Do cadets actually outrank non-commissioned officers?

A cadet is just that, a cadet. This means he/she hasn't graduated yet, hasn't taken the oath yet, and has not been given/granted a commission yet. That being said, it does NOT mean that you deny them military customs and courtesies.

As noted by two other commenters who are both senior SNCO's, regulations dictate that they do some authority. But if their superiors/instructors/college professors have done them any favors, they've taught the cadets to not lock horns with a Sgt. or above. For Cpl's. and below, (those of us who are intelligent and we know what's good for us), we know better than to lock horns with a senior cadet, and we render them proper military customs, courtesies, and respect.

That being said, the few cadets I encountered, (I don't know if they were junior, or senior), were while we were at sea, and they were all pretty quiet. Probably the reason I didn't have any problems with them, was because I made way for them, and called them "sir".

A cadet is essentially equivalent to an E-5. I was prior-enlisted and made specialist prior to being a cadet… when mobilized with my unit for Desert Shield/Storm, they appointed me as an E-5 Ops SGT.

I was a cadet back in the 1960s. I'm quite sure we cadets were actually E-1s until commission. In fact, I have my honorable discharge certificate as a PVT E-1 dated the same month I received my commission. There was never any pretense we outranked anything or anybody other than other, more junior cadets!

To add to the yes, but answers. Once had a cadet show up to my unit, that had once been once of my soldiers that I (we) count martialed (sic) out of the Army. He showed up to my unit made a beeline for me and started trying to Throw his weight around. In less than 2 hours he was back on a bus headed back to the university of Florida ( or something of that nature) to be released from any and all ROTC/military programs.

They are higher in the chain of command...in a unit...but they don't really have a higher "rank." They are there to LEARN, and part of learning is being told STFU by a full bird, lol...and they can be ordered to be subordinate to the NCO for learning.
Also...they are higher than OCS candidates, despite ROTC being E5 and OCS being E6. So odd.
The real lesson is for you, as an officer, that you need to give them the wisdom of knowing when they need to be silent instead of boasting. Because claiming to outrank an NCO is hubris, and ask them WHY they are saying that, in that moment. What is the PURPOSE of the statement? Saying a fact just to state a fact is rarely a worthy purpose.

They get paid as e5 or e6. So depending on the NCO rank. Some need a reality check which is quite funny to see go down by senior NCO's.

Maybe in LaLa land, but NO way

Cadets are not Active Military, remember President Trump was a Cadet who chose Business over Military, they deserve all the respect of a Civilian going to a Military University and some day they may choose to join the Miliary. Follow SGT Tracy's advice.

No, a cadet does not out rank any enlisted personnel. They do not out rank any until they graduate and receive their commission as an Officer. They will try, but it never works. I know this because my brigade/Squadron was in charge of the summer training for the Juniors and Seniors at West Point in 2015.

I know when I was serving on a Reserve Ship we would get cadets showing up every once in awhile. I believe the ones I had working for me as an E-5 filling the billet for EMO or Electronics Material Officer/ Senior ET were first or 2nd year. they wore the same dungarees as I did. I always had a fan room to be painted or some sh*t job that needed to get done and I looked at it as when they made it to the fleet as an 01 they were going to return the favor to some poor seaman and I wanted them to know how it felt. I never had the cadets in kakis but I'm relatively sure the CPO's had there fun as well.