usna1985
15-Year Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2006
- Messages
- 7,857
All of my candidates sincerely assure me that they will reapply next year too. Yet in all my years of being a BGO only one has ever really applied a second time, and this is still after I have related my experience of applying 3 times and going to 2 years of college before my own appointment. In checking up on past candidates who did not get in, I found the number actively involved in ROTC of any sorts was pretty thin. OCS? Not on anybody's radar. So as a result, I see a turndown as the first step to seeing what kind of commitment and motivation a young person really has.
I might disagree slightly. I think a lot of "kids" find out that they really love the schools where they end up. I had one who reapplied to USNA and was admitted and still struggled with whether to leave the current school. She did and ended up graduating from USNA -- but the decision was harder than she'd originally expected.
These are (for the most part) 17-yr-olds. Desires, goals, etc. can readily change. Doesn't always mean commitment wasn't there in the first place. Sometimes, but not always.