Questions concerning Military-prep school and late enrollment

[sentioholic]

Hello Service Academy gurus!

I'm a 18 year old high school graduate looking to enroll in a military prep school.

I couldn't get my citizenship in time to apply in my senior year, but since now I'm a fully naturalized American citizen, I was hoping to go in to a military prep school, and work my way up to an academy.

In my high school, I graduated with a 3.6, 1800 SAT, 4 years of JROTC, and I've done tons of extracurricular activities.

So, can anyone help me find where to start?

Thanks!

 

[usna1985]

A military prep school is not necessarily better than any other prep school or civilian college in preparing for a SA. The question you should ask is whether you need additional academic preparation to succeed at a SA. If you struggled with or didn't take calc, chem, English, and/or physics in h.s., and/or you had low SATs/ACTs in math/verbal, you may well be helped by the additional academic prep that a prep school offers. If you also want to "test out" a military environment, a military prep school may be perfect. However, USNA at least doesn't give you extra benefits in terms of admissions for a military prep school over any other type.

USNA has a "Foundation" program that sends qualified applicants to prep schools for a year. It is part of the admissions process and not an option for you this year. However, the Foundation schools themselves (some military and some not) would be a good place to start as USNA obviously thinks highly of their programs. I would assume the other SAs have a similar program the may involve many of the same schools.

If you don't need additional academic prep -- because you got mostly As in the courses I mentioned above AND have high SATs/ACTs, you're better off spending a year at college, and a 4-yr college if you can financially afford it. Take calc, chem, English, and history and get As or maybe Bs. That will be looked on equally favorably.