Welcome to the fray. As notedalready NASS is used by NAVY for recruiting purposes, and this makes it very frustrating to predict who the most likely selectees will be. Also, keep in mind that the fact that one isn't selected DOES NOT mean that you are handicapped as a candidate for an appointment - far from that! Also keep in mind that being selected for NASS does not mean that you are a shoe-in for an appointment. Consider that about 2250 young men and women will participate in NASS while NAVY typically has been selecting only 1200 for the entering class of midshipmen! Participation in NASS can be a big plus, but I also have seen instances where candidates have mortally wounded themselves during the program. I recommend that you look at alternate ways to spend time on the Yard such as a sports camp (see
www.navysports.com) or ask for a candidate visit where you get to attend classes with a current plebe and spend a couple of nights in Bancroft. Another very worthwhile approach is to visit USNA casually and attend one of the Admissions Briefs conducted six days a week at the new Admissions location at the seawall end of Halsey Fieldhouse just inside Gate 1 (see wwwlusna.edu/Admissions for more information on the briefing times). From my personal perspective it is absolutely vital that any serious candidate for USNA needs to visit the academy well before I-day!
Regarding the SAT and ACT exams, you should take both exams at least once. There are differences in the exams and the way they are scored that can make one series more favorable to the candidate, and you need to discover that for yourself and take advantage of that factor. Keep in mind that the SA's all give the candidates the advantage of their best scores on either the SAT or the ACT via the super scoring practice. Start taking the exams early and continue to take them until you are com
-fortable that you have done the best you are capable of doing - whether it takes one sitting or 7 or 8. Candidly you need to score very well on the math exam particularly as Admissions looks more closely at those scores - reason: you are going into a Bachelor of Science course of study regardless of your major, plus the SAs all consider themselves to be engineering schools. While there are many factors that impact upon your application, and the median scores often are surprisingly low, you have to bear in mind that you are competing with several candidates you don't know who very well be a super achiever who has maxed the SAT or ACT - it does happen! Do your best! Also keep in mind that NAVY puts a lot of weight on the SAT/ACT scores and the Class Ranking, moreso than on the GPA - currently!
That frankly leads into my favorite mantra: Do your absolute best to be the best candidate you can be! Doing so saves you a lot of second-guessing after the dust settles. Look at the various topics in this forum and note how many of them deal with waiting for an offer or dealing with a turndown - this is a very competitive selection process, and you really cannot afford to slack off if you truly want to go to NAVY!
Best wishes to you and your peers - and the early starters who are just starting to work on their campaigns to earn an appointment to a service academy.