In my personal opinion, I don't think that applying to two academies is very difficult because they basically require the same things so you don't have to reinvent the wheel twice.
The more things you apply to, the more acceptances you will get and the more choices you will have. I applied to 3 SAs, 3 ROTC programs, 4 nomination sources, 12 civilian universities, the honors colleges for some of the the civilian universities, and the scholarship applications for the civilian universities. The majority of the programs required essays and interviews. Yes, I had to use my time efficiently in order to get all of the applications done, but the whole process greatly improved my interview and writing skills. It sucked sometimes being holed up in my house on the weekends writing essays, but it is starting to pay off now that the decisions are going out. I'm not saying this to make myself look good, but to demonstrate that applying to 2 service academies really isn't that big of a job when many students looking to go to selective schools apply to 15-20 programs. If you don't apply, you have a 0% chance of being accepted, so the work you put in now will pay off later!
