The Nomination Process
To be considered for an appointment to a service academy, an applicant must meet the eligibility requirements established by law and be nominated from an authorized person including a Member of the United States Senate or the House of Representatives. I have the opportunity to nominate applicants who reside in the 31st District of Texas.

Who Is Eligible?
An applicant for a nomination must meet the following eligibility requirements as of July 1 of the year of admission to a service academy. He or she must be at least 17 years old, but not have passed the 23rd birthday, must be a United States citizen, and must be unmarried, not pregnant, and have no legal obligation to support children or other dependents.

Applying To My Office For A Nomination
Students interested in a nomination should contact my District office in Round Rock at 512-246-1600, as early as the spring of their junior year in high school.
 The deadline for applications to be received by my Congressional office is October 31st of a student's senior year.
Also, please note that students must begin a separate application process with the academies themselves.
The academies take into consideration a nominee's academic record, extracurricular and athletic activities, physical aptitude, ACT and/or SAT scores, leadership ability, and medical qualifications. Such facets of an applicant's record are also considered during the nomination selection process. No person will be offered admission if he or she does not meet the physical standards of the Academy unless awarded a medical waiver.

Service Academies
There are five Service Academies: The United States Air Force (USAFA), United States Coast Guard (USCGA), United States Merchant Marine (USMMA), United States Military (USMA), and United States Naval (USNA) Academies.
Nominations are required for all but the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, to which appointments are made on the basis of an annual nationwide competition. As far as the USAFA, USNA, USMA, and USMM are concerned, there are various nomination authorities, with each eligible young person being able to apply to both United States Senators from the applicant's state, his or her United States Representative, and the Vice President (if very highly qualified). The other nomination categories are military-affiliated. 
Since competition for nomination and appointment is very keen, it is wise for all interested persons to apply through all sources for which they are eligible and for all Academies in which they have a real interest. An individual may be nominated by more than one nominating authority and/or to more than one Academy. With regard to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the locality boundary for nomination by a Representative is the State in which the District lies rather than just the District itself. Each Representative and each Senator may nominate ten candidates each year to compete for admission.