My son recieved an email today from his FFR congratulating him on his offer of appointment, and welcoming him to become a member of the long gray line. Exciting time!
Hello brovol:
I was looking through these threads and ran across yours - hoping you might be out there. My DS is class of 20121 candidate. I'm a USMA grad, but it was a different time when I was there. My DS has been accepted at USMA and USNA and has ROTC options too. He's been fortunate. We are heading down for an overnight at USMA next week, and then a CVW the week after and a ROTC event at UVA the weekend in between. If I'm reading these threads correctly, sounds like your son went through a similar process last year? One question - there were no overnights in my day at WP - I cant seem to find any info on the portal about this - is there some sort of formal program for parent(s) when the DS is on the overnight at WP?... from what I can tell, maybe just a briefing in morning of drop off? It seems there is more of a formal program for parents at CVW in Annapolis? I'm trying to plan out days and curious as to whether you have any insights on this? Many thanks for any insights you might have.
West Point does this better than the others, and it works well. You should get an email from admissions office with information. The morning starts at the admissions office with a briefing by the RC who is on duty that day. It is for the candidates and parents. They do a nice job. Then either the RC or a WP Cadet will take you all on a tour. We actually did all of this twice, because we came for the briefing in the summer, and then when my son did his overnight we did the briefing and the tour again. The first time it was the RC who did the tour, and that was real cool, as he was a grad, and took us to a lot of places they dont typically cover. You being a grad yourself, that may not be as big a deal. After the tour you head back to the admissions office, and cadets will be there to pick up the kids who are doing overnights (some kids just stay for the day, and dont do full overnights). After that parents are on their own, until they need to be back the next day at around 1pm, if memory serves, to pick up your kid. Here is a KEY: make an appointment to meet with the RC when you pick up your son, so you can go over his application (unless he already received his appointment). The RC will tell him exactly where he stands and what he needs to get an appointment.
The briefings at USNA are similar, but we thought not nearly as well done, and far less personal. The tour there was more of a tourist tour, and gave very little insight into the life of a Midshipman. The tours were done by retirees. My son was never offered a CVW at USNA, and wasnt offered an appointment until the week before R-day at WP. We thought about visiting USAFA after my son got an early appointment there, but he was pretty certain he was not going to attend USAFA, so we held off. I actually wanted to go, but mostly because I really liked visiting the other academies and thought it would be cool. Son had so much going on with sports and school, we didn't find the time. We visited USNA three times in total, and loved the place, but honestly neither my son, nor my wife and I ever got a great feel about it. West Point was just the opposite, and after the overnight my son was locked in; which was a good thing since his RC called us into his office when we picked him up, told us he had an appointment, and spent a half hour telling my son the advantages of WP over USAFA and USNA.
After going through the process with my son, I have a decent insight. Feel free to PM me with any questions.
