Anonymous wrote:My neighbor's son was accepted to West Point, but will be at the prep school for one year prior to matriculating. What is the prep school? Is that a way they redshirt recruited athletes? Does it add an extra year of obligatory service?

A free year of redshirting at taxpayers expense

My neighbor's son was accepted to West Point, but will be at the prep school for one year prior to matriculating. What is the prep school? Is that a way they redshirt recruited athletes? Does it add an extra year of obligatory service?

I wonder how liberal and military service are mutually exclusive. My father was an officer and a Democrat, as is m brother. What you do learn in the military, which I think is lost on the NW DC crowd, is you are not special. You are no different from the person next to you and you may have to rely on that person some day to save your life, so ouy better put aside whatever baggage you came with from your parents or upbrining and learn to work as part of the team.

Anonymous wrote:One of the most selective schools in the country. Acceptance rate is on par with the Ivies.

According to a professor at the Naval Academy, not really:

And they’re hardly, on average, the “best and the brightest.” In fact more than a quarter of the class has SAT scores below 600, and our average is lower than the nearby state school University of Maryland. Twenty percent of our class comes through a taxpayer-supported remedial 13th grade (another almost $50,000 per student for taxpayers). They fill our remedial courses (I am teaching some of these this semester, as a full professor)—a second try at getting them up to college level. The top 10 percent are impressive. But they are the exceptions rather than the rule, and almost all (I know from talking to them) are deeply disillusioned by the Academy and by what they found there.

But we’re ferociously selective, right? The Naval Academy has highly creative definitions of what constitutes an applicant, and applying these makes us more selective, on paper, than all but a handful of U.S. schools—and boosts our beauty quotient in the so-important U.S. News and World Report rankings. In fact we count all 7,500 applicants to a week-long summer program for 11th graders, that enrolls 2,500, as Naval Academy applicants, as well as anybody who fills out enough information to create a candidate number. It was just last year we stopped counting the 3,000 applicants to ROTC programs at civilian schools as Naval Academy applicants (say what?) when a reporter discovered it, but when I was on the admissions board for a year a decade ago we considered nothing close to the 20,000 applicants they claim. It was actually fewer than 5,000 candidates for 1,800 admits.”? http://www.salon.com/2015/01/05/lets_abolish_west_point_military_academies_serve_no_one_squander_millions_of_tax_dollars/

A very close friend of mine attended USNA. He is dead now -- he was killed in service in 2013. This is a VERY REAL possibility with military service, and one that should be considered seriously by anyone who applies to these schools. You literally owe them your life for at least 4-6 years after graduation, and you can die. I think a lot of teens assume it will never happen to them, but of the two boys I was close to growing up who attended the service academies (my USNA friend and another who attended USAFA), both were dead by 35, killed in service of their country. They were among the best of the best. It can happen to anyone.

As for the experience, the first year was absolutely brutal, and is that way at every service academy. It's how they weed out the weak. After that, it gradually gets physically less tough but academically more intense. You can major in almost anything as long as it's useful to the military. Engineering, law, history, international studies, political science, languages, etc. are all useful. The arts and more niche interests like women's studies, not so much. Your lifestyle is very restricted and regimented as a cadet ... you're rarely allowed to leave campus, often must wear a uniform even off-duty, and sleeping in is not a thing that will happen for you. Also, curfew is serious business. If you're the kind of person who likes to make your own schedule, the military is not for you.

As far as the physicality of it all, PP is right -- kids need to be in perfect health to do this. Not only can health problems disqualify you from the military, they can kill you if you're unaware of them. It's not unheard of for a kid who seemed fine all his life to drop dead or unconscious due to the physical stress of PT when they start at an Academy. Make sure you get a thorough physical examination by an excellent physician.

I think the Academies are a wonderful national resource, building up fine young officers. But there are a lot of risks, risks that should be taken very seriously. The military can be a rewarding career choice, and graduating with money in the bank instead of crippling debt is a great thing. But it may cost you your life someday. It really might.

Landon usually sends one or two boys to USNA every year. Usually but not always lacrosse players.

They are way different from other colleges because sexual assault, cheating, and date rape is rampant and ingrained in the culture? You are more optimistic about most other colleges than I am.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - I don't have time right now to read through all the comments but I just wanted to point out that the academies and even state military institutions have extensive list of physical and mental issues that bar applicants. Obviously I don't know if your child has any of these issues, but I was surprised when I went through the 24 pages of what VMI will exclude to find flat feet, any history of ADHD, any meds. for ADHD and some very rare connective tissue order conditions. You can pull up the conditions lists off the internet.

ADHD is no longer a disqualifier assuming certain conditions are met.

But as competitive as things have gotten to get into these service academies, I would not want to have to list that on my application. All the SA's can be picky and they are looking for reasons to thin the herd of applicants.

Do they ask about prior drinking?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - I don't have time right now to read through all the comments but I just wanted to point out that the academies and even state military institutions have extensive list of physical and mental issues that bar applicants. Obviously I don't know if your child has any of these issues, but I was surprised when I went through the 24 pages of what VMI will exclude to find flat feet, any history of ADHD, any meds. for ADHD and some very rare connective tissue order conditions. You can pull up the conditions lists off the internet.

ADHD is no longer a disqualifier assuming certain conditions are met.

But as competitive as things have gotten to get into these service academies, I would not want to have to list that on my application. All the SA's can be picky and they are looking for reasons to thin the herd of applicants.

Anonymous wrote:OP - I don't have time right now to read through all the comments but I just wanted to point out that the academies and even state military institutions have extensive list of physical and mental issues that bar applicants. Obviously I don't know if your child has any of these issues, but I was surprised when I went through the 24 pages of what VMI will exclude to find flat feet, any history of ADHD, any meds. for ADHD and some very rare connective tissue order conditions. You can pull up the conditions lists off the internet.

ADHD is no longer a disqualifier assuming certain conditions are met.

USNA has a program called blue and gold officers which are alumni that are trained to help applicants navigate the admissions process. I'm sure the other academies have similar programs. Not sure if it's been mentioned here as I haven't read the entire thread- bit something to look into. They often are the representatives at the college fairs and there are many in the DC metro area.

Any Federal service academy (including USMMA and emphatically including the USCGA, which is very challenging) involves not simply gaining admission, but becoming a full-time, active-duty, closely-supervised member of the service. The Army's statutory senior military colleges that confer guaranteed direct commissions are similar in terms of requirements for those enrolled in the formal corps of cadets (Norwich, VMI, Citadel, Texas A&M, North Georgia, Virginia Tech's ROTC program). The state merchant marine academies are required to mandate that, for most undergrads, the students be qualified for NROTC or Coast Guard commissions. They're all at least good, some are excellent, but make no mistake -- this isn't college admission and enrollment. You are enlisting in the hopes of obtaining a commission, and you are subject to close, EP discipline.

OP - I don't have time right now to read through all the comments but I just wanted to point out that the academies and even state military institutions have extensive list of physical and mental issues that bar applicants. Obviously I don't know if your child has any of these issues, but I was surprised when I went through the 24 pages of what VMI will exclude to find flat feet, any history of ADHD, any meds. for ADHD and some very rare connective tissue order conditions. You can pull up the conditions lists off the internet.

Anonymous wrote:Is the Coast Guard Academy as difficult as the others to get in?

One of the most selective schools in the country. Acceptance rate is on par with the Ivies.

Is the Coast Guard Academy as difficult as the others to get in?