<p>That was the situation in which my son found himself. Sitting on offers of admission to West Point Prep and AFA Prep while waiting for word from CGA. Nothing yet from CGA so he accepted the MAPS offer despite the fact that CGA was first choice. He didn't want to end up in a civilian school next year. Even a rejection is better than nothing.</p>
<p>Not sure how the alternate pool could still be being reviewed. The appoints given out already must be accepted by May 1th As time goes on I understand this process less and less. My son now wish he applied to another academy or at least ROTC.</p>
<p>As much as I hate to say it the timing actually makes sense from the standpoint of filling out the ranks of the incoming class and using the alternate pool for what they intended....once most all the first round applicants make up their mind, and some may wait until this last week to do so, then they will reach back into the alternate pool to close the gap between what that want in terms of numbers of incoming cadets vs. what they have after tallying up the ones that declined... having said that, could they have done a better job communicating with alternates about the process and their chances; absolutely</p>
<p>I think all the alternates know that those who have been offered appointments have until May 1st to say yes or no. It is unfortunate that some people will not even send in the "no" or let the academy know at all, which is very sad because of all the alternates waiting for an appointment. The academy has no choice but to just wait until their time is up as far as replying. </p>
<p>This time of year is really hard on seniors, especially because now that so many of their friends know where they are going to school. In the grand scheme of things and considering that it can change the course of your life, does a week or two weeks of waiting at this point really make that much difference? I found that we as parents were more concerned with making our son make a firm decision by mid April or May 1st, and fortunately because he knew where he wanted to be, he said it wouldn't do him any harm to wait until May because he knew he wanted the CGA. It was his life and his decision and fortunately we stepped aside and let him make his own decision. I feel like the kids have enough pressure on them without having their parents pressure them to make a decision when in reality they have some time until all the offers come in. </p>
<p>I'm so glad our son made us back off. In the end it worked out the way he knew it would. I know that doesn't always happen and won't happen for everyone this year, but for those who are holding onto other appointments or wondering whether to send in a deposit somewhere, are you really up against that deadline right now, today, or are you really just so tired of waiting that you just want a decision to be made? It may seem that the academy doesn't care or that they are not working hard enough to get the appointments out right now, but they really can't give out some of the appointments until they know how many spots they have open. They also don't make hasty decisions about appointments because they want every kid who they offer an appointment to to be successful. They take it really seriously. Anyway, I don't know if that has helped anyone, but I remember the feelings I had this time last year and it is REALLY a hard time, and I can appreciate the frustration.</p>
<p>Below was a post from last week on the Air Force Academy Thread, so if you think you are alone, think again:</p>
<p>Wait Listers unite!! </p>
<hr>
<p>The wait is killing me... and others who are on the list.</p>
<p>So please please please to those of you who already have appointments, go to the Academy for yourself, don't go because your parents want you, or because it's free college.... because I'd hate for us wait listers to never make it, and then someone who really didn't want to go drop out later in the year.</p>
<p>thanks!!!</p>
<p>I did want to say that if an applicant wasn't being seriously considered, he/she would not have been offered the alternate slot in the first place.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the postings. It is great to share information. My point with not understanding the process is that at this point the Alternated pool must be ranked. They know that they will only need a certain % of this pool as time goes on this number decreases. If they could share the ranking with the candidate it would help.</p>
<p>The applying to the Coast Guard Academy was my S idea. If he get an appointment I intend to give him the " do it for the right reason speech"</p>
<p>As I fished with him this weekend it occur to me that where ever he goes I will miss him!</p>
<p>As many of you know I'm in the same situation with my dd who is waiting to hear from CGA. She has been accepted at some other colleges too but has been holding off on sending in the deposit. She will have to in a couple days if nothing develops. But I agree that the Academy is waiting to hear from kids before making appointments from the alternates list. I have heard of kids getting appointments as late as two weeks before R-Day! I am sure they have rankings of the alternates but I don't think they'd ever release that. Let's all just take a deep breath and hope for the best!</p>
<p>I heard of a few kids last year who sent in deposits to schools before they got their appointments. I know at least two who received their deposits back minus a 25 or 50 dollar service fee because they told the school before June 1 or some date like that. Some schools require a deposit by say May 1, but as long as you withdraw from the school before another date in the early summer, they will give you some/most of your deposit back. There are so many colleges and universities and they all have different rules. It is tough because you had the $3000.00 you have to give the academy as a deposit. We were concerned about it because we were afraid if we didn't send in the housing deposit, he wouldn't have a dorm room the next year. Once I talked to the housing department (very popular univ), they said that they would work with us because they considered a service academy differently than a regular university. I guess they were more patriot than most. I never sent in any of the deposits but I felt like over the long run, if I lost out on a few hundred dollars in the end, how would that affect things financially over the next four years and beyond. It seemed a small price to pay. As far as the June appointments, I know you hear on this board and in fact from the academy that some appointments don't go out until then, I feel that those are few and far between and many times it is because the person has had some medical issues that they still haven't totally gotten clearance for until that late date.</p>
<p>Ooops, meant "more patriotic than most."</p>
<p>Yes, but the problem is that some of the "alternates" received appointments to other Federal Academies, so they don't have the luxury of waiting for the CGA to notify them ater the May 1 deadline or they will lose their appointments to the other schools. Also, the thought came to me that some of the kids with appts to CGA are waiting to hear from other acadmies too so they are holding off accepting CGA for that. UGH it is a terrible cycle and a bit of a Catch 22</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Or admit to. ;)</p>
<p>I asked that direct question to an offical Coast Guard Admissions Officer ("Do you rank the alternates?") and was given an emphatic "No, we do not rank the alternates!" answer.</p>
<p>Then how the heck do they pick em? :D</p>
<p>Maybe there like a big hat with 200 names in it.</p>
<p>I can see where if you have a deadline with another service academy, you could be in a really tight spot. I was just talking about other colleges/universities. </p>
<p>I have to say that what was more sad than having people who had no intention of accepting an offered appointment hold out until the last minute or not let the academy know by May 1 that they were not accepting, is that there may be someone who accepts an appointment and then does not show up for R-Day...unreal...to think that there was someone who would have loved to have had that opportunity, and yet it was taken away by a loser like that.</p>
<p>I would think that they are not ranked in order by a number but I'm sure there are "piles" of the most desirable and then the pile of "next most desirable." If they ranked by number and let people know where they were, that might even make the situation worse.</p>
<p>Bottom line is it is really stressful. I think if my s/d had an appointment at another service academy and had to answer by May 1, I would probably let admissions at CGA know that with an email or call. It might not make any difference, but then again, could it hurt?</p>
<p>Hp first of all welcome to these boards...takes a little heat off me..ha ha :D</p>
<p>I agree with most of what you are saying...every year kids come to the CGA(and other academies) who don't really want to be there...most are gone by the end of the year if not swab summer. I remember when my son went to R-day in 2005. Some young lady showed up in heels and by the end of the day she was crying for her mom and went home. Kids have to come because they want to, not because the parents do, it's "free," it's "cool" or similar reasons. There are a bunch of kids who would love to come but can't because somebody who doesn't really want to come is taking a spot.</p>
<p>Bossf51, yes I have seen your name for a few years and appreciated your insight and knowledge. </p>
<p>I too have seen first-hand the R-Dayers who don't make it through the day. I think the one young woman who had to spend the first half-hour in heels before heading to Chase Hall has gotten a lot of press. Of course you and I both know that once they leave that deck after check in they go directly to change into shorts, tee-shirts and tennis shoes and that both men and women arrived to Leamy in outfits I would not have considered the "right" thing to wear. I also saw a fair share of tears being shed by both sexes. As a matter of fact, I have felt sorry for the young man who is in the admissions DVD who is balling on the parade ground when it is time to line up with his company. The young man in front of my son at R-Day check in was actually in a suit jacket. His mom said she was told the only set of non-military clothes he could have was the ones he check in in so he thought he wanted to have a nicer set than shorts and a tee shirt. Obviously there must not be enough information given to the incoming swabs as to what is the appropriate attire for R-Day check-in.</p>
<p>As far as the kids who don't stay, I'm sure some of it has to do with the fact that a lot of kids are so used to quitting things they start, that they may look at their decision to attend a service academy as, "well, if I don't like it, I will just quit." Too bad there isn't some way to weed those folks out earlier.</p>
<p>"I asked that direct question to an official Coast Guard Admissions Officer ("Do you rank the alternates?") and was given an emphatic "No, we do not rank the alternates!" answer."</p>
<p>That's nonsense, saying that you do not rank candidates and then applying a scoring system that provides a ranking by definition is exactly the same thing. To get a direct or first round appointment this year required a candidate score of ~3800-3900, if I am remembering the numbers correctly, if you had a score below that range but above a 3400 you were placed in the alternate pool. Granted I’m sure there were exceptions for recruited varsity athletes and candidates identified as desirable to meet gender quotas etc.
Do they rank candidate starting with the number 1 and work down? Perhaps not, and there may very well be some grey area and room for discussion during candidate reviews, having said that if your score is 3850 and that score represents the top of the alternate pool and I have a 3410 and am at the bottom, are we supposed to think our chances are the same? I doubt it. I can see keeping candidates in the upper part of the pool until the very end to fill in slots from people that will decline at the last minute, but given that there are about 200 candidates in the alternate pool I think they could give the candidates some idea of where they stand and whether it’s at all realistic to sit and wait.</p>