Appointment to Prep School

KL218

10-Year Member
5-Year Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2007
Messages
12
I was wondering what would get you an appointment to a prep school, such as NMMI, as an alternate to an academy.
 
SNA states that there are six reasons to send a candidate to NAPS. The other academies are basically the same. And the private prep schools have basically the same criteria:

Average Grades/Good Leadership Potential
Low Grades/High SATs
High Grades/Low SATs
Away from Academics for a Year or More
No Chemistry or Physics
High Grades/Weak Leadership Experience

The first reason is by far the most common and the last listed one is extremely rare. Five of the six reasons are an academic deficiency of some type. Additionally, the candidate will have gone before the Admissions Board and found to be Scholastically Unqualified. It will be the Board itself which will recommend prep school. The candidate has no choice in the matter other than to accept or decline. For the private prep schools, they may be given a choice as to which they wish to attend.

NCAA compliance limits the number of recruited athletes to the same percentage as intercollegiate athletics in the USNA student body which is around 17% if memory serves me correct.

My experience has been that by far the most common typical candidate has an EC package that most would kill for. Very, very active. NJROTC AND athletics. Student government. Eagle Scouts. Involved in church and community. The type where one asks, "Where did they find the time?" Well, in their case it is usually weak academics, either lower grades than the typical candidate or a not-as-strenuous course load. The ability to spend long hours and focus is there but the guarantee that they can survive the academics at USNA is not.

Some people see NAPs and the other prep schools as a stigma. They are not. It is usually the high school kid who tried to do it all and took a ligher course load in order to fit it all in. Their USNA graduation rate continues to be higher than the brigade at large
 
I was wondering what would get you an appointment to a prep school, such as NMMI, as an alternate to an academy.

Are you talking about the "Civil Prep" or foundation scholarship program?

The Alumni Assn at USNA and USAFA and the Assn of Gradutate at USMA sponsor a program and award scholarhip dollars to candidates recommended by the Admissions office.

These are candidates "who missed the cut", usually for an academic reason, who have excellent athletic and leadership portions of their packet. If they "missed the cut" it may be because they come from a highly competitive district, or a little bit weak in English or Math. Most kids who attend give up excellent admissons offers at other civilian colleges and universities. Attending a SA is by far the first choice for these kids and they will spend an extra year in school if that is what it takes.

The academies are willing to take a chance on these candidates because they are excellent candidates. You are given a choice of different "prep" schools - dependent upon the academy.
West Point requires it's AOG scholars to attend a Military Junior College (except in some recruited athlete situations) and MMI and NMMI are the most popular.
Both NMMI and MMI offer a Service Academy Preparation program for students applying to all Service Academies. Most of the kids in the programs are Sponsored cadets but a few are there on their own.

The benefit of being sponsored is that Admissions is basically holding a seat for you if you satisfactorily complete the program. Other candidates compete against the rest of the applicant pool.

If you are applying to an Academy - and you have already decided to reapply if you don't make it the first go-round then let admissions know you are willing to consider a prep program.
 
If you were not academically, DQed.. or (medically, physically, leadership etc.) DQed, what would happen then? Is prep school still possible, IF you didn't get an appointment (lets say perhaps someone had a slightly stronger portfolio.
 
Is prep school still possible, IF you didn't get an appointment (lets say perhaps someone had a slightly stronger portfolio.

If you don't medically qualify with DoDMERB or get a waiver, you are also ineligible for any of the prep programs.

Warning!!!! The following response is USNA specific. Warning!!!!

EG,

I don't quite follow your question but here is what happens at USNA. Each year, approximately 2000 candidates triple qualify. Of these 2000, approximately 1500 are offered appointments. 300 or so will turn down the appointment. The remaining 500 will go home totally empty handed with nothing. Below this 2000 cutoff, there will be certain candidates who are both medically and physically qualified, but, for one reason or another, will be found scholastically disqualified. Some of these will have things in their packages that impress the Academic Board. These, the board will recommend one of the prep programs. Not quite fair to the 500 who are 3Qed and unchosen perhaps, but that is the way it works.

Sorry, I don't know exactly how the other academies administer these prep programs but I suspect it is somewhat similiar.
 
Is prep school still possible, IF you didn't get an appointment (lets say perhaps someone had a slightly stronger portfolio.
My answer to that would be Yes (for civil prep anyway) and here is why.

**WARNING - this is only specific to my son's case - civil prep not USMAPS**

Son applied to USMA for C/O 2010. He had excellent grades, class rank, and EC's. SAT/ACT scores were so-so. Received a medical waiver from USMA. Only nomination was from our State Rep. (it is rare in our state for a candidate to be nominated by both his Rep. and a Senator - they try not to duplicate so as to send as many names as possible to the academies.) We live in the most competitive district in our state (per my son's admission's officer at USMA). My son was not the number one candidate from our district and because he didn't have any other nominating source he was put on the waiting list. After my son was nominated his admission's officer asked him if he would be interested in civil prep, of course my son said yes. After my son was put on the waiting list the admission's officer said he would be submitting my son's file to the AOG as a civil prep candidate. Fortunately my son was selected for this program. He went to NMMI last year and was accepted into C/O 2011.

I believe he got selected for the prep program because he was just below the cutoff of making it. I think they could see it wasn't likely he would be pulled off the waiting list, but they saw potential. One other thing that I believe got him selected was this. Right before his name was submitted for civil prep he got an email from the admission's officer. In the email he was asked a couple of questions and then it said "I would like to know of any extraordinary qualities or occurrences you have or have had to deal with?" My son's answer to this question was one of the best things I have ever seen him write. It was very moving and showed his maturity. I truly believe his answer to this question may have been the deciding factor for him being selected.
 
Wow. I learned a lot of information here. I'm not very familiar with the Civil Prep program so I may have to do additional research concerning that.

"The remaining 500 will go home totally empty handed with nothing. Below this 2000 cutoff, there will be certain candidates who are both medically and physically qualified, but, for one reason or another, will be found scholastically disqualified."

USNA, what if you were academically qualified, physically qualified, and medically qualified, but you still didn't get an appointment? Would they STILL consider you for prep school, despite the fact you were not DQed academically?
 
For USMA - AOG scholar - yes, but - not USMAPS though.

The USMA kids who are academically qualified and get offered are most likely those who are at the bottom of the Waiting list. They are very very strong candidates but their weaker academics (lower SAT's or grades) keep them just one step away from an appointment.
 
Last edited:
A good friend of my son had applied to USMA and USNA. In Feb. he got a thin letter from USMA. On March 13th he received a offer of a civilian prep scholarship from USNA. On March 21st he received an appointment to USMA, it came in the mail no phone call ---surprise!

The boy took the USNA civi prep, he felt that it had more options after graduation. He is a nice kid, but an overthinker. He doesn't test well. We will see if Valley Forge can fix that. His nickname on the lax team was "wrong way".
 
Funny story. Trivia for the Day: The original 'wrong way' was 'Wrong Way' Corrigan who took off from Floyd Bennett Field in NY headed for Long Beach, CA. and somehow managed to land in Ireland.

And then there was "Wrong Way" Riegels, who, playing for Cal in the 1929 Rose Bowl, picked up a Ga Tech fumble and ran 70 yards in the wrong direction before being turned around on the 1 yd line by a fellow player only to be downed by a swarm of Tech players.
 
Last edited:
"For USMA - AOG scholar - yes, but - not USMAPS though.

The USMA kids who are academically qualified and get offered are most likely those who are at the bottom of the Waiting list. They are very very strong candidates but their weaker academics (lower SAT's or grades) keep them just one step away from an appointment."

I don't think I will be eligible for prep school if I don't make it into an academy. I looked up AOG scholar and it came up with information concerning civil prep. Is this correct? If you attended one of the senior military colleges, your chances of getting into an academy is how high percentage wise?
 
I don't think I will be eligible for prep school if I don't make it into an academy. I looked up AOG scholar and it came up with information concerning civil prep. Is this correct?
Yep the AOG puts up the money for the civil prep scholarship. Civil prep is "civilian" to distinguish it from USMAPS or NAPS - which is military.

A lot of high quality candidates are eligible. I would not discount it - if you would reapply then send in the post card (you get it with your 2nd step application) saying you will consider it. You have nothing to lose.
The real benefit is that you are in a different admissions category - they are basically holding your spot.

Here is the AOG website:
http://www.aogusma.org/aog/WPPSMAIN.HTM

If you attended one of the senior military colleges, your chances of getting into an academy is how high percentage wise?

I don't know - depends. You will be competing against the entire pool of 10,000 or 11,000 who apply. West Point definitely looks highly on those who reapply.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the web link! You mentioned that USMA Civil Prep gives you a good chance to get an appointment the following year. Is it equal to that of USMAPS? Percentage wise of course. Thanks.
 
In both cases the appointment is yours to lose - so to speak. You must complete the program satisfactorily, stay out of trouble etc etc......
Admissions has you in a different category than the rest of the world - they even have a special Admissions Officer and MALO.
 
Do a lot of people sacrifice a 4 year rotc scholarship to accept a civil prep scholarship? If you take Civil Prep and stayed out of trouble and did everything you were supposed to do, how much of a chance do you get to get an appointment the following year?
 
1. yes - if they still want to attend West Point and with the understanding that their commission is 5 years away instead of 4 years away.

2. Excellent - this includes showing the admissions board that you are academically qualified, passing the CFA again and gaining a nomination.
 
Last edited:
Are your chances equal to that of usmaps? I can't seem to find an exact percentage.. if there is one available.
 
Back
Top