Back up Plans?(even when appointed) Thoughts?

TexasAggie204 said:
It's hard to get overly concerned about the "ethical" issues with admissions at US universities when the highest paid employee in nearly every state is the state university's head football or basketball coach. I think I'll just do what's right for my kid and sleep very well at night.
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Look before you leap - at least to know how not to get caught. Read the threads from previous years - it's not just admissions at civilian universities you should be concerned with.
 
jl123 said:
Look before you leap - at least to know how not to get caught. Read the threads from previous years - it's not just admissions at civilian universities you should be concerned with.
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Any chance you have a link to helpful prior threads on this? I searched, but didn't find any helpful ones. Must not be looking for quite the right phrases. I hadn't thought about this Plan B issue really at all, but think we better just in case.
 
Here is a cut and paste from the last time this came up:

Most colleges do not take it lightly when they find out that a student has violated their agreement not to be committed to more than one institution. Whether or not they will do anything about it is debatable.

It is not correct that most families maintain a Plan B, but if you do, make sure you do not get caught in an uncomfortable situation as some others have.

Here are the facts:
  1. If you make arrangements with the backup college beforehand and they agree to be the backup - no problem whatsoever.
  2. Almost all colleges consider it an ethical/contractual violation to use them as a backup without their knowledge. Most applications, including the Common Application, contain a clause that applicants agree not to be committed to more than one institution after May 1st.
  3. The two ways previous appointees have been caught and found themselves in an uncomfortable situation are: high school college counselor discovered violation or appointee told college when calling/emailing to let them know they wouldn't be attending.
  4. Virtually all colleges and high schools are institutional members and many individuals at those schools are individual members of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) - USMA, USNA, USAFA, USCGA, and USMMA are members. The NACAC code of conduct states that it is unethical to be committed to more than one institution.
  5. There are known instances of appointees being threatened by colleges for using them as an unwitting backup.
  6. No SA has issued a policy on this practice and there has been no test case for how an SA will respond - there are no known instances of a college reporting the infraction to an SA.
 
jl123 said:
If you make arrangements with the backup college beforehand and they agree to be the backup - no problem whatsoever.
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Appointees need go no further than this step. Talk to your #1 Plan B admissions officer directly and discuss the situation with them openly and honestly. In most cases, they will give you a yes or no on whether you can submit a deposit if you are holding an academy appointment. This was our experience with DD1 and DS1.
 
Good advice. Any college that wouldn't be at least somewhat understanding of a potential academy nomination wouldn't be worth attending anyhow.
 
Holy moly! Just one more thing to stress about! I had no idea! My DS has been accepted to mult plan B’s. We have not accepted or made any deposits yet as he has is Nom interview for the USNA this Saturday with our senator, he was deferred from EA to RD with the CGA and has a AFROTC interview coming up. Many balls in the air! With no definite “yes” yet. Will be happy for mid May to have this all hashed out! Thanks for the advice. Never even occurred to me to hold a spot in one of his civilian plan Bs. 🤦‍♀️
 
Just wondering if folks here can provide a list of “friendly” schools that don’t have any issue being their school as plan B in case some unexpected things happen during BCT, prior to plebe year.

It’s totally understandable that if one school is “friendly” last year, it may not be this year or next year. But at least some parents/candidates here can identify and think of alternate solutions.
 
You all have to understand that you have to be behind your DS and DD %100. You and they have to have the confidence that they want to be there and succeed. If something happens to them during swab summer you will just have to punt and figure out what to do. They could go to community college for the year if need be. They just need to be taking classes. Maybe CGA will have them come back the following year if there was a medical issue. This past year 12 out of the class left during swab summer for various reasons.

Our DS turned down another SA and several other non military schools. We did not feel it was right to keep a spot that someone else could use.

You can go crazy with plan B and C etc. You can’t plan for every contingency and you cannot put them in a bubble. They need to enjoy their senior year with friends and family and be working out getting ready for swab summer.
 
txfwindian said:
Just wondering if folks here can provide a list of “friendly” schools that don’t have any issue being their school as plan B in case some unexpected things happen during BCT, prior to plebe year.
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Five years ago, The Citadel gave our DS a full refund of his deposit when he advised them that he was going to attend a different university.
 
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HCopter said:
And when you say "You" contacted the civilian Plan B school, do you mean you, the parent, or your child?
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Schools that I am familiar with will ONLY take real direction from the actual student/prospective student. It doesn't matter if you're paying the bills, it is on the student to do this communicating.
 
Here's a large thread on this topic from a couple years ago.

Ramifications of Plan B Schools - Ethics and Morality (UC Irvine)

There are have several threads in previous months regarding people who send in a deposit to a civilian school while waiting for the academies to respond. I think they also do that in case the student gets ill or hurt before they can even attend the first day at their selected academy. People...
www.serviceacademyforums.com

A few important points:

Many schools understand the unique nature of the SA appointment process and will be understanding if they are informed up front. The super-elite institutions with the ridiculous admit rates are in a more difficult spot, so maybe don't rely on them as backups.

People really do need their Plan B schools sometimes. There are injuries, washouts in Swab Summer, rescinded offers for stuuuuuupid behavior and all sorts of other weirdness. If the alternate school knows in advance, you can often leave that door ajar until school starts in August. And if you do lose your deposits just think of that money in the context of replacing a full year's tuition at Plan B State and it'll seem much smaller.

Don't mess with ED applications to other schools if you want to go to an academy. If they admit you you've already agreed to abide by that decision, which closes the door on other schools. ED means All Other Schools. There's no asterisk for an SA or that place where I'd be a fourth generation legacy, ED is "I'll go if you'll take me." You give your word when you apply to an ED program.
 
I asked our HS college counselor this question and she recommended deferring an acceptance somewhere else--that way not taking any one else's spot or dorm room, and not technically financially committed to the other school. She said lots of kids defer to take a gap year and then change plans for numerous reasons and colleges expect that. One more option to consider anyway.
 
There are literally TONS of posts about the ethical and moral routes to protect our children from unforeseen problems with Plan A. There is a "Code" out there someplace (I forget where I read it) that plainly states "if you accept admission to any college, university, or institution of higher learning that is certified by the American College Accreditation Board, you cannot continue your application to another institution" (this would include the Service Academies). How strictly this is enforced I have no idea! What we personally as a family decided to do was wait till the last possible minute to decide (usually May 1st), then have our sons' accept their first choices, and met with the admissions staff at Plan B and C and let them know what was transpiring. One of our sons' schools told us that if for any reason DS did not continue with his first choice, there would be a spot for him in January (basically a deferral of admission). All of the others, said "Thank You" and if needed they could re-apply for winter term, no guarantees. Afterthoughts were that smaller schools may be less likely to "hold" a spot than a larger school. But remember that our children are some of the brightest and well rounded young people out there, and if for for some unforeseen reason they need to revert to Plan B or Plan C that there will likely be no problem getting accepted again, other than they may have to take a semester at a Junior College while waiting for Plan B to kick in..:)
 
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