I am not sure what you mean by blind. It is blind to the point that they do not know if the cadet is on scholarship or not, but they indeed know their major and the det.
Personally, I think you are placing too much emphasis on the cgpa aspect. cgpa is only 10-15% of the entire score. I can't remember which.
SAT/AFOQT and PFT make up the other portions for a total of 50%. The remaining 50% is the CoC's rec.
The way the major works for the cgpa is tech majors get a bump, thus they typically have @0.3-0.4% lowed cgpa than a non-tech. Yes, they will look at the rigor of the college, but if I get your post correctly, you are not talking about going to either MIT or Timbucktoo, you are talking about relatively the same caliber of colleges.
Finally, has he visited both dets? If not visit them soon. Ask to meet with the CoC and C3C/C4Cs; ask some very pertinent questions that are unique to the dets.
COCs
~~~~ CGPA for SFT selection
~~~~ % selected for SFT
~~~~ % that get their 1st choice AFSC
~~~~ % that stay with the program until commissioning.
C3C/C4C
~~~~ GMC nights?
~~~~ Military fraternities? AAS, Angel, Honor Guard, Silver Wings?
~~~~ % of cadets that join any of them?
~~~~ Mandatory volunteer hours in the det? Yes, some dets have that. For example at our DS's, they cleaned up the FB stadium at least 2X, and just as often for the BBall collisuem. They also did philanthropic things, like Susan G. Kohlman run or Relay for Life every yr.
On top of that, DS belonged to AAS, and they had their volunteer hours too. Add that on top of weekly AAS meetings, ROTC, and even as a freshman you are talking about more hours than just LLAB and PT, which if you don't juggle correctly the cgpa will take a hit, but at the same time by being active the cadre sees the participation.
As he progresses he will also be given jobs in the det., and they can equal hrs more. For example, cadet flight commanders will write reviews for every cadet in their flight, they will have weekly meetings to discuss cadets. If PT is at 6 a.m., they will be there at 5.
If you haven't done the meet and greet, I would suggest when you do, say hi to the CoC, and than leave. Have a pre-determined destination to meet on campus at X time.
1. The CoC will see it as a positive Mom and Dad are not hanging around.
2. Cadets act differently around the folks...dog and pony show. When it is just them, they usually play Xbox, foosball, crud, and talk casually like 18-21 yr old kids hanging out. He will get a feel for the social aspect. Dets are like people...unique personalities. I have known people that opted A over B because of that det. feel.
3. Walking the campus without you also gives him the opportunity to being there next yr. Let's face college kids can tell when it is a hs kid since the folks are with him. It is even just those few minutes alone walking from the det to the Student Union where he can envision next yr.
Hope that helps.