This is the tough time..............waiting. Congressmen are working through the nomination process. You have all put your very best packet together (or should be finishing that application pretty quickly......) And now all that is left is to wait. And wait.
Only a year ago. Son and I both were checking the candidate page daily and these forums. Knowing full well that we wouldn't likely hear anything until after the first of the year. At least not on nominations. And more likely March for appointment news.
It is a hard, really hard time. Seems like the days drag. The mailbox is empty, day after day.
If you can do anything else to enhance your application.......significantly better CFA, improved SAT/ACT scores, concentrate on that now.
If you are satisfied that your very best possible application is sitting in Annapolis (or any of the other academies) right now, take a deep breath. Although 2010 seems like it is in the distant future, it will be here before you know it. Parents, enjoy this time with your high school seniors. Applicants, enjoy your senior year, but keep out of trouble and continue to study hard!
Parents, once your child receives an appointment, things change, and change rapidly. Throughout plebe summer, you will talk to them only three times. Once the academic year starts, they are busy, busy, busy. And you are a distant observer. I have had one go through college and is in his first year of vet school and one at USNA, a plebe. The difference is striking. We could, of course, talk to older son often through his college years and offer counsel on various things..........by the end of several years, he sought our advice less often and was well on the way to figuring out adult hood. Our plebe is on his own, almost entirely. He is being trained to handle anything and does not need our counsel at all.
The plebe does not know until moments before what he is going to be doing. Example: Hubby and I are in Annapolis for Air Force football game. We have flown from Texas, knowing we may not get much time with son at all. Friday afternoon, we are headed for mid store and decide to sit out side on a patio overlooking the mid store main entrance and knowing mids are headed to their classes after lunch and maybe, just maybe, we will see ours. Sure enough, he comes by "Hey, how's it going!" With a big smile on his face. I say "How many classes do you have this afternoon?" He holds up one finger. We go on to shop in mid store (after I dab the tears of happiness!) We strike gold and see him again after class. Get to visit maybe two minutes before his phone rings and he rushes off to stand watch. I told him to call us if he got any free time that evening. (This forum had provided me with the info that he might be able to join us for a coke or something in Dry Dock on Friday evening) He tells us, "I have no idea." We assume he will eat with his company in King Hall, so we leave the yard and head downtown and order a nice, really nice, meal at one of the restaraunts on the waterfront. They had just brought our meals when he called, "Hey, I have a couple hours. Let's get pizza at Dry Dock. Can I bring friends?" Husband races out of restaraunt to get my driver's license which I had left in rental car. I ate a lobster tail in three bites, threw the credit card at the server, and jogged to the main gate. We met our plebe and two friends and waited an hour for pizza for the boys. It was awesome to listen to them talk. Instead of hubby and I peppering our plebe with questions, we learned most of what we wondering about listening to him and his two company mates talk over pizza.
If somebody had told me I would be thrilled with two brief sitings after coming all the way from Texas, I wouldn't have believed it. And we were accepting that those two brief exchanges might be all we got that weekend!
They are learning to be totally dependent upon each other. And not on parents! He admitted last week "I'm not gonna lie, Mom, it is ok that somebody makes all the decisions now and we plebes just do as we are told!"
Enjoy your child now. If they earn an appointment to any academy, they are gone.......... unlike attending a conventional college or university. Things change fast in the lives of these young people. It is a wonderful ride for the whole family.
But, my message is: breathe. Although you want to push the fast forward button and find out if your kid has earned an appintment, breathe! You'll know soon enough.
Now, repeat after me. "Thanks for asking. No, we haven't heard anything yet, but do not expect to hear anything from USXA until March."
Ok, that's my Friday night rant!
Jenny
Only a year ago. Son and I both were checking the candidate page daily and these forums. Knowing full well that we wouldn't likely hear anything until after the first of the year. At least not on nominations. And more likely March for appointment news.
It is a hard, really hard time. Seems like the days drag. The mailbox is empty, day after day.
If you can do anything else to enhance your application.......significantly better CFA, improved SAT/ACT scores, concentrate on that now.
If you are satisfied that your very best possible application is sitting in Annapolis (or any of the other academies) right now, take a deep breath. Although 2010 seems like it is in the distant future, it will be here before you know it. Parents, enjoy this time with your high school seniors. Applicants, enjoy your senior year, but keep out of trouble and continue to study hard!
Parents, once your child receives an appointment, things change, and change rapidly. Throughout plebe summer, you will talk to them only three times. Once the academic year starts, they are busy, busy, busy. And you are a distant observer. I have had one go through college and is in his first year of vet school and one at USNA, a plebe. The difference is striking. We could, of course, talk to older son often through his college years and offer counsel on various things..........by the end of several years, he sought our advice less often and was well on the way to figuring out adult hood. Our plebe is on his own, almost entirely. He is being trained to handle anything and does not need our counsel at all.
The plebe does not know until moments before what he is going to be doing. Example: Hubby and I are in Annapolis for Air Force football game. We have flown from Texas, knowing we may not get much time with son at all. Friday afternoon, we are headed for mid store and decide to sit out side on a patio overlooking the mid store main entrance and knowing mids are headed to their classes after lunch and maybe, just maybe, we will see ours. Sure enough, he comes by "Hey, how's it going!" With a big smile on his face. I say "How many classes do you have this afternoon?" He holds up one finger. We go on to shop in mid store (after I dab the tears of happiness!) We strike gold and see him again after class. Get to visit maybe two minutes before his phone rings and he rushes off to stand watch. I told him to call us if he got any free time that evening. (This forum had provided me with the info that he might be able to join us for a coke or something in Dry Dock on Friday evening) He tells us, "I have no idea." We assume he will eat with his company in King Hall, so we leave the yard and head downtown and order a nice, really nice, meal at one of the restaraunts on the waterfront. They had just brought our meals when he called, "Hey, I have a couple hours. Let's get pizza at Dry Dock. Can I bring friends?" Husband races out of restaraunt to get my driver's license which I had left in rental car. I ate a lobster tail in three bites, threw the credit card at the server, and jogged to the main gate. We met our plebe and two friends and waited an hour for pizza for the boys. It was awesome to listen to them talk. Instead of hubby and I peppering our plebe with questions, we learned most of what we wondering about listening to him and his two company mates talk over pizza.
If somebody had told me I would be thrilled with two brief sitings after coming all the way from Texas, I wouldn't have believed it. And we were accepting that those two brief exchanges might be all we got that weekend!
They are learning to be totally dependent upon each other. And not on parents! He admitted last week "I'm not gonna lie, Mom, it is ok that somebody makes all the decisions now and we plebes just do as we are told!"
Enjoy your child now. If they earn an appointment to any academy, they are gone.......... unlike attending a conventional college or university. Things change fast in the lives of these young people. It is a wonderful ride for the whole family.
But, my message is: breathe. Although you want to push the fast forward button and find out if your kid has earned an appintment, breathe! You'll know soon enough.
Now, repeat after me. "Thanks for asking. No, we haven't heard anything yet, but do not expect to hear anything from USXA until March."
Ok, that's my Friday night rant!
Jenny