<p>thank you USNA69 for explaining the purpose of the prep programs. i have a question which bounces around in my head which doesn’t make so much sense. so from what i have gathered, some of which you have said, there are 3Q/fully qualified candidates and there are not. If you are 3Q and determined to be cream of the crop, you are picked up by USNA. hurray! If you are not the cream of the crop, you can’t be offered prep, so it’s “so long, get on with your life, and come back and see us next year if you are still interested”. if you are less qualified than the 3Q (by definition!) then you might be offered prep and a GUARANTEE of admission to USNA if you successfully get through prep, while those “more qualified” 3Q (again, by definition) that didn’t get an offer, are a bit worse off.</p>
<p>furthermore, among those 2Q/1Q that get prep, you’ve said you observe both NAPS and Foundation students are excellent, except that Foundation students are slightly stronger academically. so then those who are slightly weaker academically are getting the “free-ride” at what you are saying is a better prep program (NAPS) and those who are academically slightly stronger are getting a 3rd tier prep program (Foundation) where their parents have to bear some of the cost?</p>
<p>so based on what i’ve read even in just this thread, i would rank the sort of “deals” these different “excellent” students are getting in the following way.</p>
<p>Deal quality:
3Q fully qualified but not cream of the crop (so long and thanks for all the fish) < 1Q/2Q slightly stronger academically (Foundation w/ pseudo-guarantee) < 1Q/2Q slightly weaker academically (NAPS w/ guarantee) < 3Q cream of the crop (USNA- hurray!)</p>
<p>so what is wrong with this picture? the only part of this that makes sense to me is the part where 3Q cream of the crop are getting the best deal by getting admitted right away. lol. someone explain to me the “Navy logic” in the rest of this! you can start with explaining why “fully qualified” students are sent off to fend for themselves and get on with their life, but not-fully qualified and academically weaker students are given a free ride and a guarantee at NAPS! i’m not getting this.</p>