graduated in the top 5% of my class with my branch of choice.
Validation is clearly beneficial to top students.
The fine print:
Results may vary and are not indicative of future performance. Additionally, the general guidance on validation on this forum is not a personal recommendation for any particular cadet and does not take into account the aptitude, experience, or other activities or needs of the cadet, and may not be suitable for any particular cadet. Before validating, cadet should consider whether validation is suitable. Cadets should consider advice from this forum as only a single factor in making their validation decision while taking into account their current abilities, goals, and academic and military environment. 
I said somewhere in there that I do believe there are valid reasons not to validate, but most people that didn't that I know ended up regretting it; that population wasn't from the top academic students who regretted it, but you're more mid level academic cadet. Reasons for validating include wanting to get a better foundation in the subject, having an easier class that doesn't require as much effort early on while trying to figure out the time management piece that will become the hardest constant challenge for them over the four years, or if you're a cadet who has validated quite a few classes, being placed in a course that you'll end up with a different population of students than you would've otherwise interacted with outside of your major (they bring different perspectives which you can learn from and you meet more people than having the same group of students that you have in class over and over again).
With that said, those folks who regretted it saw it as a waste of course space when you have such limited time at the Academy to take the courses you want or didn't get any better of a grade than they would've if they had moved up a level because they took the course for granted despite knowing the material and just didn't study (happens in physics and chemistry all of the time). The other advantage of validating classes is you'll end up having more permanent faculty than the rotational professors who may only have a year or two, if that, of teaching experience. That can make a huge difference in being able to understand the course material just based off of presentation, and those more experienced professors tend to have much more background knowledge in their field (doctorates, research, etc.) and alternate ways to present material to reach students with a different learning style that the rotational faculty don't have that gives them more depth to reach from and enrich the class. This isn't a knock on rotational professors; there are some that are absolutely incredible, but there is also a reason that as you start to get out of core courses and into more advanced courses, you are much more likely to have one of these permanent faculty (military or civilian) than the senior company grade/junior field grade officers that are there on 3 year teaching rotations.
So summarizing, I'm not saying that cadets should validate or not. Based on my experience, I'm much happier for having validating courses, and I think there are more pros than cons especially again when you put the Academy in perspective for being a place that is meant to 100% challenge you as much as possible. I only brought up where I graduated to put into perspective you can graduate high in your class without focusing on GPA. If I had focused solely on GPA, I really don't think I would've graduated higher in my class. If anything, I would've dropped in my rank, because for everything that I was successful at, I had a ton of help from teammates, friends, teachers, etc. supporting me.
Just a quick highlight, I still remember one night I was up way after taps in the day room working on a problem set and I was completely stumped (I do not advise doing this...I was definitely breaking at least 5 different rules that I can think of off the top of my head. I had missed class for some reason or other and the textbook wasn't helping me out at all with understanding what I was supposed to do. One of my buddies who lived in a different company area got up (she was an incredibly early sleeper) at 0200 to come to my company day room to help draw out the problem on the board and walk me through what I needed to do, no questions asked, without any complaints or questions asked (also breaking a handful of rules herself to come over to my barracks to do so). That doesn't take into account any of the van trips where my teammates and I helped each other out on homework or after practice or any of the million other times someone went out of their way to make sure that either myself or one of my classmates was successful. None of that was because of GPA, and those are the same people that I can call at 0200 in the morning on the East Coast to get advice on how to handle something in my company because that's the only time that time zones work out for me to be free to call them now with where I'm stationed at times. West Point is a special place, and the military just continues those bonds after graduation.
@Casey, I suspect you're female; otherwise, I'd think you were my son.
Our son is one of those academic kids, but he explained to us that due to the diversity of talents and interests in the corp that the OML rubric accounts for, just about every cadet ends up with his or her first or second choice of branch and post, top academics or not; they are not all vying for the same thing. Plus, G/BRADSO is an option for some to help them get where they want to be.
The military is not like high school. GPA is only one leg of the OML; it isn't an academic race. Being in the top 5% academically does not translate to the same OML. Our son has a friendly rivalry with his roommate of two years. They have about the same OML. This kid kills it on the military and fitness legs, and our son tutors him academically. They are a great example of the cooperative competitive spirit of the corps. Each of them will get where they want to go stronger for learning to lean on each other's strengths. Our son says that is the lesson he will take away from West Point long after his GPA ceases to matter.
Yes to being female, but it sounds like your son has a good head on his shoulders and is going to continue to do well if this is the kind of feedback you're getting from him
No one gets through West Point alone. The folks who try are not the ones that are well liked in their class, and it is very transparent when people are working for their GPA only (which carries over to the Army and its easy to quickly peg who is working for their evaluation and not because they actually care about doing well at their job). Everyone has a strength, and the best leaders I've interacted with figure out what those strengths are to put people into positions to succeed, not dismiss them because they have weaknesses in other areas. Hope he keeps working hard and best of luck to him!
