NAPS for what?

[Old Navy BGO]

Personally I needed the academic rigor of NAPS and the multiple opportunities to boost my SAT scores. I was surprised to learn when I got there that NAPS was also used as a prep school for promising high school athletes to improve their academics.

> The initial purpose of NAPS was to provide a means of beefing up the academic skills of those coming from the FLeet or FMF. Even the best coming from the Fleet were often 2-3 years out of an academic environment (except of course the Nukes who were coming from a program that was probably as academically challenging as NAPS/USNA). The extension to otherwise promising candidates, including athletes was kind of an evolutionary process. Interestingly, when I got my NAPS offer my father reached out to one of his college classmates who had been Secretary of the Air Force a few years before, and he was pretty negative on NAPS (and Air Force equivalent) and branded it as a school for dumb jocks. I went anyway ....and I've posted about my experience on SAF many times so I won't repeat, but bottom line it was the best thing I ever did and I am the biggest advocate for taking the opportunity if you get it.

NAVY doesn’t want a NAPS select to fail at the Academy … it’s that simple

True, USNA really doesn't want any Midshipman to fail, and there are plenty of means of academic support to ensure you don't. That said, back in the day they made it clear to us at NAPS that despite attending NAPS, we were entering USNA a step behind in academic preparation or aptitude and would have to work hard to keep up. ( NAPS administration was pretty blunt with that message, which I recall hearing several times during the course of the program....I would expect that message has been toned down a bit in today's kindler gentler world). The message was true, as I recall several NAPS classmates (including one of my roommates) who didn't get through USNA. I suspect that has changed a bit now, as the whole academic atmoshsphere and attrition mindset has evolved over time.

 

[USNA75]

> The initial purpose of NAPS was to provide a means of beefing up the academic skills of those coming from the FLeet or FMF. Even the best coming from the Fleet were often 2-3 years out of an academic environment (except of course the Nukes who were coming from a program that was probably as academically challenging as NAPS/USNA). The extension to otherwise promising candidates, including athletes was kind of an evolutionary process. Interestingly, when I got my NAPS offer my father reached out to one of his college classmates who had been Secretary of the Air Force a few years before, and he was pretty negative on NAPS (and Air Force equivalent) and branded it as a school for dumb jocks. I went anyway ....and I've posted about my experience on SAF many times so I won't repeat, but bottom line it was the best thing I ever did and I am the biggest advocate for taking the opportunity if you get it.


True, USNA really doesn't want any Midshipman to fail, and there are plenty of means of academic support to ensure you don't. That said, back in the day they made it clear to us at NAPS that despite attending NAPS, we were entering USNA a step behind in academic preparation or aptitude and would have to work hard to keep up. ( NAPS administration was pretty blunt with that message, which I recall hearing several times during the course of the program....I would expect that message has been toned down a bit in today's kindler gentler world). The message was true, as I recall several NAPS classmates (including one of my roommates) who didn't get through USNA. I suspect that has changed a bit now, as the whole academic atmoshsphere and attrition mindset has evolved over time.

Not disagreeing. Just in my time there, the scale seemed to have shifted to more the HS reserve Navy candidates versus the Fleet Marine and Sailors.