I watched the first two episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and have to say: it’s better than I expected!
But—and this is a big BUT—it doesn’t really feel like Star Trek. At its core, it’s more of a classic high school or college series. Comparable to formats such as Beverly Hills 90210, Fame, or even Glee. It leans heavily in that direction, including all the typical elements and stereotypes of such series.

For example, there is a misfit who only gets into the academy thanks to the personal support of the principal, who also acts as a mentor. Or a student who was taught exclusively at home and is now completely overwhelmed socially in the „big“ world. Foreign exchange students, overachievers, students with family traditions, love stories—even the violent stepfather who threatens the entire school is not missing.
In short: all stereotypes that are already (all too) familiar from classic high school and college series. 

This is complemented by the stereotypes of the teaching staff: teachers who stubbornly teach according to the manual are contrasted with those who embody the exact opposite—for them, feelings and intuition are more important than textbook knowledge. The principal, on the other hand, tries to be fair to everyone, but at the decisive moment intervenes in favor of her mentee.
Here, too, all the motifs are familiar from classic high school and college series. 

And that’s the core problem: as a pure high school or college series, it works. And it works really well—better than I expected. But it’s not Star Trek!
And as a fan since TOS days, that hurts. With minimal adjustments, the series could just as well be set in any other time period—the present, the 80s, the 70s, it doesn’t matter—the Star Trek background seems more like a superimposed setting than a necessary framework for the content.

The decision not to use the Next Generation timeline, for example, but instead to use the timeline after Discovery (32nd century), doesn’t necessarily help the series either. Instead of creating familiarity and depth, it reinforces the feeling that a well-known brand world is simply being used to tell an otherwise very conventional story. There is so much more fan service that could be incorporated: the Name Wall, the Doctor, Peanut Hamper, etc. 

I will continue to watch the remaining episodes, but not as a Star Trek series, but rather as a high school or college series. Under this premise, it works for me.

BTW: My favorite characters (so far) are Genesis Lythe and Lura Thok. The latter is extremely reminiscent of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket—surely no coincidence…