Prep School Question

tlfrancis289

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Mar 17, 2019
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Question here regarding prep school!
I applied to all five academies. I have not heard anything yet, but I was wondering if self-prep is the way to go if I am not appointed to the Academy directly or to prep school. What are your thoughts? Thank you!
 
Like a lot of answers on this forum, the answer is...it depends.

There are different paths, but taking college courses that parallel an SA freshman year is a good start. Whether at a university, community college, or prep school, you need to show that you can handle college level work.

What do you want to go to prep school for? Dedicated prep schools will help with academic drills and help you improve your SAT scores. Military Junior Colleges will give you a corps of cadets to be part of, with an atmosphere similar to an academy, plus a possible plan B for an associates degree. Staying at your local community college saves money, and you can often take the hard courses there. Of course, you can go to the state university and work on getting your BS/BA and apply to OCS for the service of your choice.

I suggest you contact the admissions officers from each of the academies you've applied to and get their recommendations. They may be able to make recommendations based on how competitive (or not) your application was. Then, contact the schools that you are interested after doing a bit of research on their websites. Remember, it's not how many students the school places, but whether YOU place into the academy.
 
Like a lot of answers on this forum, the answer is...it depends.

There are different paths, but taking college courses that parallel an SA freshman year is a good start. Whether at a university, community college, or prep school, you need to show that you can handle college level work.

What do you want to go to prep school for? Dedicated prep schools will help with academic drills and help you improve your SAT scores. Military Junior Colleges will give you a corps of cadets to be part of, with an atmosphere similar to an academy, plus a possible plan B for an associates degree. Staying at your local community college saves money, and you can often take the hard courses there. Of course, you can go to the state university and work on getting your BS/BA and apply to OCS for the service of your choice.

I suggest you contact the admissions officers from each of the academies you've applied to and get their recommendations. They may be able to make recommendations based on how competitive (or not) your application was. Then, contact the schools that you are interested after doing a bit of research on their websites. Remember, it's not how many students the school places, but whether YOU place into the academy.
My ultimate goal is to attend the Coast Guard Academy. My grades are not that amazing (3.49 UW GPA, 3.811 W GPA), 1150 SAT. I will take your advice and call admissions on Monday.
 
Thomas, USCGA sends sponsored prep students to Georgia Military College and Marion Military Institute. Both schools have a track record of self prep going to USCGA, but MMI has a much longer history with it.

If you are not selected as part of the class of 2024, I suspect you will be given an opportunity to have a phone call with the Director of Admissions to discuss your specific package, and learn how you can improve in future admissions attempts. I highly encourage you to take him up on the offer should it be extended.

Structured programs like GMC or MMI are what I would prefer for my DS if he finds himself in a self prep situation this year.
 
Question here regarding prep school!
I applied to all five academies. I have not heard anything yet, but I was wondering if self-prep is the way to go if I am not appointed to the Academy directly or to prep school. What are your thoughts? Thank you!
Have you looked at Greystone Prep?
 
Does anyone know what classes a freshman in the SAP program takes at MMI? and ... do they take an ACT or SAT class?
 
My DD is a self prep at Marion, she has Chem, Physics,English, and some leadership courses. There was SAT prep the first few months.
 
Does anyone know what classes a freshman in the SAP program takes at MMI? and ... do they take an ACT or SAT class?
I teach at MMI. All Coast Guard students take Composition, General Chemistry, College Physics, and Math courses based on placement. Most students, including the sponsored students from all the academies, end up taking precalculus algebra and trigonometry. The math is based on the academies' desire to have all students well grounded in Algebra and ready to take the calculus courses they teach.
 
I teach at MMI. All Coast Guard students take Composition, General Chemistry, College Physics, and Math courses based on placement. Most students, including the sponsored students from all the academies, end up taking precalculus algebra and trigonometry. The math is based on the academies' desire to have all students well grounded in Algebra and ready to take the calculus courses they teach.
Thank you very much for responding. My son was accepted for fall 2020. He is currently taking AP Physics and AP Calculus bc. It is interesting that you mention the need for algebra because he just mentioned feeling rusty in algebra!
Thank you again.
 
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