Your cadet will make an excellent officer, Dixieland. Contingency planning is a critical leadership trait. Even Gen. Eisenhower had a backup plan -- he wrote TWO letters on the eve of the Normandy Invasion, one to be read in the event of success and one to be read in the event of failure. I think most people on this website understand the concept of contingency planning and thus apply to all of the service academies and for all of the ROTC scholarships. I, for one, will insist that my DS not play his hand until all of the cards are on the table. For example, if he gets admitted to Harvard on a 4-year AROTC scholarship and has an appointment to USMA, then he has something serious to think about. We're not at that point, though. I view my role as a parent to temper his excitement about receiving an appointment and to teach him the concepts of contingency planning and calculated decisionmaking.
KNP: As I understand it, once a candidate accepts an appointment, you belong to the military and your options have narrowed. But I do not think you have either a moral or legal obligation to withdraw your other pending applications at other colleges, because accepting an appointment at USMA does not work like the contract that many colleges seek to impose for, say, "Early Decision" applicants (where the applicant agrees in advance to affirmatively withdraw his/her other pending applications if accepted to the early-decision college). My recommendation is to simply let the others sit for now and even fill out the financial aid application and keep any acceptances in your back pocket as an insurance policy. Of course, come May 1, when the schools to which your son has been admitted do not receive the required deposit, they will understand that to mean you have declined the offer of admission at that school. Prior to May 1, you have two options: (1) pay the $300 deposit to one backup school, or (2) purchase multiple layers of bubblewrap and hope that nothing unforeseen happens between May 1 and R-Day on June 27 (such as illness that would medically disqualify your son). But of course, barring any unforeseen event like illness or a brush with law enforcement, your son is going to USMA if the offer of appointment has been accepted.
This is my first time navigating through this process with my eldest child, so hopefully my understanding is not off the mark here. But I have read everything produced from the schools very carefully, and this is how I understand the way the game is played. I expect that the moderators will set me straight if I am off the mark.
I do know first hand that admissions officers at regular colleges view it as repulsive that some students pay the $300 security deposit and then contact them later to say that they've reconsidered. But these very same admissions officers will not reciprocate by allowing students who have previously declined an offer to change his/her mind and matriculate at the college if unforeseen circumstances happen. In my view, "What Comes Around, Goes Around." Considering the enormous benefit that USMA provides, a $300 "insurance policy" for a two-month period is a pittance. Hopefully, you will be in the situation come R-Day with your son getting yelled at by the cadre and all the worrying about contingencies will be over!
Congratulations to your son!!
