My son applied to USNA and USAFA but also applied for an NROTC scholarship. Which meant he had to apply to something like 5 civilian colleges, if I remember correctly. I know he applied to and was accepted at VMI, Va Tech, the Citadel, Norwich and Embry-Riddle. He also applied to and was accepted at the University of North Georgia, his plan C school, since we live in Georgia and he knew he could get a full ride and do AROTC there, if all else failed. I have no idea how he juggled all the applications, since none of the schools except UNG participated in the common app. What's more, he went to a really small high school, where few had ever gotten ROTC scholarships and no one had ever gone to a service academy, so there was little assistance for him during this process. However, he got the ROTC scholarship early on, so plan B was going to be either Va Tech or ER, both of whom offered him a full ride to cover what ROTC didn't. Thing is: I know, in this regard, he's typical of many of the kids who apply to the service academies. This is just one more way these kids go above and beyond the ordinary and why their level of commitment is so extraordinary. Even for those who don't get their long-awaited appointments, this kind of dedication and determination to serve will take them far with their plan B's and C's.[/QUOTE
I'm almost embarrassed to admit DD applied to 15 schools. She received a bunch of fee waiver applications and she applied to the 5 for NROTC, then realized only 1 of them she would really want to go to, so plan B, C, D. The NROTC schools, the non-nrotc schools, and two local schools I made her apply to just in case. She wasn't happy about it, but since she really wasn't set on any place in particular, aside from USNA, we felt it was easier to get the applications in, and then she could worry about deciding later on. So, our plan B is ready if necessary.