What's the problem? That those young people at the prep schools don't pay? Is it an envy issue? They're not keeping YOU from a nom or an apptmt.
One could say that most of red-shirted athletes that come through Prep wind up being qualified for the SA and to become an officer. That's probably true.
The "problem" however some folks might have is that, statistically speaking, red-shirt prepsters graduate at a lower rate overall, account for more honors/conduct violations, and even when they make through the SAs they are less likely to go into Operational roles or stay beyond the minimum 5 year commitment. Certainly not true of every individual of course, but those overall statistics come from different government agency / commission studies.
In a time when thousands (literally) of other qualified candidates are turned away, some might question if this practice makes sense. Perhaps it does, but you have to admit that it's a fair question to ask.
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For the record... I am personally not one of those "best test score, period" folks. I am fully supportive of the SAs (and military's) ongoing attempts to create a rich and diverse officer corps. But when such a high percentage of SA candidates already have years and years of athletic competition at the club, HS, and regional level under their belt, do we still want to carve out specific space in the prep school system just to bolster our D1 athletic teams' win percentage? I am not convinced.
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