USAFA Waiting Page C/O 2028

ddva1 said:
My DS got a call from his representative today that he has received an appointment so hopefully the VA appointments are starting. Nothing has changed yet in his portal but he doesn't expect that until early next week.
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Congratulations!! VA is a competitive state but VA-10 and 11 are exceptionally competitive district.. Such an accomplishment for your DS!
 
Arrowhead2024 said:
Today, my son reluctantly accepted an early admission full scholarship to Stanford University and withdrew his application to the USAFA, which he was conflicted about as the deadline approached. Being from California, we are disappointed by what we perceive as the academy's diminished attention to detail in admissions, overshadowing the achievements of overqualified candidates. Despite his accomplishment in earning a piloting license and aspirations to fly, we feel a sense of emptiness with this decision but had to use his PLAN B, as we can no longer prolong accepting a full scholarship. Thank you to you all who replied to our questions. Best of luck to all your children waiting for their acceptance and not yet forced to make difficult decisions.
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Stanford is a great school, congrats to your son! Basically the Ivy of the West. He will have an amazing time, and a full scholarship there is awesome as well.
 
Arrowhead2024 said:
Hello, fellow parents. I'm seeking insight into the college admissions process. Despite my son's strong profile — valedictorian with a 4.36 GPA, all-state runner, student council president, National Honors Society member, impressive ACT scores, and a near-perfect CFA and application, plus Congressional and Senatorial nominations — he has not yet received an acceptance or Letter of Assurance (LOA) or FULL acceptance. Could anyone with experience or knowledge in this area offer clarity or advice on why this might be the case, even with such a robust application? Your positive, blunt, or straightforward input is greatly appreciated.
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I've heard of similar experiences happening over the years. Where the service academy takes too long to respond to a qualified candidate on admissions, and by the time they do offer someone an appointment, that student has already decided to attend a school like Stanford, Yale, or MIT, who offered admissions several months earlier (and do ROTC there).

Anecdotally, my NROTC unit (and the AFROTC also on campus) seemed to lose the most cross-admitted students each year to schools like Harvard and Princeton, although we had a pretty good track record at winning over cross-admitted students because we hosted NROTC on campus. In fact, I don't remember us losing anyone to USNA or another service academy while I was there. Usually, a student was still waiting to hear back from USNA by the time our admitted students' weekend came around, and even if an appointment did come through late April or onwards, they were already too excited to do NROTC at our school, so they turned it down.

I do think it helps that schools like the Ivies, MIT, and Stanford have a set day/time when all decisions are released for early (Dec) and regular (late Mar) cycles, and everyone knows when that day is, so there's no questions about it. With the academies, it's a huge window of when you could hear back, and some can come in even past the May 1 national decision day...
 
@Arrowhead2024 I can see how difficult it would be for highly qualified applicants with full scholarship options at Ivies to stare down a deadline.

However, your applicant, faced with deadline, made a decision. And what an accomplishment! Sharing honestly here - Leveling criticism at AFA admissions misses the mark b/c admissions patterns are well-established at ivies and service academies. Your kid and mine entered that process and their qualifications don’t merit a flip in an admissions script that has served the AF well. Finding ways to navigate these established patterns is the responsibility of each applicant, as is ultimately making lemonade with the options given to them.

A hearty congratulations and best wishes to your student!🎉
 
Eagle92 said:
Can you tell us more about this situation? What deadline was today? The restrictive early action reply date at Stanford is May 1 for students that were accepted.
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I just want to follow up here in case others find themselves word searching this down the road and then wondering "what is incongruent with Stanford Early Admissions and USAFA (or other service academy)" DD was Stanford early admit. The answer in her case was: nothing.

She received Stanford admission in Dec., USAFA appointment at end of Jan, USNA appointment early March, and then had to make decision by May 1. Unless things changed- Stanford full-ride scholarships (with exception of very very limited athletic scholarships) are 100% financial needs based and are available to everyone who submits their financial info and attends. The financial aid is incredibe for those that qualify (under $150K income I believe have full tuition scholarships.) Stanford admissions is very easy (acutally pleasant) to work with; as are USAFA and USNA teams.
I'm not sure what the situation was that drove the experience and deadlines above, but my DD experience was totally different and it was all compatible- just had to decide by May 1 for all 3.
 
Eagle92 said:
I just want to follow up here in case others find themselves word searching this down the road and then wondering "what is incongruent with Stanford Early Admissions and USAFA (or other service academy)" DD was Stanford early admit. The answer in her case was: nothing.

She received Stanford admission in Dec., USAFA appointment at end of Jan, USNA appointment early March, and then had to make decision by May 1. Unless things changed- Stanford full-ride scholarships (with exception of very very limited athletic scholarships) are 100% financial needs based and are available to everyone who submits their financial info and attends. The financial aid is incredibe for those that qualify (under $150K income I believe have full tuition scholarships.) Stanford admissions is very easy (acutally pleasant) to work with; as are USAFA and USNA teams.
I'm not sure what the situation was that drove the experience and deadlines above, but my DD experience was totally different and it was all compatible- just had to decide by May 1 for all 3.
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Thanks for sharing your experience. That makes sense to me based on other top schools my DC have applied to.
 
Eagle92 said:
I just want to follow up here in case others find themselves word searching this down the road and then wondering "what is incongruent with Stanford Early Admissions and USAFA (or other service academy)" DD was Stanford early admit. The answer in her case was: nothing.

She received Stanford admission in Dec., USAFA appointment at end of Jan, USNA appointment early March, and then had to make decision by May 1. Unless things changed- Stanford full-ride scholarships (with exception of very very limited athletic scholarships) are 100% financial needs based and are available to everyone who submits their financial info and attends. The financial aid is incredibe for those that qualify (under $150K income I believe have full tuition scholarships.) Stanford admissions is very easy (acutally pleasant) to work with; as are USAFA and USNA teams.
I'm not sure what the situation was that drove the experience and deadlines above, but my DD experience was totally different and it was all compatible- just had to decide by May 1 for all 3.
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Exactly!! My boy got a full ride to Norte dame, and numerous other top school and turned them all down, went to Purdue a year for engineering and is now at the academy. If it’s what you want you go after it no matter what!! Full rides or not, you can accept and then later decline if one of the service academies is where you truly want to be!
 
ddva1 said:
My DS got a call from his representative today that he has received an appointment so hopefully the VA appointments are starting. Nothing has changed yet in his portal but he doesn't expect that until early next week.
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I have a nomination from VA-05 and a VA senator, so hopefully this is a good sign!
 
hopefulmama1218 said:
Did you receive principal nom?
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I am not sure how to tell, but there is nothing in the letter that I got from Mark Warner saying so. I haven't received anything in writing from Bob Good, my Rep., so I am unsure about his nomination either.
 
tbfoot said:
I am not sure how to tell, but there is nothing in the letter that I got from Mark Warner saying so. I haven't received anything in writing from Bob Good, my Rep., so I am unsure about his nomination either.
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More likely Senators give competitive nom. Reps may or may not give PNom. Getting PNom increase the chance of winning of the slate as long as you are 3Q. You can ask your Sen and Rep what is your nom category.
 
hopefulmama1218 said:
More likely Senators give competitive nom. Reps may or may not give PNom. Getting PNom increase the chance of winning of the slate as long as you are 3Q. You can ask your Sen and Rep what is your nom category.
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Sent an email to both congressmen, will give updates when I hear back. jbm2m said that Warner at least is competitive.
 
@williow17 Congratulations on your USAFA Appointment. I’m also from Ohio but haven’t heard anything back yet. What congressional district are you from?
 
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