<p>I know a lot of you guys are recommending that candidates send in their LOA's to their MOC. I recieved a LOA from USMA a few days ago (yeah!), and have been thinking on whether I should send a copy to my MOC, because, my first choice is still USNA (haven't recieved a LOA from there). What do you guys think? Do you think that if I do send it in, it will negatively impact my chances for recieving a nomination to USNA?</p>
<p>-JLO</p>
<p>Send it in, but mention in an attached letter that your first choice is still USNA. USNA actually does this already when they issue an LOA so your senators and congressman will already get their own copy of the LOA directly from the academy. I think WP does the same but I am not sure--our senators and congressman were not "cc'ed" on my daughters USMA LOA but they were on her USNA one. To be safe she sent a copy of the WP LOA to them anyway. Good Luck and congrats on the WP LOA.</p>
<p>Looks like congressional nominations are starting to come in. In our state, the nominations are not released until January. Also, interviews are conducted in December. How does it work in other states?</p>
<p>Aspen, I only have to interview with my representative, and I do that December 08. They don't release nomination info until January here, either.</p>
<p>My son has a congressional nomination and one senator nomination already. We got both letters within the last 5 days. I don't know how the other senator does it though and we have not recieved any word from her except that they got his package back in Oct. Last weekend when we were at the CWV some ppl knew a lot about where they stood and there were ppl like us that hadn't heard anything. It all comes down to your congressman and senators and how they each process the nominations.</p>
<p>All you need is one!
One of the senators in my state schedules nomination interviews in January so that any candidate already having a nomination will be excluded from consideration. (Figuring, I am sure, that the other MOC will have already notified their candidates of the nomination decision by then). I believe the philosophy is to give a larger number of candidates a chance for appointment.
CM</p>
<p>My son has a congressional interview in early December. As we understand it, if he were to receive a nomination our senators will then take him off their list (if he were to make their list). They want to give everyone a fair shot and it seems fair.</p>
<p>The way they explained it at the CVW was its better to have your name on both congressional and senators lists. That was they have more options. They can take from one list or move to another. Also He said if you are good enough to be on the senators list then you should be the top one on the congressmans list. If not then something was wrong. One parent stated that his senator told him the same as you are saying and the USNA admin person said that was wrong and the senators were not suppose to talk to each other. Our family is new this whole process so I really don't know.<br>
The part I really don't know is how many slots our district has available. One parent last weekend said they knew that there area had no slots available, thats scarry. What do you so then?</p>
<p>What do you so then? LOL<br>
I guess I should learn to proof read before I I hit the send button.</p>
<p>rmoorenc: I recommend you talk with the academy coordinator within your MOC's office. We have found them to be extremely helpful. Ask them about the number of "slots" the MOC is going to make nominations for this year for each academy.</p>
<p>According to the coordinators, our senators share information. They also want to know if you have a LOA since that is considered a "freebee" slot for the MOC.</p>
<p>If you have applied to mulitple academies, make sure your MOC knows your first choice. Depending on the state, you may only be able to get one nomination. </p>
<p>You're not alone in being new to the process. While there are families with academy alumni and multiple children in the academies, I expect the majority of families are experiencing their first, and possibly only, experience with the academy process.</p>
<p>Like parenting, once you learn the ropes, the process is over.</p>
<p>There was a very informative link posted earlied this fall detailing how the nominations, slots and appointments are intertwined and count against (or not) the MOC's allocation. If I can find it i will repost. If anyone remembers it, I am sure many new parents and candidates will find it informative. It also explained how candidates can receive appointments even if their MOC's slots were all filled.
CM</p>
<p>CM
That would be great</p>
<p>CM - I think this is one of the better ones...is this the one you were thinking of? From a WP site, but the process is identical for USNA.</p>
<p>That's the one. Thank you very much. As nominees are selected, the reality that each is competing against not only the other 1900+ who are fully qualified and have a nomination, but also against the other 9 on the MOC's slate, can cause the candidates to lose optimism. The information on this site will help the candidates to be better informed regarding the process, and realistic regarding thier chances.
CM</p>
<p>You have to figure that 400 of the 1400 appoinments offered are from Naps and Foundation also.</p>
<p>Yes, but I believe that they still have to get a nomination. I am not sure about those from the fleet.
CM</p>
<p>In CT I have already had the two interviews for my Senators and have an interview with my Congressman the second weekend of December. If you receive a nomination to an academy, they generally will let you know by tuesday or wednesday of the following week (that's how it worked with me).Positive feedback travels faster! However, the Congressman's nomination, if I get one, I will know around x-mas time. They say it's his "gift". </p>
<p>I did not get a nomination from my Senators to USNA, I was trying for 1 of 10 slots, they interviewed 65 or 70 people both times. I did get a nomination from one Senator to USMMA, and I hear there are only 16 applicants to USNA from my district, so hopefully I'll get USNA then. I spoke with the staff at one of the Senators office and was kinda bugged when they told me why I didn't get a nomination. Apparently I had an outstanding interview and a very high score, but my verbal SAT score (580, 26 ACT) and Class rank (top 20%, no specific rank) kept me out of the top 10. That being said it was really competitive and I just gotta get it in the next few weeks!</p>
<p>davygravy:
My son was informed during an informal visit to the admission office at USNA, that the minimum SAT scores required for admission were 600 math, 600 verbal, and a composite of 1300. Take the highest math and verbal from any test administration and add. Last year (class of 08) the competition was stiffer, and the standards were higher (or so I'm told).
Also, even though each MOC can nominate 10 candidates, sometimes they nominate fewer if they feel that the candidate pool is not strong.
I wish you well in your congressional district interiew, from what you say, your chances appear much better. I would recommend, however, that you think carefully about retaking your SAT.
Good Luck,
CM</p>
<p>I have taken them 3 times and my score is always about the same. However, a 26 on the ACT Verbal sections is, based on the Academy's website, a 600. Thus that coupled with my 710 would bring me to a 1310. No?</p>
<p>Does anyone else find it interesting that the SAT minimums for the Academy are higher than for NROTC (by a decent amount) when in four years both graduates will be doing the same jobs, leading the same people?</p>
<p>The conversion charts I have seen are usually for converting the composite ACT to composite SAT. The five or so charts I have seen give a range of 1160-1200 SAT equivalence for an ACT composite of 26. (The low was 1160-1190, the high 1170-1200). How the Academy converts, I have no way of knowing. I realize that for the class of '08, it would appear that a 600 is equivalent to a 26, based on the published profile.
You do not say, (and you need not respond) but if your ACT composite was higher, say in the 30 or better range, then you would be better aligned with the majority of those appointed to the class of 08.
I wish you well in your quest for appointment.
CM</p>