I think what
@MidCakePa shared is truly extraordinary. It shows resilience from his DD and USAFA. Nevertheless, she went to her top choice at USNA and she’s happy and the family is grateful.
There are many reasons why a Nom is saved for someone else. During our Nom process, we were grateful and disappointed how the Senatorial Office made decisions based on their goal for greater bandwidth. My DS received LOAs to USNA, USMA, USAFA, USCGA. He ended up with 1 Nom. During Senatorial interviews a committee member asked if he has a Nom from his Rep. He answered yes and they said thank you. His Rep gave him a Principal to USNA which sealed the deal with USNA and took out other top candidates in his district for competition. I thought this may happen because the Chairman of the committee is a Marine and he was all Navy. He was also the Chairman of his county Boys State who interviewed and sponsored DS. After getting the Rep Nom to USNA I felt that DS only chance for Second and Third Noms are from Senators because our Rep only gives one Nom per person to one SA.
DS received a letter from his Senators indicating that they gave Noms to other top candidates with no Noms. My heart dropped and got disappointed in their process. As a parent I felt in a way my DS was betrayed and short changed by the committee in Senators’ offices. More so because DS received special distinctions with national merit and honor from the Senator’s office. Nevertheless, this didn’t matter when they were making their Nom selections. And it is likely they have different priorities in the selection decision making.
As I watched DS disappointment with no Nom for USMA and USAFA while the Academy went scrambling looking for ways to find Noms by escalating his case to the Director of Admissions and the Supe’s Offices, Admissions asked DS to hang tight because they are looking for ways to find him a Nom. But DS made up his mind on April 15 and told USMA and USAFA that he will Report to USNA. Sometime thereafter Yale asked if he would like to enroll, he turned it down. Based on @MidCakepa’s story perhaps if he waited maybe USMA and USAFA may have found him a Nom or maybe not. Reading other family posts on the Forum demonstrates that there are many reasons why some get Nom and some don’t and some quit during the journey. No matter what happens, there’s happy ending. Our children find their ways to pursue their dreams and aspirations at SAs or ROTCs. My DS is currently a very happy Plebe at USNA, 19 days to be Plebe No More. He’s very excited to becoming a Youngster, teaching in Summer STEM, his first Summer Cruise, and joining the Upper Class in a few weeks.