<p>Remember, LOA's don't count against the congressional slots, so there's some extra. </p>
<p>They can nominate 10 people per open slot. They can rank people, primary with 9 alternates, or all unranked.</p>
<p>Most MOCs do not establish a principal nomination (since it forces the academy to take that person and they may have others more qualified. Basically, they are unranked and the academy chooses. Yes, the Predidential nominees are for the children of military personnel and the VP nominations are usually used by the academy for applicants that the academy likes but perhaps didn't get an LOA and is in need of nomination (e.g. in crowded districts). Yes, most get in with congressional nominations because there are so many more. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>So basically if your Rep uses the competitive system AFA could possibly not take anyone from your Reps district; or do they have to take the candidate that they deem the most competitive from that slate?</p>
<p>Ok this noob question is killing me... sorry to ask lol, what's an LOA? I am guess letter of acceptance? Can someone clarify this :) Thanks.</p>
<p>letter of assurance...when they can't offer you an appointment because you don't have a nomination yet.</p>
<p>AF conquest: the AFA has to take the number one nominee if the competitive slate is used -- that's why the academies discourage MOC'c from using it.
gglock -- yes, as k10 says. unless you really act terribly in your MOC interviews, your LOA (assuming you get one) will get you an appointment. There are stories out there about someone with an LOA who acted so presmuptious that he didn't get a nomination and was ultimately not accepted.</p>
<p>Sorry one caveat -- the candidate must be "qualified" which means they have met the basic requirements. After you submit your application, you will generally get a letter saying you're qualified but it doesn't mean you have gotten in by any means (unless you are the number one candidate of an MOC that is using the competitive slate).</p>
<p>When do candidates generally receive a letter that says that they are qualified? Is being a qualified candidate something that the admissions board decides on?</p>
<p>I received a letter saying that I wasn't competetive for an appointment at the time (around Nov/Dec) because of my SAT scores. I ignored the letter and the next piece of mail I received was an appointment.</p>
<p>I know someone who got an LOA and a nomination, but didn't get in because of a teacher recommendation so watch out. There are other ways you can be rejected.</p>
<p>That's horrible! Obviously, you wouldn't request a Teacher recommendation from a Teacher that didn't like you, so your friend must've had no idea until they were rejected. If I were a teacher, and a student that I disliked/didn't see fit for a certain college asked me for a rec, I would politely decline. Screwing up someones life most probably for trivial things by writing a few choice words is an awful thing to do, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Yeah, the teacer had formerly served on the Admission Board for the Academy, and she wrote that he wasn't "leadership material"... Eagle Scout, captain of the swim team, pilot's license. You get the picture. He didn't know she would write that stuff.</p>
<p>sounds strange to me since LOA's are not sent out until all qualifications (including recs) are received and evaluated.</p>
<p>I don't know the details. He may not have had an LOA yet... it may have been a nomination, but I have no doubt he would have gotten in if he did not.</p>