Independent service academy guidance
Your road to a service academy, step by step.
Sourced guides to all five academies, a grade-by-grade roadmap, nomination deadlines for every state. Reminder emails are coming soon.
The Naval Academy and the Severn River from the air, October 2012. Photo: U.S. Navy (National Museum of the U.S. Navy) via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (U.S. government work).
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Five schools. Five very different callings.
Compare side by side
U.S. Naval Academy
A four-year college on the Severn River. Graduates become Navy ensigns or Marine Corps second lieutenants.
U.S. Military Academy (West Point)
Founded in 1802 on the Hudson River. Graduates are commissioned as Army second lieutenants.
U.S. Air Force Academy
At the foot of the Rampart Range. Graduates are commissioned in the Air Force or Space Force.
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
The only academy with no nomination step. Graduates are commissioned as Coast Guard ensigns.
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
On Long Island Sound. Midshipmen spend a Sea Year aboard commercial ships before graduating.
Photo credits
The Naval Academy and the Severn River from the air, October 2012. Photo: U.S. Navy (National Museum of the U.S. Navy) via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (U.S. government work). · West Point and the Hudson River from the air, 2013. Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. · USAFA Cadet Chapel, August 2019. Photo: Anthony Quintano via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. · Hamilton Hall at the Coast Guard Academy, July 2008. Photo: US Coast Guard Academy via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. · USMMA campus, Kings Point, August 2022. Photo: AITFFan1 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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By the numbers: acceptance rates
Official figures only, each with its class year and source.
Each academy counts applicants differently, so these aren’t a direct comparison. How each rate is counted
The roadmap
Know what to do this year, and what comes next.
From 10th-grade courses to fitness-test prep, summer seminars, nominations and medical exams, every step is tied to the official page that says so.
- Grade-by-grade checklist from sophomore year to reporting day
- Class of 2031 month-by-month timeline
- Where official sources disagree, we show both
Junior year · this month
1 of 4 done
Nominations
Every state. Every office. One place.
Four of the five academies require a nomination. Our guide lists the senators’ and representatives’ academy pages for all 50 states, D.C. and the territories, with the deadline we found and the date we checked.
U.S. Senator
Senator’s office
U.S. Representative · District 2
Representative’s office
Vice President
Vice Presidential nomination
Go deeper
Every number links to the official page it came from, with the class year it describes.
Admissions data
Applicants, offers, class sizes and profiles, with each academy’s own definitions.
Life after you get in
The first summer, each year’s training and duties, and when the commitment becomes binding.
Rankings
What each publisher says, with the edition year, and which lists leave the academies out.
Summer seminars
Dates, costs and windows for each academy’s program for high school juniors.
Compare academies
Deadlines, requirements, fitness tests and service commitments in one table.
Reminder
2 weeks left: your representative’s nomination deadline
Your District 2 office lists a deadline of Oct 23. Here’s what the page asks for, and the official link.
Reminders · coming soon
Never miss a deadline.
Coming soon: pick your academies and state, and we’ll email you before applications open, nomination deadlines close and summer program windows shut. No trackers, and a parent’s consent for students under 18.
No one can guarantee an appointment. Only the academies decide.