What 'back up' colleges did you apply to before choosing USNA?

My plebe applied to SUNY Binghamton as plan B because he would have received his bachelor degree in under two years.

He was confidant he would get into USNA and decided not to apply to any other schools.
 
Yale, Duke, Brown were the options up to acceptance of a USNA appointment----AHMEN to the bank account ref PD22

UW (Washington) survived as a paid-for Plan B through to I-Day.

I got an out of the blue call from DD midway through her Plebe year: "Dad you know I hate it when you're right, but you were right. If I hadn't come here (USNA) I would have been stupid to have gone anywhere other than UW for undergrad". An odd call, but memorable for its rare content ("you were right").
 
My DS is hoping to get an appointment. His plan B is Texas A&M ROTC.
This was my DS backup plan, which he also applied for the NROTC scholarship. He received his TWE from USNA, and received the NROTC scholarship. He attended TAMU and was in the Corps (C-2), while re-applying to USNA. The second time around he was offered an appointment to USNA, and I was actually surprised that he accepted USNA as he would have commissioned anyway. God had a much better plan for our DS, and placed him at TAMU for two semesters prior to Plebe Summer, and that year really prepared him for USNA, for which we are extremely thankful.

For anyone looking for a solid plan B, or alternate path to USNA, we cannot stress how solid the TAMU NROTC and Corp Of Cadets is.
 
DD is a current plebe who had a ton of irons on the fire last year...she applied to state schools that she could get a full ride, based on academics alone. She also applied to Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State and Michigan in hopes of getting a NROTC-MO scholarhip. Fortunatly she was awarded that on 1st board so we started making plans in that direction. Then she was given a LOA to USNA in December of last year- only to be medically DQ'd. During that time we were happy she had choices for college that didn't require medical clearance. After finally recieving a waiver, USNA was the choice.

For us, there were too many unknows to put all her eggs in one basket. It was a crazy time in her life, but it was worth it to cover all her bases.
 
In addition to the backup school, can posters also give some insights into how/what you did to secure the backup past May 1st, if at all? How long should you keep backup in place, how'd you do it - securing a spot, scholarship, and room/board, and also any financial considerations, "insurance", like nonrefundable deposits, etc.
 
In addition to the backup school, can posters also give some insights into how/what you did to secure the backup past May 1st, if at all? How long should you keep backup in place, how'd you do it - securing a spot, scholarship, and room/board, and also any financial considerations, "insurance", like nonrefundable deposits, etc.



^^^^^ yes!!! That is a great follow up question! I tried to edit my post to include it, but alas, not way to go back and add on
 
Agreed on the post-May 1 backup question. If DS gets an appointment to USMA, he will accept. But my plan was to pay the deposit at a civilian college just in case of injury. However, if he got an AROTC scholarship for that civilian school, I guess he would have to relinquish that upon USMA acceptance and if he had to go to the civilian school due to injury, presumably do ROTC and re-apply for the scholarship, which would mean paying for 1 or 2 semesters. Then I assume he would want to try for USMA again, but anything could happen after a year at the civilian college ROTC, of course.
 
DD is a current plebe who had a ton of irons on the fire last year...she applied to state schools that she could get a full ride, based on academics alone. She also applied to Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State and Michigan in hopes of getting a NROTC-MO scholarhip. Fortunatly she was awarded that on 1st board so we started making plans in that direction. Then she was given a LOA to USNA in December of last year- only to be medically DQ'd. During that time we were happy she had choices for college that didn't require medical clearance. After finally recieving a waiver, USNA was the choice.

For us, there were too many unknows to put all her eggs in one basket. It was a crazy time in her life, but it was worth it to cover all her bases.
Michigan AND Ohio State? Sacrilege. What was she thinking! Go Blue!!
 
DS (current plebe) applied to (and was accepted to) Notre Dame as her back up. She received an ROTC scholarship to do so. We sent the deposit check for $500 to hold her spot just in case.

None of this, in and off itself, is interesting or novel. What I thought WAS interesting and novel is that when I emailed Notre Dame to let them know that she'd ultimately decided to attend USNA, Notre Dame REFUNDED MY $500 DEPOSIT CHECK.

A college returning $? What.... what?
 
DS (current plebe) applied to (and was accepted to) Notre Dame as her back up. She received an ROTC scholarship to do so. We sent the deposit check for $500 to hold her spot just in case.

None of this, in and off itself, is interesting or novel. What I thought WAS interesting and novel is that when I emailed Notre Dame to let them know that she'd ultimately decided to attend USNA, Notre Dame REFUNDED MY $500 DEPOSIT CHECK.

A college returning $? What.... what?

If you don’t know the story of the long friendship and mutual respect between Big Navy/USNA and Notre Dame, it’s a good one.


It’s an older story, but it’s got all the background, and the friendship endures today.

The Navy-Notre Dame game has huge attendance every year, a gift in perpetuity to Navy ticket revenue. The Navy home games are held around the country in NFL venues, delivering a tidy return, or, as it will be in 2020, a return to Dublin, Ireland, for one heck of a football weekend.
 
@brewer90, that's amazing and awesome to hear!

Okay, so it is my understanding you are suppose to immediately accept the ROTC scholarships if and when awarded, but what about other merit scholarship offers? DS has been admitted to a few schools who have already offered him the automatic merit money and a couple have offered additional scholarships. On the portals there are places to 'accept/decline.' I've suggested maybe he just leave that alone for now. Are you suppose to go ahead and accept those or wait until you decide where you are going?
 
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