I'm responding to the original poster. Also, I think if service academies were more well-known, we'd have a bigger candidate base. A lot of people have excellent personal traits, but for whatever reason don't do nearly as well as they could in high school, and regret that. Something like a potential service academy appointment is very good motivation to do well, but only if people know about them. I have several close friends who are military dependents of enlisted airmen who never knew about the academies until they joined JROTC.
While I sort of agree with you, I see it differently. I admit that there's a lot of kids who lose motivation in high school. Many because of a lack of involvement and encouragement by their parents. I was one of those. Had straight A's all the way up til 10th grade. I come from a working class family. "Family meaning parents, grand parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc..." Laborers, construction, plumbers, union workers, etc... College was never suggested. And half way through my 10th grade year, I was talking about college. All the "DREAMS" of the greatest colleges in the country. Well; my parents basically sat me down, and told me that I was totally on my own for college. That they couldn't afford to help me in any way at all. And because college was never important to them or anyone else in my extended family, none of them felt a need to look for OPTIONS. I can honestly say that I had absolutely no idea about the various academies. I knew about the military; just not the academies.
Long story short, I basically quit. I was a little Doogie Howser. I already had enough of all the mandatory as well as college prep classes to graduate. I spent my Junior and Senior year in high school taking classes like band, chorus, spanish, art, gym, etc... I got B's and A's, but didn't try for anything. Never had to study, etc... And honestly, I got really PISSED OFF at my parents. Unfortunately, I was also very young, because I got bumped up a grade, plus I started young. So, I chose to join the air force. I had to finish high school whether I liked it or not, because I was only 16. Of course, once I was in the air force, I learned all about options and opportunities. I now have 3 college degrees and am modestly successful. But I resented my parents for quite a few years.
I bring this up because the type of kids that are "Academy Material", are the same type of kids that are eligible for just about every college in the country. Including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford. Now many might not apply to those schools because their parents were also ignorant and made them believe that they couldn't afford to go to those schools. Either way, these are generally very motivated individuals. That's why they are in the top percentages of their class. They find options. They embrace options. Most of them know about the academies.
We don't need to advertise any more for the academies than we do. The navy has almost 17,000 applicants. Air Force has about 12,000 applicants. Knowing about a prestigious school like the academies is not going to motivate any student who isn't motivated now. It wouldn't have motivated me in high school. I needed my parents to be involved in my education. I needed them to push me. I was a 14-16 year old "KID". I wasn't an adult making rational choices. Like I said, college wasn't important to my family. My mom was a high school drop out when she was 15 and I was born. Graduate high school was a good accomplishment in our family. I'm not blaming my parents. I did then, but that's because I didn't understand their "Social Strata". My grandparents immigrated from Europe. Working class new jersey and new york city families. Anything above high school wasn't needed. That was for families with money, who didn't have to work. Not saying no one went to college; just that it wasn't part of the normal expectation of most of the people where I grew up.
So advertising the academies isn't going to motivate these kids. They need more parental involvement in their lives. More emphasis on education. Forget how it was when THEY were kids, and realize that there are more opportunities today. If the parents do their job right, their kids will discover what their possibilities are. They'll excel in school possibly and pursue some of these options. Including military academies. But it starts with the parents. It always starts with the parent. They are the ADULT; not their teenager. And you can't wait until the kid is 15-16 years old to decide: "Hey, what do you think of College?" Parents need to start when their kids start kindergarten. It's better late than NEVER, but they need to start letting their kids know at 5-6 years old that they CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING. Don't put this responsibility on the kids.
Anyway; that's why I don't think the academies really need to advertise more. We'll just wind up with a larger pool of unqualified or lower quality students in the pool. The 1100-1300 coming in each year, will still be those that started AP classed in the 9th grade. Those who enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The class officers; boy/girls state; volunteering much of their free time; etc... By the time a kid rationalizes that they have no future plans, and even considers the military and possibly the academies, it's too late. They are already a junior or senior. They can't get the academics they need to get into the academy. Only their parents can prepare them to do their best; attend a great college; and be successful. Once they have this parental motivation, they'll find the academies on their own. Just like they'll find other great educational opportunities.