West Point or Air Force or Navy academies? Anyone with experiences to share?

[Anonymous]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/naval-academy-banned-books.html?smtyp=cur&smid=bsky-nytimes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting that link. Sad that any of the academies would be forced to compile such a list. Your caviler dismissal of this as DEI is equally sad and misleading.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your child want to go to a school that gets rid of books about the holocaust and slavery, but keeps Mein Kampf ?

Any year prior to this, I would have encouraged an academy. These are not normal times.

-two academy grads in our family

DEI books were removed. They did not remove a book about the Holocaust, but rather a gender studies book that looks at how Holocaust memorials represent gender. Here are the books that were removed. Big deal. - Academy Grad

https://media.defense.gov/2025/Apr/04/2003683009/-1/-1/0/250404-LIST%20OF%20REMOVED%20BOOKS%20FROM%20NIMITZ%20LIBRARY.PDF

I agree it’s sad that they had to do it. But this is where the last 4 years left us.

F off fascist. We beat you in WWII and we’ll do it again.

[Anonymous]

DCUM has the most insane takes on service academies lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM has the most insane takes on service academies lol

Most people who’ve weighed in said nothing insane and listed pros and cons along with some tips. Perfectly reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned the Coast Guard Academy. You don’t need a nomination and to me it seems the safest branch of the military to be in .

Both Coast Guard Academy and Merchant Marine Academy are hidden gems. No nomination is required for Coast Guard. You need a nomination for Merchant Marine but it's usually much easier than the other 3 service academies.

Good point. Technically, these are Uniformed Services rather than military, but the point is a good one.

The smallest uniformed service, btw, is the NOAA Corps. Merchant Marine academy would be a very good option for that path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your student has had an IEP / 504, inhaler, EpiPen or any other condition you have to mark on a school form they will be medically ineligible.

This varies by service and by the specialty. AFROTC is often more relaxed about medical requirements for folks in engineering billets or in cryptologic billets. NROTC's Marine option likely is the least flexible about medical anomalies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Air Force and navy are harder and treat their folks better active duty. Their bases are generally much nicer.

Agree about USAF.

Every Navy base I have worked aboard, and it has been several, was basically a dump. We jokes that if something does not float or fly, then the Navy will not spend money on it. Navy does generally have a well trained galley and good food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for posting that link. Sad that any of the academies would be forced to compile such a list. Your caviler dismissal of this as DEI is equally sad and misleading.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your child want to go to a school that gets rid of books about the holocaust and slavery, but keeps Mein Kampf ?

Any year prior to this, I would have encouraged an academy. These are not normal times.

-two academy grads in our family

DEI books were removed. They did not remove a book about the Holocaust, but rather a gender studies book that looks at how Holocaust memorials represent gender. Here are the books that were removed. Big deal. - Academy Grad

https://media.defense.gov/2025/Apr/04/2003683009/-1/-1/0/250404-LIST%20OF%20REMOVED%20BOOKS%20FROM%20NIMITZ%20LIBRARY.PDF

I agree it’s sad that they had to do it. But this is where the last 4 years left us.

F off fascist. We beat you in WWII and we’ll do it again.

When you say “we” you mean you are one of the 1940s Americans who, I have been assured, were awful racists and misogynists, guilty of lynching and Jim Crow at home as well as many war crimes like Hiroshima and firebombing Tokyo. You’re one of those guys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Air Force and navy are harder and treat their folks better active duty. Their bases are generally much nicer.

In the Navy it’s not the quality of the bases that affect your QOL so much as the fact you’ll have to spend a lot of time on a ship or submarine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have absolutely no shot at getting into an academy from this area, don't even bother unless you know a Senator.

Lots of great ROTC programs. VirginianTech has the Core Cadet program that is like an academy.

Not true. The Senators evaluate the entire package and nominate that way. Close friend’s child got in without knowing any Senators. Just went through the regular process. It’s a bit cumbersome but he’s athletic and has high stats.

USMA requires 5 year military commitment and is intense. Structured but great opp for the right student.

+1 I’m genuinely curious why people on here insist on answering about matters they clearly have little knowledge.

LOL okie dokie. Husband is military and has to evaluate the people applying to the service academies. He doesn't have the heart to tell the parents or kids how they have no shot. This is one of the most competitive areas given the heavy military presence. I assume that the OP has no military ties so doesn't know this fact. Ask any of your military friends with kids. They know.

[Anonymous]

I would not apply unless I was looking forward to deployment anywhere.

[Anonymous]

OP - my ds is a USNA grad who commissioned into the Marines and currently in flight school in Pensacola. He was also a recruited athlete from the DMV. He had lots of options for college, but was dead set on Annapolis. His service commitment is 5 years, plus 2-3 years from flight training. I don’t know if he has any sense of whether or not he will continue to serve beyond his commitment.

I would say he enjoyed his time in Annapolis and really enjoyed his sport. Your son should go through the application process and will likely get an invitation from his coach for an official visit. This will gives you a chance to interact with the coach and team, as well as attend classes and spend some time on “the Yard”.

The summer seminar is also a good option, but my ds didn’t do it because of his sport. I agree with the previous poster to check out the service academy forum. It has tons of info and advice for all Academies. There are several job fairs every year for academy grads that have finished their commitment and want to move into the private sector. The list of employers is quite impressive. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have absolutely no shot at getting into an academy from this area, don't even bother unless you know a Senator.

Lots of great ROTC programs. VirginianTech has the Core Cadet program that is like an academy.

Not true. The Senators evaluate the entire package and nominate that way. Close friend’s child got in without knowing any Senators. Just went through the regular process. It’s a bit cumbersome but he’s athletic and has high stats.

USMA requires 5 year military commitment and is intense. Structured but great opp for the right student.

+1 I’m genuinely curious why people on here insist on answering about matters they clearly have little knowledge.

LOL okie dokie. Husband is military and has to evaluate the people applying to the service academies. He doesn't have the heart to tell the parents or kids how they have no shot. This is one of the most competitive areas given the heavy military presence. I assume that the OP has no military ties so doesn't know this fact. Ask any of your military friends with kids. They know.

Based on who is getting appointments and admission from FCPS publics, this year is markedly easier than the last four years. Draw your own conclusions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ds is being recruited for a sport. Academically he’s a math and science kid with some interest on in medical school.

Alternatively does anyone have experience with ROTC?

Btw if you know little or nothing about this world, other than military = bad, please do not bother responding.

you'll get much better info from the service academies forum

Where is that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have absolutely no shot at getting into an academy from this area, don't even bother unless you know a Senator.

Lots of great ROTC programs. VirginianTech has the Core Cadet program that is like an academy.

Not true. The Senators evaluate the entire package and nominate that way. Close friend’s child got in without knowing any Senators. Just went through the regular process. It’s a bit cumbersome but he’s athletic and has high stats.

USMA requires 5 year military commitment and is intense. Structured but great opp for the right student.

+1 I’m genuinely curious why people on here insist on answering about matters they clearly have little knowledge.

LOL okie dokie. Husband is military and has to evaluate the people applying to the service academies. He doesn't have the heart to tell the parents or kids how they have no shot. This is one of the most competitive areas given the heavy military presence. I assume that the OP has no military ties so doesn't know this fact. Ask any of your military friends with kids. They know.

Based on who is getting appointments and admission from FCPS publics, this year is markedly easier than the last four years. Draw your own conclusions.

You assume wrong. I am constantly amazed at how petty and excited to shoot people down the crowd on here is. People consistently jump to assume the worst so they can dumb on others. Rather gross. First, we are not from DMV. Second, I have 4 USAF family connections and two Navy family connections (albeit new, my family was entirely USAF until these two). No one went to West Point however, other than some family friends kids we don’t know as well. And the USAF family are now in their late 20s and early 30s (and one is older and now flies for an airline) so I was posting on here to gather more current experiences. Third, Ds is being recruited. He/we are very aware of the physical restrictions and requirements. He is a fairly talented athlete, although not going pro obviously, and he’s not being recruited for table tennis. We are also aware of the nom process. Again, ds is a recruited athlete. He has already been to West Point on invited visits from coaches. He is going to USAF this summer for a session. Finally, he is not a regular private school or public school kid. He is coming from a fairly strict high school environment. Obviously this would be different, but he’s an extremely disciplined kid already and I can only assume he’s being recruited not only because of his sport but also bc the coaches have some familiarity with his school environment and know the kids from there have a decent chance of handling it.



I was asking for people’s experiences, not a list of all the reasons my kid has no shot. His admission chances are what they are, thanks.