Fun and informative posts above. Also, please oil-up and pause and flex into the camera every once in a while while playing volleyball - apparently that's a key to keeping a pilot or navigator slot.
I'll just add that one question you may wish to ask each unit you are considering is what percentage of their commissioning midshipmen received their first or second choice of where to serve (sub, aviation, surface warfare, marine officer, marine aviation, etc.) . I found that some schools - like you mentioned Embry Riddle have a 98% first-choice track record for the last 3 years. Other schools when I asked were lower - more like an 80/20 split between first/ second. I do think some programs have a halo around them, positive or negative and that may impact those percentages - just my unscientific opinion. Maybe that's based on prior graduate performance - not sure. Embry had a lot of unmanned aviator degree recipients (drone) or commercially rated airplane pilots that were then after commissioning heading to Pensacola for flight school / got naval aviator slots (Maverick). Had a few more that were navigators (Goose) then some for Marine aviation, marine officer, a couple of subs and surface warfare (all on youtube - not spilling Colonel Sander's secret recipe here). That's just correlational data - not cause/ effect - ultimately I agree it's all about the needs of the navy on any given year, but it may help you and I do think some programs have a stronger track record of getting people what their top choices. That being said, I've heard no less than 20 times that being an ATP-track pilot in undergrad offers no advantage to getting a pilot slot in the navy - it's just good if that's what you want to do after the navy. Buyer beware. For the AF though I did some prior research and it's an advantage to have your PPL and hours for getting a pilot slot. Navy drone pilots do go to flight school, fyi - not all branches do that.
Top Gun 2 is coming out soon and I maintain this will have an impact in the next couple of years both on navy recruitment and an increase in midshipmen putting aviation down as one of their top 3 - numbers spiked incredibly in recruitment and interest in these slots after the original movie in 1986. Navy called the original "the best recruitment campaign we could have dreamed of".
Just to share, Navy- Marine option midshipmen currently have guaranteed aviation contracts available, if you pass their evals/ meet their standards. Also Army and of course air force also have pilot slots. May wish to apply to all if your dream is to serve and fly. All are competitive / have advantages.
Good luck!