Why choose West Point?
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Anonymous
Friend, this particular thread is about the United States service academies which develop, by definition, practice, and history, students to become commissioned officers in one of this country's military service branches. These are not regional schools by any measure and discussing them on a regional forum doesn't change their essence. |
Anonymous
PP's argument makes no sense when you consider that a certain number of students are nominated and admitted from each state. And it's not just about being the top of the class. The top of the class may be obese and unable to pass the fitness assessment. The top of the class may take have taken a medication. The top of the class may not have played sports of demonstrated leadership. The top of the class may have no interest in being in the military! |
Anonymous
That is the assessment students take when applying to USMA. There is a bar to pass for admission. That is not the ACFT (mentioned above) that cadets take at least twice per year to assess fitness. Physical fitness is taken into account for branch selection for Active Duty. Merely passing is not going to get cadets into the more selective branches. There are very few career paths in life which require physical fitness. As someone upthread mentioned, many 17 year olds are not able to pass the minimum requirements. The academies and ROTC require a lot of extra commitment. |
Anonymous
Except you can’t excel at West Point with a minimum score. It would like graduating undergrad with a 2.0. It’s the minimum, but is unlikely to lead to success. |
Anonymous
Only 24 percent of American 18 year olds are even eligible to join the military - that's not officers, that's any part of the military. And fitness is a big part of the reason - as well as drugs, criminality, mental illness, education. Good for the Army for not only maintaining their physical fitness standards, but increasing them - deadlifts, pushups, running etc, and all done consecutively in a short period of time. As weird as it might be for DCUM readers, only the very best of American youth are even capable of joining the military. The 60 percent 50 year old poster is simply delusional or full of disdain and has some kind of agenda. Mediocrity doesn't even get you a bugle much less a Congressional Nomination to West Point. |
Anonymous
Actually most of the students admitted to West Point do not have 1300s. The vast majority of the student athletes especially in the sacred-to-WP football team have scores that are ridiculously low. The former enlisted personnel also do not have very high scores which is why most first have to go through the prep school and many can't make it to even the lowest of academic standards after a year of prep. Also keep in mind that by statute every state must be represented. Through my DC I have gotten to know former valedictorians from rural areas and less educated parts of the country who are eventually asked to leave because of poor academic performance. The kids who are attending the academies from the DMV from places like TJ have scores that are well above 1300. That group hovers more in the 1500+ range, which helps bring up the average to around 1300. |
Anonymous
But can’t pass a physical fitness test 😂 |
Anonymous
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Service academies are good options for certain kids,
Good careers, job security, and serving our country. More kids should be aware of the actual facts. Thankfully we have facts from the official West Point source. https://s3.amazonaws.com/usma-media/inline-images/.../G5OIR_CDS_2019-2020_FINAL.pdf 25%-75% SAT range = 1260-1360 Academically if you are an average kid in the DMV area, you have a good shot. https://www.westpoint.edu/admissions/prospective-cadets/cadet-fitness-assessment Physical requirements are not hard to pass. It's Pass/Fail. It tells you the maximum. 60% of the maximum would be Passing. I'm 50 in fairly good condition and I think I can pass. Ton of young kids with decent physical ability should be able to pass it. Let me know if my interpretation is incorrect or if you have the correct passing scores. Seems to me there are people with an agenda to scare off perfectly good candidates by spreading lies such as they are top of the class or exaggerating the physical requirements. Maybe Russian or Chinese spies to weaken our military force? We don't need mumbo jumbo from these clowns. We have facts. |
Anonymous
I suspect you’re the same 50 year old who has posted so many times about how West Point and other academies are for “average” kids. Several posters have now shown you how you are misinterpreting the data you provided. I’m curious: why do you need to share your “truth” about easy academy admissions? Why does this matter to you so much? |
Anonymous
No one has shown anything. They were just bullshiting without any source. I myself was blindly thinking that these kids are top class academically SAT 1500 range kids, and the physical requirement would be really tough from rumors. It's not true after checking out the facts.. This board is about sharing correct information regarding colleges. |
Anonymous
Then please start sharing accurate information, since that is clearly so important to you. Multiple posters have articulated why your interpretation of West Point data is misleading. If you genuinely care about accurate information, perhaps a review of those posts is in order. You appear to have some intense need to make academies seem easy. I’m not sure why? |
Anonymous
| For those West Point grads who do not make the military a career, what types of careers to they usually do in the civilian world. For example, if you are an infantry officer, what type of skillset would you have and who would hire you? |
Anonymous
This. The service academies are rigorous in way that no other school can come close to comparing. You need a set of qualities that many many people just don’t have; extremely high work ethic, resilience, courage, able to work steady under extreme pressure. Then add on to that a few years of military service as an officer in charge of and leading a bunch of 18-22 yr olds out of high school- from all walks of life; accomplishing huge tasks together. As an employer, you know you are getting a complete package of a highly qualified person when they’ve attended a service academy and served. |
Anonymous
They all have college degrees, usually in STEM. That is what they go into. Their military service may not translate directly to a specific career, but the qualities of leadership and work that come from serving translate to any line of work and most employers see that as a huge asset. |
Anonymous
The academies graduate the sort of person who will get up every morning to support their team no matter what else is going on in life. That is reason #1 why employers are so pleased to see them. |