I got the appointment May 5th as well.
I was a previous reject: emails April 29th-May 4th. Before that time, I did not receive a letter to tell me that I was on a national waiting list.
My particular case is very struggling. I didn't get the nomination from our rep. I called in Nov and in Dec last year and was told my name wasn't on the nomination list. Then 4 days before the Feb 28 WP deadline I received my nomination. The letter from the rep said I was selected for my "second choice" Navy. I didn't select Navy and had no second choice.
So I was very late. I heard the class was more than full before they even took me didn't know it was true.
That was true. My admission officer mentioned that I would have been admitted in normal situations but this year the class was full already (Forbes rating?) so I had to wait. Later, in the rejection email he made me feel less painful and provided encouragement. I then went ahead and paid deposit for another University.
I read somewhere that they gave out many LOA's earlier this year. Plus the acceptance rate was also crazily high. So I gave up hope, there was just no room for me. Don't know what happened in the very last moment I got a call, then email, then another call. No matter what had happened, I am so happy and am pretty sure you and I are the last lucky ones they took this year.
Congratulations and nice thread.
My Stats:
ACT: 34 in one setting: Eng 33, Read 29, Math 36, Sci 36
SAT2's: MathII 800, Physics 800, Chemistry 800.
I just discover this site, want to join the discussion/share my story as another late appointee.
Elan