<p>Just read an interesting AP article on Military.com. It stated that, as of October 21, 2004. applications were down 11% at USMA, 20% at USNA and 9% at USAF. Didn't give much explanation other than saying some of the post 9/11 enthusiasm that pushed up applications in the past two years has waned.</p>
<p>It pointed out the WP class of 2006 has had a 25% dropout rate. 904 of the original 1197 remain. This dropout rate compares to an average of about 20% for the previous 5 classes.</p>
<p>At Plebe parent weekend we heard it was the end of the 9/11 bounce. Still, they have about 11,000 applications for 1200 or so slots. My son's class was the first class since WWII to have apppointees come in a week after Plebe summer started. 9 candidates were offered admission. I don't know if this will happen again, but it was great for those 9 kids. Here's a good example of preseverance paying off. A candidate from Wisconson who had been put on the waiting list traveled to Annapolis for I Day and let it be known that if anyone didn't show up, he was ready to go. He stuck around all day and then he and his family drove home. I hear that he was the first person to be offered late entry to Plebe summer.</p>
<p>For the class of 2008 there were 14,425 applicants for the 1227 slots they filled. There were 4599 applicants with a nomination. Information is from the official USNA site under class of 2008 profile.</p>
<p>We were told at a USNA parents meeting that the late appointments were due to appointees who medically DQed at the last minute, got cold feet, or just didn't show up. The available slots were filled with the next available candidate from the wait list.
CM</p>