Hi everyone,

I'm fortunate enough to have a daughter who will be afforded many academic choices for college over the next year.  She's currently a Junior in the Detroit area with perfect grades and strong testing.  I'm not quite sure where she came from.  Anyway, she's interested in engineering and is looking closely at Michigan and Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, along with the usual east coast schools.

The reason for my post is she surprised my wife and me this past week by including the U.S. Air Force Academy on her short list of schools to visit.  Neither my wife or I are veterans, and this wasn't anywhere on our radar.  When I asked her what the AFA offered that a top Engineering school couldn't, she responded that she wants both an education and a challenge, along with the career path the AFA could uniquely give her once her active duty commitment (five years post AFA) was complete.

Blunt question.  In your opinion, is my daughter sacrificing a stronger academic experience somewhere else by committing to the AFA?  I, of course, will support her no matter what, but this has really thrown my wife and me for a loop given our assumption she'd end up in the Ivy League or the equivalent.

Thoughts?