I am a little mystified why a prep school seems to be a plan B for so many candidates. The Naval Academy says nothing, zip, zero, nada on a prep school before a second try for an appointment. They DO say to go to a 4 year school, take courses mimicking the Plebe year academics like Calculus, chem and English and do well.....think As and Bs. A second-try applicant that shows high grades in those classes make the Admission Board sit up and take notice as the candidate is now a proven quantity in college level academics. Lets face it, if a youngster is smart enough to apply in the first place, why are they not smart enough to go to a Civilian U and without the military pressure make good grades? Same applys to an NROTC scholarship. You don't have to be in NROTC to do well in Calculus or Chem. The Naval Academy does not require you to be in ROTC either. It is nice and looks good but it is not required......those grades are what are so overwhelming. The grades are what speaks for you. A good prep school will certainly bring a student up to speed on how to study, how to increase their scores on the ACT/SAT, and give them a basis on finally taking the college level Calculus and Chem but the main result is the candidate looks better for the second run. The prep school grades are now in the application but if they are not As and Bs, forget it. If the prep school courses are easier, then they still don't look as good as the Civilian U grades. If the prep school courses are equal to Civilian U, then what was the purpose? Now add in the fact that many prep schools courses do not give college credit. If the candidate does not get in again there is a lot of money that could have gone to Civilian U.
This is not advice.....I am honestly mystified why prep schools are so popular and we seem to have more parents than candidates on this forum so I am all ears as to the reasoning as I could learn something. (Remember now, I am talking about self-paid prep schools as a back up plan before a candidate even goes before an Academy admissions board.)