Unfortunately, there is no Black and White checklist that you can look at and say: "Complete the following Blocks and you receive an appointment". It doesn't work that way. And for what it's worth, I've seen an individual with a 35 ACT. (3 of the 4 tests they had a 36, the 4th test a 35). And they DID NOT receive an appointment. This was a couple years ago. The problem was, academics and the standardized test was all this individual had. A 4.0gpa unweighted and a near perfect ACT.
I mention this, because you can't blindly say that a valedictorian with a 2400 SAT with 1 foreign language course would win over a 1900 SAT and 4 years of foreign language. There is so much more to the process. How about the athletics they were involved in? What about the clubs they were part of? What about any leadership roles they had? How about their volunteer hours? What about the mandatory online letters of recommendations by their teachers? What about their school profile? Did they have the IB program and/or many AP classes to choose from? Did they TAKE those classes or were in the IB program? If their school was small and didn't have all those great classes, did the individual do the best with what was offered? (That's why class RANK is so important). Did the individual try to make up for a lack of available classes by taking community college courses or online classes?
What about adversity? Did the individual have to overcome some horrid experiences in their life? Were they raised by a single parent? Were they in foster homes or an orphanage? Did they have to work every day after school to help support their younger brothers and sisters? Did they grow up on a ranch/farm where they had to work the land because their parents couldn't afford to hire farm hands; and therefor they couldn't participate in sports or many after school activities? Did they have social issues to deal with? Were they they only member of their family who spoke English as a pseudo native language and they spent most of their time helping their parents with their business assimilate into the culture. (I met a kid who's parents immigrated here from Morocco and didn't speak english - this kid didn't apply to the academy, but what if he had?) You have no idea of all the variables that goes into selecting a qualified candidate. There are plenty of things I am not thrilled about with the academy or the process. But all in all, it's a pretty good system.
MOST OF ALL........ What about their COMPETITION??? I, and others, have seen SO MANY applicants with kick A$$ academics, who don't receive appointments. Many don't even get a nomination from their representative or senator. And no matter HOW GREAT you are, without a nomination you can't receive an appointment. (Yes, there are plenty of other ways to get a nomination). It is not uncommon for the 1900 SAT student you exampled to receive an appointment from one district/state, but if s/he was in a different area, they wouldn't have received an appointment. This is why the AVERAGE high school GPA every year of appointees going into the academy, is around 3.86. There will be some of the 4.0's and there will be some of the 3.4's. There will be 34-36 ACT's, and there will be 26-28 ACT's. There will be super-jocks who played 3 high schools sports and captained and played varsity for 3 years. And there will be some that only had the opportunity to play city league soccer in the spring.
I'm simply saying, that you can't say that a particular candidate, with an ABC academics and schedule, WILL or WON'T receive an appointment over someone else who you believe has an XYZ level of academics. It is so much more. And as I said, as will Steve (Flieger) and any other ALO or individual who's been directly involved with the Academies, there have been PLENTY of 4.0 unweighted gpa's and 35/36 ACT 2300/2400 SAT who DIDN'T receive appointments. Of course, some times you find an individual who is in the "NO BRAINER CLUB". They have that 31+ACT/2200+SAT, 4.0GPA unweighted, IB Program or took every AP class there was, Class Rank #1, Class Officer, Played 3 Varsity Sports, captain of 2 of them, belonged to other clubs and activities and was a leader in them, had 200-300 hours of volunteer time, was selected and did boy/girl's state, kicked the crap of the CFA, bla bla bla. Easily passed their medical and ALO interviews with flying colors. Basically, the best applicant possible. This is about the top 1% of all applicants. They will make it into any of the academies. Hell, they'll make it into ANY university that they apply for. But with this 1% aside, the academy is full of cadets who use to be the big fish in a little pond. But the academy has also rejected a lot of applicants who many thought were shoe in's. Usually because their academics were so high. The only reason that academics makes up 60% of the application's score, is BECAUSE IT CAN. Out of the 12,000 applicants who start the process to apply, about half of those would have no problem with the academics at the academy. The academy knows that finding kids who can handle the academic work load is NOT going to be a problem. But the academy isn't in the business of graduating a bunch of future professors, stock brokers, lawyers, etc. They are in the business of graduating LEADERS! Individuals who have a well rounded education; has been involved with the "TEAM CONCEPT" and understands how to be part of a team. (One reason sports is so important). An officer that can lead individuals with earned respect. An officer that can ensure the objectives are achieved, while hopefully keeping their team alive.
Basically, when comparing any 2 applicants; or comparing how "COMPETITIVE" you think your school is; or how good your chances are, etc. Most of the time these questions are moot. Unless you truly know the applicant's ENTIRE APPLICATION, and unless you know the applications of all their competition both at district/state level and NATIONALLY; there is absolutely no way to say if the academy would take the 2400 SAT with little/no language over the 1900 SAT with 4 years of language. You're trying to create an IMPOSSIBLE theoretical. You can't say: "All other things being equal". I can tell you right now, there are NO 2 applicants in the entire process, who's applications are "EQUAL". That's why ALO's interviews are SO IMPORTANT. An ALO can not GET you an appointment. But I can guarantee you that an ALO can STOP you from ever receiving an appointment. This is the variable that you can talk about "All other things being equal". Simply doesn't work that way.
Sorry for the diatribe. Nothing I was saying here is to be taken personal by anyone reading this. I may have used some examples that were in some of the previous posts, but I'm simply making a point about the process. About how complicated it is. Not trying to argue anyone's position.