Steve - I can give you my son's perspective from last summer and I find it very interesting that it conflicted sharply with your candidate's! My son went to Navy, WP and AF in that order, and honestly, I think a lot of it came down to the individual squad (element) leader making a huge difference. He LOVED NASS and came really, really close to choosing that appointment over AF (even though he's wanted and been working for AF since he was about 8) primarily based on that experience. Overall they did a lot of the same things at all 3 seminars - briefings, classes, hands on experiences, PT, seeing the dorms/dining halls, talking to cadets. However, his brief summaries were:
NASS - just an incredible experience. They gave them "rates" up front to memorize, which also I think gave them a sense of history of the academy. Just had a practice plebe evening, but it was enough to give them some insight into being a plebe. Squad time always seemed to be something fun, initiated by the squad leader (even just chatting about the academy) and they spent an evening in DC, which of course not every academy can offer. Sea Trials was his highlight of his life so far - nothing the other academies offered came close to this day/bonding experience. He still keeps in touch nearly daily with two squadmates from SS and emails his SL regularly. Just worked out to be a great group. One interesting point was that his SL was a new 3rd class - just out of plebe year himself, and with a great deal of enthusiasm. Sent the parents a bunch of pics of their kids so I at least have some from that SS, since evidently my son wasn't bright enough to grasp that he had to use a flash indoors!
WP - he was totally turned off by WP as a whole, much to dad and my dismay as grads. He felt everything was low key and boring after his week at Navy. His SL was entering 2nd class year, and was NOT thrilled to be there. Constantly commented to the squad that WP sucked and couldn't believe she'd come back. Any free time (of which they seemed to have a LOT) she just sent them to their rooms to amuse themselves. Add in bad weather on the day they were supposed to go to Buckner for all their field training, and there was very little of note that he enjoyed. Thought it was too many days of classes (this SS was two days longer than AF's) and primarily just sitting and listening, not "doing". That's why I was so interested to hear your candidate liked it so much more!
AF - he felt was just more middle of the line all the way through. Seemed much shorter than all the other seminars - basically the first day was travel, and the last day they could leave as early as 4am to catch 6am flights, so it was only 3 days of doing things. His SL was going to be a firstie and seemed professional but a bit distant to the kids. Straightforward, answered questions, but not the "I'm so excited about the opportunities here" that he saw at Navy. By this point he was tired of hearing the same things over and over again (how to apply for a nom) so I think was a bit jaded. He thought the "Doolie for a Day" was an awesome experience and the best part of the seminar, but it was really only a few hours, not the whole day he'd been expecting. But evening just seemed to be pretty down times - more briefings or things like that rather than the major planned activities they had at Navy. Overall, I'd say this seminar was exactly what he was expecting while Navy was so much more and WP was so much less.
Hope this helps some and you don't mind me throwing in stuff from last summer! Feel free to PM if you'd like to contact him directly or ask him any questions and I can give you his email!