Accepting Appointment

Back up plan

Definitely keep the backup plan going! Nice to have the appointment in your pocket (REALLY NICE) but until Acceptance Day anything can happen. There were at least two basic cadets during BCT who had previously undiagnosed medical issues that became revealed during basic training and they had to withdraw from the program. A couple of others were turned back for medical and are eligible to reapply this year. You just never know. I lost a deposit for our state university, but I did not cancel his application until A-day and my DS told me I could definitely cancel his backup plan. He was very confident that all would work out with BCT, but as much as I love him, I knew that if something had happened, he needed to be in a University this fall and not at home moping on my couch with a bunch of "what ifs". Ok, he probably wouldn't have moped or been sitting on the couch, but I needed a solid backup plan for my sanity!

Congrats to your son. You will soon see if you follow this forum that anxiety really starts to grow exponentially as others start posting their appointments from now until I-day. He and your family can enjoy his senior year (within reason) and make sure he has at least one backup that he would be happy with, no matter how confident he is that "it will never happen to me."
 
Sorry - new user

The "yes" reply was for the question regarding sending in 3 letters of recommendations............
 
Backup Plan

Thank you very much for all of the responses and we will definitely continue with a much smaller pool of college apps. However, does anyone know whether accepting his appointment before these other applications are submitted disqualify him for these other schools, or would it disqualify him from an AFROTC scholarship since the board does not meet until December?
 
AFROTC board meets out of Maxwell AFB, they do not talk to AFA until I day when the cadets that took both the appointment and scholarship show up at USAFA. USAFA will release those names and the scholarship goes back to AFROTC as unused.

Selection for AFROTC is different than the AFA. It is national and their majors are factors, also along with no super scoring for the SAT/ACT. It is not uncommon to get an appointment, but no scholarship.

The colleges would not know if he was appointed or not unless you tell them. I doubt everyone of his colleges have the exact same submission date. Many colleges are rolling admissions these days. Do you intend to contact every college with the results from other colleges? I doubt it.
 
Pima said:
AFROTC board meets out of Maxwell AFB, they do not talk to AFA until I day when the cadets that took both the appointment and scholarship show up at USAFA. USAFA will release those names and the scholarship goes back to AFROTC as unused.

Selection for AFROTC is different than the AFA. It is national and their majors are factors, also along with no super scoring for the SAT/ACT. It is not uncommon to get an appointment, but no scholarship.

The colleges would not know if he was appointed or not unless you tell them. I doubt everyone of his colleges have the exact same submission date. Many colleges are rolling admissions these days. Do you intend to contact every college with the results from other colleges? I doubt it.
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Good information. DS is our oldest so this is all new and is a blur as we were not expecting to hear until January. DS knows he is very blessed to know early and now we are just trying to figure out the backup plan strategy without inadvertently messing something up (unintended consequences). Information is key to making good decisions and this forum and posters are extremely helpful.
 
Time to put the KTM away, if you haven't already!!!

Son accepted NROTC scholarship the minute he received notification and also accepted AFA appointment immediately. It was just something he wanted to do. The appointment is your sons until the deadline date regardless, so purely a personal decision. When my DS decided to go NROTC, it was a simple email to the AFA admissions counselor declining the appointment. She was very nice, wished him luck and that was that.

Congratulations!
 
After our son received and accepted his appointment, he also went ahead and accepted at his top "Plan B" school that also had accepted him, then applied for a deferral until the Winter Semester. We were also concerned about him getting hurt in sports, or heaven bid, having a car wreck or some other circumstance that might make him lose his appointment. He is about to inform the Plan B school that he is no longer planning to attend, since he made it through BCT, and is thus far showing no inkling of wanting to drop out of AFA.
 
Pima said:
I can't recall a year here on this forum that at least one cadet at one of the SAs don't finish BCT, some by choice, some medically.

The poster with the DS that injured their knee actually was turned back twice. They spent a year rehabbing and when they returned on I Day and was given the final medical exam there for in processing they sent him back again.

There was also another cadet a yr or two ago that contracted Guillaume barre syndrome within the first few days. She was sent back home within days because the prognosis was she would not be able to complete BCT. I believe she was recruited for swimming. If I recall due to the seriousness of the condition she was never given a DoDMERB clearance again.

The running joke has always been congrats and get them wrapped in bubble wrap, especially if they play sports.
~ Think about it, let's say they do spring track, long jump. Last match is May 22nd. A Bad jump and break their ankle which needs to be casted for 6-8 weeks. They can only miss 8 days of BCT (if I recall correctly) That means they will not be healed enough and a turn back before he even graduates high school. Had he not continued to move forward with back up schools and ROTC scholarships he could be looking at scrambling for the fall.

This is why people will pay the school deposit and accept the ROTC scholarship.

Everyone hopes that it isn't them, but statistically someone usually is. 5% will not complete BCT. Look at having plan B like car insurance. We hope never to use it, but if we have to at least we are still moving forward.
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+1 Pima.....as I have noted previously on this forum, my DS was one of those. Less than six weeks befor I-Day in May in late May of this year, a lacrosse injury DQ'd him. Medically cleared bu USNA by July 5th but alas, to late. Fortunately we did pay the nonrefundable school depost, albeit only as an afterthought but thank God we did.

Never injured in his life playing football, hockey and lacrosse...indeed it DOES happen. Please take the wise counsel offered above and pay for that insurance policy.
 
Sydney C. said:
+1 Pima.....as I have noted previously on this forum, my DS was one of those. Less than six weeks befor I-Day in May in late May of this year, a lacrosse injury DQ'd him. Medically cleared bu USNA by July 5th but alas, to late. Fortunately we did pay the nonrefundable school depost, albeit only as an afterthought but thank God we did.

Never injured in his life playing football, hockey and lacrosse...indeed it DOES happen. Please take the wise counsel offered above and pay for that insurance policy.
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Great real world advice. Thank you for sharing. Glad you took the "insurance" policy and sorry for the sudden change in plans. Will your DS have to go through the entire application process again if he would like to attend USNA next year or will he have some type of deferral where his appointment is still valid?
 
KTMDad said:
Great real world advice. Thank you for sharing. Glad you took the "insurance" policy and sorry for the sudden change in plans. Will your DS have to go through the entire application process again if he would like to attend USNA next year or will he have some type of deferral where his appointment is still valid?
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Same question he asked when admissions called him with the news. Appointments don't "roll over" but he does not have to start the whole process over. Instead, he was offered a new program they instituted for a few that we can only assume was developed for situations like this; enroll in 4 year college, take the courses we approve that mirror first year USNA (math., physics, chem., etc) get A's and B's only, need to get a nom again (they don't roll over either) pass the PRT. Assuming you do all that "you can expect an appointment for next year" is the way the letter reads.

He's doing it, performing well, doing the nom interviews and is physically 100%. Life lesson learned on many levels and therein lies the silver lining.
 
We put a deposit on plan B school just in case. Didn't turn it down until BCT over, just in case of injury in BCT. $100 well spent for peace of mind.


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I know some posters that were upfront with the bursars office and admissions. They contacted them and said....
My child is appointed to the AFA, but we want to keep his spot, can you reimburse it if by July4th he rescinds!

Sometimes, they say yes. It doesn't hurt to ask!

A lot of the times impo it comes down to if the college has a huge wait list and a great endowment!

I know from this site at least 7 posters that got the deposit back because they picked up the phone.
 
Pima said:
I know some posters that were upfront with the bursars office and admissions. They contacted them and said....
My child is appointed to the AFA, but we want to keep his spot, can you reimburse it if by July4th he rescinds!

Sometimes, they say yes. It doesn't hurt to ask!

A lot of the times impo it comes down to if the college has a huge wait list and a great endowment!

I know from this site at least 7 posters that got the deposit back because they picked up the phone.
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I wish I had thought of that... Plan B was Texas A&M. I'd think they might understand with the military ties they have... We cancelled once he was at BCT since we knew if he was hurt during BCT he would have a spot the following year assuming he could pass Dodmerb again. Figured he could take classes at the local college.
 
Juvat said:
This does help! "While past performance is no guarantee of future results", my DD has a very similar resume. Presidential Nom, 1440 SAT, 4.0 USAFA recalculated GPA, AP, Honors, NHS, tons of volunteer hours, tutoring, Captain of Varsity Cheer/Competition Cheer, Varsity Track, DODMERB complete and CFA OK. Thanks for the info...very helpful!!!
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Just wanted to share the awesome news that my DD received an email this morning her informing her of her appointment to the Class of 2019. Super excitement here at home!!! Happy to answer any questions. Good luck to all!
 
Congratulations! An exciting time..


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Juvat, Congratulations to you and you DD! Did she got LOA and congressional nomination or Presidential?
 
mbleykhman said:
Juvat, Congratulations to you and you DD! Did she got LOA and congressional nomination or Presidential?
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Thank you! She received an Appointment. She had a Presidential nom in hand and was still waiting to learn if she garnered an additional nom(s) from her MOCs.
 
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