Civil Prep - Scholarships

[USMA2026TX]

DS received an AOG scholarship, his application is complete - CFA pending review/amber. 1 on the 9 scholars at his school received his appointment this week. Any information of what we can expect?

 

[DrMom]

You might wish to consider looking at the prep school section of Service Academy Forums. Much has been written.
Congratulations to your son. This is a marvelous opportunity.

 

[Jetbill]

You might wish to consider looking at the prep school section of Service Academy Forums. Much has been written.
Congratulations to your son. This is a marvelous opportunity.

Agreed with above post. I will say I would encourage you to consider Marion Military Institute if you're able to choose. DS is in his 2nd yr of SA prep school, at diff school this yr. (but self-preping). In his opinion MMI is top notch. A bit spartan for amenities, but he's there to take care of business anyways. He's got appointment for USMA (pending dodmerb) and senator's nomination for USAFA. Feel free to PM me for more info, we're TX too!

 

[2027proudMuti]

Congratulations to your son!! Our son received an AOG scholarship last year around this time. He chose Georgia Military College. It truly is a great experience for him. He has made some incredible bonds and lifelong friends. It sure is a great way for him to gain first-hand experience of what life will be like at the service academy. We are very happy he chose GMC. GMC is top notch in our opinion. I am also happy to say that he received an appointment this week on 1/19/23 to West Point for the Class of 2027!! Good luck to your son.

 

[GoArmy2027]

We second GMC! The experience has been exceptional and we are so grateful for the transition year. Your DS will enter the Academy stronger and more prepared.

 

[WoolSocksinSummer]

Congratulations to your son!! Our son received an AOG scholarship last year around this time. He chose Georgia Military College. It truly is a great experience for him. He has made some incredible bonds and lifelong friends. It sure is a great way for him to gain first-hand experience of what life will be like at the service academy. We are very happy he chose GMC. GMC is top notch in our opinion. I am also happy to say that he received an appointment this week on 1/19/23 to West Point for the Class of 2027!! Good luck to your son.

@2027proudMuti my son has accepted GMC as a sponsored Civil Prep this Fall! How challenging/rigorous is it? He’s ready, but 2 things have come up in discussion in our household… 1) should he study and expext to take the SAT again? 2) should he open his candidate portal for 2028, or does it automatically re-open since he’s an AOG scholar? Thank you for your guidance!

 

[2027proudMuti]

Congrats!! Our son did not take his ACT/SAT again. I will say that some of the classes at GMC have indeed been challenging for him. The entire program gave him a good understanding of what to expect at West Point (from academics to PT). He did have to reopen his portal for the class of 2027. I think that the best part of the civil prep has been the bonds he has established with so many of the other scholars who received the same gift of the AOG scholarship. Truly an awesome experience.

 

[xufan]

@2027proudMuti my son has accepted GMC as a sponsored Civil Prep this Fall! How challenging/rigorous is it? He’s ready, but 2 things have come up in discussion in our household… 1) should he study and expext to take the SAT again? 2) should he open his candidate portal for 2028, or does it automatically re-open since he’s an AOG scholar? Thank you for your guidance!

Our son was also an AOG Civil Prep at GMC and had a great experience. During the summer program, they attended a 6-week math bootcamp and then took the ACT or SAT, and my son's math score improved. He also said many of the plebe classes were much easier because of the classes he took at GMC. He is still good buddies with the other cadets he met at GMC.

 

[GoArmy2027]

@2027proudMuti my son has accepted GMC as a sponsored Civil Prep this Fall! How challenging/rigorous is it? He’s ready, but 2 things have come up in discussion in our household… 1) should he study and expext to take the SAT again? 2) should he open his candidate portal for 2028, or does it automatically re-open since he’s an AOG scholar? Thank you for your guidance!

Hello- our son has been at GMC this past year, as well. Knowing what we know now, we are so thankful for this year. From his experience, it has been appropriately challenging/rigorous academically. He did retake the SAT along with a roommate. His scores improved by a good bit. Academically, he learned to really “buckle down” as the AOG expectation of not getting below a C put on some pressure. We were thankful for this. It also gives such a nice transition year to the Academy. He was able to become acclimated somewhat to military life, adjust to being away from home, and experience civilian college life to a degree (with good boundaries). They will enter the Academy that much more mature. As 2027proudMuti said , the bonds between the scholars have been the greatest gift, but they have been a unique group intentional about spending time together, having adventures, and supporting one another on the journey. As parents, we’ve also been thankful for the connections with other parents and the year of more visits, longer breaks, and adjusting to having him gone ourselves. People say AOG is a “golden ticket” but I feel like the year of growth and experiences has been more of a blessing than we could have imagined - knowing what we know now, we would have chosen this if we could.

 

[hjk164]

Hello- our son has been at GMC this past year, as well. Knowing what we know now, we are so thankful for this year. From his experience, it has been appropriately challenging/rigorous academically. He did retake the SAT along with a roommate. His scores improved by a good bit. Academically, he learned to really “buckle down” as the AOG expectation of not getting below a C put on some pressure. We were thankful for this. It also gives such a nice transition year to the Academy. He was able to become acclimated somewhat to military life, adjust to being away from home, and experience civilian college life to a degree (with good boundaries). They will enter the Academy that much more mature. As 2027proudMuti said , the bonds between the scholars have been the greatest gift, but they have been a unique group intentional about spending time together, having adventures, and supporting one another on the journey. As parents, we’ve also been thankful for the connections with other parents and the year of more visits, longer breaks, and adjusting to having him gone ourselves. People say AOG is a “golden ticket” but I feel like the year of growth and experiences has been more of a blessing than we could have imagined - knowing what we know now, we would have chosen this if we could.

Thank you for sharing! Our DS is a 2027 applicant and received an offer for the AOG sponsored prep school this year. Reading about your experience was very helpful. He is strongly considering GMC or NMMI. He is waiting for the final ROTC scholarship board results as well as other college acceptances before making a decision.

- Why did you decide on GMC vs the other prep schools?

- Did all of your son’s AOG prep sponsored classmates at GMC all get apportionments to WP this year?

- Did his portal just stay open for the next year or does he have to start a new one?

- Did your son have to reapply for his nomination(s) this year?

 

[GoArmy2027]

Congratulations!
-GMC was closest and when we had his overnight visit at WP, the cadet he visited had gone to MMI (Marion) and didn’t recommend it. There isn’t a lot of time to make the decision, but we were able to visit GMC. We met the leadership and they were welcoming and encouraging.

-Yes! All of his AOG classmates received their appointments.

-He handled the portal stuff himself, so I honestly don’t know. I don’t think he had to start completely over.

-Yes, they do need to reapply for the nominations.

Please feel free to ask anything else, and I’m sure if your son would like to ask our son any questions, he would be open to that.

 

[2027proudMuti]

Perfectly worded GoArmy2027! We chose GMC without going to visit the campus. It was kind of a last minute thing as our son didn't receive the AOG scholarship until 4/15/2022 and we didn't get an opportunity to visit anywhere. I am thanking our lucky stars that he chose GMC though. As GoArmy2027 stated, all the scholars received their appointments for the Class of 2027. Our son decided not to retake his ACT or SAT again. I believe that he had to reopen his portal again sometime in late spring or early summer. He did that on his own so I can't be sure. But he did have to reapply for nominations again and start that process over while he was at GMC.