Question?

J.Col123

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2019
Messages
39
Can someone's grades be too good to receive an offer for USMAPS or USNAPS? I have a 3.6 GPA and a 27 ACT.
 
Can someone's grades be too good to receive an offer for USMAPS or USNAPS? I have a 3.6 GPA and a 27 ACT.
My son had a 3.8, a 28 ACT, and 1230 SAT and got into USMAPS. He was a little weak in math, but a rockstar in all other areas. We later learned that he just had gaps in knowledge in math and caught up at prep school. He's a plebe now and doing great.
 
My son had a 3.8, a 28 ACT, and 1230 SAT and got into USMAPS. He was a little weak in math, but a rockstar in all other areas. We later learned that he just had gaps in knowledge in math and caught up at prep school. He's a plebe now and doing great.
Thanks for the information!
 
.
Our daughter got into NAPS with a 3.7 GPA , 1380 SAT taken 1 time (700 Math, 680 Verbal).

Here Junior and prior year HS grades in Calculus, Chemistry, and Physics where all C's and low B's …. She liked her grades in those courses, wife and me liked her grades in those courses, but USNA didn't like her grades so much, that is why they put her at NAPS .... USNA got it Right. NAPS is fixing her Ooopsy tendencies on "Working the Problem". She sets problems up just fine. She just makes all those Ooopsy mistakes, Significance is not correct, and so on.
.
So, the moral is, SA Prep schools are there to correct issues, like attention to detail in the Math and Sciences .... Lives & Safety depend on Detail and Levels of Confidence in the detail. This is why the SAs, and the Military in general, are so rigorous. Also, if the candidate at the SA prep school has a lower than cutoff SAT/ACT combined score, they will study and take those again (honestly, I think this is more to make the Published Class Profile Statistics look better). Obviously, our daughter doesn't need to retake the SAT at NAPS. Also, if your school doesn't offer the Math and Science courses that are needed for you to be successful starting day 1, then you may also be placed at NAPS to backfill that requirement.
.
Conclusion: Math and science course deficiencies and issues is probably a bigger determining factor over GPA and SAT, as it relates to being selected for a NAPS or other SA Prep spot.
.
 
Last edited:
Here Junior and prior year HS grades in Calculus, Chemistry, and Physics where all C's and low B's …. She liked her grades in those courses, wife and me liked her grades in those courses, but USNA didn't like her grades so much, that is why they put her at NAPS .... USNA got it Right. NAPS is fixing her Ooopsy tendencies on "Working the Problem". She sets problems up just fine. She just makes all those Ooopsy mistakes, Significance is not correct, and so on.

This is a good example of the benefit of NAPS -- an otherwise qualified candidate who shows a weaknesses in key STEM courses. If admitted direct, she would have struggled. It would be interesting to read her Math teacher evaluation - I'd be willing bet that he/she identified the potential and the Admissions Board made a good decision. A year at NAPS will set her up to do great at USNA.

(By the way, don't read this as a suggestion that you should coach your HS teachers doing into evaluations into recommending NAPS... they are asked to do an evaluation; USNA Admissions is pretty good at interpreting the evaluations and academic records and making the decisions about who should go to NAPS).
 
This is a good example of the benefit of NAPS -- an otherwise qualified candidate who shows a weaknesses in key STEM courses. If admitted direct, she would have struggled. It would be interesting to read her Math teacher evaluation - I'd be willing bet that he/she identified the potential and the Admissions Board made a good decision. A year at NAPS will set her up to do great at USNA.

(By the way, don't read this as a suggestion that you should coach your HS teachers doing into evaluations into recommending NAPS... they are asked to do an evaluation; USNA Admissions is pretty good at interpreting the evaluations and academic records and making the decisions about who should go to NAPS).
My older son's high school math teacher pulled me to the side his senior year and told me that he would never make it at the academy with his math grades (mostly B's with an occasional A and C). I told him that if that's the case, then at least he tried and will have no regrets. He got into USMAPS, had all A's and B's (A in math) and now has an A in calculus at the Academy. Turns out, he just had gaps in knowledge and made careless mistakes, he's not bad in math. The prep school did what it was intended to do, filled in those gaps. And because of this great program, the Army is going to get one phenomenal officer in three years that is physically fit (supermaxed AFPT), has character, compassion, integrity, and a soft spot for helping others be the best they can be. Imagine if the academies just looked at GPA and SAT/ACT scores what they would be missing out on.
 
My older son's high school math teacher pulled me to the side his senior year and told me that he would never make it at the academy with his math grades (mostly B's with an occasional A and C). I told him that if that's the case, then at least he tried and will have no regrets. He got into USMAPS, had all A's and B's (A in math) and now has an A in calculus at the Academy. Turns out, he just had gaps in knowledge and made careless mistakes, he's not bad in math. The prep school did what it was intended to do, filled in those gaps. And because of this great program, the Army is going to get one phenomenal officer in three years that is physically fit (supermaxed AFPT), has character, compassion, integrity, and a soft spot for helping others be the best they can be. Imagine if the academies just looked at GPA and SAT/ACT scores what they would be missing out on.

Is there an issue with the high school? The teacher that said he won’t make it ... did he recognize what your son was missing in high school and take steps to help?
 
Is there an issue with the high school? The teacher that said he won’t make it ... did he recognize what your son was missing in high school and take steps to help?
I'm not sure what the issue is . The school is very high speed and the kids sometimes don't have a good understanding of one lesson before they move on to the next creating gaps.
 
I'm not sure what the issue is . The school is very high speed and the kids sometimes don't have a good understanding of one lesson before they move on to the next creating gaps.

I saw a similar issue with my son in Spanish. He took Spanish 1 from a really nice woman but horrible teacher. He got an A ... everything was fine.

Until he got to Spanish 2. The kids that took that first teacher were at a huge disadvantage compared to the students that had a better teacher for Spanish 1. Some struggled. My son had to work a little harder to catch up.

I was a math major in college ... math is building blocks. All it takes is one teacher in the system early on to set a student back.

NAPS worked very well as intended for your son. Which is fantastic.
 
I saw a similar issue with my son in Spanish. He took Spanish 1 from a really nice woman but horrible teacher. He got an A ... everything was fine.

Until he got to Spanish 2. The kids that took that first teacher were at a huge disadvantage compared to the students that had a better teacher for Spanish 1. Some struggled. My son had to work a little harder to catch up.

I was a math major in college ... math is building blocks. All it takes is one teacher in the system early on to set a student back.

NAPS worked very well as intended for your son. Which is fantastic.
That happened to all three of my kids with German. They had German 1 and 2 with a fairly easy teacher and then German 3 with a teacher who spoke 5 languages fluently and expected way too much from them after having had a mediocre German teacher in 1 and 2. They all withdrew from German 3 or faced getting a bad grade. They already had their 2 language credits. They grew up in Germany on a military base, but never learned it fluently. I really regret not putting them in German school when they were young so they could learn it fluently.
 
No. You will take validation tests during Plebe Summer to aid in determining if you can validate a class or be placed in a higher section. No prep credits travel with you.
 
Can someone's grades be too good to receive an offer for USMAPS or USNAPS? I have a 3.6 GPA and a 27 ACT.
Only USMA or USNA admissions can answer this question. I know of several recruited athletes with better scores who went to NAPS.
 
No. You will take validation tests during Plebe Summer to aid in determining if you can validate a class or be placed in a higher section. No prep credits travel with you.
if you validate out of a class then what does a student take in its place? fewer overall credits? or can they plug in a elective?
 
if you validate out of a class then what does a student take in its place? fewer overall credits? or can they plug in a elective?

The next higher class, or a more advanced section, or another required class, possibly an elective. They will carry no less than the minimum credit load each semester. Their academic advisors will help them get their matrix all sorted out. Plebes with extensive validation might find themselves in Physics class with 3/C.
 
The next higher class, or a more advanced section, or another required class, possibly an elective. They will carry no less than the minimum credit load each semester. Their academic advisors will help them get their matrix all sorted out. Plebes with extensive validation might find themselves in Physics class with 3/C.
@Capt MJ one more question on this if you know: if for example a plebe were to validate 8 classes (as a college reapplicant) then in their final year they would run out of required classes. what are the alternatives at that point for their final semester if all required classes are complete? is there somewhere online that would explain the options at that point? some sort of work study or similar? im sure this has happened and just wondering what these people did in the final semester.
 
Only USMA or USNA admissions can answer this question. I know of several recruited athletes with better scores who went to NAPS.
For whatever its worth, my DS was told last year by his USAFA counselor that his academics were too high to qualify for USAFA prep. It creates an odd situation on the surface. You can be weaker academically and qualify for prep which creates the often described "golden ticket" but the stronger academic candidate misses out on both appointment and the golden ticket. There's more that goes into an appointment decision of course but it is an odd predicament.
 
@Capt MJ one more question on this if you know: if for example a plebe were to validate 8 classes (as a college reapplicant) then in their final year they would run out of required classes. what are the alternatives at that point for their final semester if all required classes are complete? is there somewhere online that would explain the options at that point? some sort of work study or similar? im sure this has happened and just wondering what these people did in the final semester.
I don’t know the answer to that one, specifically. Many who validate a lot choose to add a minor or possibly double major. Everyone still graduates at the same time, unless they graduate at the delayed dates in Aug or Sep of their class year, but those are special cases. No one gets to take less than the minimum credit load.

I believe USNA still has its VGEP program. The mid completes undergraduate coursework by Dec of 1/c year, still lives in company area, but starts a one-year Master’s at an area university such as Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, UMD, GWU, American. They graduate USNA with their class and a BS in May, and stay as a full-time student in the area to complete their Master’s. They then go on to their ship or school pipeline with the last of their USNA class to go. Only a handful of mids qualify for this every year. Conduct and performance records have to be stellar, along with academic.

There may also be opportunities for independent study.



@Capt MJ one more question on this if you know: if for example a plebe were to validate 8 classes (as a college reapplicant) then in their final year they would run out of required classes. what are the alternatives at that point for their final semester if all required classes are complete? is there somewhere online that would explain the options at that point? some sort of work study or similar? im sure this has happened and just wondering what these people did in the final semester.
 
Back
Top