Again, this would be really helpful to others so I'm going to post this in my thread, but to answer your questions:
1. Depends if your civilian or enlisted. I found out towards the later end of May, but I hear some offers have being offered so you still have plenty of time. (Ya it sucks, I know)
2. Again, because I was enlisted I was told by my Squadron Commander, if your civilian you will probably find out by your ALO or the portal if he/she isn't quick on the draw.
3. Prep school is called 'the best year at the academy' which for me I personally hope its not true. I'm a bit of a stiffler when it comes to common sense rules and this is the wrong place for that. It’s literally like I'm back at high school. Besides those chosen few who you would question if they are here for the 'right' reasons, Its really enjoyable. You get a bit of taste of all four years at the academy through phases. If your 21 it really helps on the weekends after a couple hours of hard studying, but overall I can say I've had a good time so far and have met a lot of awesome people.
4. a) So are the academics challenging: maybe. It depends on what you are good at. Me personally, I'm a math science guy so those are a breeze; English on the other hand is brutal. It is a nice review from high school (graduated 2010) so it really depends on your personal learning style. You change teachers every quarter so some teachers you will have an easier time with compared to others. Overall these classes are supposed to be either a) exactly the same or b) very similar to the classes of your freshman year on the hill. To me, I would say overall on the normal track of classes I would give it a 7 out of ten. 7 being the subject you are week at.
b) Classes that are offered. So your 'normal track' goes through the whole year is covers English, math (full year of algebra, two quarters of trig, and two quarters of calc (yes you take two math classes a quarter)), and chemistry. The 'happy track' (or at least what we call it) are just slower classes of whatever you are weak in and DOES NOT affect your appointment to the academy, or so they say. The last two quarters you may be selected to go on the accelerated class that substitutes a normal track class (physics, calc or English) if you get a good enough grade you can actually get credit for the class for your freshman year so you don't have to take it again.
Hopefully that answers everything. Anything else?