships aformentioned and if they are high enough on the NWL they will be tendered an appointment. Primary nominees are just as "nominated" as those lower down on congressman's list; they just get the privilege of being looked at first and a guaranteed appointment with 3Q. A candidate with a letter of assurance who fulfills the criteria on the letter will be offered an appointment. In the end, a nomination is a nomination is a nomination because it's just the legal OK.
 
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BigNick is right; if you have an LOA and you appear on anyone's nom slate, you will be appointed (assuming you are 3Q, of course).
 
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