Let me second NavyHoops' advice and counsel - as always, spot on; just follow/trust it closely - lots of experience and wisdom embedded in the advice. I also really value MidCakePA's perspective too which is valuable and actionable food for thought.
Bluejayburrito, I'm currently a youngster (sophomore) at USNA and just two years ago, I was in what feels like exactly your situation.
Like you, I received a LOA from USMA very early (in September of my senior year of HS). While service was my #1 priority, attending USNA was my definitely my preference from a SA perspective (b/c school culture/vibe + service communities that I could commission into), but to be clear, I would have found lots of reasons to be happy and thrive at West Point if that's where I ended up
I ended up never receiving a LOA from Navy -- despite getting into all the Ivy League schools I applied to and full merit rides at a number of highly selective schools (Duke, UVA etc.)
I bring this up not as a flex in anyway -- pretty much everyone I've met at Annapolis and at West Point is wiser, smarter and far more talented than me. I bring it up only to reinforce what Navy Hoops is talking about -- that how/when and to whom LOA's are granted is by design, an opaque proess at best. Each school has their reasons and needs -- and most of us just won't ever know exactly what those are for any given year.
Anyway, during the entire nomination process up to and until receiving final appointments, I was absolutely freaking out about how to prioritize my SA preferences on congressional nomination applications and even more specifically, how to talk about and to the USMA LOA as well as my USNA preference during the interviews.
I too was super afraid that I was going to somehow "lose" or "screw up" the golden ticket my USMA LOA offered. You already know how this chapter of my story ended, but I'll share with you what I did in terms of nomination preferences at the end of this post.
But most importantly and much like NavyHoops says, my high level advice to you is to:
- Take the time and make the investment in continuing to do as much research as possible about the respective cultures, curriculums and perhaps most importantly, the respective service communities that each school ultimately feeds. It's not enough to see yourself happy (or unhappy) at either West Point or Annapolis, you need to at least try to be thinking about what you may want to be doing in the Army or Navy post graduation and factor that into your decision making. Lots of good information on this here in the forums.
- Allow yourself the grace and chance to be honest with yourself about how you genuinely feel; allow that gut to guide your actions. If you could be happy at both, then this is inherently less stressful than it may feel -- list both and be honest in your ranking.
- If you truly could only see yourself being happy and fulfilled at USNA and a career in the Navy -- that's more than ok too. If that's the case, just be honest in your SA ranking preferences in your nomination applications, listing Navy first and only.
- Final piece of advice: If you received an LOA from USMA -- CONGRATULATIONS!
You are likely a very well qualified candidate for not just West Point, but any Service Academy or College/University you may consider applying to.
I bring this up because hopefully recognizing this, takes the edge off of the inherent stress you are feeling.
I also bring this up because in the event USNA isn't in the cards for you -- i.e. you don't get an LOA, a nomination and/or ultimately an appointment to Annapolis -- guess what, you are going to be more than fine.
Remember, there are a ton of fantastic NROTC programs out there and even if that's not the path you go down, OCS is also a terrific ascension source.
Point here is that if your long-term goal is becoming an officer in the USN, don't be overly fixated on USNA as the "only" path available. Candidly, while I've met some truly spectacular USNA grads, I've also been blown away by a ton of Officers who took NROTC or OCS paths. And that doesn't even include the SEL's who I come into contact with every day here who are even more impressive.
I know how much pressure you are feeling and how it feels like you are walking a tightrope right now. I can't tell you how many times in my head I said to myself, what I wouldn't give to swap my USMA LOA for one from USNA. I felt guilty knowing that there were so many other kids who would have traded places with me in a second for the LOA to USMA. It's a high class problem for sure -- but that doesn't make it any less stressful -- in some ways, it actually makes it a little more stressful. I truly get how you are feeling.
Here's what I did -- and I'm not suggesting this as a good or even optimal path -- it's just how I ended up navigating my journey:
- With an LOA in-hand from USMA but nothing from USNA, I ranked Navy first on all of my congressional nomination applications.
I did share with all three nomination sources that I had the LOA from USMA. It actually came up in 2 of my 3 interviews and in those meetings, I was just honest -- sharing with my panel interviewers my process and thinking on how I came to the conclusion I did - that I had taken the time to do the research and why I felt the way I did, also acknowledging at the time that I was 17-years-old and didn't know what I didn't know
Ironically, for my congressional district interview -- my 3-person interview panel included 2 active duty Air Force members (both USAFA grads), and they ended up spending a good chunk of our interview time good naturedly and genuinely selling me on the Air Force Academy which I had never visited, considered or even ranked
Here's what happened:
- I received a nomination to USMA from one Senator; another nomination to USNA from the second
- I received nominations to both USMA and USNA from my Congressperson.
- I ended up receiving appointments to both -- but interestingly and ironically, despite not having an LOA, my appointment to Navy came months before my West Point appointment was processed and arrived.
Bluejayburrito, remember this: You are going to be GREAT -- no matter what. Stay focused and keep working hard, pushing youself to be better -- and helping others. in otherwords, keep doing all the stuff that likely earned you the LOA at West Point. My closest mentors and friends told me this while I was going through what you are going thru and while I appreciated it at the time, it was hard to fully embrace. Because it's just one of those things that comes with time and experience, the only thing I would tell you with confidence is that this is going to work out for you WELL -- no matter what happens from here on out. You got this.