On a side note, remember, there is a difference between wanting to serve, and serving in a particular branch of service and applying to the academy.
Some individuals simply want to service. They want to attend an academy and become a commissioned office. It doesn't matter to them which academy or branch of service.
Unfortunately, there's also many who apply to ALL of the academies, when the truth is, they are looking at it more from the "Scholarship - Free Education" viewpoint than from the minimum 9 year commitment. (4 years at the academy and a minimum of 5 years with the branch of service). They take the advice of their parents, relatives, friends, and even many MOC's (Senators and Representatives); who will convince them to apply to all of the academies.
If you truly want to serve, and it doesn't matter to you in which branch of service, then by all means apply to all of them. But if you truly feel a calling, desire, partiality, passion, etc. to a particular branch(es) of service and none to certain others, then you really shouldn't apply to all of them. You could very easily wind up miserable. And if you truly want to "Serve", the academy isn't the only path there, should you not get accepted. E.g. If you truly feel a desire only for the air force, and not much for the others, then you should only apply to the air force academy. if you don't make it in, you can always try the ROTC or OCS route to receive a commission.
Just saying, I've seen quite a few individuals who dropped out or didn't make it through the academy, and a number of them admitted that that particular academy wasn't their first choice.
Along with that, realize that while this forum may be more concentrated with individuals totally interested in the academies and service in the military, not all of the 10,000+ applicants have the academy as their 1st choice for college. Many are applying to it, just like they are to 2, 3, or 4 other colleges/universities. And one of those are their #1 choice. If you receive an appointment to an academy, and it wasn't your #1 choice for college, you really need to think hard about accepting the appointment. The academies aren't like any other university or college in the world. It's a totally different life style, which totally affects your way of thinking, moral, personality, etc. Don't get me wrong. There's a lot of individuals (Enlisted and officers) who didn't come into the military as their first choice, and they wound up loving it and making it a 20+ year career. Also, I'm about as PRO-Air Force/Military as they come. Simply saying, that it's equally true that a lot of individuals get to a particular academy, and it wasn't their first choice for academies and military service. Sometimes, the military itself wasn't their first choice for college. Don't let your parents, teachers, friends, family, etc. pressure you or rationalize to you accepting an academy appointment if you aren't passionate about going. This is your life..... it has to truly be your choice.