My main point wasn't to provide a step by step procedure. But individuals who decide during summer vacation after junior year;........ "Hmmmmm, I think I'll apply to the military academies"....... aren't usually the individuals who come to this forum and decide to apply. The people who are on this forum, even the lurkers, are usually individuals who have been here a little while. I.e. at least since the beginning of their junior year; they probably applied for summer seminar; they've had an interest in the academies for a while. This is one of the reason this forum has such a high rate of appointees. "THEY ARE MORE PREPARED".
As such, you can't take all the great info you learned here and simply think everything is going to go fine on it's own. I provide my "Juniors" in high school a check list of everything they need to prepare for. I understand that each year some things in the process change. e.g. moved online, cutoff dates, etc. But I make sure that my candidates are all lined up. They've been speaking with their counselors, teachers, and admin. They find out when the best time in the summer is to get all their information to the academy. They have the teachers lined up with their recommendations. They've applied to summer seminar. They've familiarized themselves with their nomination options and procedures. They're ready to take the CFA and are ready for a medical physical. And remember something VERY IMPORTANT!!!! No one individual is irreplaceable. If the person you need assistance from isn't available, THEY HAVE A BOSS!!! And that boss is authorized to do EVERYTHING that their employee is capable of doing. So, if a teacher, counselor, etc. isn't cooperating or not available, go to THEIR BOSS. Maybe it's a department head or maybe even a principal. But you can get people to help you. Again, this is your future. Take control of it.
So, while the OP of this thread will simply have to become a pain in the "you know where" and get on their counselor or go to the principal and do whatever; hopefully the future applicants reading this won't get put into that position. If you think about it; the academy wouldn't set up any type of "Deadlines" if they didn't think it was possible to meet that timeline. And while parents definitely need to support their kids in whatever endeavors they pursue for their future, the bottom line is...... IT'S THEIR FUTURE. They need to take control of this process. That's what the academy and military want. Motivated individuals. Individuals who can take on responsibilities. If an applicant can't do that for the application process, then maybe they need to reconsider applying to a military academy.
Again; this is of no real help to the OP. And it's quite possible that the OP didn't have a lot of this information early enough to be more efficient with their time getting their school to do their part. But as I said previously, I am writing this mainly to the other readers and lurkers who will be applying next summer. You've got almost a YEAR. If you get stuck behind the wheel, and your application isn't 100% completed by August, then that's your own fault. If you're reading this now, and will be applying in the future, you have absolutely no excuses. You've been warned. And as you can see from this thread, there are many outside influences that can affect your application. The question is: "Do you just say, Oh well..... just take my chances". Or do you take the initiative and take control over your application and your future. Best of luck.