@Janus1:
yea. Ive heard from knowledgeable people (graduates of USMA) that I could have converted my AFA acceptance into a West Point acceptance rather easily, though Im not sure how. But it wouldnt have been possible anyway, because I hadnt opened an application with the Air Force academy (having 0 interest in going there) and i was notified of my appointment several days before the deadline. I couldnt have completed the application in that time, had i wanted to. But by that point, i had decided against a military academy. i wonder what would have happened if i had elected to pursue my appointment.
BNot to bust your bubble, just correcting terminology. You had a Nomination to USAFA, which means you had the listing from a politician. In order to get an appointment, you have to fill out the application, go through a lot of screening, especially medical. Then if you pass the screening AND if you get a nomination, you move on to final review for an appointment.
It is possible to get an appointment without a Nomination, but it is very rare. And to get an appointment after being nominated but without going through the Pre-Candidate and Candidate screening process is impossible. You can get to USAFA prep-school that way And then get direct admission the following year) but without the med screenings, no way to get an actual appointment (though in your case, having pursued West Point, you may have been able to get in based on that physical, etc.).
Each politician (Congressman and Senator) has 5 “slots” for each Academy. Each year, for each available “slot” they have, they can submit up to 10 Nominations. The politician can set up one of these as a “primary” which means that if the primary nomination is qualified, he MUST be accepted and get an appointment, or it can be an open list and the Academy can take any of the 10. In my case, Congressman Shuster had nominated the son of a campaign contributor as his primary, but the kid did not meet standards for admission, so I was selected by USAFA as Shuster’s Nominee from the remaining 9 names.
Just trying to correct the various terms :-)