Are service academies like West Point considered prestigious?

[Anonymous]

Yes, they are extremely prestigious. Did you really not know that, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe not as prestigious as Harvard and Yale, but up there with Penn and Brown?

More prestigious than any of those. I could not be more proud if one of my kids accepted an academy appointment. The rest are just another college.

The service academies require a letter of recommendation from a senator. Not so the Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like to an average layman? Maybe not as prestigious as Harvard and Yale, but up there with Penn and Brown? Just curious. This really impressive great-at-everything senior boy in our son’s school is heading to one and I sense parents are not impressed. And most kids don’t seem to have a clue what a service academy is, how selectivity, process of getting in, and commitment. I honestly think most sort of conflate it with just enlisting?

Even the average layman understands the service academies are the most prestigious in the land. Anyone who has enlisted understands the prestige of a service academy.

[Anonymous]

They require a Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senatorial, or Congressional nomination. You also need to qualify academically, medically and physically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They require a Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senatorial, or Congressional nomination. You also need to qualify academically, medically and physically.

And the nomination is something you apply for. You have to write an essay, send transcripts and test scores, and if you make it through the first round, you have an interview with a committee of citizens who are knowledgeable about the service academies. This is in addition to your application to the school itself. It’s quite a tough process to get to point of getting an acceptance to a service academy.

[Anonymous]

Average SAT at West Point and AFA is about 1300. Lower at USNA. Not nearly as difficult to get into as an Ivy or any hyper-elite college. Great schools and much respect to the kind of kid who makes the commitment but not nearly the same level of academic performers.

Have at me. (If it helps, I did earn a congressional nomination to the AFA but was denied due to a failed color blindness test. I had no clue I was color blind. It hurt but I would’ve made a lousy cadet. Couldn’t get out of bed. )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This post really bothers me. Are you kidding? How do people not know that these schools are some of our best and brightest.

Our school systems have completely failed.

I’d guess less than 5% of teens could even name one US military academy, so of course most aren’t going to know how selective or associate prestige? But everyone knows Harvard and Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post really bothers me. Are you kidding? How do people not know that these schools are some of our best and brightest.

Our school systems have completely failed.

I’d guess less than 5% of teens could even name one US military academy, so of course most aren’t going to know how selective or associate prestige? But everyone knows Harvard and Yale.

Certainly Maryland high school students should know the Naval Academy. Do the students not take history? West Point comes up a lot in history discussions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post really bothers me. Are you kidding? How do people not know that these schools are some of our best and brightest.

Our school systems have completely failed.

I’d guess less than 5% of teens could even name one US military academy, so of course most aren’t going to know how selective or associate prestige? But everyone knows Harvard and Yale.

Certainly Maryland high school students should know the Naval Academy. Do the students not take history? West Point comes up a lot in history discussions.

Well the poster above named one (the US military academy is the proper name of West Point - military meaning the land forces as distinct from naval forces).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Average SAT at West Point and AFA is about 1300. Lower at USNA. Not nearly as difficult to get into as an Ivy or any hyper-elite college. Great schools and much respect to the kind of kid who makes the commitment but not nearly the same level of academic performers.

Have at me. (If it helps, I did earn a congressional nomination to the AFA but was denied due to a failed color blindness test. I had no clue I was color blind. It hurt but I would’ve made a lousy cadet. Couldn’t get out of bed. )

I also noted that the SAT are surprisingly low compared to the reputations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This post really bothers me. Are you kidding? How do people not know that these schools are some of our best and brightest.

Our school systems have completely failed.

I’d guess less than 5% of teens could even name one US military academy, so of course most aren’t going to know how selective or associate prestige? But everyone knows Harvard and Yale.

Thankfully, PP, I think you're wrong about this. I think many teens would know the service academies.

[Anonymous]

West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy - all TOP NOTCH. They are equal outcomes to Harvard, etc. ...Now, they don't necessarily appeal to the same crowd, nor do they produce paths that look the same. But they are both tippy-top outcomes, and the young men and women who achieve these outcomes deserve our respect, as they are part of the group creating the future for America.

[Anonymous]

No only if you are middle class or poor.

[Anonymous]

They are extremely prestigious, with good reason.

— Harvard and MIT grad

[Anonymous]

https://m.facebook.com/CBSSports/videos/10155491432961773/