Obsticles

<p>I think I'm in the same boat with a lot of candidates here: scholastically qualified, a nomination (Presidential for me so far), NASS-good CFA, good interview, and soon to be DoDmerb qualified.
So my question is, what would keep me from an offer of appointment?</p>

<p>Good Question! Zaphod, where are you?</p>

<p>well I am in the same boat as you minus the nomination to this date. Once everyone that is tripled Q'd and has a nomination, I believe the USNA will then take the most qualified candidates (best ACT/SAT. GPA, class rank, etc) to meet their quota of around 1200 incoming kids.</p>

<p>so of the 2,000 fully qual with nominations, 1,500 are offered appointment. I thought that maybe the 500 missing out can be accounted for through injuries, getting in trouble, and "senioritis". I thought that by being in that 2,000 the Naval Academy wants you.
Therefore if you are in that 2,000 all you need to do is nothing stupid.
I like that theory, cause I think we're in that 2,000. Anyone want to prove me right? or wrong...</p>

<p>Almost, but not quite.</p>

<p>More or less, once the 2,000 are selected, the USNA then gets to pick to whom it wants to make an appointment. Yes, some do become disqualified [not very many at this stage] on their own "stupidity" but the "500" left behind are simply subject to de-selection.
For example, within a state, a Senator [Congressman] may have 8 that are triple "q" who are nominated. This same Congressman may already have four at the Academy. Thus, only one gets an appointment. The remaining seven? Senator is able to report back to 7 angry constituents that "it was out of my hands, the Academy made the final selection."</p>

<p>
[quote]
For example, within a state, a Senator [Congressman] may have 8 that are triple "q" who are nominated. This same Congressman may already have four at the Academy. Thus, only one gets an appointment. The remaining seven? Senator is able to report back to 7 angry constituents that "it was out of my hands, the Academy made the final selection."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>There are 535 Menbers of Congress. 5/4 * 535 = 668.75 slots on average per year that are filled by MOC's.</p>

<p>Other sources of appointments:</p>

<p>Presidential: 100 appointments</p>

<p>Children of deceased or disabled veterans and children of prisoners of war
or servicemen missing in action:
Up to 65 appointments</p>

<p>Children of Medal of Honor Recipients: Candidates in this special category who are fully qualified for admission are automatically appointed. There is no limit to the number of midshipmen with this source of nomination.</p>

<p>The Vice President: At any one time, five midshipmen may attend the Academy based on a vice presidential nomination. </p>

<p>Regular and Reserve Navy and Marine Corps Members: 170 appointments</p>

<p>Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC, NJROTC, MCJROTC);
Naval, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Army Honor Units with Distinction:
20 appointments</p>

<p>If you add up all of the potential appointment slots, the sum is way short of the 1200+ midshipmen required for a particular class. The seven (left over) candidates in Bill's scenario end up in a pool from which the academy offers appointments to bring the class to the desired end strength. It is possible for all eight nominees to receive an appointment. However, only one candidate will count against the MOC's quota.</p>

<p>GA ... THAT is about as clear an explanation as any I've attempted to figure out. THANK YOU!</p>

<p>gocougar ... where are you from?</p>

<p>There was a guy who went to USAFA this way:</p>

<p>Not all congressmen use their slots. These slots are gathered up at the end and passed out to the most qualified alternates (no matter if they're from that state or not). Therefore, you can be an alternate and receive an appointment from another guy across the country.</p>

<p>I hope this information is correct. If not, I apologize and hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving day. :)</p>

<p>
[quote]
Not all congressmen use their slots. These slots are gathered up at the end and passed out to the most qualified alternates (no matter if they're from that state or not). Therefore, you can be an alternate and receive an appointment from another guy across the country.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>NOT TRUE. Qualified alternates who receive appointments do not count against any MOC quota. Title 10, United States Code was amended in 1979 to preclude any Member of Congress from nominating someone who is not a constituent of their respective district. If that were not the case, some MOC's would be deluged with applications from other parts of the country (i.e., MD, VA, PA).</p>

<p>Every year there are unused quotas in states such as Montana, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, etc. Those unused quotas mean that more candidates will be selected from the national pool to meet the end strength. Candidates selected from the pool already have a nomination. On the flip side, candidates without a nomination are SOL.</p>

<p>i have heard of that happening^^^</p>

<p>Sorry. Info is old. He applied in 1977.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Zaphod, where are you?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>At my uncle's house trying to ensure that my massively-swollen belly doesn't explode all over his PC. :D</p>

<p>To answer the OP's question, and using the criteria listed, I would say that the most likely single cause of someone with a great record not getting an appointment is that there are a whole bunch of OTHER people with great records also vying for that appointment. </p>

<p>People don't seem to undestand that there is a certain amount of pure luck which goes into the appointment result. How many people in your district and/or state applied for a nomination, and what were their records compared to yours? How many people applied to that SA this year? What were THEIR records like?</p>

<p>If you have a wonderful record and apply in a year were fewer people applied and/or their records were on the average not as good as yours, then your chances are better. OTOH, if you apply in a year with LOTS of other applicant with similar or better records, then your chances will be less.</p>

<p>You just gotta roll the dice and see what you get.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<ul>
<li>Z</li>
</ul>

<p>P.S. - Back to the turkey table! :D</p>

<p>That question was asked in the parents' forum with the dir. of admissions in CVW #1. Specifically, something like ...</p>

<p>"Why would those 300-400 who are triple Q'ed AND have a nomination NOT be given an offer of appointment."</p>

<p>Her answer: "There just is not enuff space in the class."</p>

<p>im from MD i have a presidential nomination, waiting to hear from congressmen. 1 senator has 2 slots open, the other only 1. Rep. 1 slot</p>

<p>One obsticle could be spelling? :eek:</p>

<p>jk,qocougar. ;)</p>

<p>Good luck and go get 'em! Sounds like you're in pretty good position. :) Any possibility your pop could get orders to report to Bismark, ND?? :confused:</p>

<p>Not likely. He's retired.</p>

<p>I have never understood how the "congressional quota" works. Truthfully, I don't even think there is a congressional quota like everyone always tries to point out. In my class there are 9 people from my congressional district. While not all of these mids got congressional noms, a good deal did. Every year there a good number from my district, and I'm not even from MD, VA. With the amount of MD mids, there is no way to explain it using this congressional quota. According to the catalog there are 227 mids from MD. Maryland has only 10 seats in Congress. By this quota, only 50 mids came from congressional noms. Anyone have a way to explain this?</p>

<p>Here is the Congressional Instruction on nominations to all service academies. </p>

<p><a href="http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:m3zGkrwtD1cJ:https://admissions.usafa.af.mil/RR/Congressional%2520Guide.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:m3zGkrwtD1cJ:https://admissions.usafa.af.mil/RR/Congressional%2520Guide.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And this is a breakdown of the whole person scoring</p>

<p><a href="http://www.usna.edu/IR/htmls/lead/da...7_phillips.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usna.edu/IR/htmls/lead/da...7_phillips.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Really, the second one you have to wade through a bit, but the information is really interesting and gives a good breakdown of how the whole person score is derived.</p>

<p>Happy Reading! We are killing time until it is time for our mid to begin his 18 hour journey back to Annapolis from the Great White North. Hope everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed family time. (And I hope Zaphod enjoyed the turkey tempest at his uncle's!)</p>

<p>Momof1</p>

<p>^^^^
The second link is broken.</p>

<p>Each moc gives out 10 noms for every spot that they have open in a particular SA. One of those will definetly get an appointment but if you look at the numbers that's only 450 or so appointments. When you add in all of the other nominations that's still significantly less than a thousand. So the admissions board picks out other people from a certain district that don't count against a moc's quota of people. For example a particular moc can have 4 people in but only 2 spots filled because 3 just graduated. The 2 people that aren't taking up spots did not count against his/her quota because they were not the main choices for that district, rather later additions.</p>