Ugly!
ScreenRant was the first major publication I came across in my research to give Star Trek: Starfleet Academy a truly “rotten” score at 5 out of 10 stars. The sister site of Collider wrote in its headline: “The kids are just okay in [creator] Gaia Violo's school-set comedy-drama." Now, it's true publications sometimes have a penchant for writing click-bait-esque headlines to draw in readers, so here’s a bit of context from the actual review to support SR’s rotten rating. The writer bolstered their viewpoint by saying:
“[Showrunners] Kurtzman and Landau seem pulled between wanting to service the ethos of the Trek franchise and the nuts and bolts of a school-set comedy in the vein of The Sex Life of College Girls. The premise of the show has a neighboring 'War College' which houses, well, militaristic cadets more interested in battle. But the interaction between these residents too often feels like something ripped from Harry Potter [another Wizarding World reference] in the way the different colored-houses duke it out for social supremacy.”
Meanwhile, TV Guide’s 6.5 rating isn’t nearly as bad as ScreenRant’s score. The well-respected TV Guide wrote in its headline: “Star Trek meets college drama in this fun but frustrating series.” However, the ugliest review I could find when the embargo dropped was from Static Media’s Looper brand. The publication scores Starfleet Academy a mere 4 out of 10 stars! An excerpt from the unfavorable review reads as follows:
“Many of the plots and lessons learned tie back to decades of lore across several spin-off series and movies. Rather than a back-to-basics reintroduction, it's a 'Star Trek For Dummies' manual which is adamant about reminding returning fans that it hasn't forgotten about them and will offer up as many nostalgic side plots centered around former characters and adventures as possible so they don't mistake this for the soft reboot it should have been.”