WASHINGTON – New York high-school students face a number of challenges in seeking admission to one of the nation's prestigious service academies — including geography.

That's because nomination by a member of Congress is one of the few ways to gain admission. Lawmakers are limited in the number of nominations they can make to each of the four academies the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and there are no uniform standards governing how they make their decisions.

Only the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., operates independently, with its own application and acceptance system.

Congressional districts vary widely in the number of students seeking nomination and in how lawmakers handle those nominations. So where candidates live can have as much effect on their chances as grades, test scores or extracurricular activities.

Some New York lawmakers won't disclose the names of their nominees, meaning there's no way to know if the process is free of political favoritism. A national analysis by USA Today found that some nominations go to children of well-connected families, friends and campaign contributors.

Candidates can be ranked in order of preference. Some lawmakers don't nominate anyone for admission to a particular service academy. In western New York this year, Republican Rep. Chris Collins of Clarence and Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter of Fairport made no nominations to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point on Long Island.

Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei made two nominations to the Merchant Marine Academy, but neither one was admitted.

Lawmakers also can nominate the same candidate to more than one academy. Two of the 27 candidates nominated this year by Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey of Harrison were nominated to two academies.

Lowey made 10 nominations to the Military Academy at West Point and 10 to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., but only three to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. She made six to the Merchant Marine Academy.

Lowey announces her nominees but does not announce who has been accepted for admission.

Academy appointments are highly prized. The education is taxpayer-financed and students become officers upon graduation. Graduates enjoy favorable prospects for professional or executive employment after completing their required five years of military service.

Eight of the 22 high-school students nominated to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point by Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer this year were accepted. So were eight of the 10 nominated by Democratic Rep. Sean Maloney of Cold Spring, whose 18th Congressional District includes West Point.

Two of those students — Patrick Riley of Newburgh and Stephanie McDermott of Highland Falls — were nominated by both lawmakers.

Schumer also nominated 10 high-school students to the Naval Academy (two were accepted) and 10 to the Merchant Marine Academy (two were accepted).

Maloney's spokeswoman, Stephanie Formas, said at least one of the congressman's nominees to West Point was among a group of accepted largely because they had prior military service. Another route to admission is to be among the top 150 candidates nationally.

Republican Rep. Chris Gibson of Kinderhook, a retired Army colonel who formerly taught government at West Point, had five of his nominees accepted to the academy this year.

According to Gibson's spokesman Matt Sheehey, the congressman had two slots at West Point this year. The three others were accepted as part of a national pool.

Republican Rep. Tom Reed of Corning, meanwhile, had only one of his nominees for West Point accepted. Reed had two accepted to the Naval Academy, but none to the Air Force Academy.

Generally, no more than five students nominated by an individual member of Congress may attend a service academy at one time, with the exception of the Merchant Marine Academy. Those nominations are subject to state quotas that lawmakers can vie to fill.

Schumer assigns his office staff to screen candidates and conduct interviews, while Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand uses an independent committee.

"We do not currently have any military veterans on the committee, but have in previous years," Schumer's spokesman, Max Dworin, said in an email. "The person who leads the committee in our office has decades of experience working with prospective students and the academies."

Schumer does not release the names of the students he nominates. Gillibrand does.

Each of Gillibrand's five committees around the state includes military veterans and civic leaders and each recommends two candidates for each service academy.

"Our nominees are not rank-ordered, and are released to the public via press release and available on our website," Gillibrand's spokeswoman, Bethany Lesser, said in an email.

Both senators have the final say on nominees, according to their spokesmen.

Republican Rep. Richard Hanna of Barneveld said he has no involvement in the final selection of nominees. He leaves that to his independent screening committee.

"In my case, the committee 100 percent decides who gets the nominations," Hanna said. "I have never, never gone against the committee in my four years of doing this."

Hanna described his system as "absolutely apolitical."

"I've had very close friends say to me, 'I'd like my son to go to an academy.'" Hanna said. "I've said, 'Here's the process. Go through it. Good luck.' And they respect that, because how would you like to be the father of a young man or woman and find out that for some political purpose your son, who was more qualified, was stepped over?"

Hanna also follows a practice used by his two predecessors former Republican Rep. Sherwood Boehlert and Democratic Rep. Michael Arcuri of inviting high-school sophomores and juniors to informational meetings along with their parents to learn what qualifications are needed for admission.

Likewise, Gillibrand holds recruiting sessions in cities around the state.

"We team up with academy outreach personnel, community organizations, and local high schools to ensure students and parents attend and learn about all of their options," Gillibrand's spokeswoman said.

Upcoming sessions will be held Sept. 19 in Rensselaer, Sept. 25 in Buffalo, Sept. 29 in New York City, Oct. 2 in Rochester and Oct. 7 in Syracuse.

Contributing: Gregory Korte and Fredreka Schouten, USA Today

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