kevinsmom

I posted a few days ago that the wait-list has worked out for my son! Can't believe it! Letter is supposed to go out today and DODMERB status changed yesterday.

Ok moms, I'm thinking worst case scenario. Because that is my job to worry.

What if his health status changes? I know 'bubble wrap' is now required, but what if we don't realize, for example, if his vision has changed, his wisdom teeth should have been taken out or anything became a problem that we don't really know about since he became medically qualified in August 07?
How many plebes really get DQ'd on I day? How strict are they during this physical? I think I am obsessing too much over this, but I am scared. We are keeping our deposit with second choice school. I spoke to them and they say they fully understand, we will lose a small deposit and we should call them on July 3rd to tell them he made it into Plebe summer officially.
Any advice? Thank you. The parents in this forum have been great to me since I started asking questions last year.

mom3boys

I have really struggled with this....DS school for backup requires a $200 committment deposit. However, he must attend freshman orientation in order to be allowed in case he's turned back at R day. This is another $100...then there's the room deposit. Honestly, it's $$ flushed away. I told him if something happens, it's the junior college down the road for the first year, then he could transfer into his other school. His school will not hold a place "just in case" unless $$ changes hands. I'd rather spend the money going up for A day and flying him home at C'mas. That's just how we chose to deal w/ it...

kevinsmom

I don't care at all about the money, I'm just feeling a bit bad about holding a spot that someone else wanted. But July 2 might be early enough for someone else to fill the slot. But I am totally concerned and feel anxiety over DQ on I day. My son is in the best of health and fitness level, but I'm so worried over the chance of a fluke DQ. A few posts I've searched mentioned stuff about color blindness, or sprained ankles causing DQ's on I day. I know why they say "bubble wrap", but anything can happen. I believe too much in Murphy's law, I hope I just need to chill.

USMA08Mom

Kevinsmom-- You're right -- just chill (easily said, I know). The people I know of who have been DQed on R-Day the last four years all knew going that day that there was a problem (serious injury in the spring they didn't report, "fudged" on their exam somehow). You can make yourself crazy worrying... It really doesn't happen that often.

kevinsmom

Thanks for the advice usma08mom, I really appreciate it. I'll try and calm down!

Kathie

my son reported to i-day last year with a healing break in a foot bone (5th metatarsal). he broke it on graduation night at the senior celebration only 5 weeks prior to i-day. we kept in touch with the Academy, being up front with the injury and progress. they allowed him to report. all the while, from the time of the break until the 6:00 pm oath of office, we were unsure if they would let him report or even stay or would they dq him. we were literally sick with nerves because he didn't have a plan B. what would he do for a year? he hadn't even applied to any other schools. this was his dream, it's what he was designed to do.
our story has a happy ending. they let him stay. since it takes 7-8 weeks for this bone to heal, he was put on pool PT for the first 2 weeks (no running, but it's still grueling). he finished plebe summer and now has almost finished plebe year.
my take on the matter? plan B is a good idea. we would only have been half as sick with worry had there been a plan B.

kevinsmom

Kathie, your story is exactly what I'm worried about! My son has never injured anything, but it is so fully conceivable that some fluke thing could happen, we have to be prepared. Of course, if he does have a problem and has to go to plan B we'd all need therapy and counseling to get through such a roller coaster ride of emotion. So, I guess your story is a good lesson to be up front with USNA if anything happens. Who did you contact when it happened?

navy2010

congrats kevinsmom!

Bubble wrap- good luck! I tried, but no way my MId would have anything to do with it!

The reality is that very, very few kids are turned away on I-Day.... there have been cases where kids fail the color blind test and are sent home, however there have been exceptions to this as well.

What needs to happen is that your soon-to-be-minted-plebe will have to report in good physical condition to participate in plebe summer.... an injury that prevents that from happening can turn him around at the door. While there may be exceptions to this as well, I wouldn't bank on it.

As for keeping a "plan B" in place.... both pros and cons.
Pro: if your plebe decides over plebe summer that this is "not for him," then he has a plan to fall back on.
Con: knowing he has a plan to fall back on can detract from the effort necessary to making it through plebe summer.

I can only speak to class of 2010, who lost 23 kids over plebe summer.... a relatively "low" number from previous years, but still 23 kids who had to find something else to do. I do not have figures as to how many of the 23 decided the USNA was "not for them," or if it was the USNA that decided they were "not for us." Nevertheless, 23 kids had to find something else to do come September.

Not sure there is one right answer to this. We did not take out this "insurance"....frankly, it never occured to us. However, there were plenty of families that did.... most did not have to cash in, but for some it would seem to be $$ well spent.

I remember getting a call on day 3: "mom, would you be terribly dissapointed if I came home?" After a brief conversation, he agreed to stick it out for at least a week. It is now the end of youngster year, and the next big decision point will be signing his 2 for 7 papers; I trust he will. But who's to say where he would be had is decision on Day 3 been different.....

Best of luck! And congrats again! Bubble wrap is a good thing if you can get them to stand still long enough to wind it around them!!!

Kathie

kevinsmom - we first called our BGO. he told us everything we needed to know. he gave us the names and numbers of the medical people at USNA and DoDMERB. i don't think i could dig those numbers up at this point, but your BGO should be able to help. if he/she is unable or unavailable, you can always call admissions and they can direct you.

my son also had never been injured or had a medical history of any kind prior to the night of graduation.

regarding the plan B, i would only recommend holding it through i-day. i lean toward the "con" aspect of holding the plan through the summer. i think that a waivering plebe who is under stress would have more difficulty sticking it out for the whole summer knowing that there is a fall back.

fencersmother

I have forbidden my kids to play tackle football this spring and they are pretty mad about it. Too bad. They have broken fingers, gotten stitches, really chewed up their skin - all for a couple games of spring tackle. Uh, no. They can do most other things which occur to them - no tackle. I'd even go for flag football, provided they were not playing it in the street.

Anonagron

I can totally relate to this discussion! S had to turn down ROTC scholarships to the 4 schools he had offers from and must officially withdraw the application from two other "back-ups" today. My dh said we were not going to make a deposit to another school just in case - we delayed replying this long just as a safety net, but in this family no one but mom is interested in sending the extra money to hold a spot.

So, I will also learn to fly on faith, and if for some unknown reason something happens... well, we will deal with it then, I guess. DH's thoughts were that if an injury occurred with a student the caliber of being admitted to WP that another school would make room for that student in the fall. At least I can take comfort in knowing my alma mater will take applications up to a month prior to classes starting the end of August, even though son insists he would never go there - it is a solid state school with great reputation and great ROTC programs.

BTW, s twisted his ankle running up some steps in the school a week ago and began to understand the whole bubblewrap concept. A quick after-school doctor visit with x-rays just to be on the safe side, but he is fine now, nothing broken, no hairline fractures. It did give him enough of a scare to curtail any risky behaviors, so at least I don't have quite as much insisting to do as fencersmother... and he developed a sense of humor about it - while I was doing laundry the other day, he brought a piece of bubblewrap from the basement and asked me to wrap him up!

mom3boys

Our state school is very hard to get into, due to the HOPE scholarship (GA students get tuition if they graduate w/ a B average). Today is the day we must commit or give up the spot...we are giving it up....hopefully someone on the waiting list will get some good news soon! If something happens to DS, he will have to enroll in the junior college down the street for a year...he's ok w/ that and hopes/prays/trusts all goes well on R-day and beyond.

kevinsmom

Hoping and trusting right along with you, mom3boys!

momofhopeful

What if a child is turned back at I day or during BCT? How does that work? Do they get to "automatically" return with the next class as long as they are medically qualified or do you have to go through the whole process again? What types of things do they do at the I day physical? My son is showing some signs of a sore knee from all of the working out. Could this be a reason to turn him back at I day or during BCT? This is making me really nervous now as he doesn't have any back up plan either. He didn't apply anywhere else other than the AFA. Help!

navy2010

To quantify: I can only speak to USNA, and only to the degree to which I am "aware" (which may, or may not be a complete list... )

I have heard of several occassions at USNA where appointees reporting in for I-Day have been sent home- it happens, not often fortunately, but it does happen.

Reasons: from the ones I have heard:
-one sent home for color blindness (but I also know of one who was tested on I-day, failed the color blind test, but stayed- he was a recruited athlete)
-injury preventing participation in plebe summer (the Mid I am thinking of fractured his leg and had an external fixation device on)- he had to reapply for the following class (I do not know of his status after that)
-one appointee sent home for a disqualifying condition not reported to DoDMERB but picked up on I-Day physical (followed up by Medical if I recall correctly)- I know of another similiar case at USMA with a similiar circumstance, and a similiar result.

I do not know the procedure or policy for USAFA-

what you might want to consider is having your son roll back the conditioning for a few days and keep his knee elevated and iced for a day- see if decreasing activity eases things up a bit. If no improvement, get him checked out by a good ortho MD just to make sure there is not something more serious going on. Chances are it is more a matter of "pushing too hard" without adequate recovery time.


Best of luck!