I will echo what tle said above - my son's a plebe at USNA. We got on the forum in fall of 2013, and it was a huge help in answering questions, even those questions we hadn't yet thought of ourselves. It was nice knowing others were going through the same stuff.
May I pass along some valuable things we learned from SAF that my son thinks helped him? He was offered appointments to USNA, USAFA, and USCGA:
1. Take the SAT and ACT early and often. Sophomore year is a good time to start. Most times, scores will improve. Every bit helps...get tutoring if you can.
2. An application that is completed in its entirety before senior year begins is a big advantage. It shows you are serious, and you can manage your time.
3. Late winter of Junior year, tell your English and Math teachers that you will be applying to service academies. Ask them if they are willing to complete recommendations on your behalf. They will keep this in mind, so when the requests come from the academies, they can complete them right away.
4. When you are a junior in high school, get help with interviewing before the nomination interviews (fall of senior year). Local parent clubs can sometimes help with that.
5. For the CFA, practice all parts a lot. You will improve.
So another big THANK YOU to SAF!