As far as how the academy "Treats" them. i.e. a 2nd or 3rd chance for an athlete that they may not give to a non-IC cadet. I'm sure that happens. Just like I'm equally sure that the academy may be more lenient on the cadet who is in the top-10 academically, holds a high leadership/command position, etc... compared to the cadet who tries to disappear in the background.
Yeah, I'm not sure I agree with that. It that were true, you would have the same at USCGA or USMMA. As a cadet I saw more than one 4-stripe 1/c cadet either removed from his/her position or kicked out.
I also don't weigh the examples the same. Good students are recruited, sure. There is likely SOME benefit to recruiting top performing students. But there is a difference. Every student starts their cadet/midshipmen careers on the same academic footing... GPAs of 0.0. From their it is up to them to sink or swim. I would see my classmate in the top 10 academically as someone who "earned" that spot. He or she studied and worked, just like me. In fact, the better they were at it, the more likely they were to talk the most difficult classes. The top students in my class WORKED hard to get there.... and they started at the same spot as me. Academics is about the individual. If you sink, you're gone and every student knows they are in a better positition to success the better they do in school. Academics is also self selecting for a school. The kids that can't do it will eventually be forced to leave.
Leadership positions were also earned... not as freshman or sophomores, but later in cadet/midshipmen careers as their strenghts became more evident. Yes, some people "worked" the system and the people they were friends with, but the positions generally went to fine people. Leadership was about the group.
So, we have leadership and academics, one that is very much about the group, and one that is achieved as an individual. Both, however, start at a baseline of 0.
Athletics is different, not for all athletes, but for recruited ones. While having a good sound leadership program is a point of pride, and academics matter, recruited sports provide incentive for a school, specifically in the way of face and $$. I don't think leadership does that, and I think academics does it in a different way, with a self-selecting population.