Plan B

Congrats on the USNA appointment!! I would do a few things:

1. Your son should alert RPI that he has accepted the USNA appointment and ask for deferral of admission for one year, as dohdean did. Don't worry about tuition at this point, because I don't think you have to pay anything until your son actually matriculates (i.e., in August 2013, at which time you can advise that your son won't be attending after all). Having accepted the appointment, this will enable the RPI admissions office to open up one more admission slot before the April 1 deadline and possibly permit another applicant to matriculate at RPI. You will also develop an option, albeit unfunded at this point, of possibly following the RPI path down the road.

2. Your son should alert the NROTC folks at RPI as well. This will place the scholarship back into the pool and possibly free up another slot for someone else. I wouldn't leave them hanging, thinking your son is going to show up in the fall. Sooner is better than later.

3. I would not pay the deposit at RPI if you know that there is no way to finance that option. However, you may want to revisit this again just to be sure. This means filling out all of the financial aid forms, etc., to see exactly what you can do. If there is a possibility that you really can afford it, then I would pay the deposit.

4. If your son doesn't have a pending application at the local state college, this likely is no longer an option. Instead, I would contact the local community college to see when the application deadlines are. If the deadline for application is in May, fill out the application and pay the deposit. If the deadline isn't until August (which I believe is most likely the case), I would wait to see how things go over the summer at USNA before paying anything. In the unlikely event that your son is injured at USNA, he can always get back into the game for the Class of 2017 (or apply anew for an NROTC MO scholarship).

I think that there are plenty of folks at the service academies who start the fall semester in crutches because of injuries sustained during the summer (the injury sustained after I-Day would have to be quite severe, I think, such that military service is impossible for medical reasons). Getting injured BEFORE reporting for I-Day, however, is something to avoid at ALL costs!! This is the time of year when the appointees wrap themselves in bubble-wrap until they report for I-Day.
 
THANK YOU! patentesq for your informative and thoughtful response. I will take your advice and contact my son's admission officer at RPI and request that he be deferred. I will also have him contact RPI ROTC where he actually spent the day shadowing Marine cadets. We feel very fortunate that my son received both ROTC scholarship and USNA appointment due to his hard work and would love someone else to receive the honor.
 
Cfire,

I don't know if you are still monitoring this thread. If not, I'll post for the other parents and candidates. The overwhelming response to have a "B" plan is very, very WISE.

A few years back we used to hold all our cadets here until graduation in May. (A policy we since stopped). One of our USNA sponsored preps who had completed finals was "killing time" waiting for graduation day. He went out with his buddies, got into a game of "touch" football, broke a collar bone, and was medically DQ'd from the academy.

This was a great kid (good student, good cadet, and good athlete) but he did not have a backup plan. Since that incident I ask my sponsored preps to have a "B" plan, and the self preps/free agents to have a "B" AND "C" plan.

Paying a non-refundable enrollment fee to another college is cheap insurance.
 
Major Hanak,

Thanks for the reply. Yes we have continued on the path for Plan B and will pay the enrollment fee to that college. As stated here, it is cheap insurance and will ensure his parents' peace of mind :)

Thanks again to all for the great advice!
 
This is a slippery slope. Once one offer has been accepted (ie USNA) the other offer will be rescinded; NROTC and USNA do communicate with one another. Statistically, those candidates who enter on IDay with a Plan B (civilian college on the side) in place, are more likely to drop out of a training summer when the going gets tough or they are doubting their decision. If the Mid is injured during Plebe summer their medical treatment and rehabilitation will be provided by the Navy.
 
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Is the NROTC scholarship rescinded once a USNA appointment is accepted? The ROTC scholarship only says it is rescinded once a person is enrolled in another officer ascension program, even for a day. I wouldn't think accepting an appointment is the same as being enrolled.

Obviously this is important to someone who becomes injured and cannot be inducted in June, but recovers in time for ROTC in the fall.

Also, regardless of motivation, etc. I think it is very wise to have a backup plan in case you are hurt between May 1 and June 28. Better to spend a year at a university prepping for and reapplying to an academy then bagging groceries or pounding nails. Not that there is anything wrong with groceries or nails.....
 
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