Each Service Academy will select preparatory cadets and offer them scholarships to attend various prep schools nationally. A candidate must be a United States citizen, at least 17 and not yet 23 years old on July 1st of the admission year to the academy. High school students must have applied to the service specific academies. Prep school selections begin in the spring of the candidate’s senior year and continue until the scholarships are filled. The academies will contact the candidate – the candidate does not initiate the process.