What constitutes a candidate for prep school?

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seb.g.b

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I know that prep school is for people that have an extra year if prep before going to the NA, however I was wondering what classifies a candidate to be eligible for it? I'm aware it's for people who are generally lower on academics but what do they mean by that? For example, what if your GPA is on the lower end (3.3/3.4ish UW) but you have a 1500 sat. Since your grades are low, but your sat is high, would they consider you for Usna prep school?
 
seb.g.b said:
I know that prep school is for people that have an extra year if prep before going to the NA, however I was wondering what classifies a candidate to be eligible for it? I'm aware it's for people who are generally lower on academics but what do they mean by that? For example, what if your GPA is on the lower end (3.3/3.4ish UW) but you have a 1500 sat. Since your grades are low, but your sat is high, would they consider you for Usna prep school?
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Would you benefit from an extra year in Precalc/Calc and/or Chemistry and/or Physics .... more or less, what is your record from HS in these subjects?

Btw ... there students who arrived with very decent SATs at NAPS. .... if you are there, and if you happen to arrive with a low SAT score, then you will be required to retake the board exams to improve.
 
USNA offers NAPS to candidates they really want to see in the next cycle’s class, which could be for any number of reasons. They believe the candidate may not be ready for, usually, the academic rigor and challenges of full-immersion military life. There may be other reasons a candidate is offered NAPS or a USNA Foundation Scholarship. There is no way to know or quantify exact thresholds. If the candidate successfully completes NAPS, remains eligible in all other requirements, obtains a nom for that cycle, they can pretty much count on a seat in that next class.

There is truly no use in expending time or energy on this issue, except to rejoice if offered and grab that golden ticket. The SAs use prep school as a polishing tool to meet various requirements, and it’s by definition a dynamic decision matrix.
 
One of many reasons can be a great student from a crappy high school. Candidate doing his/her best but in an environment that isn't preparing him/her for success at USNA.
 
Dr. Strange Love said:
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Would you benefit from an extra year in Precalc/Calc and/or Chemistry and/or Physics .... more or less, what is your record from HS in these subjects?

Btw ... there students who arrived with very decent SATs at NAPS. .... if you are there, and if you happen to arrive with a low SAT score, then you will be required to retake the board exams to improve.
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Throughout high school I took all honors/APs in sciences and math. Got an average B/B+ in them.
 
usna1985 said:
One of many reasons can be a great student from a crappy high school. Candidate doing his/her best but in an environment that isn't preparing him/her for success at USNA.
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What about the opposite? A school that's really tough and prepares students well enough for college but someone that's doing mediocre in it? Like they're not failing, but it's not like they have straight A's.
 
Agree with above comments. Perhaps a historical perspective will help answer the OP's question... NAPS was created to offer a pathway for high-achieving sailors from the fleet and Marines from the Corps to prepare for the academic rigor of the Academy. Later, with the Academy's athletic aspirations, NAPS was expanded to allow promising civilian athletes to prepare for the academic challenge of plebe year at the USNA. Eventually, NAPS was further expanded to include civilian non-athlete applicants who demonstrate exemplary leadership potential but who may also require academic preparation for the Academy, with an emphasis on diversity applicants.
 
seb.g.b said:
What about the opposite? A school that's really tough and prepares students well enough for college but someone that's doing mediocre in it? Like they're not failing, but it's not like they have straight A's./QUOTE]

Alot of good answers here, and the variety of responses demonstrates that there is no single factor. I like to explain it as that Admissions sees something special in the applicant, but recognizes they are just not quire ready for prime time yet.

As to the query regarding the applicant that is doing mediocre in a tough school, the question I would ask is why are they doing mediocre when there are likely other people who are excelling ? USNA is looking for candidates that will excel in a rigorous academic environment, not just do "well enough" to get by.
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What about the opposite? A school that's really tough and prepares students well enough for college but someone that's doing mediocre in it? Like they're not failing, but it's not like they have straight A's
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In my experience, this person would not be a candidate for NAPS/Foundation and may have trouble getting in period.
 
With some exceptions, the majority of Napsters are either recruited athletes or underrepresented ethnic groups.
 
Kierkegaard said:
With some exceptions, the majority of Napsters are either recruited athletes or underrepresented ethnic groups.
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This is not accurate. The NAPS mission is to help quality candidates who may not measure up academically and/or physically, but clearly have the right stuff to succeed at USNA. Some of them may be athletes and underrepresented ethnic groups, but that is certainly not the majority.


NAPS Web Page said:
The mission of the Naval Academy Preparatory School is to enhance midshipman candidates' moral, mental, and physical foundations to prepare them for success at the U.S. Naval Academy. The mission of the Naval Academy Preparatory School is to enhance midshipman candidates' moral, mental, and physical foundations to prepare them for success at the U.S. Naval Academy.

The ten-month course of instruction at NAPS, lasting from August through May, emphasizes preparation in English Composition, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, and Information Technology.
Demanding military, physical, and character development programs complement the academic preparation to fully prepare students for the challenges of life at a service academy.
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there are far more recruited athletes at NAPS than sailors from the Fleet. combined, athletes and fleet sailors make up the majority of NAPS students

the remainder are chosen for NAPS for a variety of reasons as stated in above posts
 
THParent said:
This is not accurate. The NAPS mission is to help quality candidates who may not measure up academically and/or physically, but clearly have the right stuff to succeed at USNA. Some of them may be athletes and underrepresented ethnic groups, but that is certainly not the majority.



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It’s correct that the official mission of NAPS doesn’t mention underrepresented demographics or athletics. But from a mid’s perspective, yeah those definitely are the majority of napsters. They are small enough in number that most mids know most of the napsters in their class. I’d say recruited athletes, ethnic minorities, plus the prior enlisted mids make up over 80% of the napsters here.
 
Kierkegaard said:
It’s correct that the official mission of NAPS doesn’t mention underrepresented demographics or athletics. But from a mid’s perspective, yeah those definitely are the majority of napsters. They are small enough in number that most mids know most of the napsters in their class. I’d say recruited athletes, ethnic minorities, plus the prior enlisted mids make up over 80% of the napsters here.
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We were just there in Newport for parents weekend 9-21/22. The Prep football team also played a team from NY that Saturday at NAPS.

Honestly, the Student population there is very demographically representative of the U.S. ..... In fact, Commanding Officer Captain Howes made that point clear at the I-day “Send-off” ceremony on July 23rd when we dropped our daughter off and said our goodbyes ....He said look around the auditorium. He was proud of the normalized distribution.

The football program printout showed about 50 Prep players. A lot of them were sidelined. I would guess there are 60 or 70 more athletes there. There are about 35 from the fleet. So, that’s about 160 Athletes/Fleet together.

There are 263 at NAPS this year. So Athletes/Fleet are about 160/263, or about 60% I would guess.
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Old Navy .... We have vacationed in Newport 3 times already, the 1st time back in April for daughters post appointment acceptance get acquainted visit …. Man, it is cold in April.

I can tell you my wife loves the place. We are members of the Newport Preservation Society now. The Gilded Age mansions are something to behold. They are worth preserving. We will probably make Newport a regular vacation.

The pace is a lot slower there than around here in NoVA, Md, and Annapolis. It is a vacation town.

Have you been to Anthony's seafood market and restaurant over in Middletown? The locals go there. Great seafood for a great price.
 
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Dr. Strange Love said:
Man, it is cold in April.
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Trust me, It's a lot colder in January/February, particularly when wearing the enlisted issue Peacoat. (The USNA Reefer is a lot warmer!).

My inlaws live just up the Coast a bit, and youngest daughter went to college down the Coast in Connecticut, so I get back to the area a bit. Haven't really spent much time in Middletown since my NAPS days. (There was a bar there we used to go to...probably long gone).
 
DS spent a year at one of the prep schools because our state has a Pentagon-wide reputation of the poor quality of high schools in our city.
 
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