<p>I just checked the senator and representative nomimations for my part of my state. Between 2 senators and 1 representative, there were a total of 160 nominations. That’s not counting the students who live in this same area who got Presidential nominations or anyone who got a ‘superintendent’s’ nomination. I’m doing the math - and the only thing I can figure out is that they nominate any student who they feel will be successful because there’s bound to be drop-outs. Getting a nomination does not equal getting an appointment. Also, legacies at private/public universities financed by students and parents is one thing - creating legacies based on taxpayer dollars is quite another! Also the proposition that successful service academy students are genetically bred is preposterous. Propagating lineage in any branch of the service based on that type of notion seems to me to breed a vein of weakness into the competitive process where the best and brightest should rise to the top - but where privilege is extended because your dad might be a high-ranking official or a war hero or something - i.e., each generation gets progressively weaker because the standards are relaxed over time and that’s the down side of the politics of accommodating this kind of nepotism. The reasons why kids aren’t accepted can be justified any which way - but when talented, smart (based on SAT and ACT scores), squared-away nominated kids don’t make the cut (which I know has been the circumstance with many kids that I know), it’s so obvious.</p>