I always find it amazing that people in this country...

Christcorp,

I definitely agree that the Academies don't have a recruiting problem and in no way are we implying that we need "better" applicants. And of course, the limited resources of the SAs need not be used for more advertising.

It's just that it's disheartening to see that people simply don't know, understand and appreciate the roles of the Service Academies. And especially nowadays when I do believe that there's a growing rift between civilian and militar communities.

Talking to my college friends, for example, explaining to them my experience with living in overseas bases, being in a military family, moving around, parents deploying and now the appointment to the USAFA. They have absolutely no idea about the military, and to a certain extent, I think this naivete fuels misconceptions about the military etc. :smile:
 
Christcorp said:
I guess I'm simply saying that the academies don't have a recruiting problem. Therefor, why spend limited resources and tax dollars on MORE advertising?.

So a unnecessary advertising/recruiting expense like the Air Force Thunderbirds, at a cost of around (insert real cost here, I've seen $112 million per year for the Blue Angels so it's probably something close) should be scrapped?
 
So a unnecessary advertising/recruiting expense like the Air Force Thunderbirds, at a cost of around (insert real cost here, I've seen $112 million per year for the Blue Angels so it's probably something close) should be scrapped?

The thunderbirds, blue angels, golden knights, etc... are not just a recruiting tool. But you already knew that, so I won't explain what their complete mission is.
 
Girl in my class: Oh you are a senior, where are you going to school?
Me: the Naval Academy.
Girl: Oh, did you even apply to any colleges?
Me: ...

hahaha i get that all the time when people ask where i plan on applying. no one seems to know what a service academy is anymore :rolleyes:
 
Christcorp,

I definitely agree that the Academies don't have a recruiting problem and in no way are we implying that we need "better" applicants. And of course, the limited resources of the SAs need not be used for more advertising.

It's just that it's disheartening to see that people simply don't know, understand and appreciate the roles of the Service Academies. And especially nowadays when I do believe that there's a growing rift between civilian and militar communities.

Talking to my college friends, for example, explaining to them my experience with living in overseas bases, being in a military family, moving around, parents deploying and now the appointment to the USAFA. They have absolutely no idea about the military, and to a certain extent, I think this naivete fuels misconceptions about the military etc. :smile:

totally agree
 
The 1100-1300 coming in each year, will still be those that started AP classed in the 9th grade. Those who enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The class officers; boy/girls state; volunteering much of their free time; etc... By the time a kid rationalizes that they have no future plans, and even considers the military and possibly the academies, it's too late. They are already a junior or senior. They can't get the academics they need to get into the academy. Only their parents can prepare them to do their best; attend a great college; and be successful. Once they have this parental motivation, they'll find the academies on their own. Just like they'll find other great educational opportunities.

I completely agree. One of the things that really benefited me was that I started looking into the Academies at 13 years old (I knew a little bit about what West Point was before then, but not much, and nothing about the other Academies). When I was 13 years old (8th grade), I was unmotivated, I had a bad attitude, I was extremely unathletic (11:00 mile, probably couldn't do a pushup- no sports), and my academics quite frankly sucked (I wasn't failing anything, but they weren't hot stuff). So, at the end of my 8th grade year, I decided that West Point was the place I wanted to go, and that I wanted to be an Army officer. So in 9th grade, I started pulling myself together. I joined Track, and Civil Air Patrol In the 10th grade, I did XC and Track, and was in multiple advanced classes, and did well in them. I became quite athletic (my mile time now is a 6:51, I almost maxed pushups (got 49, went down too low on the last one and hit my chest on the floor haha), almost maxed the situps.
The thing is, I had time to DEVELOP. I could train myself and better myself to be competitive for admission into the Academies. While I wasn't an all star, I proved to West Point I was able to meet their challenges. If I had stayed the same way in high school the way I was in 8th grade, there was no way I would have made it in. Start young folks!
 
BTW- there were a few comments that mentioned that people in the midwest did not know what the academies were. We found that most people who DS had informed that he was applying to the academies actually DID know what they were. Now, they were NOT aware of how competitive it was until he told them. And I will say this: not a single one was dismissive about it like you might experience in the more liberal parts of the country....
 
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