Best prep school for unsponsored applicants

talltrees

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does anyone have any idea or stats on the most successful prep school regarding unsponsored candidates?
 
My two cents, a good college, retaking SAT/ACT, good grades, and ROTC are better than any prep school. Prep schools have their strengths and weaknesses, so depends on your weakness Prep school alone might not increase your chances. Some prep schools advertise their success rate, but we don‘t know for sure how much attending the Prep school helped. Perhaps, your grade might be better at a Prep school as you might not be partying too much. Perhaps, a Prep school might have a program to improve your SAT/ACT.
 
does anyone have any idea or stats on the most successful prep school regarding unsponsored candidates?

I don't think anyone besides the Academies have access to that kind of data. It varies from year to year among all the prep schools so no one would be able to see the number of applicants from prep schools vs. the number of appointments among that group.

NWP has a really great record for free-agents, as does MMI though I didn't go there so I'm relying on friend's feedback. Definitely call the programs you are interested and they should give you a better idea of what their historical numbers are.
 
My DS attends MMI as an unsponsored cadet and it’s been a terrific experience for him. We are in the waiting period now for SA admissions to make their decisions. I wouldn’t focus on statistics as much as I would focus on what weaknesses you believe exist in your application and what school gives you the best opportunity to improve your application. You won’t get an appointment solely because of the school you attend. Your appointment will depend more on whether you improve your application. For my DS MMI was the best place for what he needed to do. And we believe he’s a much better candidate as a result.
 
My attends MMI as an unsponsored cadet as well and it has been excellent experience. MMI is a junior college in the Alabama college system so it's accredited and credits are transferrable. The college also has ROTC programs for Army and Air Force so a cadet may participate in those as well. The program is what a cadet makes of it but it can help improve your deficiencies as well as your overall application. I will also say that it give a cadet a "Happy Meal" taste of what military life will resemble. One sponsored cadet voluntarily left the program this year because they realized military life is not for them. No shame in that decision and best to determine early one.

We are in waiting mode; however, our son called last night with some exciting news.
 
Greystone Prep worked for my son. He got into his first choice (USCGA), improved his ACT to 33 from 28 and also got the NROTC scholarship and accepted into Georgetown, Vanderbilt, UNC, UVA, and Boston College among others. I cannot say enough good things about Commander Bailey and his program.
 
My two cents, a good college, retaking SAT/ACT, good grades, and ROTC are better than any prep school. Prep schools have their strengths and weaknesses, so depends on your weakness Prep school alone might not increase your chances. Some prep schools advertise their success rate, but we don‘t know for sure how much attending the Prep school helped. Perhaps, your grade might be better at a Prep school as you might not be partying too much. Perhaps, a Prep school might have a program to improve your SAT/ACT.
The one thing the right prep school offers is the military lifestyle and a great support system. If your kid goes off to college there are many distractions and the focus may not be what it needs to be. Also, if your kid goes to a military prep school and decides the military lifestyle is not for him or her, he or she can pivot into another track with no harm no foul. One of the things that is great about Greystone Prep is that it is affiliated with a four-year university but is its own oasis and support system within. Your kid will get college hours if he or she needs to use them later.
 
My attends MMI as an unsponsored cadet as well and it has been excellent experience. MMI is a junior college in the Alabama college system so it's accredited and credits are transferrable. The college also has ROTC programs for Army and Air Force so a cadet may participate in those as well. The program is what a cadet makes of it but it can help improve your deficiencies as well as your overall application. I will also say that it give a cadet a "Happy Meal" taste of what military life will resemble. One sponsored cadet voluntarily left the program this year because they realized military life is not for them. No shame in that decision and best to determine early one.

We are in waiting mode; however, our son called last night with some exciting news.
Looking forward to hearing more about the exciting news!
 
Each prep school does publish stats for unsponsored prepsters. Don’t let them supply stats for sponsored or a combo of the both as that skews the data. Ask specifically for unsponsored and look at how many actually applied and then got in. Also, your DS needs to speak to his ACs to whatever SAs they applied to for feedback. A prep school might not be the best path. Other than that, I think it’s going to a reputable school (ones the SAs use for for their foundation programs is a good rule of thumb), picking one that feels best (military vs non military, costs, distance), and then how does this feed into Plan B. What if they don’t get in to a SA again? Will the credits transfer? Good luck.
 
I had not remember seeing self-prep stats and just googled Marion. It seems they are just showing appointments and not the actual yield. As a data nerd in my real job, this chart tells me absolutely nothing I need to make a determination on Marion's performance. Metrics should be designed to measure some performance and telling me you had 37 success without anything to normalize it against is meaningless. As others have said, Plan B depends on the candidate. For every self-prep that was successful, I am sure that their are just as many who were not. We could also show the same for college re-applicants. PSA: I do not have any ill will for the prep schools and am pretty sure they do a good job preparing candidates. I just do not like when anyone attempts to use incomplete data to justify performance.

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Definitely check with the SA(s) in which you're interested. USNA strongly recommends graduated h.s. students enroll in a 4-year college, not a prep school. Other SAs may be different. If you're looking for a prep school as your high school (not after h.s.), different story.

While I believe the stories of those who tout the benefits of various prep schools in helping them or their child obtain an appointment, keep in mind these are in a vacuum. I doubt many self-preps who are unsuccessful spend a lot of time on this site. Even for those who were appointed, it's not necessarily cause and effect -- IOW, they might have done just as well or better had they attended college. No way to know.

If you believe that you have significant issues with study skills, time management, homesickness, or attended a crappy high school that hasn't prepared you well for college, a prep school can be a great option. I would start with how the school can address your specific needs. Be VERY, VERY careful (as others have advised) when looking at numbers of appointments for self-prep.

As an aside, I would be surprised if any particular prep school had a super-high SA appointment rate for self-prep. If they did, they would be touting this like mad and people would be lining up outside their doors. Bottom line is that there is no magic elixir, so before your family plunks down $50k+ for a year of prep school, be sure you educate yourself on the pros and cons.
 
I had not remember seeing self-prep stats and just googled Marion. It seems they are just showing appointments and not the actual yield. As a data nerd in my real job, this chart tells me absolutely nothing I need to make a determination on Marion's performance. Metrics should be designed to measure some performance and telling me you had 37 success without anything to normalize it against is meaningless. As others have said, Plan B depends on the candidate. For every self-prep that was successful, I am sure that their are just as many who were not. We could also show the same for college re-applicants. PSA: I do not have any ill will for the prep schools and am pretty sure they do a good job preparing candidates. I just do not like when anyone attempts to use incomplete data to justify performance.

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Based on other published information there are approximately 120 cadets in MMI's SAP program, with approximately 55 sponsored and 65 self sponsored. You just have to look around to get the data. I don't think MMI is attempting to try to fool or mislead anyone. Giving percentages of success leads to conclusions that appointments are some sort of game or lottery, or that MMI is making guarantees for appointments. Each applicant stands on his/her own application. MMI can provide them the tools to succeed but it can't guarantee that success. And it can't imply that it does.
 

Based on other published information there are approximately 120 cadets in MMI's SAP program, with approximately 55 sponsored and 65 self sponsored. You just have to look around to get the data. I don't think MMI is attempting to try to fool or mislead anyone. Giving percentages of success leads to conclusions that appointments are some sort of game or lottery, or that MMI is making guarantees for appointments. Each applicant stands on his/her own application. MMI can provide them the tools to succeed but it can't guarantee that success. And it can't imply that it does.
i know this current academic year the program has the most unsponsored cadets in school history per the head of the SAP program.
 
Greystone Prep is a prep school on a four-year college campus. It is the best of both worlds.
 
Based on other published information there are approximately 120 cadets in MMI's SAP program, with approximately 55 sponsored and 65 self sponsored. You just have to look around to get the data. I don't think MMI is attempting to try to fool or mislead anyone. Giving percentages of success leads to conclusions that appointments are some sort of game or lottery, or that MMI is making guarantees for appointments. Each applicant stands on his/her own application. MMI can provide them the tools to succeed but it can't guarantee that success. And it can't imply that it does.

I agree 100% that each candidate stands on his/her own application but what did not copy from the graphic is the heading. It says that we are the best and our numbers say it all. I pointed out that the numbers in the graphic really do not say anything. Following @usna1985, USMA also suggest that re-applicants attend a four year college, take a challenging plebe like schedule and do well. Some candidates may need to skills that only a prep school could provide but it is not the golden ticket to get to the end of the rainbow. I would almost suggest that a year of self-prep would negatively impact a strong candidate that just missed out on an appointment the prior year. The academics at the prep school would be a step back for these types of candidates.
 
Just thinking out loud here... Through their own actions, how do the 5 Service Academies choose to prepare students who are deemed not quite ready to enter directly? Do they pay to send them to a 4 year school and take a challenging plebe-like schedule?
 
To further illustrate this, let's look at USCGA simply because the data is easy to find:

For the class of 2021 - they had 294 students.
of these students, the school PAID for 53 (18%) to attend either MMI or GMC
and they report an additional 26 students did some other form of self prep at a college. Based on the table above, at least 5 of this figure went through MMI for self prep. GMC indicated that their first USCGA self-prep success came in 2018, so it would not have been this class.

So, if we generous with the math, and assume that the reported figure of 1+ yrs of prior college in the class excludes the paid prep scholars program.... we assume there were 79 students of which 58 are known to have gone to military prep programs. The figure is likely higher because there is only reported data on MMI and not the other prep programs. Statistically speaking.... would you say your best chance for success is to attend a 4- year program?
 
To further illustrate this, let's look at USCGA simply because the data is easy to find:

For the class of 2021 - they had 294 students.
of these students, the school PAID for 53 (18%) to attend either MMI or GMC
and they report an additional 26 students did some other form of self prep at a college. Based on the table above, at least 5 of this figure went through MMI for self prep. GMC indicated that their first USCGA self-prep success came in 2018, so it would not have been this class.

So, if we generous with the math, and assume that the reported figure of 1+ yrs of prior college in the class excludes the paid prep scholars program.... we assume there were 79 students of which 58 are known to have gone to military prep programs. The figure is likely higher because there is only reported data on MMI and not the other prep programs. Statistically speaking.... would you say your best chance for success is to attend a 4- year program?
I got Into v-tech and am waiting on A&M waitlist, so I’m just worried about large class sizes and lack of test prep
 
Just thinking out loud here... Through their own actions, how do the 5 Service Academies choose to prepare students who are deemed not quite ready to enter directly? Do they pay to send them to a 4 year school and take a challenging plebe-like schedule?

Your assumption here is incorrect. The sponsored prep students are fully qualified and admissions thinks they are ready but they do not have a space to slot them in the current class. I would assume that it is easier and less expensive to stash these 50 applicants each year in a few of these private prep schools than to figure out how to do anything else. If they are not ready to enter directly, they are either rejected or sent to the Academy Prep school.
 
Your assumption here is incorrect. The sponsored prep students are fully qualified and admissions thinks they are ready but they do not have a space to slot them in the current class. I would assume that it is easier and less expensive to stash these 50 applicants each year in a few of these private prep schools than to figure out how to do anything else. If they are not ready to enter directly, they are either rejected or sent to the Academy Prep school.
I think you are making a number of assumptions, the first being the only difference between a sponsored prep and an appointed cadet is the absence of an available slot. That is much different than what my DS was told by admissions. He was informed that both types of prep have deficiencies and both have to fix those deficiencies to take advantage of their golden tickets. While the hurdle may not be high, it’s not just a walk in the park.

My DS was told that his application was too good to qualify as either a prep student or a scholarship recipient. Rather his problem was a numbers game based on our district and demographics. Whether that is true or not we have no idea but it is what he was told. But he was also encouraged to self prep to show dedication and commitment to wanting military life, and success at the college level. In fact when he got to prep, all of his advisors were shocked he didn’t receive an appointment. He is now tutoring his classmates in the core subjects, some of who are sponsored and are struggling to meet minimal grades. Second, SA prep students have deficiencies. Why aren’t they recommended to go to 4 year colleges to improve?

The fact is there are a lot of very qualified candidates that don’t get in, don’t receive scholarships or prep appointments. Trying to create linear relationships between those that receive appointments and those that don’t receive scholarships or prep appointments is a fruitless exercise. Admissions has a very difficult job choosing between candidates that appear on paper to be identical in all objective measures (what’s the difference between between an SAT of 1390 and 1400 other than 10 points? What’s the difference between a salutatorian and a valedictorian other than maybe a point or two on GPA? Is the captain of the football team a better candidate that the captain of the track team?) How does a year of prep or year of college answer those questions? These are the mysteries of SA Admissions that can’t be resolved by statistics.
 
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