jotis0226
Jonathan,
Thank you for your brothers service, he gave the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
You will find a lot of help on this forum regarding your goals. Forget the spelling every person that has written something has done the same thing. The one piece of advise I will give is make sure your grammar and spelling are perfect on your applications, I'm certain you would do this anyway.
Lets get to what is really important and that is your goal. There are a few options to becoming an officer the Academy is one way. Please take the time to look at the NROTC scholarship application it is another road to consider. Applying for both is highly rec. The third option is OCS, go to college get your degree and apply for officer candidate school. Start your research.
For now keep digging on the forum, look for responses from moderators and senior posters that can give you some clear direction. Get some reading material. My son purchased "The Naval Academy Candidate Book." It is a great read for both you and your parents.
You will find that sports, leadership, grades, class rank, GPA (more class rank than GPA) and community & school involvement play a very big roll on the application and decision process.
SAT & ACT scores are also very important, take a look at what the expectations are and start preping for the test. I can tell you that a 700+ or 30+ in each area should be your goal.
During your Jr. year you will have the opportunity to apply for the Naval Academy Summer Seminar. Apply, apply, apply... I can tell you first hand that my son just simply loved everything about it. Look up NASS and get the details.
Please take my advise as a foundation of direction, personal thought, and not what you should be doing. There may be a few that disagree or have better advise, use all the advise to your advantage for what works best for you. The main idea is to try and just give you a little direction. I cant say it enough look for the moderator responses. There will also be some experienced responses from others. They will not tell you what to do but they will give excellent guidance, insight and feedback on direction.
The application process is a lot of work there is no waiting. My son is at it every day. He makes lists of what needs to be done or what he has to follow-up on.
Start your research, I hope this helps...