Final Appointment!

bubblyroses said:
Thank you! I’ve been talking to a lot of people and trying to weigh my decisions. I just don’t know what I want!
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Take your time; ignore external pressures.

You earned every one of those appointment offers, and your thoughts and feelings about which service is the best fit for you, and which path to a commission feels right to you, have probably shifted and clarified over the months of the application journey. Now is the time to assess all your pros and cons, tangibles and intangibles, as you make your decision.

The SAs offer more appointments than they know will be accepted, based on decades of data. They carefully manage the appointment spigot and have made/continue to make their choices on who they would like to see in the class. They know exactly how to pace the flow rate to balance seats in the class, and they manage it down to the last acceptances and declinations until they hit the target range for the class size, and declare the class is “built.”

Taking the time to think through this now is your choice. The SAs have told you when they need an answer, and they are fine with the timeline.

Practical advice: Reverse engineer. Focus on officer career paths. Which are the easiest to let go? Which excite you the most? Which has more options you can see yourself doing, if you don’t get your first officer specialty choice? Once you have that, the SA is just a preferred waystation to achieve your service career goal.
 
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bubblyroses said:
Thank you! I’ve been talking to a lot of people and trying to weigh my decisions. I just don’t know what I want!
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Added thought to my other post above:
Finally, a few emotional intelligence thoughts. Posting on an Internet forum, like emails, doesn’t allow for a full communications experience with tone of voice, facial expression, body language. Take 30 seconds and consider the hundreds of readers here who are reading about your 3 appointments and “I just don’t know what I want!” - and how that can translate to those who have had no good news, heard zip, and will quite possibly see a “regret to inform you” notification. Even in the midst of your rightfully earned joy and excitement, take a moment to look right and left. Leadership can be little things, like situational awareness of how comments can be read by others, and taking a moment to acknowledge others’ reality and offer support and encouragement.
 
EmeraldPA said:
Consider your options and make a decision so the other two academies can move on and maybe offer some of us a slot!
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That’s not quite how it works, @EmeraldPA. The SAs are now deciding to whom they want to offer appointments. They make more offers than will be accepted, knowing that about 15% will decline. Appointees have until May 1 to decide. After that, the SAs may — may! — turn to their waitlist if declines are greater than they’d anticipated.

In other words, the SAs build in ample buffer — sending more BFEs than they know will be accepted. It’s not as if an appointee declines in late March and the SAs say, “OK, who’s next on the list?”

If you’ve received offer of appointment, take every second you’ve been given until May 1. You’ve earned it! You’re not holding anyone else back by using the time granted. Make the best decision for you!
 
MidCakePa said:
That’s not quite how it works, @EmeraldPA. The SAs are now deciding to whom they want to offer appointments. They make more offers than will be accepted, knowing that about 15% will decline. Appointees have until May 1 to decide. After that, the SAs may — may! — turn to their waitlist if declines are greater than they’d anticipated.

In other words, the SAs build in ample buffer — sending more BFEs than they know will be accepted. It’s not as if an appointee declines in late March and the SAs say, “OK, who’s next on the list?”

If you’ve received offer of appointment, take every second you’ve been given until May 1. You’ve earned it! You’re not holding anyone else back by using the time granted. Make the best decision for you!
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I stand corrected, thank you for clarifying.
 
Capt MJ said:
Added thought to my other post above:
Finally, a few emotional intelligence thoughts. Posting on an Internet forum, like emails, doesn’t allow for a full communications experience with tone of voice, facial expression, body language. Take 30 seconds and consider the hundreds of readers here who are reading about your 3 appointments and “I just don’t know what I want!” - and how that can translate to those who have had no good news, heard zip, and will quite possibly see a “regret to inform you” notification. Even in the midst of your rightfully earned joy and excitement, take a moment to look right and left. Leadership can be little things, like situational awareness of how comments can be read by others, and taking a moment to acknowledge others’ reality and offer support and encouragement.
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I really appreciate this perspective and idea of "reading the room." Thank you for that, and I will be more cognizant of these things.
 
I thought if the first choice in a MOC's slate did not accept, it would go to the next best qualified candidate from their slate. This is what I was told, is it not true?
 
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bubblyroses said:
I really appreciate this perspective and idea of "reading the room." Thank you for that, and I will be more cognizant of these things.
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Excellent - read the room well, and one day, you will command the room.

This feedback was kindly meant, and I read and re-read my word choices to edit it to convey non-whacking feedback.
 
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