I have come to the conclusion that Academies that do not allow for rolling admissions miss out on many of the best and brightest. My example is simple. If you apply for a nomination it is dependent on when the Congressman or Senator conducts interviews. At least 20 Senators do that in December sending them forward in January for a 31 January deadline. What that does is make the applicant not know if he is selected to March or later. However, MOST significantly bright kids select also a back up college. The issue is if a kid can get into Vanderbuilt and he applies early decision because early decision is where over 60% of the class is selected. If he applies these colleges, Duke, Vanderbilt, UVA and others will not release you from your early action contract. They say "We will hold You To Your Early Action Request". So if a bright person waits and is not excepted to West Point he will not see the Ivy Leagues even though he would have made it if he had applied early action. This causes a sour taste for service and we lose them....I have seen it a dozen times.