U.S. Service Academy Congressional Nomination Application
U.S. Service Academy Congressional Nomination Application
FALL 2025
Instructions to applicants
Please review these instructions in their entirety. If you have any questions, please contact our office right away and we will answer any questions. You can call us at 973-526-5668 or email us at NJ11Academy@mail.house.gov.
The final deadline
All application materials must be submitted by 5:00pm on Thursday, October 23rd 2025. This includes letters of recommendation, transcripts, and the school counselor's information which must be sent directly to our office. Application materials submitted after that date may not be considered.
Letter from Representative Mikie Sherrill
Nominating qualified young women and men to attend the United States Service Academies is among the most gratifying responsibilities of a Member of Congress. I admire you for your interest in joining the ranks of one of the most venerable traditions in our Nation's history. Please take a few moments to read through the following materials with care, as the information will assist you in navigating the process of applying for a nomination to a Service Academy. I look forward to receiving your completed application.
My nominations to all Service Academies are strictly competitive and based on the recommendations of my Academy Nominations Board. The conclusions of the Board members are reached after reviewing the applicants' academic records, application materials, and extracurricular activities and responsibilities. Finally, Board members conduct an interview with the applicants. Final selections are made after the Board submits its recommendations.
To apply for a nomination through my office, you must certify that you are a resident of the 11th Congressional District of New Jersey. This complies with the statutory specifications for appointment. Please visit http://www.house.gov/ and enter your zip code into the "Find Your Representative" search box in the upper right hand corner of the website to confirm that you reside in the 11th Congressional District of New Jersey. (For the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy only, I can nominate candidates from any town in New Jersey on a space-available basis.) If you have questions regarding the congressional district in which you reside, please call my office for assistance at 973-526-5668.
Please note that the Academies require a separate application and a medical qualification examination to ensure that you can meet the rigid standards of physical fitness. Your application for a nomination through my office in no way substitutes for the application process of the Service Academy you are applying to itself.
The final appointees selected for admission out of the pool of those nominated is determined solely by the academic board of each Academy. The academic board selects candidates considered to be the best qualified on the basis of all-around ability and the likelihood of success in the military profession.
All applications and required materials must be submitted to my office (electronically is preferred) by 5 pm on Thursday, October 23, 2025 to receive consideration by my Academy Nominations Board. If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to contact my office.
General Information
Due to the competitive nature of nominations, you are encouraged to apply to every nominating authority available to you (both U.S. Senators, your Congressional Representative, and the Vice President). Should your eligibility allow, you may also apply to the President.
Each nominating source uses a selection process for Academy nominations designed to meet its own needs and standards. The different procedures are often confusing to applicants who apply to more than one source.
Carefully studying and following the instructions of each office can avoid misunderstandings.
PLEASE NOTE: By signing the electronic application linked below, you are indicating an understanding and acceptance of the nomination requirements as set forth by the Office of Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill.
Congresswoman Sherrill is able to nominate qualified candidates to the United States Air Force Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy, United States Military Academy at West Point and United States Naval Academy. Congressional nomination is not required for the United States Coast Guard Academy. Included is an informational fact sheet outlining the requirements for each Academy.
A Member of Congress has the ability to nominate up to fifteen applicants for one vacancy to be filled at an Academy. At the Merchant Marine Academy, our office may nominate up to ten young men and women to compete with other nominees on a statewide basis for a quota of six appointments allotted to the State of New Jersey.
Due to the large number of applicants our office receives, you will be primarily interviewed for only one Academy, however you are able to express your second and third choice preferences on the application. Academy designation may be changed any time prior to Thursday October 23, 2025.
Contact with the admissions office of the Academy of your preference is imperative. The Academy will establish a file and forward you general information and their detailed admissions requirements including a Prospective Candidate Questionnaire.
Congresswoman Sherrill's Academy Nominations Board will conduct a personal interview with each applicant meeting all requirements. Selections are made competitively on the basis of academic performance, leadership potential, extra-curricular activities, physical aptitude, personal interviews and letters of recommendation. Qualified individuals for each vacancy will be recommended by the board to Congresswoman Sherrill for nomination. The final appointments will be at the discretion of the Academies.
All information outlined in this application must be provided in order for you to be considered as an applicant. It is your responsibility to submit the required information. The deadline for submitting the required information will be Thursday, October 23, 2025.
To ensure that the Eleventh District applicants have an opportunity to be reviewed by the Academies, please let the Congresswoman's office know immediately if another authority nominates you or if you change your career goals. This will offer the opportunity to another student.
Service Academy Fact Sheet and Contact Information
The Academies provide guidelines for applicants who may be eligible to be considered for an appointment. A candidate must be an American citizen by the date of induction into an Academy. If you are a naturalized citizen, you must provide documentation.
The United States Air Force Academy, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the United States Naval Academy require you to be at least 17 years old, but not have passed your 23rd birthday by July 1st of the year of induction. A candidate must be unmarried with no dependents.
The United States Merchant Marine Academy requires that you be at least 17 years old, but not have passed your 25th birthday by July 1st of the year of induction. A candidate may be married, but couples may not be domiciled either on or off campus.
United States Air Force Academy
Director of Admissions
HQ USAFA/RRS
2304 Cadet Drive, Suite 2300
USAF Academy, CO 80840-5025
Tel: 1-800-443-9266
Web: www.academyadmissions.com
United States Military Academy at West Point
Director of Admissions
Official Mail and Distribution Center
646 Swift Road
West Point, NY 10996-1905
Tel: 845-938-2040
Web: www.westpoint.edu/admissions
United States Naval Academy
Dean of Admissions
52 King George St
Annapolis, MD 21402
Tel: 410-293-1858
Web: www.usna.edu/Admissions
United States Merchant Marine Academy
Director of Admissions
300 Steamboat Road
Kings Point, NY 11024-1699
Tel: 1-866-546-4778
Web: www.usmma.edu/admissions
United States Coast Guard Academy
*No Congressional nomination is required
31 Mohegan Avenue
New London, CT 06320-8103
Tel: 1-800-883-8724
Web: www.uscga.edu/admissions
All Academies require you to pass a Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board (DODMERB). The Academy to which you have applied will initiate the scheduling of an examination with the Department of Defense. Once taken, the examination may be used for all service academies and four-year ROTC scholarship programs.
NOTE: Graduation from a United States Service Academy obligates you to serve five years of Active Duty service.
How to Apply for a Nomination
Overview of the nomination process:
There are six major steps: you first must (1) verify your eligibility, then you can (2) fill out our online application and (3) email supplemental documents. Next, you (4) contact your school counselor to have them fill out an information form and send us your transcripts and (5) request that two people who know you well send us recommendation letters on your behalf. Finally, later in the fall, you will (6) participate in an interview with members of our Nominations Board.
Step 1: Verify your eligibility
First, you should only apply if you intend on reporting for the Academy class beginning in Summer 2026. This is typically high school seniors and college students looking to transfer to an Academy.
You must be a legal resident of New Jersey's 11th Congressional District to apply. To check whether your home address is within our district, visit this website:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
There are a few special cases: candidates with parents who are from the 11th District but are active duty military stationed elsewhere; candidates with one parent who lives in the 11th District and one who doesn't; and candidates who live abroad. If one of these special circumstances applies to you, contact our office for clarification.
Step 2: Fill out the online application
Click the link below to fill out our online application:
Office of Rep. Sherrill - 2025 Academy Nomination Application
IMPORTANT: Once you begin the online application, your responses cannot be saved prior to submission and must be completed in one sitting. Please see the last section of this guide to review the list of questions prior to filling out the web form. You should plan to prepare your answers, especially for the essays, in advance in a word processing program and then paste them directly into the web form.
Step 3: Email your photo and supporting documents
Once you submit the online application, you must email a color photograph (headshot) to us at NJ11Academy@mail.house.gov to be included with your application. You may also include a Resume or C.V. that will be included in your application. To be fair to all candidates, no submitted documents other than those explicitly requested will be presented to the Board.
Please don't submit your letters of recommendation or school counselor's info to us yourself -- they must be emailed directly from the counselor or recommender from an official email.
Step 4: Contact your school counselor
Your school counselor must fill out the School Counselor's Recommendation Form and email it to us, along with your official high school transcript.
Your counselor may also write a letter and submit it with your Transcript and Information Form. This is acceptable, but will not count as one of your two letters of recommendation.
Once you complete the application, your counselor will automatically receive an email with the required form they must complete and return to us.
If they have any questions, or if documents must be mailed, they can contact us by email or by phone at 973-526-5668 for instructions.
Step 5: Submit your standardized test scores
You must submit your official ACT/SAT score reports to our office. Use these codes:
SAT: 2496
ACT: 7534
Step 6: Request two letters of recommendation
You must have two letters of recommendation submitted by people who know you well. These can be instructors, coaches, teachers, employers, or community leaders. The letter writers should email a scan of their final letter directly to us if possible.
Please note that a letter from your school counselor will not count as one of these two letters. You are encouraged to have one of the two letters be from someone other than a teacher.
To be accepted, the documents must be:
- Scanned images of original documents
- Bear original (ink) signatures
- Be emailed from an official or work email (if possible)
- Contain contact information for verification purposes
Your letter writers can email the documents to NJ11Academy@mail.house.gov.
If they have any questions, or if documents must be mailed or faxed, they can contact us by email or by phone at 973-526-5668 for instructions.
Final deadline
All the above steps must be complete (and all materials received by our office) by 5:00pm on Thursday, October 23rd in order to proceed to Step 7. It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure that all materials arrive by the deadline.
Step 7: Interview with the Academy Nominations Board
All applicants will be scheduled for an interview with members of our Academy Nominations Board, which consists of Academy alumni, military veterans, and civic leaders from across northern New Jersey.
Once you apply, you will be kept up-to-date via email about the time, place, and manner of the nomination interviews.
Questions From Online Web Application
The following information will be required to complete our online web application.
IMPORTANT: Once you begin the online application, your responses cannot be saved prior to submission and must be completed in one sitting. You should plan to prepare your answers, especially for the essays, in advance in a word processing program and then paste them directly into the web form.
Your information
Your name and address
Your contact information
Your date of birth
Your citizenship status
Your parent/guardian's name
Your school information
Your high school's name and location
Your high school graduation date
Your high school counselor's contact information
(If enrolled in college) Your college name and location
Activities and interests
List all the athletic activities you've participated in, along with any leadership roles
List all the extracurricular activities you've participated in, along with any leadership roles
Other hobbies and interests
Employment and internships
Have you participated in any military/ROTC related activities (ROTC, Naval Sea Cadets, etc.)
Standardized test scores
List your test scores from all SAT attempts, if any
List your test scores from all ACT attempts, if any
Short answer questions
What academic areas do you intend to explore at an Academy? (100 words max)
Please list the honors, prizes, awards, etc. that you have received in order of importance to you.
Who do you consider to be your greatest influence and why? (200 word count maximum)
How will you contribute to the diversity of the institution? (200 word count maximum)
Please list any members of your family that have served in the Armed Forces or Merchant Marine and their branch of service.
Other nominating sources
Please indicate if you have applied for a nomination to either US Senator from NJ, the Vice President, the President, or any other source.
Letter of recommendation writers
The name, job title, phone number, and official email address of both individuals who are writing a letter of recommendation for you, and how long they have known you.
Essay
Please state why you want to attend one of the United States Service Academies in 500 words or less. (500 words max)