<p>I am seeking a nomination to the Academy, well actually 6. President, Vice President, Two different Senators, Congressman, and the JROTC nomination. I figured the more I went for, the better chance of success I would have.</p>
<p>I have one question, Do I have to have both my Medical Examination and CFT before the nomination?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>No that's not necessary start the nomination process as soon as possible. Those tests come later.</p>
<p>he's right^ go ahead and apply for the nominations. usually their websites have a guide for what to do... send them a letter, and they'll usually contact you and tell you what to do if it's not on their websites. for the jrotc nomination, i didnt have any paperwork, it just showed up on my online application one day.</p>
<p>were you in JROTC, and was it an honor unit with distinction?</p>
<p>yep, i'm in army jrotc and we're a HUD. i didnt do any paperwork for it at all. it just showed up on my application as "Honor Military School"</p>
<p>HNeedle,</p>
<p>How cool is that !</p>
<p>I am in AFJROTC and I recieved 4 noms to the Academy.
Including the JROTC one.</p>
<p>The more noms. the better!</p>
<p>I accepted my appointment to USAFA 4 FEB 08.</p>
<p>Good Luck !</p>
<p>The Air Force is ABOVE ALL.</p>
<p>But just remember, don't worry if you only get one. Most states have the boards from different senators and reps. meet together to maximize chances of getting people in. This will result in people only getting one (even if they are most qualified) and being "turned down" by the others.</p>
<p>Yup I only got one from my Senator and that was enough for an early appt.</p>
<p>They will probably begin your interviews with the basic questions about your medical status, LOA's, and possibly your CFT performance, I know mine did (I was DQ'd for braces, hadn't done my CFT, and didn't have an LOA)...</p>
<p>Anything's possible, Good Luck Bud!!! ;)</p>
<p>I talked to one kid whose ALO lived NEXT DOOR to his congressional rep, and the two had been friends since the mid-1960's. He got the nomination! Every contact helps.</p>
<p>Unfortunately some nominations are given out as favors instead of qualification. I guess it is still who you know rather than what you know in some instances. However nomination does not guarantee appointment as long as it is a competetive one. If it is principle nomination and it is given out to as a favor then the best candidate does not always win. I would not brag too much about who knows who it could backfire. I would put my money on a candiidate that the Academy felt was worthy rather than letting a rep decide. Leave it to the pro's to decide.</p>
<p>The pro's do decide. If the Academy deems the principle not to be competitive, they can go to the next candidate.</p>
<p>A principle nominee need only meet minimal requirements and if they do by law they have to receive the appointment It does not mean they are the one the Academy would select if it were competetive.</p>
<p>competitive=meeting requirements. Same page I suppose.</p>
<p>Competetive would mean that requirements are met. It does not meant they are the most competetive. I am just stating a prinsciple nominee is not always the best. #2 on the list couild be better but never get the appointment</p>
<p>It is my understanding that a principal nominee would have an easier time garnering an appointment than a candidate with a competitive nomination. stvblm is right in saying that the Academy must, by law, award an appointment to a principal nominee so long as he or she meets minimal academic, physical, and medical requirements. A competitive nominee would need to have the best application possible from any given district to outshine other qualified candidates for an appointment, whereas a principal nominee only has to meet bare minimum requirements to work toward the same end.</p>
<p>The principal nomination system seems a bit flawed because the principal nominee in a given district could be minimally qualified with shabby academics, so-so physical fitness, and a passing medical qualificaiton, yet still receive an appointment because the Academy is forced to give it out. The number two nominee (who would be awarded a competitive nomination) could be the most qualified candidate in the world, yet he or she would not earn an appointment. This is assuming that there is only one vacancy in the district, which is the case with most districts out there. </p>
<p>In applying to USAFA, I earned two nominations from my Senators and one from my district representative, all of which were competitive. None of my Congressmen used principal nominations, so the Academy was able to look at every candidate from those slates and decide among the pool which ones were most qualified for an appointment. The admissions panel didn't have to worry about laws putting their decision in check; it was likely just a straight apples-to-apples comparison.</p>
<p>I am not putting anyone down who may have been the most qualified from any given district and also received a principal nomination, but I feel that it should be solely up to the Academy to decide who is awarded an appointment. After all, these academies are looking people with merit, not those who can butter up their friendly next-door Congressman enough to "earn" a big favor!</p>
<p>Thats the point I was trying to get across. Very well stated. Thanks</p>
<p>One more point Fencersmother, an ALO is there to interview and guide potential candidates in an unbiased way. If he did use his friendship to garner a nomination for this person he did a great injustice to others who also had him as a ALO. I am sure if the Academy was aware of any such happenings they would certainly want to investigate further. By the way I am just an observer of these posts and when I see one that catches my atention I reply.</p>
<p>I liked my Senators and Reps unranked systems. I think that helped me get a rep and senator for Texas of all places! I think that's really how I got in honestly.</p>
<p>Yes based on your own merit.</p>
<p>Also, you go through the academy for the presidential nomination. They submit the paperwork. You will usually find out about that one the fastest. My son found out about his presidential nomination last July. There was no need for us to seek any others. Of course we were contacted by our rep and senators, and even met with them personally (Not for an interview). We let them know about the presidential so they could make sure they offered their nominations to someone else. Of course, the rep and senators; and the air force academy have 2 different agendas when it comes to nominations. The academy wants you to have more than one so if one is a presidential or a vice presidential, they might be able to use that for an applicant who couldn't get a nomination on their own but is eligible for those. They figure you can use you rep or senator's nomination. Your rep or senator on the other hand want you to use the presidential, vp, etc... so they can free up their nominations for others and thus have more applicants from their district and state.</p>