but you will have to get one after that.. My daughter received a nomination, but will have to get a new one for next year's school year (after prep).
While you need to APPLY for one - all Cadet Candidates at USMAPS are enlisted Army and thus also qualify for a service connected nomination. These are very limited in number, however, so applying for an MOC nomination is essential.
As far as SAT/GPA's go:
USMA does have an SAT score that they want applicants to hit to be qualified. They don't really look at GPA but look at the Class Rank and the classes that you took and how well you did in those classes. GPA is meaningless since every school has a different method of calculating it and students have different educational opportunities.
Having low grades and high SAT's is not necessarily a deal breaker - if you took challenging classes and were active in leadership activities - all of that counts. If the SAT's are high and the grades are low because of laziness - that could be a problem.
Prep schools are "normally" for the student with excellent grades and leadership and SAT's on the low side. But they can be used for any student who looks like a great candidate except for..........
The "except for", in my experience, is usually ONE thing - i.e. low CR SAT, low Math score or no high level math courses, or high SAT's and lower than expected grades.
The point of the prep schools is to correct any academic (rarely athletic or leadership) "deficiencies" and for the candidate to "prove" themselves.