meggygrace
5-Year Member
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Does any go/has gone to the naval academy? Did you like it? Is it worth the 5 years of serving after college?
My brother recently got accepted to the Naval Academy but isn't sure if he should go
- Thread starter meggygrace
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I graduated last May.
It was a great experience and, in retrospect, an absolute blast...just not necessarily in the "traditional" sense. It's very easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees and get cynical at USNA, but you're doing something wrong if you're miserable there for four years. Sure, parts of it suck, but there's a reason not that many people leave voluntarily.
The five years of service, or in my case up to ten, is the payoff (not a payback). I can say with complete honesty that I feel incredibly fortunate to be where I am right now. This is going to sound conceited, but it blows my mind how lucky I am...and it's going to get even better.
It was a great experience and, in retrospect, an absolute blast...just not necessarily in the "traditional" sense. It's very easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees and get cynical at USNA, but you're doing something wrong if you're miserable there for four years. Sure, parts of it suck, but there's a reason not that many people leave voluntarily.
The five years of service, or in my case up to ten, is the payoff (not a payback). I can say with complete honesty that I feel incredibly fortunate to be where I am right now. This is going to sound conceited, but it blows my mind how lucky I am...and it's going to get even better.
meggygrace
5-Year Member
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What if he chooses the Academy and absolutely hates it. Is there any way out of it after he's already accepted?
To be honest with you, USNA really doesn't want to have someone in the Brigade who truly doesn't want to be there. A midshipman who determines that NAVY just isn't right can resign at any time. It will take a few days to out process, but that's about it.
Candidly, we would rather the appointee make this decision before I-day; it will be less traumatic, and we usually have some highly qualified candidates who are available to fill in the blanks. It isn't unique to have anxiety about any of the service academies, and your brother has a couple of months to work on his decision. He should talk this through with parents, counselor, any military he knows at least reasonably well, any midshipmen he might know to get the best picture he can. I am sure that there will be several persons on this site who can provide insights and experiences. Best wishes to him and anyone else who is in his quandry. Hurricane is an excellent example as a recent grad looking back upon her experiences and her prospects going forward. She is very direct, and that makes her counsel that much better.
Candidly, we would rather the appointee make this decision before I-day; it will be less traumatic, and we usually have some highly qualified candidates who are available to fill in the blanks. It isn't unique to have anxiety about any of the service academies, and your brother has a couple of months to work on his decision. He should talk this through with parents, counselor, any military he knows at least reasonably well, any midshipmen he might know to get the best picture he can. I am sure that there will be several persons on this site who can provide insights and experiences. Best wishes to him and anyone else who is in his quandry. Hurricane is an excellent example as a recent grad looking back upon her experiences and her prospects going forward. She is very direct, and that makes her counsel that much better.
usna1985
15-Year Member
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As 1964 above said, it is better for everyone if people make an informed decision to attend so this doesn't happen. If your brother hasn't already done so, he should talk with his BGO about like at USNA, read the available books and maybe check out these boards himself and ask questions that recent mids who frequent this site could address.
To answer your question, mids are free to quit with no obligation to serve up until (basically) the start of their junior year. I think that, once you take the Oath of Office on I-Day, you must wait two weeks to leave. After that, however, you simply say you want to quit, go through a bunch of interviews, and then outprocess.
Depending on when you quit, you may have some financial obligation to repay -- basically the costs of supplies and uniforms that you are "given" when you show up and haven't yet paid for.