I have no idea what all the MOC do, but here our MOC's all have you check off your "first choice" of academy. And as I understand the process, when a candidate receives a "Primary NOM" they automatically get an offer of appointment contingent on being qualified across the board prior to R-day, or I-day. Please advise me if I have this wrong as this our first time with all this? If as you say your DS received 2 "primary or principal" NOMs then in all likelihood he is sitting with two offers of appointment, yes? Then not to be rude, but I would think that by this time he would know where he wanted to go (first choice), and if it was the academy he did not get the "primary or principal" NOM from then I can totally understand his waiting. This was the sole reason for my initial question, why do some candidates do this? I wasn't trying to insult or offend ANYONE, I legitimately just was curious why a candidate would not accept an appointment when offered. Just trying to learn!
You telling me you son's path, and the info you impart help me to understand. I didn't think the academies gave out more appointments than available positions, so that is something I have not seen elsewhere and goes towards explaining that no candidate gets "held up waiting" but that if qualified and wanted by the particular academy they will get an appointment even if the class if full because the academies factor in multiple appointments. So I thank you for all the information your are willing to share.