Greetings, My DS is applying to USMMA and we discovered that he can apply for a nomination to ALL eight of our state's US Congressmen. But, that means sending additional SAT & ACT score reports to seven additional congressmen, which amounts to a $175 expense that I wasn't planning on. I'm willing to do this if necessary, but I thought I'd check to see if there's another way that doesn't punch me in the wallet so hard.
That is a difficult question to answer without more information. You are correct that your DS could theoretically win a nomination from any Congressman in your state. Many of the service academy people in the congressional offices do not realize this unique aspect of USMMA and they will reject your son's application unless your DS gently educates them. If he elects to apply to all for a nomination, I would have him call each office first so they will be expecting his application and will have time to confirm that they can nominate someone outside their Congressional District. Keep in mind that just because they can does not mean they will.
Most Congressmen require test scores to come directly from ACT or SAT, but not all. But some will accept a screenshot of your DS's scores, so obviously if that is the case you could save some money.
What state are you in? If it is not a very competitive state (meaning USMMA is not well known and there are fewer applicants) and your son has above average test scores and grades, I would save the money and send scores only to your Representative rather than all of them. My 3 kids who applied to USMMA all got nominations from our Congressman, so we did not have to deal with that issue.
It also makes a difference if USMMA is your DS's first choice academy. Some Congressmen only give one nomination per applicant, while others will give more than one. Ours gives multiple noms.
Does your Congressman have a service academy information night? You could find out more there. Our Congressman came right out and asked more students to apply for noms to West Point and Kings Point because he usually did not get enough applicants to fill his slate for those two. Your experience may differ greatly.
Bottom line, I would hold off on sending scores everywhere until your DS can gather more information about his own Congressman.