STRATEGIES TO WIN YOUR CONGRESSIONAL NOMINATION
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the most complex part of the Academy admissions process: the most often asked about, and most mysterious, and that is the Congressional Nomination process.
Here’s why: no other college requires it. This is completely unique to the Service Academies, and it throws another curveball in the long journey to get to your dream of an Academy appointment.
Your Goal
The goal is to earn one nomination to each Academy you are applying to. Without a nomination, you cannot be directly admitted to an Academy, and instead, are only eligible for a prep school.
What Stands In Your Way?
You only have a 10% chance of getting accepted to an Academy, but if you follow what we teach, you can drastically improve your odds. Over the last three years, 100% of our clients have earned Congressional nominations. This past year, 87% of our cohort earned Academy appointments. Our strategy has a proven record of success.
We want you to remember that this process is much more complex than normal college, so ask for help. We offer our Pro Program for rising seniors, where we will take applicants through the application process from start to finish.
Timeline: What to Expect
Here’s a very simplified version of the entire application process for Academies, Nominations, and ROTC, all in one picture.
On the left hand side, you’ll see Academies on top, Nominations in the middle, and ROTCs at the bottom. We wanted to put these three buckets together in one slide because applicants have different deadlines for each of these three categories.
Deadlines. The red lines are the typical deadlines for Academy, Congressional and ROTC applications. The exact dates for each Academy are at the top.
Beginning. At the beginning of 2nd semester junior year, summer seminar applications will open up, and they will occur during summer going into senior year of high school.
Real Applications. The real applications open over the summer, as shown.
As you can see, most of the requirements converge in the fall, so expect the fall of your Senior year will be the busiest time of your life. The most challenging aspect of this Academy application process is the number of competing requirements during the fall of senior year. Your Congressman and Senator application processes are going on at the same time as your Academy, ROTC, and college early action applications. Meanwhile, you are team captain of your varsity sports team, taking five AP classes, and are President of 1-2 clubs. How do you keep it all straight? The answer is, you can’t. You must get your Academy, Nomination, and ROTC applications done before senior year starts. The sweet thing about the August 31st deadline is it gives you peace of mind for your senior year; meanwhile, it increases your chances of success for Academy admissions. Double win!
The Seven Most Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to donate to my Congressman’s office or vote a certain way in order to win?
No, this is a myth. Folks are surprised to learn that, by and large, this is a merit-based process. If your politics don’t align with my Congressman or Senators, you don’t need to start “voting a certain way.” The Selection Panel is trying to send the most competitive candidates from their district into the Academies, so they are trying to pick the best candidates.
Who are the decision makers for the nomination?
This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the process. In general, very few Congressman, if any, get involved in the decision making. They appoint an independent selection panel comprised primarily of military veterans. The panel scores the applications and interviews candidates. This panel is administratively run by a Congressional staffer who organizes the panel, answers applicant questions, and delivers interview invites and nomination letters on the Congressman’s behalf. So, to clarify, the Congressman is usually not the one who chooses you. It’s the selection panel that chooses on behalf of the Congressman.
Which is better odds, winning a Congressional nomination in my district or winning a Senator nomination in my state?
The odds are significantly higher to win at the district level, for 2 reasons:
- Your Congressman has just as many nominations as your Senator (10 per Academy)
- Your district is much smaller than your state; therefore, less applicants. Each district covers 500,000-700,000 voters, whereas states have millions (ie. North Carolina has 10 million people).
Does it help me if I get two nominations to USAFA (or USMA, USNA, USMMA)?
The requirement is that you get 1 nomination. The second nomination can help a little, but not nearly as much as the first. We’ve heard the Dean of Admissions say it gives Admissions a bit more flexibility in granting you admission if you are on multiple nomination lists. But by far, getting the first one is the most consequential.
If I’m applying to multiple Academies, how do I win multiple nominations?
While we have no way to guarantee you will win multiple nominations, the best way to maximize your success is with a strong application and interview. This is why we begin with clients doing their Congressional essay and Recommender Guide, and end with clients doing their Interview Guide, followed by mock interviews. For further details, see question #7.
Which Academy should I put as my #1 choice for each nomination application?
Remember, the goal is to get a nomination to each Academy you are applying to. For your Congressman, which is the most likely nomination, put your #1 Academy as your top choice.
But what about for the Senators? This strategy will vary from client to client, depending on their preferences. Frequently, for one of the Senators, we advise clients put their #2 Academy as their #1. Since Senators are more likely than Congressman to only give you a nomination to your #1 choice, putting your #2 Academy as your #1 furthers your chances of getting another nomination. If you are equally excited about USNA as USAFA, then perhaps you put USNA #1 on both Senators. The strategy varies per client. What you don’t want to do is put USMA #1 on all 3 nomination applications when you also would love to attend USNA.
If I don’t get the nomination, should I quit?
Even if you don’t get it….finish your Academy application! Every year, folks don’t finish their applications because they don’t get the nomination. This is unwise.
Below are a few reasons you should complete the application process:
- You might get into prep school!
- You’ll have completed the DODMERB process, which makes it easier next time. DODMERB is good for two years.
- You’ll be a re-applicant, which shows perseverance and passion, which Academies value highly.
- You’ll have gone through it before, which will make you more experienced next time you re-apply
- You can ask admissions for feedback, which only makes you better.
The one thing I want you to remember is…
TEN. What is going to make you the Top 10 in your district or state per Academy?
We are excited to announce our Pro Program for high school juniors, where we will take applicants through the application process from start to finish. We are also excited to announce our Underclassman program for high school sophomores and freshmen. We’ve already secured several signups, and now, you will have a chance to take the next step to secure your spot.
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