Spot on there IORRA, I can think of many bigger risks that someone could take.
It really is suprising to see the number of applicants falling - if you look at it purely from the 'gambling' point of view...
Say the cost of doing the cadetship is up to double what you would normally expect to pay for a similar course. History has shown that having completed the course the vast majority of poeple end up with a job with the airline at some stage. Now if you think about how many people there are out there that have done some sort of CPL course with the hope of making a living in the industry, and have then been forced to stop flying because they can't, I think the odds stack up in favour of the cadetship!
After all, it's only an application we are talking about here - you are not committing yourself to anything by applying. At least if someone gives this a go and gets through the application process they give themselves a choice as to which direction they want to take.