Hi all! I am currently a plebe at USMA and want to give advice and help to those who may have questions about the Academy or the admissions process. Fire away! Also if you are in and have questions about what to expect send those my way too, I had a difficult adventure leading up to R-day.
Plebe at USMA
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rwjohnson416
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Prior to attending West Point, did you have any exposure to cadet life? Such as going to SLE/Overnight Visits? And regardless, what did you feel was the biggest shock? Thank you too for taking the time to do this!
Any recommended graduation gifts, stuff for packing for beast, items that helped with CBT or after in general so far? Other recommendations? How much information have you all been given and what's it looking like for attending military schools such as Sapper, Mtn Warfare, Airborne, etc over the summer? Competitive or you can get what you want? Thanks!
Before I came I had looked at USNA and USMA and talked to a lot of Cadets and Mids including visiting both Academies, but I feel that its hard to really captivate the whole experience in a day or two. The biggest shock was probably how fast things pop up and how you have to learn to do homework in advance just in case something else pops up really fast. It just takes some time to adjust and learn when to have fun, sleep, and do homework.
Cadet life is just something you adjust too. Sometimes, especially now during TEE week, I think about how it would be different if I would have gone to a normal college, but I know that all the things I am doing will pay off for sure. So although sometimes you may not want to deal with some of the parts of Cadet life, it is what it is and you just deal with it and push forward.
Hope this helped!
Okay I'm gonna try to answer as much of that I can... So for beast, pack plenty of comfortable underwear, socks that you like that are in regs, and some moleskin. When you get to the Academic year, you can buy everything you need on A day and by that point you will know what is good to have. But for beast, just pack things that will make your life a little better and more comfortable. If you can, I would buy at least one or two more pairs of APFU shorts because otherwise you'll smell most of the summer (everyone does though). Bring a leatherman, lighters are nice, some 550 could help. I went the whole summer without shaving cream and I just dry shaved, don't recommend, but it wasn't bad. I would just pack most of what is on this list and you'll be fine.
For MIADs (Military Individual Advanced Development), it's a pretty confusing system and you'll be confused until you ask around during Beast, but basically, Air Assault is easy to get, Airborne is more selective, Sapper, Combat Diver Qualification Course, SERE are super competitive, Mtn warfare is competitive. The selective schools will all hold tryouts that are grueling and then you interview for like one of 5-10 spots. It's tough to get them, but everyone says they are happy they did it. You just have to be willing to work extremely hard for it and still possibly not get what you want. I would definitely encourage you training hard for them.
For Grad gifts, a durable watch or nice leatherman will do, or save money for something you'll want down the road.
I forgot this earlier, but the worst thing for me over the summer was blisters on my feet. Rucking really screwed up my feet and I had the wrong boots for it. Go to a shop and get boots fitted tight and snug. Your heel should not rise when you lift up your foot. This was brutal for me as they started at the beginning of week 2 and didn't go away until after week 5. That was not a good time. Also don't pop blisters, let them heel on their own. In addition, buy FoxRiver sports socks, those things are magical if you put foot powder inside them, works wonders to fix blisters.
Good luck and I hope this helps!
Thank you very much! Very informative. Really appreciate the post/reply! Good luck with TEEs!
Make sure to read the update I added.
Thank you very much!
TEE - Term End Exam (finals essentially)
Check out this link, West Point and the Army have a lot of confusing acronyms and this website helps with a lot of them.
http://www.usma.edu/dmi/siteassets/sitepages/newcomerinfo/what is that.xls
I am personally involved in the Paintball Club (tournament team), Ski Instructors Club, and Company Athletics Soccer. Paintball is for the times when it is not snowing and Ski Instructors is obviously when it is too cold/snowing and therefore I can't play paintball anymore. Company Athletics is basically intramurals, all cadets have to do some form of activity if they are not on a competitive DCA team or Corps Squad team (Corps squad teams are Division 1 teams).
For the weekends,
Fall: Lots of football games and therefore we have parade and then the game, otherwise there are A/C or A/D weekends that allow for military training (A/C) or study weekends (A/D). For the 3 day weekends, I try to get away and go enjoy New York or surrounding states. As a plebe you only have so many passes (weekends that you can leave post) and therefore it is good to sign up for free ones like the Tunnels to Towers 5k (which is a lot of fun and very symbolic). There are plenty of opportunities to do things, you just gotta look for them. Otherwise, weekends are very relaxed and are where you can catch up on sleep or your favorite netflix show (or Amazon Prime since students get it 6 months free).
Spring: There are no football games, therefore more weekends for training. I think my company has a shoot planned, Humvee licensing, rucking, and some other things scattered throughout the semester. There are still weekends available for pass but the best time for those is on 3 day weekends. Still, weekends are more relaxed and allow for a little R&R before you hit the heavy week.
Care Packages:
During Beast Barracks, or CBT, packages must be inspected by the Cadre since no one is allowed food or electronic devices. Socks and other types of things that people need are allowed but this is an inefficient way to receive them since it takes 6 days for a letter to get home, then another 3 or 4 for the package to get to the New Cadet with the stuff he/she needs. Bring things with you to R-day. During the academic year, you can receive almost anything. The mail room is always stocked with shipments from Amazon Prime or family sending love in the form of food. My mom sent me so much food that I was gaining weight pretty fast and I had to tell her to stop.
I hope this helped, let me know if there are any further questions!
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Thanks so much.
-Given your heavy academic load and all the activities that you do, do you have time to workout on your own at the gym?
-I saw a great video on Amazon about West Point paintball, that sounds interesting. Are there tryouts for that club?
-Have you thought about joining the Sandhurst team for your company? Is that a big commitment?
Yes, you will have a few hours off each day that you can go workout. Lots of people work out during our off hour from 1250-1340, unless there is a test or briefing. Otherwise, you will have PE classes that can give you a good workout, for example, Military Movement is a good workout.
Yes, there are tryouts for paintball. Not the easiest, but not the hardest. It's a good team, we have a lot of fun and do well.
Sandhurst would replace Company Athletics soccer for me and although I want to branch infantry, putting it in the words of an Infantry Officer, "More suck now will not improve the suck later. It will still suck." This isn't me being cynical, but I enjoy playing soccer and especially after a day of draining classes, I do not always want to go ruck, run, or workout hardcore for a couple hours. That is just me though, I know a lot of people like it because of the bonds that form and the fun they have. It is not necessarily a big commitment, but it is a commitment. Not everyday but most of them, depends on the company and the squad leader.
Hope this helped.
luckydoggy1234
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- Mar 16, 2015
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how much hw do you guys get? I'm currently a college student and between the chem labs and hw as well as rotc and my own extracurriculars, i barely have enough time to study/get work done. how's the hw workload at usma? i just want to see how my school life is going to be if i get accepted into usma next year 
Thank you for taking the time to do this!
- How did you prepare for the physical training during beast? Was there anything unexpected that you wished you had been more prepared for?
- Do you know how competitive the crew team is for people who have never rowed before? Also, how much of a time commitment is this club, and does it replace company athletics?
- How did you prepare for the physical training during beast? Was there anything unexpected that you wished you had been more prepared for?
- Do you know how competitive the crew team is for people who have never rowed before? Also, how much of a time commitment is this club, and does it replace company athletics?
The physical training is not as rigorous as you might think. I had recently come off an illness before beast and could not work out a whole lot beforehand, but I did just fine. I am a good runner though and this helped a lot. The whole goal of beast is to get you into the cadet life and the army. The PT during beast is lots of pull ups, sit ups, push ups, carries (like the fireman carry), other miscellaneous movements like things from mil move, and running. The thing that gets most people is the running. If you are male and have above 16 minute 2 mile (I don't know much about the female standards), you should make sure to work on running so you don't fall behind. If you want a good workout, try doing Murphy's workout or some version of it. It is challenging and will certainly get you in shape.
Something I didn't expect was how tough rucking can be on your body. I tried to prepare for it by hiking with 30 pounds before beast, but I still didn't get it down well enough. I would recommend trying to do at least 50 pounds on hikes 7-9 miles for at least 2 hours. Rucking pace is also very fast. More of an almost jog and less of a walk. Most people come in with no experience to rucking and they just suffer and then get better as their muscles build. There is a progression to the rucking so don't feel totally overwhelmed, you build up to Marchback (12 miles).
Another thing to note is that there is a lot of focus on things like combat carries and military movement type drills. Whether that be litter carries, fireman carries, or sled dragging, they will teach you them all, but it was something I didn't know of before West Point. As for the military movement style drills, diving forward and rolling with your arm (a fast somersault kind of motion). Not things to be afraid of, just things I didn't expect that you can look up if you want to know more.
I know a couple of people in crew, they get what we call "authos" which means they do not have to drill or participate in Company athletics (they get their workout from crew). As with a lot of clubs/teams at West Point, most clubs people join they may have had no experience with the sport or team before, but sheer athleticism and the type determination we have make our teams great. I can't speak volumes about Crew and their try outs, but if you show athleticism, team work, willingness to learn, and gel with the team, they may pick you up. For commitment, I know they have practice/workouts everyday after last hour so from 1600-1800ish, and if you are on the varsity team that travels, there is some sort of regime in the morning and weekends I think. Most of those people are upperclassmen though.
Let me know if there are any other questions!
Something I didn't expect was how tough rucking can be on your body. I tried to prepare for it by hiking with 30 pounds before beast, but I still didn't get it down well enough. I would recommend trying to do at least 50 pounds on hikes 7-9 miles for at least 2 hours. Rucking pace is also very fast. More of an almost jog and less of a walk. Most people come in with no experience to rucking and they just suffer and then get better as their muscles build. There is a progression to the rucking so don't feel totally overwhelmed, you build up to Marchback (12 miles).
Another thing to note is that there is a lot of focus on things like combat carries and military movement type drills. Whether that be litter carries, fireman carries, or sled dragging, they will teach you them all, but it was something I didn't know of before West Point. As for the military movement style drills, diving forward and rolling with your arm (a fast somersault kind of motion). Not things to be afraid of, just things I didn't expect that you can look up if you want to know more.
I know a couple of people in crew, they get what we call "authos" which means they do not have to drill or participate in Company athletics (they get their workout from crew). As with a lot of clubs/teams at West Point, most clubs people join they may have had no experience with the sport or team before, but sheer athleticism and the type determination we have make our teams great. I can't speak volumes about Crew and their try outs, but if you show athleticism, team work, willingness to learn, and gel with the team, they may pick you up. For commitment, I know they have practice/workouts everyday after last hour so from 1600-1800ish, and if you are on the varsity team that travels, there is some sort of regime in the morning and weekends I think. Most of those people are upperclassmen though.
Let me know if there are any other questions!
So depending on what classes you have each semester, I have at least an hour or more of math per night, about an hour of IT, 30 minutes of geography and 2 hours of History. What is nice about USMA is that although they can throw anything at you during the day, from 1930 until taps, as a plebe or yuk, you have mandatory study time so no one can tell you to do anything else. I really struggled at first to balance everything since I wasn't sure how to be most efficient with my off hours. There is still a lot to do besides just homework, but as long as you don't watch more than 1 hour of Netflix a day, it is very manageable, especially if you utilize your weekends.how much hw do you guys get? I'm currently a college student and between the chem labs and hw as well as rotc and my own extracurriculars, i barely have enough time to study/get work done. how's the hw workload at usma? i just want to see how my school life is going to be if i get accepted into usma next year
Hope this helps!
This is exactly as my son (also a plebe) has reported. Good stuff for those who will be entering Plebe year.
mynameisnt
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- Oct 4, 2015
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- 17
How do class schedules work at USMA? Do you have the same classes every day, block scheduling (A and B scheduling), or some other schedule? Thanks for your help.
The way classes work at USMA are on a Day 1, Day 2 basis. It is essentially an A-B block schedule just in college form. There are some variations though, for example, math, some science, and language classes are 4.0-4.5 credit hours which means that you meet everyday of the week with maybe a drop (cancelled) class on Wednesday to account for the only 4 hours. Other classes are only 3 credit hours which results in only meeting every other day.
Let me know if you have any further questions!
Let me know if you have any further questions!
Hi,
Confused Mom seeking clarification on a few things.
1) What are APFU shorts?
2) What is a Leatherman?
3) Are there particular brands for socks that you liked the most?
Many thanks! Best wishes to you.