To get this far I'm sure most students have awesome plan B's. How many have already been accepted to other academies?
My daughter was accepted into VMI, Virginia Tech (Corps of Cadets) and SUNY-Maritime. She is already enrolled at a local university because she took German because it was not offered at her school.
She didn't apply to the other Service Academies because they just didn't "speak" to her. Despite our families maritime history, she wasn't interested in the Navy. We didn't realize about the State Maritime Academies or she would have applied there.
My daughter has an excellent HS resume, she fell short on her ACT test scores. Highest test was a 27. She doesn't test well. Her math scores were not high enough. We will work on it and reapply.