PLEASE EXCUSE SPELLING ERROR... I NEED "ADVICE"... (been a long morning)....
Long time stalker... first time post.
After deferral in January and month (and months) of waiting, our DD got an offer of PS in her portal this morning. She has a lot of mixed emotions that I would like to get some advise on dealing with as we can't be the first ones to face this challenge. I certainly do NOT want to come across as ungrateful for the opportunity. I have found a wealth of information from this forum already and thought I would get some honest advice for an honest concern.
DD had a really strong application with the exception of an ACT score that just couldn't break 25. Top 5% in her class, APs, 30 college credits, great service hours, varsity letter, stellar CFA.... so we knew the ACT might an insurmountable barrier to Appointment, but we continued to hope...
We are going to sit down tonight as a family to discuss next steps. She was accepted to her plan B school (a great institution with a great AFROTC program) so I believe the struggle is between her pride and her options. As parents we believe this is a "no brainer", and that choosing to decline this opportunity is something that she will regret later, but we also understand that she is disappointed especially with having 2 friends that were directly appointed last year and many from her Summer Seminar group already receiving Appt. That, coupled with so many posts that talk about 'blue chip athletes' (which she is not) or prep school's academics being a repeat of HS which is hard to swallow when she has a 99% average in AP Calc and has 30 college credits from dual enrollment classes.
Her goal since 8th grade has been to be an Officer in the Air Force and her dream was to accomplish that through the Academy. Even if she had to go through ROTC at her Plan B, her goal has been unchanged.
So I come to you in earnest, oh wise ones of the forum. I need some advice for the Pros and Cons list for the conversation tonight; as an adult it is easy to point out that pride can destroy opportunity... but when you have an amazing kid who's never let pride get in the way before it's hard not to feel guilty for pushing that point now.
Thank you in advance for any support, advice, words of wisdom....