Tell that to my brother, a Lt. Colonel in the Marine Corps reserves and a proud Yale graduate. He saw action in Somali while on active duty and more recently did a tour of duty in Iraq at Al-Ramadi. And yes, he has stayed with me on several occasions to attend funerals of his buddies at Arlington. So Academy grads hardly have a lock on that kind of experience.

Some of the graduates of my alma mater, Dartmouth, are profiled here:

http://dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/call-of-duty/

Is OP the same poster who is bitter about Top Ivies?

Ivies also don't guarantee graduates a job for four years after they graduate.

West Point is not in the Ivy League. Why compare?

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe anyone who is actually in an Academy would have time to right this. It seems really cra-cra. No one asked. And, it's apples and oranges comparing military academies to Ivies.

What is cra-cra?

I don't believe anyone who is actually in an Academy would have time to right this. It seems really cra-cra. No one asked. And, it's apples and oranges comparing military academies to Ivies.

Was this a cut and paste from something else? Or is there an actual OP who wrote this and can discuss it?

OP, you are appearing to answer a question that hasn't been asked.

Meh. Ivies are way more selective. And the students are more accomplished, in general. If you don't think the Ivies evaluate "the whole person," you're spending too much time in drill formations.

Academy grads are agreeing to a commitment which is different. But Academy grads have a huge leg up in their chosen profession - an old boys network that surpasses anything on Wall Street.

Oh, and getting into the academies depends alot on who you know i.e. what Senator will give you her nom.

-military officer (and Ivy grad)

Academically, it's harder to get into the Ivies. However, West Point doesn't just base it on the Academics. They use the so called "whole person" scale to judge the applicants. A candidate cannot be accepted unless being well rounded not only academically, but also physically and with respect to extracurriculars.

My opinion on whether the Academy is actually harder than the Ivies? Most definitely. Academically? Most certainly not. It turns out that a lot of schools actually won't accept a lot of credits from West Point when a student transfers, mostly in the sciences (but this is just for the lower level courses). For example, West Point prefers to cover a larger spectrum of Chemistry, so thus doesn't go as in-depth. West Point academics aren't that hard(well, except for math), there's just a lot of WORK, plus you're exposed to a lot of things that are not necessarily your strengths. West Point has a very LARGE amount of required courses, including 2 semesters of a foreign language, 2 years of English, 2 semesters of History, 2 semesters of psychology, 2 years of various math courses, philosophy, american politics, sociology, a required engineering track, 2 semesters of Information Technology (don't be fooled--this translates to programming), 2 semesters of combatives, one round of gymnastics, one round of survival swimming, 4 years of military courses, among others. There's a lot that I'm forgetting.

The average West Point student gets FIVE HOURS of sleep a night--and for me, that's a good night. On top of that we have required duties, mandatory events, mandatory sports, drill, and various other functions. Two hours a day are MANDATORY to participate in sports or in drill, depending on the day. Meals are required except for dinner. My barracks room is not just the room I sleep in. It's my office, and working hours go from 0520 to 2330 (11:00 PM). Anyone can come in at any time. The doors stay unlocked the entire day for inspection. The doors remain completely open from 0730 to 0930. Anyone can come in and touch your stuff, which has to be arranged according to regulations. We oftentimes have training on the weekends, and its extremely hard to get away.

It's impossible to explain to you how stressful West Point is--you'd just have to see it yourself. It challenges you in every single aspect, which I would be prone to say that the Ivies don't. I can't recall that any Ivy League school REQUIRES its students to jump into a wave pool with wind and strobe lights overhead, rain pouring down, wearing 45 pounds worth of weight, a pair of boots, and holding a rifle (yes, that's right, swimming with a rifle). Not fun, extremely frightening. But you know what? I did it. I hated every minute of it, but I did it. And I honestly believe I'm a stronger person for it. The Ivies challenge you academically--West Point challenges me in every way. After all, most Ivy Leaguers aren't preparing to go out and risk their lives to defend others. The thought of catching a bullet on Wall Street would never cross their minds, even as I might be in a firefight on the streets of Baqubah.

Yet, the most stressful part of all comes from something else. How many Ivy Leaguers have to sit at a mandated meal and listen as someone announces the death of one of their friends, one of their classmates, one of their loved ones, over a microphone in the center of the mess hall? You will never, ever know what that feels like--be glad of it. You won't know what the word "duty" entails until you sit there and hear that. You won't know what loyalty is until you see a man with both his legs blown off, walking on prosthetics, having come back to the Academy to take a physical test to see whether he can go back and fight with his unit in Iraq. You just can't know.