Was an academy your first choice?

If your DD/DS had received a full tuition/room & board scholarship to a first rate college...

  • Would they have accepted it?

  • Would they have declined it and accept an academy appt?

  • My child(or yourself)did have a full ride offer and declined it to attend academy

  • My child (or yourself) is ROTC but would not be if offer full ride without it


Results are only viewable after voting.
Our DS was a little different than the other posters for many reasons.
1. He was an AF brat of an F15E WSO. His entire life revolved around moving and Dad being deployed at least 4 months every yr.
~ His Dad missed every Halloween from the time he was 4 until he was 12. Dad missed his 1st Communion. Attended 9 schools. Lived in 7 homes, plus at my Mom's 3x for 3-6 months by the time he was 16. We have 3 kids. Only 1 child attended only 1 HS, and that is because Bullet retired in Aug, before he started HS.
2. He only wanted USAFA
~ He had a total of 4 noms (3 MOCs + Pres), plus applied for the VP by Jan. 5th
3. Although mathematically and science gifted, 33 ACT best sitting, 1490 best sitting SAT, his academic love was history.
4. Received type 2 AFROTC scholarship early Dec.
5. Received admission to number 1 traditional school by Feb. 1st, with academic merit ---iows full ride
6. We were mean parents. Starting in Aug, we made him live a quasi SA life. He had to run before school (@6 a.m.). Bed made before school, if not I would flip the bed, including the sheets and blankets, etc. while he was at school. Had to recite the lunch menu for the next 3 days at school, and 3 current events at dinner. Could only drink milk with dinner and sat at attention. We also showed him what would be the mandated curriculum regardless of his major.

When his acceptance came in from his number 1 school in the scholars program, we took him to meet the CoC at the det. The CoC sat down with DS alone and also introduced him to several POCs that had a non-tech major and a pilot slot out of the det. They hung and played xbox for about an hr while discussing the program. The CoC promised him that if he decided to go to their school, but next fall decided it was a mistake he would support him for reapplying to USAFA in Sept.

DS left that meeting and met us at the Student Union about 90 mins. later. This allowed him to walk around the campus by himself like he would the following fall. He arrived at the Student Union and asked if we would go to the Bursar to place the deposit. We than peppered him with questions to make sure he was ready for this path.
~ Why did you want USAFA in the 1st place?
~~ Because it was a FREE education.
~ Our response was, so is this option.
~~ I get that now.
~ Why else?
~~ Because I thought it would guarantee me a pilot slot
~Laughing as his Dad reminded him that he flew the F15E and this was his alma mater (ROTC cadet)
~ ~ I get that now because the CoC also showed that 95% of the non-tech cadets with at least a 3.2 cgpa got pilot slots for the last 4 yrs. This det., also just won the best largest det. in AFROTC.
~ Is that it?
~ No
~~ Why else would make you want to go AFROTC over USAFA?
~ I have spent all of my life tied to the AF, and if I become a pilot I realized I would be 33 before I ever experienced the "real" world. Going AFROTC allows me to have somewhat a "real" world experience while still being connected to the AF. Chose an ACC school (UMDCP) which equated to that traditional big football and basketball games.
~ That it?
~ Nope. I really thought about the curriculum for each programs. The scholar program required him to intern on the Hill or the UN for at least 1 semester. He was going to be required to take a couple of semesters of math and science, but that was it, the rest of the time it would be dedicated to his major. Interning on the Hill was just to big of a carrot for him to ignore. (Until he was 17 he wanted to be an AF JAG officer with long term political goals)

In the end we did pay the deposit. It was a Friday. He came home and called his USAFA ALO and RD to tell them to remove his name. He felt that it was the right thing to do. Understand, this was a solid month before the files closed ---back in the days where there was none of this early notification, basically LOA or Mass Mailing March. He never looked back. CoC was good for his word and asked him in Sept. if he wanted to leave. His answer was No, Sir.

25 yrs to the exact date my DH swore in, DH swore in our DS from the same det. There he stood with a UPT slot and a degree he absolutely loved from a school he truly enjoyed. He is now a C130J pilot. Funny thing is fencers DS (USAFA) was in his UPT class and also got C130J.

Bullet and I truly believe had DS gone USAFA he would have hated it there because he was not going for the right reasons. Getting an appointment is 1 thing, making it through and commissioning is another. I compare this to kids that go STEM...well I am good at Math and Science. Well, that's great, but do you like those classes? If not, impo you are at risk for setting yourself up for failure.

Sorry for the novella, but I think it is important to understand that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Although SAs offer an amazing education and opportunities that ROTC may not offer, don't wrap yourself around that ring knocker. Nobody cares once you go AD where that commission comes from. They only care about how you do your job. I am not digging on the SAs. I believe in them. I am just saying be realistic about who you are from a WHOLE person aspect. These boards are littered with posters that looked at it as a sprint...got appointed = commissioning, only to find that their theory did not meet their reality.
~~ IE Hate the SA life, hate being far away from home, hate the mandatory curriculum.
~~ IE Accepted STEM ROTC scholarship to attend dream college they could not afford without it, only to realize STEM was not for them and cannot switch to non-STEm/non-tech without losing the scholarship, thus they either plow through a major they hate, or go in debt to stay at their dream school.
 
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As I posted elsewhere today, as a senior I was sure I wanted to attend USCGA. I thought I wanted to serve at sea or fly and, at the time, the USCG offered a LOT more sea-going opportunities for women than USNA. I had appointments to both.

A CVW changed my mind. At the time, there were only ~30 women in each USCGA class. In the 2 days I was there, I kept running into the same people -- and especially the same women. I attended a very small h.s. and realized I wanted a college experience with a larger class where I'd constantly meet new people. There were other reasons of course (i.e., broader selection of courses and majors; cutbacks at USCGA at that time) but, in the end, when I did the USNA CVW, USNA just felt more "right" to me.

Upon graduation, I would definitely have had more opportunities to serve at sea in the USCG doing some really neat things, and I often wonder how my life might have been different had I gone that route. Don't get me wrong -- my life turned out fine and I've never regretted my choice. But I also can't say I made the "right" decision.

My point is that deciding where to attend college is one of many forks in the road of life -- and often the first major one. You make a decision based on your situation at the time (i.e., desires, values, goals, finances, etc.). You'll never know if it was the "right" choice b/c you don't know how the other choice would have panned out. You can of course say that, if you end up happy/satisfied with your life, it was probably a good decision.
 
DS left that meeting and met us at the Student Union about 90 mins. later. This allowed him to walk around the campus by himself like he would the following fall. He arrived at the Student Union and asked if we would go to the Bursar to place the deposit. We than peppered him with questions to make sure he was ready for this path.

Great post.

For many their Plan B can become their Plan A.
 
My daughter was recruited for athletics to several D1 schools. She had already accepted 3 recruitment trips when the USAFA coach contacted her. She had never considered a career in the military (though she comes from an Army family). She was offered scholarships (partial) to UCLA, San Diego State, Tulane, Berkeley and Cal Poly. The minute she walked on to the USAFA campus and met the people there she knew she had found her home. It was never about the money for her, but the 'quality of people' she saw there, which helped her make her decision.
 
My DD saw something in Army JROTC during her 8th grade transition field trip to the high school and decided that it was for her. She has always been the one in the family who would just make a decision to try something and then give it her all. Cross Country/Track and Field, Academic Team, middle school band. We never knew what new thing she was going to get into next. We are not a military family and JROTC was a foreign concept to us. Suffice it to say that it was the biggest surprise of all. But, she loved it and has absolutely thrived in and is serving as her battalion commander this year (I now recommend the program to parents all the time). The first time she participated in Color Guard before a football game, I thought my heart would bust.

Sorry, back on topic. When she started to get serious about college in her sophomore year (I work in college access programs so encouraged her to visit a lot of them) I half jokingly said she should look at West Point and the other academies if she was serious about a military career. In my mind at the time it was like saying "Oh, you like to ride your bike? How about flying to the moon?" Not that it was impossible, but it was just outside of what any of us had in mind. The more we learned about them, the more we realized that she could compete for an appointment. We went to a "Service Academy Information Night" held by our congressional rep early in her junior year and she "REALLY" liked what they had to say. She played with the idea off and on and started to get serious about it in January of 2017 in time to apply to SLE at WP. She did not get in but her interest remained. When the 2022 application window opened, she started files for West Point, USAFA and USNA but decided pretty quickly that she had a desire to go Army and only completed the WP application. When she was invited to do an overnight visit at WP, that sealed the deal. She LOVED it!

Since then she has applied and been accepted to two schools in state and has a good scholarship to one of them. She is also working on the ROTC scholarship and applying for another scholarship with the 7th JROTC Brigade. She would drop those two schools in a heartbeat for WP. By far, it is her top choice.
 
DS top pick was CGA, but the fact that CG only offered 200 appt per year, scared him. He was wait listed in Dec so Plan #2 and #3, were done. Received 4 yrs AROTC, 2 academic scholarship, full ride to universities including room board and meal plan, was never offered before. He accepted the Citadel with academic scholarships and AROTC. Army was going to award him the big check at 12:45. At 11am, he called me, “Mom, CGA called me during my exam. I told my teacher, it’s the CGA, I had to pick it up. They offered me a full appointment. I accepted it already. Can you call and cancel the Army? They are coming to school after lunch”. Half way to 2020 graduation... loving more and more each year. He knows, he is living a dream come true, to God be the glory.
 
MJ2020. I love your post! Outstanding!
 
As I posted elsewhere today, as a senior I was sure I wanted to attend USCGA. I thought I wanted to serve at sea or fly and, at the time, the USCG offered a LOT more sea-going opportunities for women than USNA. I had appointments to both.

A CVW changed my mind. At the time, there were only ~30 women in each USCGA class. In the 2 days I was there, I kept running into the same people -- and especially the same women. I attended a very small h.s. and realized I wanted a college experience with a larger class where I'd constantly meet new people. There were other reasons of course (i.e., broader selection of courses and majors; cutbacks at USCGA at that time) but, in the end, when I did the USNA CVW, USNA just felt more "right" to me.

Upon graduation, I would definitely have had more opportunities to serve at sea in the USCG doing some really neat things, and I often wonder how my life might have been different had I gone that route. Don't get me wrong -- my life turned out fine and I've never regretted my choice. But I also can't say I made the "right" decision.

My point is that deciding where to attend college is one of many forks in the road of life -- and often the first major one. You make a decision based on your situation at the time (i.e., desires, values, goals, finances, etc.). You'll never know if it was the "right" choice b/c you don't know how the other choice would have panned out. You can of course say that, if you end up happy/satisfied with your life, it was probably a good decision.
“We may make a lot of plans but the Lord will do what He has decided”.
 
Back in the early 70's, I applied for NROTC and USNA. Got accepted to Penn State, Univ of MD and UVA for ROTC and then accepted for USNA. Wanted USNA and never looked back.
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Fast Forward many yrs, #1 son had no interest in the military and neither did daughter (youngest child). Middle Child (son) announced his intention to "fly fighters" when he was in 7th or 8th grade and that he wanted to go to USNA. He was much more academically and athletically talented than I was and ended up with a pile of college acceptances both NROTC and non military and we were in position to pay if he chose non-military. He also applied to USNA and once their offer was made, he too jumped at it. During his tenure at USNA, he switched from Aviation to Subs and is a submariner today.
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I will admit it was pretty special to have him end up on the same varsity team that I was on and to have some varsity teammates who were children of MY teammates.
 
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