Grizzly,
It seems from your question you will be applying for the Class of 2014 or later. Its great to get some of your questions answered early in the process; however, I would urge you to take a couple of hours to search SFA for answers to many of your questions before asking even the most basic ones (such as is the CFA a pass/fail situation). I say this not to be rude, but to urge you to start figuring out stuff on your own, especially when the answers to most of your questions will be found on this site.
Am I qualified? Look at previous class statistics.
Do my EC's look good? Look at previous posts.
What sort of ACT/SAT should I shoot for? Look it up.
The SFA should become one of your greatest assets as you move forward in your quest of attending an academy.
I can assure you, when my son first informed us he wanted to attend an academy, we spent hours searching for answers, suggestions, and ideas within the SFA to learn what he needed to do. From that process, we were able to learn many of the critical aspects of the application process that ultimately concluded with his appointment to the USNA, USMA, receiving a LOA to attend the USMMA, and being awarded a 4 year Army ROTC scholarship.
DS is a great kid with good statistics; however, he would tell you that much of what he learned came from this web site and it was this knowledge that helped him receive the BFE's every candidate hopes to receive.
So read. Take the time to find the answers to as many of your questions that you can by simply researching this site.
Again, I'm not slamming you. Ask your questions, but before you do, I would urge you to see if you can find the answers before you ask. You'll end up learning much, much more about the process than the answer to whatever your original question might have been.
Good luck in your quest. Its quite a ride. For my son, this phase (reportedly the easy phase) will end on June 27th when he reports for Plebe Summer.
By the way, from my experience, any post by a user with the tag "BGO" or "Moderator" in it will be spot on. Read and understand what USNA1985 said in his reply to your post.