<p>In Pennsylvania for the class of 2011 the applicant ratio was 3:2:1 for Annapolis:West Point:Air Force Academy - proximity obviously affecting the respective candidate pools.</p>
<p>There are around 600,000 people per district by the 2000 U.S. Census. In some states, that number has risen dramatically and some have fallen. Until the districts are redrawn in 2010, House of Rep. nominations vary in competition by district. Senator nominations are will only be effected by total state population, and not district.</p>
<p>True. But the chances of the number of people in an urban district going for an academy is probably greater than for a rural district. Same if the district is close to an academy or has a large military population.</p>
<p>It depends on where in VA...NO VA is incredibly competitive. Realize that almost every Fairfax County HS is ranked as 1 of the top 100 public HS in the nation by Time, Money and Newsweek. If that is your area I would say the SAT and ACT are low...if I recall correctly the avg SAT score in Fairfax is @1400 and ACT is 33...they are great scores, but you want to be better than avg. and your ACT would only be classified as avg by AFA and sub-par by NoVA Since your class size is small I am going to assume you are in private for NoVA or you are not from that area. In that case you probably will be ranked higher for a more rural district.</p>
<p>Remember many kids in VA are military dependents and traditionally the military has a large component of dependents that become AD...thus the state becomes more competitive. </p>
<p>Everything else looks great, just take the SAT and ACT again since they superscore. Also belt the CFA out...get maxes on all of the areas and then you will be sitting even prettier</p>
<p>BTW what happened with the written on ACT...a 20 is very low..if you get that up to a 28 than you ACT would be a 31., bring up the science 2 points and you would go a 32..which would look great.</p>
<p>Go onto the AFA site and it shows what the avg scores are, and remember you want to be higher than the avg (get more pts for your score)...ideally all you need is 1 nom and the highest score...it is the whole pic...also speak to your ALO, they can be the ones to tell you how competitive you are from your area</p>
<p>Writing score on the ACT only goes up to 12, so 20 is impossible. I got an 8, not great, but still good.</p>
<p>--Sorry to revive an old thread--</p>
<p>I have to ask: Is Michigan competitive? I wouldn't think so, at least not in my present location in Michigan (like smack-dab in the middle of Michigan, pretty much nothing more than fields and highway :) )</p>
<p>I'd say it is pretty competitive based on the fact that there are 15 districts. From what you say though, it may not be so competitive.</p>
<p>A competitive district is one that gets a higher number of applicants. If you lve in an area that has a lot of bases (San Antonio Tx, Parts of Florida, Virginia, Colorado) you will have more people chasing the dream. If you live in a location that has less connection to the Military (the New Engalnd States, the military is not seen with the same regard; disclaimer this is not a slight to the many great cadets who have come from these regions) or a smaller state there will be fewer candidates applying. Michigan has a large number of congressional districts and a blue collar ethic which likely make it a more competitive region.</p>
<p>Ouch, I live right near Offutt Air Force Base.</p>
<p>ds is right on with the New England states. The military is really looked downed upon in the Bronx. They all think we're some kind of murderers. If your an enlisted, how does the nomination process work? Is it the same? Do you even have to get a nomination?</p>
<p>The process is different in one very big way...you now already belong to the AF, it is not like going to a civilian college and decide to transfer. YOU will need to get command support, by that I mean all the way up to the wing king. You can get in under a pesidential which is not available to you currently, plus they have a certain amount alloted for enlisted, and of couse you still apply to your home state MOC's. Remember that for probably your 1st y you will be going through training for your AFSC, which means you will probably not be able to apply. </p>
<p>Our next door neighbor enlisted when he graduated 3 ys ago, he applied last year for the first time. He was not accepted and has decided to get his undergrad while on AD and apply for OTS, which is very common, as a matter of fact that is how his father became an officer. If you elect to enlist the AF will pay 75% of the cost for college, including your masters, you will owe time back. If you do this path, be smart and start college courses immediately, and yr round. Our friends son is now close to graduating, about 18 mos away, he goes yr round.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If your an enlisted, how does the nomination process work? Is it the same? Do you even have to get a nomination?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>if you are enlisted then you would apply to your 3 Members of Congress for a congressional nomination and would also qualify for a service connected nomination. The academies are allowed by law to appoint 85 enlisted each year.</p>
<p>bulletandpima- a "presidential" is only a legacy nomination (child of a retired servicemember) and an applicant who qualifies for their own service connected nomination cannot be appointed wtih a "presidential nomination".</p>
<p>My mom drove one of our senators around for a cruising tour (for the state police), so maybe that will give me some leverage :)</p>
<p>nominations aren't that difficult at all.. but it all depends on congressman</p>
<p>Many MOC's have a committee, and the MOC is not even a part of the interview. In NC, we did not meet Dole until the nomination reception where she introduced her staff. For Sen. Burr he was not at the interivew, it was a committee. </p>
<p>Depending on what state you are from, it will depend on how difficult the nom is to get! Some states the MOC's will coordinate so they can spread the wealth, some states do not (NC doesn't, but I recall hearing that NY does). The fact is you only need 1!</p>
<p>
[quote]
nominations aren't that difficult at all.. but it all depends on congressman
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not quite - the "difficulty" is dependent on your own qualifications stacked against your competition. Some congressional districts may have but a few applicants while others may have scores of applicants.
The competition often varies by academy. Those who apply to multiple academies may find themselves with a nomination to one academy and not another, or perhaps a nomination to each.</p>
<p>Pima is also right on the MOC committee. Most MOC's have a committee handle the selection process. The MOC chooses how involved he/she wants to be in the process. Don't count on meeting your Congressman or Senator.</p>
<p>I agree with JAM about the difficulty. If there are alot of candidates applying, than it will be more difficult. She is also correct in stating that some MOC's will ask you to rank which SA you want, thus if you are applying to all of them, you may only get a nom to one, and it might not be your 1st choice. Don't fret about that, our friends' DS got a nom to the AFA, but he wanted the USNA, he called the MOC who stated that another child who received the nom for bothe AFA and USNA was taking the AFA, so they switched him over to the USNA... he did have an LOA for the USNA, but not the AFA...he will be attending the USNA. USNA69 1 time even stated that some times the kid with an LOA will not receive an MOC, b/c they know the SA will find one for them.</p>
<p>This also occurred in our state. As I stated before our MOC's don't interact and you can get 3 noms, but I know several kids who asked for noms to different SA's and received noms to only 1, thus sometimes applying to all of the SA's may backfire. My opinion and throw it in the circular filing cabinet after your done is, don't apply to an SA unless you want to be in that branch. Life for an Army officer is completely different than one for an AF officer, same is true for Navy being different than Army and AF. I can see overlap between all of them...i.e you want to fly anything incl. helo's than apply to all of them, you want to be on the ground than the Army or Marines, but definetly not the AF, or if you like water (AF pilots don't ever want to be in the water...it means something bad happened!). Think about what your ultimate goal is and make sure ea branch has that dream</p>
<p>I have heard of instances where blue chip recruited athletes and candidates with LOA's didn't get a MOC nomination - while this is the MOC perogative it does make life stressful. This is one reason why it is so important to apply for the VP nomination - the academy will have a fall back if they really want you.</p>
<p>Also, some districts/states have a policy of giving only ONE nomination to a candidate per service academy. I got only one nomination from my representative. The others sent out a letter saying I didn't get one from them because I already had a nomination; I only applied to USAFA. I don't know about other states (or other congressional districts within my state), but in Colorado, there are so many students applying that my district's representative and both senators fill up their ten slots, and no one student can recieve more than one nomination per SA. I believe they also have to be by different MOCs. </p>
<p>But as someone already said, you only need one. Getting more than one ups the chance of getting admitted before you get placed into the national pool, but in the grand scheme, it doesn't matter if you're ranked high enough for admission anyway.</p>
<p>And remember, if an SA wants you badly enough, you WILL get a nomination. A high school friend applied to West Point (actually was recruited to run for them), but didn't have his nomination by the time the end of March came around (West Point gives most appointments in April, I believe). His coach and admissions (but mostly the coach) had to fight to get a nomination- where an opening occured this late in the game, I don't know. It probably came from someone who had more than one. However, he ended up with the nomination and what should have been a guarenteed appointment. However, this is also a good example of why you should handle DODMERB early- his appointment was thwarted by an allergy DQ that he wasn't able to waive in time.</p>
<p>I also never met an MOC the entire time, although I did have a committee composed of grads from USNA, USMA, and USAFA. They didn't tell me this until five minutes into the interview.</p>
<p>When should DODMERB be handled? As soon as one gets the green light to continue the application process, I would guess.</p>