<p>'85 - you nailed it. </p>
<p>It IS very important @ USNA because the institution IS one of those selective few and because it’s national/international in prospects. So the standardized test becomes a common thread to all applicants and it becomes a convenient, credible, much-needed selection hair-splitter that is independently administered and is found useful when an insitution has 10-14K applicants geographically dispersed, virtually all of whom are physically, academically, and medically fit, host a gazillion athletic letters and ECs, and whose parents vote.</p>
<p>And the real bottom line is … it doesn’t matter what we think. Like the tests, hate 'em. Wishful thinking is wasted thinking. The USNA looks at them hard, and keeps close tabs on every one of those 10-14K kiddoes and their scores. So no sense fretting over those things one cannot control.</p>