Graduating 2-3 years behind orginial class from USMA

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DutyHonorCountry

5-Year Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Messages
45
Hey guys

Just out of curiosity is it a shame to graduate from West Point 2-3 behind your original class? I graduated from high school and now attend a community college. I am working really hard to earn an appointment for the class entering 2017 or 2018. Please give me some advice. If there are any that have graduated from usma by age 25 tell me about your experiance. I ask this because it will feel kind of awkward to finish college when my kid brother begins his sophmore year in college (he is a freshman in high school right now)

Thanks
 
DutyHonorCountry said:
Hey guys

Just out of curiosity is it a shame to graduate from West Point 2-3 behind your original class? I graduated from high school and now attend a community college. I am working really hard to earn an appointment for the class entering 2017 or 2018. Please give me some advice. If there are any that have graduated from usma by age 25 tell me about your experiance. I ask this because it will feel kind of awkward to finish college when my kid brother begins his sophmore year in college (he is a freshman in high school right now)

Thanks
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If your goal is to commision as an officer and to attend west point then....why in the world would you care about what others think?
 
And you certainly wouldn't be the first to do it. There have been folks on these forums who got in on their second re-application so they would be about your age. There are also enlisted folks getting appointments who would be at least as old as you. And I'm sure your brother would look up to you even more than he does now. +1 to what Positivity said as well.
 
Some who attend the service academies are prior enlisted, so they would also tend to be older. If you are already in college, have you thought about the ROTC option? Not sure it makes a lot of sense to graduate from a civilian college and then start all over at WP. Hopefully, your goal is to serve in the military rather then just being able to say you graduated from WP.

If you did apply to WP at this point, you would certainly be asked to explain why you didn't pursue this when you were still in h.s.
 
No, there is nothing shameful about it. In fact, the maturity can benefit you both at USMA and when you commission.
 
time2 said:
Some who attend the service academies are prior enlisted, so they would also tend to be older. If you are already in college, have you thought about the ROTC option? Not sure it makes a lot of sense to graduate from a civilian college and then start all over at WP. Hopefully, your goal is to serve in the military rather then just being able to say you graduated from WP.

If you did apply to WP at this point, you would certainly be asked to explain why you didn't pursue this when you were still in h.s.
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I have already done everything when it comes to the application proccess (nominations included) and when it comes to ROTC, there is also the fact that I may not be able to get active duty or a guarenteed commission as a 2nd LT.
ROTC is kind of risky nowadays because of the military downsizing. A friend of mine (prior service in Air Force) knows of officers that just were not being used anymore. It is also getting more competative to get the minimum active duty in the Army and feild you want to get into
 
DutyHonorCountry said:
I have already done everything when it comes to the application proccess (nominations included) and when it comes to ROTC, there is also the fact that I may not be able to get active duty or a guarenteed commission as a 2nd LT.
ROTC is kind of risky nowadays because of the military downsizing. A friend of mine (prior service in Air Force) knows of officers that just were not being used anymore. It is also getting more competative to get the minimum active duty in the Army and feild you want to get into
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Don't worry about guarantees. It's not like they're going to shut down ROTC. Do your best, excel at everything and you'll be fine and get the MOS you want. If not, then consider it a sign from God that the desired MOS or Active Duty were not meant for you. Everyting in life has a winnowing process for a reason. This is mostly in your own control provided you're willing to do the necessary work. And getting the specialty you want isn't guaranteed at an academy either. Selection rates (percentages) are about the same from the academy's as from ROTC.
 
~30% of every class has prior service or college experience (or other, such as religious missions) before entering West Point. Definitely normal. Look at GEN Patton.
 
GoArmyBeatNavy said:
~30% of every class has prior service or college experience (or other, such as religious missions) before entering West Point. Definitely normal. Look at GEN Patton.
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There is no shame. If we had a 23 year old classmate, he may have adopted the name "grandpa", but age is a number... and the only one that matters at an academy is your academy class year.
 
We had numerous cadets in my squadron at USAFA that had a number of post high school years under the belt - one had 2 years at Univ of Georgia, and one with 3-4 years of enlisted service (we still to this day refer to him as Grandpa). They added immeasurably to the class and squadron. Would not have been the same without them. If it is what you want then go for it - just be humble enough to handle the first year and even subsequent years training from cadets or midshipman much younger than you.
 
Flyboy522 said:
We had numerous cadets in my squadron at USAFA that had a number of post high school years under the belt - one had 2 years at Univ of Georgia, and one with 3-4 years of enlisted service (we still to this day refer to him as Grandpa). They added immeasurably to the class and squadron. Would not have been the same without them. If it is what you want then go for it - just be humble enough to handle the first year and even subsequent years training from cadets or midshipman much younger than you.
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Haha thats when I would have to suck up all of the pride
 
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