hello and thanks

Yes, I agree that there many reasons and motives for wanting to attend a service academy. By virtue of being in the military, I feel that each person is serving and defending this country regardless of their reasons and motives for being there.

This is where I should have stopped. This is what I believe. Unfortunately I did go off on a tangent that I had not thought out very well.I have a deep respect for those who serve and have served. To state otherwise would be a disservice to them. USNA69 is correct. I offer my sincere apology.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jamzmom, thanks for your help with the quote button. Now, if I could only find the engage your brain before speak button I would be much better off.

Looking back on the posts that I made, I was not very pleased with what I saw. Not only did I manage to offend several people in the process but I also failed to provide anything that was usefull or helpfull. This bothers me. So this will be my last post.

Before I leave, I just wanted to say that you guys do a great job. Keep up the good work!
 
Gator. Do not feel the need to bow off the site due to a little controversy. We get into debate around here pretty heavy but there aren't many places to jump on & ask questions about stuff. You're going to have some for sure. Sometimes e-communicating doesn't always work the best as the tried & true face to face conversations. Hang around some more. :smile:
 
Gator. Do not feel the need to bow off the site due to a little controversy. We get into debate around here pretty heavy but there aren't many places to jump on & ask questions about stuff.

Absolutely agree.

The only time we start getting annoyed about controversy around here is when it is caused by blatantly innacurate information being passed off as good gouge, or when the controversy itself is the sole reason for the poster's presence (i.e. - trolling). Neither applies here. :smile:
 
Is there any particular factor that seems to correlate with success at the academies? I would define success as actually graduating from the academy. Is it the math sat score, class rank,prior exposure to the military?, or, is it the intangibles such as motivation,determination,and the will to survive? I would think that the various academies have boat loads of data that they have looked at. What do the success candidates have in common? What do the unsuccessful candidates have in common? Any thoughts?

I cannot quote any specific studies. Frankly, I think any study that attempted to establish a correlation between success/failure and a set of characteristics would be faulty simply because there are SO many variables involved and SO many interactions between them.

I will, however, speak from experience... :smile:

I had a roomate my Plebe Year who was an absolute geek (he could derive the formulas he needed on the fly), and could handle the physical requirements just fine. You'd think he'd be a shoe-in, right?

WRONG. The stress of doing both at the same time, and doing so while under the other stresses experienced by a Plebe, completely disassembled his other abilitites. He literally fell apart before my eyes; he even REAKED as if he was dying. I'm not kidding, either. I've never smelled anything like that before or since, nor do I wish to. He ended up quitting before Thanksgiving break.

Another roomate, the following year: Total jock, NAPSter, and with the kind of attitude that would see him through anything. Sunk academically. Ended up getting a 4.0 at Georgetown.

Another classmate. Prior enlisted Aviation ET, NAPSter, utter genious (majored in Physics, minored in Russian), 3.9 GPA, could outrun a Kenyan marathon runner. However, he couldn't swim. You could use him as an anchor if you merely tied a rope around his waist and threw him overboard. A total rock. He quit in his third year after they told him he wouldn't be graduating.

Meanwhile, take me. Miserable two first years of high school, highly successful second two years. Moderately successful NAPSter. I hated (and still do) physical exercise, and while fairly smart, I had miserable study habits that never improved. I struggled acaemically and physically at USNA, and came close to having my ticket punched after my second year (1.55 GPA). Yet somehow, I managed to get through. I find it interesting that despite all that, I graduated in the bottom 1/3 of my class, which means a full 200+ classmates of mine had an even harder time.

To be brutally honest, I still walk through USNA and wonder a) how the &*%$&^% I managed to get through the place, and b) am I now worthy to actually wear the Ring and pass myself off as an Alumni? My Navy career was remarkably unremarkable, and my civilian life afterwards has been, to put it mildly, a shambles. Only now, 16 years after graduating, do I consider that I am finally getting my act together. Hardly what I would expect from a USNA graduate, you know?

I watched classmates get tossed for theft, for academics, for failing PT, for being unable to handle stress, for medical reasons, and because they just plain decided to quit. Some you thought would sail through didn't finish their first semester of Plebe Year, and others (like me) who you'd never thought would make it somehow managed to (and in some cases EXCELLED).

This is why I constantly harp on candidates to take a good hard look in the mirror and and be brutally honest with themselves when they are seeking an appointment, because when it all boils down to the truth, the TRUTH is that the prime factor that determines whether a candidate will graduate or not is the attitude of the candidate. If they want it badly enough, nothing short of being carried out of USNA in an ambulance will stop them.

In my case I swore they'd have to carry me out in a hearse. Fortunately, I never got to test out the veracity of that statement. :biggrin:
 
Last edited:
Looking back on the posts that I made, I was not very pleased with what I saw. Not only did I manage to offend several people in the process but I also failed to provide anything that was usefull or helpfull. This bothers me. So this will be my last post.

Before I leave, I just wanted to say that you guys do a great job. Keep up the good work!

gator guy,

Don't leave the boards. We really do enjoy the content of these kinds of discussions. I don't think anyone was truly offended and you have shown yourself to be thoughtful and thought-provoking. Stick around, you have a lot to offer.

(And I'm trying the quote thing for the very first time. If it works, I have you to thank for asking the question and Jamzmom for having the answer. She's such a computer geek, you know. :shake: )
 
My candidate's reasons

At this point, it's not definite that my d will be c/o 2012 (still working out medical stuff), but at various points she has made the following comments:
- Initially became interested in military service as a result of 9/11
- Thought the CG/CGA would be cool, but it doesn't have her desired major (chemistry/engr)
- Attended NASS, allowed to briefly conn a YP. I WANT TO DRIVE SHIPS! (Her shouting, not mine :smile: )

After months of eating/sleeping/thinking/breathing USNA, CVW, etc:
- "The plebe I followed is struggling with academics, but her level of enthusiasm is so great, I just know she'll make it"
- We also know a plebe who may not make it through this year, because being told what to do and when to do it ("all the b/s") is really getting to him.
- "I could never have imagined becoming a team as fast as we did during NASS. I want to be part of that, and I can't imagine going to any regular college."
- "I love the idea of not having to worry about having a job when I get out of school."

In short, she's not even there, but I agree with '69 that while patriotism is part of the process, on a daily basis that's not what the mids my daughter met were thinking/talking about.
 
Time management is KEY! For a person who has the desire to be there in the first place, time management is paramount. The cadet/midshipman has to understand when it's time to work, memorize indoc, do sports, and finally have some "me" time. People can burn out, so it is important to have that "me" time, but not TOO much either.

I'm going to say time managment then, and that's something I could have done a little better on.
 
I cannot quote any specific studies. Frankly, I think any study that attempted to establish a correlation between success/failure and a set of characteristics would be faulty simply because there are SO many variables involved and SO many interactions between them.

I will, however, speak from experience... :smile:

I had a roomate my Plebe Year who was an absolute geek (he could derive the formulas he needed on the fly), and could handle the physical requirements just fine. You'd think he'd be a shoe-in, right?

WRONG. The stress of doing both at the same time, and doing so while under the other stresses experienced by a Plebe, completely disassembled his other abilitites. He literally fell apart before my eyes; he even REAKED as if he was dying. I'm not kidding, either. I've never smelled anything like that before or since, nor do I wish to. He ended up quitting before Thanksgiving break.

Another roomate, the following year: Total jock, NAPSter, and with the kind of attitude that would see him through anything. Sunk academically. Ended up getting a 4.0 at Georgetown.

Another classmate. Prior enlisted Aviation ET, NAPSter, utter genious (majored in Physics, minored in Russian), 3.9 GPA, could outrun a Kenyan marathon runner. However, he couldn't swim. You could use him as an anchor if you merely tied a rope around his waist and threw him overboard. A total rock. He quit in his third year after they told him he wouldn't be graduating.

Meanwhile, take me. Miserable two first years of high school, highly successful second two years. Moderately successful NAPSter. I hated (and still do) physical exercise, and while fairly smart, I had miserable study habits that never improved. I struggled acaemically and physically at USNA, and came close to having my ticket punched after my second year (1.55 GPA). Yet somehow, I managed to get through. I find it interesting that despite all that, I graduated in the bottom 1/3 of my class, which means a full 200+ classmates of mine had an even harder time.

To be brutally honest, I still walk through USNA and wonder a) how the &*%$&^% I managed to get through the place, and b) am I now worthy to actually wear the Ring and pass myself off as an Alumni? My Navy career was remarkably unremarkable, and my civilian life afterwards has been, to put it mildly, a shambles. Only now, 16 years after graduating, do I consider that I am finally getting my act together. Hardly what I would expect from a USNA graduate, you know?

I watched classmates get tossed for theft, for academics, for failing PT, for being unable to handle stress, for medical reasons, and because they just plain decided to quit. Some you thought would sail through didn't finish their first semester of Plebe Year, and others (like me) who you'd never thought would make it somehow managed to (and in some cases EXCELLED).

This is why I constantly harp on candidates to take a good hard look in the mirror and and be brutally honest with themselves when they are seeking an appointment, because when it all boils down to the truth, the TRUTH is that the prime factor that determines whether a candidate will graduate or not is the attitude of the candidate. If they want it badly enough, nothing short of being carried out of USNA in an ambulance will stop them.

In my case I swore they'd have to carry me out in a hearse. Fortunately, I never got to test out the veracity of that statement. :biggrin:


Man, that's pretty damn hilarious!! That was some fun reading. Thanks. :shake:

This is the 1st thread that I read all the way thru and thoroughly enjoyed it. . Got lots of info and insights from all those who posted. I will admit that my son, who is at AIM (USCGA summer camp) right now never once told me that patriotism or the 911 event was the reason he's considering the academy. I'm sure that's partly why but I just never heard him say it..... yet. Free education and play baseball at the college level were the main 2 reasons I seems to remember him giving me. Of course there are a few more reasons like great school, small class sizes, very structured and organized, great exciting career while active and afterwards, etc....


I just want to add that I respect all military servicemen and women who are serving (or have served) and are doing their jobs regardless of their reasons for being there!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top