Let's clear this up
First of all, there is nothing wrong with tattoos!
And to answer the question: I am a 3Q'd candidate for the top three academies. I have a tattoo, multiple piercings, and had elective surgery two weeks ago.
My tattoo is a "Paloma" or in English, a dove. It's on my ribs. It's the size of my hand and is in black and white.
My piercings are all on my ears: double lobes on each ear, and a tragus piercing on my left.
I have had knee surgery and I had an elective surgery two weeks ago.
These things are NOT disqualifiers as long as 1) your tattoo is not obscene or gang related. So do NOT tattoo "West Side" up the length of your arm. 2) your piercings are 100% removable. NO DERMAL PIERCINGS ALLOWED. You also cannot wear them in uniform or while on post, unless you are female, then you can wear ONE set of earrings in your lobes, and they have to be round and a certain size. 3) You MUST report your surgery to DoDMERB. They will need remedials to ensure that you have reached a full recovery by the time you go to BCT. CLEARLY you shouldn't go get plastic surgery done (unless it's medically necessary, such as a rhinoplasty to fix deviated septum). The point of DoDMERB physicals is to make sure cadets are healthy. If something comes up, such as biliary diskinisia, that makes you sick all the time and the Dr recommends you have your gallbladder taken out, you should do it. Health is first. That is considered an elective surgery. If you don't do it though and you get accepted to a service academy, when you come down with gallstones because your gallbaldder is malfunctioning, they're going to kick you out, and you will be PERMANENTLY disqualified, even from enlisting.
During my physical, I was asked if I had tats or piercings. I showed the Dr all of them and he wrote them down. They asked for pictures of my tat, and said nothing of the piercings. I had to send in remedials for both surgeries.
Hope this shed some light on the situation.