what are the odds for 3 academy members from a small grade school

proudpop2

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a little off the wall here but we all know the difficulty in gaining admission to an academy. There are of course many variables such as competitive district, etc. But I was wondering about school success stories. For example, the small Catholic grade school in Illinois that my DS graduated from now has 2 attending West Point and one in the Naval Academy at the same time. One is a Firstie at WP, the other is a Jr at Navy, and DS is a plebe at WP.

The school has only about 24 kids per graduating class so out of a 4 year pool of about 100 kids. 3 made it into academies! That seems extraordinary to me but I suspect there are other schools as well with similar success stories. I am not sure how to really quantify the odds of that but just curious?

I know some families have had 2-3 kids in simultaneously at a time which also strikes me as pretty rare
 
That is cool to hear! Within a three block area have 4 in our neighborhood attending USMA.. .my 18 and 19 cadets another 19 and now a brand new plebe. And for a medium sized hs in Wisconsin we have had 8 in the past 4 years go to a service academy....must be something in the water! Enjoy the ride and congrats!
 
Proud pop...you should be one, for sure! I think those numbers are extraordinary!

Our family knows a family friend that had to boys go to USMA and graduate. I assume that their younger one will be coming soon! I'm not sure of their high school numbers but I would guess significantly larger than your sons school.

My DD had a graduating class of 120. Arguably from the top collegiate prep school in our state. Our DD was the first, since the schools inception (over 100 years), to go directly to an academy. Not the first to go but the first directly out of high school. Her high school sends a large portion to Ivy schools every year. Her high school made a "big deal" about a direct accept to an academy. I am a proud dad....
 
That's incredible for a small school. DD attended a small town public HS. This past May, we had one graduated from West Point and one from the USNA. We still have a 2/C at the USNA and a junior at West Point. DD is now a Plebe at the USNA and one of her classmates is a freshman at the USAFA. It's a good run so far.
 
Our small Catholic high school produced four Squids from the same graduating class about three years ago--and we are in a highly competitive area. My Plebe came out of a Scout troop w another Eagle who is also a Plebe at USMA and another Eagle in the troop is a Plebe squid, too --so three from the same troop in the same year--and my guy got accepted to USAFA so it could have been the trifecta. There is another Plebe at USMA who graduated from the same Catholic high school and did a year of ROTC at a civilian university before reapplying.
 
DD's high school currently has 9 mids at USNA, 3 cadets at USAFA, at least 2 at West Point, and 1 at USCGA.
The school graduates about 120 kids per year.
So about 3% of grads in the past 4 years have gone to service academies.
 
DD's high school currently has 9 mids at USNA, 3 cadets at USAFA, at least 2 at West Point, and 1 at USCGA.
The school graduates about 120 kids per year.
So about 3% of grads in the past 4 years have gone to service academies.
Very impressive!

We used to live in a semi-large town with a very large public high school. Class sizes were approximately 800 -850 per class. My DD had friends that attended that public school and as far as I am aware, that public school only sent 3 other students to any of the academies in the past 5 years. 1 to WP and 1 to USAFA and 1 to USNA.
 
I think part of these clusters is having a guidance counseling office that is prepared to assist kids--once the kids are aware that the service academies exist and could be open to them.
 
Most high schools around the country have at least a few kids who would be great candidates if they chose to seek an accademy appointment, but most of the kids who are both real good athletes and very good students who got high ACT/SAT scores think to do other things, and may not even know what the Academies are about. Some schools are full of kids who couldn't tell you a thing about service academies, and their parents are equally as uninformed. Other schools have had a few kids at accademys, and it's a very popular option, so the top well rounded students apply, with many getting appointments. It's mostly a matter of understanding, and either a regional area gets it or doesn't.

My son is the first kid from his HS in 25 years to go to West Point, but another kid who is a senior this year will be attending next year, likely in part to my son being appointed a couple years ago, and people becoming more aware. It's not like having three sets of triplets all at the same school. Lol.
 
a little off the wall here but we all know the difficulty in gaining admission to an academy. There are of course many variables such as competitive district, etc. But I was wondering about school success stories. For example, the small Catholic grade school in Illinois that my DS graduated from now has 2 attending West Point and one in the Naval Academy at the same time. One is a Firstie at WP, the other is a Jr at Navy, and DS is a plebe at WP.

The school has only about 24 kids per graduating class so out of a 4 year pool of about 100 kids. 3 made it into academies! That seems extraordinary to me but I suspect there are other schools as well with similar success stories. I am not sure how to really quantify the odds of that but just curious?

I know some families have had 2-3 kids in simultaneously at a time which also strikes me as pretty rare
It's not about "odds" but the focus and discipline some children have at their respective schools and homes compared to other "schools" and "homes". Big differences. Would also add that the politics of the community plays a big part as well. Some are very anti-military compared to others that celebrate our armed forces.
 
Most on this forum would be amazed to realize how many people including guidance counselors are completely unaware of what service academies are all about. On the other hand, some high schools have a long tradition of sending students to service academies.

My DD is the first graduate from her school (all women) to ever apply to a SA, but the sister school (all male) has been sending 2-3 graduates every year to the various service academies for years. Now my DD's high school has a pipeline of 5-7 young women that are at least exploring the opportunity. And this is a small school that traditionally sends graduates to other top ranked schools across the country.

My impression is that some schools are 'over represented' (not a bad thing) for the following reasons: (1) Students are aware of the opportunity (2) Guidance counselors can properly advise the students from early on how to prepare and doing little things like making sure they are the ones that get sent to Boys/Girls State (3) Service Academies have a track record of successful appointees they admit from these schools. (And I don't doubt MOC's have the same type of opinion of certain schools vs others)

Just little things like getting the Math/English teacher to complete their recommendations - if they have done it before (or the guidance counselor can coach them) the process simply goes smoother.

USAFA and USNA (and I don't doubt USMA as well) have programs where they invite guidance counselors to visit and go through a couple of days of seminars on what they are looking for and the overall admissions process.

And if you realized how few people know what USMA, USNA, USAFA are - that number drops significantly if you also include USMMA and USCGA. So the schools that do send students to the SA's have a much higher likelihood of sending more because students/faculty are aware of the opportunity and it becomes self fulfilling when people wonder why one school seems to have more than it's 'fair share' of students attend SAs.
 
Most on this forum would be amazed to realize how many people including guidance counselors are completely unaware of what service academies are all about. On the other hand, some high schools have a long tradition of sending students to service academies.

My DD is the first graduate from her school (all women) to ever apply to a SA, but the sister school (all male) has been sending 2-3 graduates every year to the various service academies for years. Now my DD's high school has a pipeline of 5-7 young women that are at least exploring the opportunity. And this is a small school that traditionally sends graduates to other top ranked schools across the country.

My impression is that some schools are 'over represented' (not a bad thing) for the following reasons: (1) Students are aware of the opportunity (2) Guidance counselors can properly advise the students from early on how to prepare and doing little things like making sure they are the ones that get sent to Boys/Girls State (3) Service Academies have a track record of successful appointees they admit from these schools. (And I don't doubt MOC's have the same type of opinion of certain schools vs others)

Just little things like getting the Math/English teacher to complete their recommendations - if they have done it before (or the guidance counselor can coach them) the process simply goes smoother.

USAFA and USNA (and I don't doubt USMA as well) have programs where they invite guidance counselors to visit and go through a couple of days of seminars on what they are looking for and the overall admissions process.

And if you realized how few people know what USMA, USNA, USAFA are - that number drops significantly if you also include USMMA and USCGA. So the schools that do send students to the SA's have a much higher likelihood of sending more because students/faculty are aware of the opportunity and it becomes self fulfilling when people wonder why one school seems to have more than it's 'fair share' of students attend SAs.
This, exactly!
 
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