You’re asking an important question. It’s also a complicated one. I know exactly what ranking you’re talking about and honestly I was not surprised when I saw that a while back. Let me see if I can give you a useful answer.
First thing, and those goes for life in general and not just the Academy: People who seem cheery and upbeat are not necessarily happy. You’ll eventually understand this—Often you really have no idea how some people are feeling. People sometimes put on facades. Many people are inclined to conceal their negative emotion, and I’d say a lot midshipmen fall under that. So just because someone smiles on the outside, doesn’t mean they’re free of sorrow on the inside.
Now more to your question. The Naval Academy offers a prestigious degree, quality academic program, a guaranteed, relatively high-paying job immediately after graduation, with no tuition or room/board, full healthcare, and a small monthly stipend. I’m sure you’ve learned that in life there is no free lunch. Any deal like that is gonna come with some downsides, right? Otherwise everyone would be applying.
So what are those downsides? Simply put, loss of freedom and time. You are owned by the institution and are immersed in it for a minimum of 5 days a week, sometimes 6-7 days a week. No matter who you are, that can take a toll on you. While at civilian colleges students recieve warm welcomes, take 12 credits in whatever subjects interest them, and go out and branch out socially however much they want, as a mid you’ll be up before sunrise to muster for mandatory meal, take classes in the engineering curriculum regardless of your major, and be mandated to march in parades and attend lectures and sporting events. Your only respite comes on certain times of certain weekends. Lots of rules on what you can wear, where you can go, when you can drive, etc. If you want to see all the rules midshipmen have to abide by, do a google search for “Midshipmen Regulations”. That’s for all four years. During Plebe year, you’ll get talked down to a lot by some of the upperclass and will often be sleep deprived. So put any college-aged guy or gal in those conditions, and most probably aren’t gonna be too thrilled.
Now I don’t know a single person that likes those restrictions, and yet less than 10% of people leave voluntarily, which is a pretty interesting phenomenon. Everyone’s got their own reasons but here are some I’ve frequently observed. Part of it is sunk costs—Getting accepted and getting through Plebe Summer are a lot of work themselves even though they’re just the starting point and once you’re past that hump, might as well finish. A lot of people are also deathly afraid of disappointing their families by not sticking it out until the end. But there are positive reasons for staying too—Some people become best friends with their roommates and they get each other through it. Some people who are on a sports team get a lot of enjoyment from it. There’s also simply the longterm calculus that getting the degree and military experience is a great way to set one up for a successful career. I have many friends who’ve expressed regret over their choice to attend the Naval Academy, but they’re all about to graduate (In 96 days, but who’s counting) so apparently something made these last four years worth it.
Institutions are never as glamorous as they seem on the outside. Midshipmen start out idealistic, then disillusionment sets in and they either leave, or put their head down and grind it out for 4 years. Then when graduates get older and wiser, the nostalgia kicks in and their memory focuses on less the bad and more of the stuff got them through it. Conversely when you’re going through it, it’s so easy to complain and fixate on the bad.
So yes, it makes sense to me why we are ranked one of the most unhappy colleges due to the lifestyle which you don’t really appreciate until you’ve lived it. Just giving it to you straight based on talking to diverse cross sections of mids every day for the better part of four years. A lot of people don’t like it here, and it seems to me that this is by the institution’s design with the goal of building character. Truthfully I don’t know how valid this is given that you can commission through OCS and be just as good of an officer, but that is a conversation for another day.
If you are hyper-conscientious, thick-skinned, love sports and fitness, enjoy STEM classes, are willing to give up a lot of your freedom, and want to be surrounded by like-minded people, go to the Naval Academy. There are people like that here and they do well. I think that’s the type that the Academy really wants too. On the other hand if you want to dictate your own schedule, decide what activities to pursue and how to spend your time, you probably will sometimes feel unhappy at the Naval Academy. That said, a lot of people here fall under this category and still stay at the Academy, because it’s not all bad. There’s a nice sense of community here. I could lose my wallet a thousand times and it will always be returned to me untouched. It’s pretty cool that I can walz into a professor’s office outside of his scheduled office hours and he’ll eagerly give me help. And even the mids who are considered “lazy” are more hardworking than many of their civilian counterparts. I endured the annoying parts of the academy because in the end it’s where I was comfortable. A lot of life is about making sacrifices and difficult tradeoffs, and that’s what being a mid entails.
If you’re having doubts, I would sit down and think about what you really want out of your college experience, because IMO the only reason to attend a service academy is if you want that unique experience. You can still get a great education and become a military officer without excess debt by going to a civilian school, so to me that goal wouldn’t be enough of a reason to attend. To go to an Academy, ideally you should want to live the military culture and be willing to embrace a certain “BS factor” as well. If you don’t, you’ll learn to when you get here.
