My brother moved to MD over 30 years ago, and I am very close to many of his MD friends. A few of them live close enough to qualify as a sponsor family. Should my P2B consider any of them as a sponsor family? Is he better off going to an unknown family? I'm not even sure if it's too late for these friends to apply as a sponsor. I'm curious what other people have done in this situation.
It’s not too late. They can apply and attend one of the training sessions held in spring and summer. See link below.
They would have to request him by name in the online application. He would have to do the same on the form in his PTR package.
It depends on what he wants. Sometimes these work out, sometimes not. If he goes with an unknown sponsor, and it doesn’t click, he can request another. “Adoptions” often occur when he goes with a friend or roomie to another sponsor’s home. We have gained and lost many like that over the years. Mutual fit is key.
The sponsor program is only official during Plebe year. After that, it’s by mutual desire.
One factor could be where in MD your brother’s friends live. If it’s too far, it may not be approved. More importantly, if it cuts too much into liberty time to allow for DC area traffic, that can be a negative. We have had several adoptees over the years who got “set up” with family friends who lived near Bethesda or over the Bay Bridge, and they preferred not to spend as much time in the car. We are 6 miles from Gate 8 and know exactly when to leave if the Plebe wants to maximize time off the Yard.
The crazy hours, especially on Saturdays, can really be a scheduling challenge for the sponsor family, especially if their own kids are heavily scheduled that day. Early on, it’s sometimes hard to predict when they’ll be cut loose on a Saturday, and if they don’t want to go back to the Yard until 2330 that night, or they want to be dropped off for a movie at the Mall and picked up there later to come to your house then go back late.
Check the hamburger menu, upper left.
https://www.usna.edu/Sponsor/index.php