<p>An additional twist is that all of the academies must also admit a geographically diverse class. This is accomplished through the nomination process. The academies have a certain latitude to utilize some unfilled vacancies from congressional districts for candidates with a nomination from another congressional district. These are used for some LOAs and most recruited athletes. If you are not in this group, you compete with others in your district. Therefore, some competitive districts may have 10 nominations for each vacancy that may have whole candidate scores that exceed the one or two candidates from less competetive districts. However, the likely end result is that only one from each district gain an space in the class. So location also plays an important role. This makes it important to have a backup plan.</p>