<p>Steve - no one is flaming you - as I said the process is confusing and easily misunderstood.</p>
<p>Each congressional district/state differs on competitiveness. In some districts the MOC can’t even fill the slate and in others very qualified candidates do not get a nomination. You are competing against others in your geographic area for a MOC nomination.</p>
<p>majmattmason: The academies instruct applicants to apply for each nomination that is available to them. No where do they tell candidates to NOT apply for MOC noms if they have a presidential.</p>
<p>Candidates are not being greedy by seeking all the nominations they are qualified to seek. This makes it easier for the academy to appoint the best possible class and for the academy to have more options when they decide to appoint the candidate.</p>
<p>Look at it this way - you have 400 kids with presidential noms. If NONE receive any other nomination then only 100 will be able to get an appointment - unless a few are lucky enough to get a supe nomination.
It is possible that candidate #101 is highly qualified and could have won his district. He could theoretically be left out of the appointment process.</p>
<p>Regardless of the theory - if the academy instructs applicants to apply for all nominations they are eligible for and they do not follow the instructions then the academy may take this as a sign of disinterest.</p>
<p>I stand by my original statement that in most cases a MOC should not be excluding those with presidential nominations from their slate. They could be hurting their own constituents. The candidate should indeed inform admissions so they are aware of the situation.</p>