I am trying to understand the daily schedule a little better for cadets, but particularly 4th degrees. The cadets have classes every school day, but the classes are varied so you don't necessarily have the same class every day, correct? My question is, for some cadets, do classes/academic instructions end earlier on some days than others or is there a typical time that all classes are over?
I will probably choose to be part of the intramural program. Are intramurals everyday or only on certain days? Or maybe the better question, are cadets required to play intramurals every day or just a certain number of days per week?
Around what time during the day is truly the cadet's free time? As in the time where they can do their own things, workout, study, do homework, etc.
Information like this is blocked out on what is called the "Schedule of Calls".
First, Morning Accountability Formation a 6:45. It is exactly what it sounds like. Optional breakfast immediately follows.
For academics there are two types of days: M days and T days each with seven 53 minute academic periods. Periods 1-4 occur from 7:30-11:23. Periods 5-7 occur from 12:30-3:23. The time in between is reserved for noon meal formation and mandatory lunch. The M and T days alternate, so one week might start with an M day meaning that Monday, Wednesday and Friday will all be M days with Tuesday and Thursday being T days. The next week will then start with a T day. It's pretty simple. A cadet will have on average 6 classes per semester. A class will usually occupy one period on either M or T days. Some classes, like chemistry, physics, biology, PE and a few others will often occupy two class periods on either M or T days. For an example, here is my schedule for this semester.
You'll notice that CompSci 212 and the PE classes are double periods on their respective day. You may also notice that I don't have M4, T4, M5, T5, or M7. The M5 period is reserved for any military oriented training but it not always utilized. Otherwise, during these periods I am free to do what I please. During this time I might try to get some homework done, pickup mail, buy supplies from the cadet store, take clothes to dry cleaning, take a short cat nap or accomplish any other tasks for the day. So yes, some cadets do get out of school earlier if they happen to have free periods in the afternoon. PE classes only last a quarter of the semester, that is why I have two PE classes scheduled for the same periods on T days. I have Combatives II during the first quarter of the semester and Soccer during the third quarter. Otherwise T6-7 are free periods.
Now sports. There are generally three categories a cadet falls into: Intercollegiate athlete (IC), Limited on season (LOS) club athlete, intramural athlete. Intercollegiate athletes are the Division I athletes that compete in the NCAA . Limited on season club athletes have been granted a special status by the Academy Clubs program which allows them to miss certain other obligations (such as intramurals) in order to focus on their club sport. Typically a club has a limited (big surprise) number of LOS slots which are distributed among the best athletes on a given club team. Usually only the club teams that compete nationally are granted LOS slots. Intramural athletes are everyone else who are not IC or LOS. Intramurals have been largely streamlined in the last few years and now only last 2-3 weeks out of the semester. Each squadron organizes teams for the various intramural sports of the semester and then compete squadron vs squadron. During this 2-3 weeks cadets alternate which day they have intramurals.
So, IC athletes usually get out of school at noon, eat lunch and then go to practice for the afternoon. LOS athletes are mandated to attend their club practice but are not granted special academic schedules by the registrar. Club practices usually take place right after 7th period (so around 3:45-4:00) and extend to 6:00-7:00 depending on the club. A cadet can still participate in a club sport and not be LOS, but they would also be required to participate on a squadron intramural team. Intramurals typically start at 3:45 and go to about 5:30 (but remember it is only every other day for a few weeks out of the entire semester, so it's really not that much. Therefore a lot of cadets join clubs and do other extracurricular activities).
Dinner is optional and is served over a two hour period in the evenings. Military call to quarters officially runs from 7:15-7:50. During this time the permanent party of the Academy (officers and enlisted who run the school) can schedule any briefings or training if they feel it is necessary. Evening MCQ is not often used.
Finally comes Academic call to quarters (ACQ) which begins at 7:50 and ends at TAPS (11:00). During ACQ freshman are allowed to close their doors (they were required to be open at 6:45am). ACQ is not super structured nor is it monitored. This block is designated ACQ so no other mission elements of the Academy can try to take this time away from the cadets. Really it is just free time to do whatever you need (I'm typing this out during ACQ). TAPS officially plays at 11:00pm. Your class year determines where you're technically allowed to be after TAPS. Freshman may be required to stay in their rooms, sophomores the squadron area, juniors the cadet area, and finally no restrictions for seniors.