DS accepted his prep school spot yesterday--after a 2 year process. Let me share his story…
My DS applied to the USMMA for the class of 2015, was placed on hold—fully qualified with a senatorial nomination--in November 2010--only to receive the denial letter on May 8, 2011. He went off to a top 100 state university, revaluated his priorities and decided to reapply for the class of 2016. He was placed on hold again in January 2012—again with a senatorial nomination!
Boy, was he bummed. He even thought of throwing in the towel and saying the heck with it. He had and still has a solid plan B in place (Army contracted scholarship cadet).
Then the call came last Tuesday (in the middle of college final exam week) that he was being offered a prep school spot. Here he is--just finished his first year of college and has 54 college credits to his name.
What to do at this point? We waited until his packet officially arrived in the mail so that it could set in and he could think about doing in freshman year again at NMMI and then AGAIN at the USMMA.
eagleone--this is not meant to flame you or anything but if you following the admission process on any of the other service academy forums you will see how slow and methodical the process is. It is true testament that your DS got to the hold position and not a situation where ANYONE needs to be embarrassed.
I understand how frustrating and sad it is to see your child want something so bad only to be denied. For most of these kids, they have never had someone tell them that they were not quite good enough—in our case multiple times. My DS and I know the feeling all too well. I am so proud of him that he did not give up!
Yes, I have been following the events that have been unfolding all year long along with you—in my case 2+ years’ worth. We do not know how the prep school will work out but he is going on a leap of faith that he is making the right decision—even though it will take him 6 years to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. We support his decision because he can ALWAYS go back to where he came from and finish. We live by the motto “No regrets. Forever is a long time to think whudcoudashuda”
If your DS really wants this bad enough he will make the hard decision about whether to reapply or not—who knows he still could get a spot in this years’ class.
Best of luck to everyone still waiting and never give up on your dream.
