Questions

Z

Zie

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
29
Hi everyone,

I'm new to this part of the forum and I'm posting to ask if there's a cadet who still gets on the forum who would be willing to answer my questions.

I was recently offered an appointment to West Point, however to my chagrin, I am coming to find out that I really don't know that much about the school or cadet life there.

If a cadet who is up there currently who would be willing to talk to me, or if anyone knows someone they could direct me to, please send me a PM.

Thank you so much in advance! This is the biggest honor I have ever received and I want to be able to serve my country in the best way possible, so having a little bit of help before I get up there is much appreciated.

And thank you to all the cadets and families of the cadets who have been through this. Especially the families. It's a service of it's own and I appreciate all you have all done to support your children in their journey for service.

~Zie
 
Have you gone on an overnight visit? You are authorized one as an appointee. The visit will allow you to talk to many cadets and get a glimpse of life there.
 
Looking back over your old posts, you mentioned that you were accepted for SLE last summer and it appears you did attend. Were you not able to get an overview of West Point from your time there and access to current cadets?
 
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buff81- thank you. I had heard something like that, but I will now look into it

Dixieland-I was not accepted for SLE; I did not apply. I did attend USAFA's Summer Seminar. I'm not quite sure what you were reading.

The whole idea of West Point is new to me. I applied because I wanted to take every opportunity presented to me, and now that I have been appointed, I want to make sure that when I get there I can show my respect to the school and people by doing as well as possible. Thank you both for your help.
 
I beg your pardon .....Summer Leaders Seminar was the old name for West Point's summer program and it's still stuck in my brain. Definitely schedule an overnight visit ASAP as buff81 suggested and go with lots of questions. Plebes are eager to share their experiences and are very helpful.
 
Zie said:
Hi everyone,

I'm new to this part of the forum and I'm posting to ask if there's a cadet who still gets on the forum who would be willing to answer my questions.

I was recently offered an appointment to West Point, however to my chagrin, I am coming to find out that I really don't know that much about the school or cadet life there.

If a cadet who is up there currently who would be willing to talk to me, or if anyone knows someone they could direct me to, please send me a PM.

Thank you so much in advance! This is the biggest honor I have ever received and I want to be able to serve my country in the best way possible, so having a little bit of help before I get up there is much appreciated.

And thank you to all the cadets and families of the cadets who have been through this. Especially the families. It's a service of it's own and I appreciate all you have all done to support your children in their journey for service.

~Zie
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Recommend giving more thoughts about becoming an Army officer than the school or cadet life. Most people work for good things in life. Perhaps getting up 530 in the morning, wearing uniforms, taking classes you don't to take, and etc might be too much work for you. If so you won't get a top notch college education for free AND won't become an Army officer. If you find a way to get a great college education for free with no strings attached, let me know.

Although the cadet time is very significant, your time as an Army officer is more significant. A big difference between my class, 1994, and some of the recent classes, was that for some of the recent classes, about 12 to 18 months after graduation, they ended up in Iraq or Afghanistan. Other than exceptions, the worst you can do at West Point is leave and attend another college. Once you graduate, your responsiblity and consequences of decision increases exponentally, to include possibly making a life decision.
 
MemberLG, thank you for you thoughts. However, this is already what I have considered and know. Becoming an officer was always the goal and the dream. It has always been more important to me than the road I take to get there and always will. I have already decided that this is the path for me and I accept the consequences and responsibilities of this choice.

Right now, I am looking for advice on a very particular part of my future. If I had wanted to know more about life in the Army itself, I would have asked.

Sir/Ma'am, if I didn't think I could handle the work it is going to take to be a cadet and then an officer, I never would have applied to the school and risked taking the spot away from someone who could. I know what I am getting in to and it is exactly what I signed up for. However, that's a general idea and I posted to ask for a few more specifics.

Thank you for your concern. It is important for our future lieutenants to be willing to take on the responsibilities they will be handed.
 
adamsjv, it's not letting me message you at the moment. Thank you so much for being willing to respond to questions. Hopefully, I will be able to take you up on that as soon as this wants to work.
 
Zie said:
MemberLG, thank you for you thoughts. However, this is already what I have considered and know. Becoming an officer was always the goal and the dream. It has always been more important to me than the road I take to get there and always will. I have already decided that this is the path for me and I accept the consequences and responsibilities of this choice.

Right now, I am looking for advice on a very particular part of my future. If I had wanted to know more about life in the Army itself, I would have asked.

Sir/Ma'am, if I didn't think I could handle the work it is going to take to be a cadet and then an officer, I never would have applied to the school and risked taking the spot away from someone who could. I know what I am getting in to and it is exactly what I signed up for. However, that's a general idea and I posted to ask for a few more specifics.

Thank you for your concern. It is important for our future lieutenants to be willing to take on the responsibilities they will be handed.
Click to expand...

I am somewhat confused. Are you concered about graduating from West Point or life style? If you got an appointment offer, you are capable of graduating from West Point. There are many parts of the admissions process I don't like, but I agree with the breakdown of whole candidate scores to ensure any appointment candidate has necessarily tools to graduate. So is your question about life style? If you go ROTC to become an Army officer, you will have more personal freedom. If you are going to have problem at getting up 5:30 every morning, majority of your classes being required, can't miss classes, required to play sports, keeping your room neat, not having a car until your senior year, limited social life, standing outside in a windy, freezing winter day for no good reason, and etc., West Point is not for you.
 
MemberLG, (I would hazard a guess at calling you sir, but you never can tell online) I'm not truly concerned about anything. I agree with you and I know that I have all the skills necessary to graduate. I am just looking for someone who I can ask questions. Just like any other student who wants to know about the college they are going to. For instance, I did not know you couldn't have a car until senior year. That's not something that really matters to me, however, it's something that I was curious about. So thank you for accidentally answering one of my questions. :)

I am simply one of those people who likes to be as prepared as possible before going into a situation. To me, being prepared means asking questions and learning what I can.
 
Zie, its great you want to speak with a cadet and hopefully you have enough posts to be allowed to PM the cadet who volunteered. If they are very general questions, like the car situation, I recommend considering posting them here. You can get more than one perspective on things and it also allows others who either have been appointed to West Point or considering applying to see the answers. I am sure you are not the only future cadet who has these questions. Understand if they are personal or unique in nature not posting those to keep yourself anonymous or have everyone knowing your business.
 
I would also add, just as a warning I guess, is that no matter how much you learn and prepare you will find you arrived unprepared. Just sayin'. Everybody does. Don't let it get to you.
 
NavyHoops has a great suggestion, Zie, of posting your questions here. Member LG is a WP grad as well as a FFR and I have a grad. Other parents have had female cadets to go through West Point. Sometimes cadets are busy and don't have a lot of time to be on the forum.

Here are a couple of older threads that might have useful information for you. Several cadets who are longtime members have answers in them.
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/ask-a-cadet.36488/
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/daily-cadet-life.33482/
 
Also, if you talk to your academy liaison (found on your portal if you haven't come in contact before this point) they may be able to put you in contact with a cadet from your area. Although they are pretty busy, cadets are almost always eager and willing to help out a newcomer from back home.
 
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