Ask a plebe.... I'm right here :)

I know this does not pertain to Plebes, but do any current Cadets know anyone in or anything about the Defense and Strategic Studies Major?
 
PDB88 said:
I'm a DSS Major; what do you want to know?
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First of all, what are your thoughts on the program? Is there any subject you particularly liked in high school?

Secondly, what kind of jobs AFTER a military career would a major such as this suit? I am only asking because history is by far my favorite subject, but there ate limited options for that major, as far as careers go. More importantly, is it a good major to pursue to prepare for your military career?

Finally, can you give me some info on your schedule at the moment, and how many other students are also in DSS.

History/Mechanical Engineeing/DSS are my three favorite options at the moment.
 
stlcards2012 said:
First of all, what are your thoughts on the program? Is there any subject you particularly liked in high school?

Secondly, what kind of jobs AFTER a military career would a major such as this suit? I am only asking because history is by far my favorite subject, but there ate limited options for that major, as far as careers go. More importantly, is it a good major to pursue to prepare for your military career?

Finally, can you give me some info on your schedule at the moment, and how many other students are also in DSS.

History/Mechanical Engineeing/DSS are my three favorite options at the moment.
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I came in to West Point pretty sure that I would major in US or Military History. I did pretty well in History plebe year, but felt like the applicability of many of the history courses I would take as a history major would be limited at best. DSS allows me to take all thehistory classes I was interested in taking as well as a myriad of courses from other disciplines - more language courses, military geography, international relations, and of course, all the super hooah Special Ops courses taught by the DSS department. DSS is also the most common double major course - it has relatively few requirements and has a lot of flexibility to bring in outside courses to meet those requirements.

At the moment, DSS is a very new field of study and is not very widespread at the undergraduate level. If you are expecting to do 5 and fly, it might not be the best choice of major. There are many firms, both in the U.S and abroad, that use DSS to help governments and businesses create strategies. You have a much better chance of getting a job with these firms after a longer military career, but it is still possible to go get a job much earlier.

Several instructors have told me that your undergrad degree will not hold as much weight as your leadership experience when it comes time to look at grad schools. For me, I would rather do something I enjoy while I'm here; it helps make this place more bearable and will most likely keep my rank higher than if I suffered through a major I didn't like just because I thought it might give me a better shot at grad school down the road.
 
PDB88 said:
Several instructors have told me that your undergrad degree will not hold as much weight as your leadership experience when it comes time to look at grad schools.
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True in some respects. If you want to get a masters in engineering, probably best to have majored in it as an undergrad.
 
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