Selections and their paperwork completed in March, get the USAFA notification in April.
I am wondering if they have more than they have had in previous yrs and thus they already know that there will be more of a back log getting through the candidates.
It also can be that the board is not meeting as frequently as they have in previous yrs.
Finally, which is where I am placing my money on, the regionals get very busy right now, and by stating this they will not be getting phone calls from everyone come March 15th checking on their status, instead hopefully the calls will not start coming out until the majority of the BFEs were already delivered.
I think it is very rare for people to wait until Mar 1 to submit. Traditionally, unless they are waiting for one more SAT or their CFA their files have been completed and reviewed by Mar 1, and now it is all about the AFA creating the best class possible and using the nom system to do that. For ex: a candidate on 3 slates has the highest WCS on all 3, now the question is how do we get the best number 2 in. The way they charge that 1st candidate impacts the other slates, because maybe number 2 is only on one slate, so do they take him from the pool or charge the 1st to another slate, so the number 2 can become number 1 on their slate.
Just remember this board will light up like a XMAS tree when those envelopes start flying. You will see alot of candidates adding names to the list within a 24-48 hour time frame...than it will slow down for about a week, and repeat the cycle. This goes on for about 3 weeks.
This is the part where it does become confusing. Just look at it like a jigsaw puzzle, the AFA doesn't have the picture to look at to see what it is going to look like, just the pieces.
