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Service Academy Nominations

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 may nominate applicants who are legally domiciled within the boundaries of the First District of South Carolina.

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 Charleston office in the spring of their junior year in high school. Also, please note that it is extremely important that the student begin the application process with the academies themselves.

Applicants must submit all materials no later than October 31 of the year preceding admission.

Service Academies

There are five Service Academies: the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), the United States Naval Academy (USNA), the United States Military Academy (Army/USMA), the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), and the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA). 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, and USMA 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.

With respect to the Congressional category, each Representative and each Senator is allowed to have at each of those academies at any one time five persons charged to his or her quota. There are three methods of nominating, and I use the Principal/Competitive Alternate method, under which one Principal Nominee and up to nine Competitive Alternate Nominees are submitted for each vacancy. If the Principal Nominee is not selected for appointment by the academy for some reason, the nine Competitive Alternates are considered first to fill that vacancy.  The Competitive Alternate Nominees also become a part of a general pool and can be considered for vacancies as needed by that academy’s admissions officials. The Admissions Boards 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.

As 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.

The Coast Guard Academy does not accept Congressional nominations. It is the only one of the service academies that offers appointments solely on the basis of an annual nationwide competition. Applicants must be between 17 and 21 upon entering the academy.

Important Infromation for USMA Class of 2012 (and later)

Effective immediately, candidates for the USMA Class of 2012 (i.e. entering USMA in 2008 and later) are required to submit a writing score with their SAT and/or ACT exam. The SAT requires the writing exam as part of the test itself. However, the writing portion on the ACT is currently optional. If you register for the ACT, you must select the “ACT Plus Writing” exam. If you have already registered for an upcoming ACT and did not select the “ACT Plus Writing” exam, you should immediately contact ACT (319-337-1270) to add the writing portion. For more information, please visit:
http://www.actstudent.org/faq/answers/changebefore.html.

Although the writing score is required, it is not yet used in the USMA's calculation of academic potential.  ‘Risk’ levels remain as follows:

SAT CR: <560, SAT M:  <560, ACT E:   <23, ACT M:  <24, ACT R:  <24, ACTSR: <23

Please fill out the forms provided below to apply with my office:

Academy Applicant Worksheet (pdf)

Applicant Schools Evaluation Worksheet (pdf)

Rules for Seeking Nomination to Academies (pdf)