<p>RaptorDad2013: What you have reported is interesting. The USAFA must be different from the other academies. For the other 4 academies (USMA, USNA,USCGA,USMMA) the academic portion of the whole candiodate score is usually caculated using high school rank and ACT/SAT English and Math scores. USMA gives almost equal weight to the English and Math portion of the ACT/SAT scores, while USNA, USCGA and USMMA give at least double the weight to the math score. Note that this is on standardised tests not on the subject courses taken at school.
Good luck to your son, It is great that he is taking the initiative in the admissions process. One caution would be that there are so many factors that are not within a candidates control (eg medical issues and DodMerb)when applying to an academy that even the academies strongly urge candidates to have a good plan B.</p>