Questions Thread

kbaek said:
Thanks for that dean's website! Hmm... This is gonna be hard now because I want to do both.
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Mechanical engineering and civil engineering are very different careers and most mechanical engineers have little if any work that involves civil engineering and vice versa.

Civil engineering = infrastructure (Roads, buildings, dams, etc)
Mechanical engineering = machines and devices

Your first career is going to be an army officer and it isn't going to make any differece which degree you get. What do you want to do after the army?

In the civilian world, most civil engineering jobs are government or government funded jobs and most mechanical engineering jobs are private.
 
kbaek said:
How does double-majoring work at USMA? Would double-majoring in Civil and Mechanical Engineering be possible? I don't know how different the courses for the two are, but I figured since it's in the same general area of study there shouldn't be that many extra courses needed for a double-major, as compared to say, Philosophy and Chemistry or something.
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There is a kid in my company double majoring in mechanical and civil engineering, but he validated a lot of classes. Still, he is VERY stressed already as a first semester yuk. There is not a lot of overlap since the two have strict curriculum to be ABET accredited. That being said, double majoring isn't too difficult if you've validated a few classes. I validated 4 classes and am an International Law and IT Systems double major. Cadets that don't validate and try to double major usually drop their second major. ORD said about half the cadets who declare a double major will drop it.
 
vampsoul said:
There is a kid in my company double majoring in mechanical and civil engineering, but he validated a lot of classes. Still, he is VERY stressed already as a first semester yuk. There is not a lot of overlap since the two have strict curriculum to be ABET accredited. That being said, double majoring isn't too difficult if you've validated a few classes. I validated 4 classes and am an International Law and IT Systems double major. Cadets that don't validate and try to double major usually drop their second major. ORD said about half the cadets who declare a double major will drop it.
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Uh oh, I didn't take any AP tests because USMA was my only college choice and I didn't have the money for the tests (90 dollars each at our school).

In that case, would I be able to take say, all the requisites of a civil engineering major and take a good portion of mechanical engineering? Or vice versa?
 
kbaek said:
Uh oh, I didn't take any AP tests because USMA was my only college choice and I didn't have the money for the tests (90 dollars each at our school).
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Other than a couple (History??) AP tests by themselves do not allow you to validate at USMA. You will take validation tests, and that will determine what you validate. You will still have a full schedule, you'll just be able to take the next class in the series. (For Math, History, etc)

This will happen in Beast, so believe it or not your physical condition can impact your validation. IE: If you are wiped out & dragging, it appears most do not do as well.
 
Oh okay, thanks! I'll be sure to study extra hard for those certain subjects.

But say I don't validate any classes, would I be able to take all the requisites of a civil engineering major and take a good portion of mechanical engineering? Or vice versa?
 
kbaek said:
Oh okay, thanks! I'll be sure to study extra hard for those certain subjects.

But say I don't validate any classes, would I be able to take all the requisites of a civil engineering major and take a good portion of mechanical engineering? Or vice versa?
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If you do not validate anything, then overloading would be the only way for you to do that.
 
kbaek said:
Oh okay, thanks! I'll be sure to study extra hard for those certain subjects.

But say I don't validate any classes, would I be able to take all the requisites of a civil engineering major and take a good portion of mechanical engineering? Or vice versa?
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Or you could listen to what people are trying to tell you...
 
scoutpilot said:
Or you could listen to what people are trying to tell you...
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Well all in all my schedule is subject to radical change. I'm just trying to see if my options are open to take classes that I may be interested in, which in this case is Mech and Civil Engineering.
 
kbaek said:
Well all in all my schedule is subject to radical change. I'm just trying to see if my options are open to take classes that I may be interested in, which in this case is Mech and Civil Engineering.
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From other posts, you'll have 1 or 2 years before you have to make that determination based on your own experiences and desires at that time. I wouldn't worry about it now. Seems to me there would be more urgent things to worry about.
 
kinnem said:
From other posts, you'll have 1 or 2 years before you have to make that determination based on your own experiences and desires at that time. I wouldn't worry about it now. Seems to me there would be more urgent things to worry about.
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+1:thumb:
 
kinnem said:
From other posts, you'll have 1 or 2 years before you have to make that determination based on your own experiences and desires at that time. I wouldn't worry about it now. Seems to me there would be more urgent things to worry about.
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I totally agree with you. Just trying to understand how the academy works as a school.
 
Unranked nominations

If a MOC submits an unranked list of nominees, does the admissions office wait until ALL candidates on that list have completed their files before offering an appointment or make an offer based on completed files? Candidates who completed their files early should be rewarded for doing so...hopefully admissions will see these candidates as being responsible, driven, and truly committed!
 
They wait until all the candidates on the slate complete their file or until the deadline for applications pass. Except for the LOAs. WP can offer LOAs appointments without the other files being completed.

As far as rewarding those who completed files early - there are several reasons to complete your file early which are beneficial to the candidate.
One is for LOA consideration - which I think is a reward for early file completion!
Another is so that WP can determine if a candidate is qualified before the candidate goes into the nom selection process. If a MOC knows that a candidate is qualified, they are more likely to give that candidate a nom. It tells the MOC that WP has already given the :thumb: to that candidate and that he/she won't be wasting a nom on a candidate that has not been qualified yet and may not be qualified once the file is completed. There will be candidates on MOC slates that are not qualified and therefore will not receive an appt even though the MOC nominated them. Early file completion lets the RC qualify the candidate early, in time for the MOC to know that he/she won't be taking a risk on that candidate if they nominate them.
 
This is true. I started my whole WP app in September, got an LOA in November, and am currently waiting for the nomination from my senator. It really does pay to get everything done quickly. Not sure if my chances would change if I had started earlier, but that's just how it was for me.
 
Sawndog said:
Will I be able to use my own laptop during plebe year?
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You may, pending company approval, be allowed to use it for personal things. However you may not, at any time, connect it to a government network.
 
scoutpilot said:
You may, pending company approval, be allowed to use it for personal things. However you may not, at any time, connect it to a government network.
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What about for taking notes/completing projects? Not necessarily personal, but school-related.
 
If I have an LOA but do not get a nomination from my senators and/or congressman, what happens? Is there no chance of me getting an appointment? This past week I received a letter from one of my senators saying that I did NOT get his nomination, and this made me worried.
 
sox3214 said:
If I have an LOA but do not get a nomination from my senators and/or congressman, what happens? Is there no chance of me getting an appointment? This past week I received a letter from one of my senators saying that I did NOT get his nomination, and this made me worried.
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That means to make sure your other Congressmen are aware of you seeking a nomination. Or you can show them how much you want it by annoying them :shake:
 
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