I have been given an appointment to both USMA and USNA and now I have to choose, here's what is going through my mind:
USMA: I have always thought that I want to go to West Point. I've been a ArmyStrong guy for as long as I can remember. I attended SLE at West Point over the summer and absolutely loved it and visited again later in the summer with my family and it solidified my love for West Point. I recently went on another visit in early January to see what it was like during the academic year and it wasn't as fantastic. My host, his roommates, and a lot of the other freshman he hung out with said they did not enjoy it there and that they wish they would not have gone or wanted to transfer. I'd say about 70% of the students I talked to were in a poor or miserable mindset. This changed my outlook on USMA. I find myself to be a pretty mentally strong kid from my failing and overcoming many times in sports and other aspects of life, but it bothered me that so many kids weren't happy to be there. I definitely think I could handle USMA without becoming depressed, I'd just rather not be around kids who mope all the time. USMA has always been a goal of mine and is very near and dear to my heart, I can definitely see myself there.
USNA: I initially applied to Navy because I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone with the whole application process and seeking nominations, etc. I never considered it too much until I had my interview with my Blue and Gold officer and he spoke highly of all the opportunities I could have in the Navy and how much he loved Annapolis and USNA. Being from Indiana, I've always been more of a land guy so the whole "live on a ship for months at a time" idea is foreign to me, but I definitely think I can adjust. I'm also very interested in the Aerospace Engineering program there and the opportunity it gives me to become a pilot. I have a friend at the academy who's a plebe and absolutely loves it and in his biased opinion the mental attitude of students at USNA is more positive. I kind of let USNA fall to the way side again and concentrated on USMA until I got an LOA from them and realized that I should get a Nomination for Navy to guarantee myself a spot in an academy. Also, my less-than-stellar visit to USMA made me really want to consider Navy again.
I can definitely see myself at either academy. Navy gives me opportunities to try completely new things like aviation and life at sea, but Army will give me multitudes of opportunities as well. I fell in love with Army first and still at this time consider it my preference, but Navy started to present a lot of opportunities to me that I think would be interesting.
Any feedback or helpful advice would be awesome! I'm thinking out loud and figured I could post on here to get help. Thanks!
USMA: I have always thought that I want to go to West Point. I've been a ArmyStrong guy for as long as I can remember. I attended SLE at West Point over the summer and absolutely loved it and visited again later in the summer with my family and it solidified my love for West Point. I recently went on another visit in early January to see what it was like during the academic year and it wasn't as fantastic. My host, his roommates, and a lot of the other freshman he hung out with said they did not enjoy it there and that they wish they would not have gone or wanted to transfer. I'd say about 70% of the students I talked to were in a poor or miserable mindset. This changed my outlook on USMA. I find myself to be a pretty mentally strong kid from my failing and overcoming many times in sports and other aspects of life, but it bothered me that so many kids weren't happy to be there. I definitely think I could handle USMA without becoming depressed, I'd just rather not be around kids who mope all the time. USMA has always been a goal of mine and is very near and dear to my heart, I can definitely see myself there.
USNA: I initially applied to Navy because I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone with the whole application process and seeking nominations, etc. I never considered it too much until I had my interview with my Blue and Gold officer and he spoke highly of all the opportunities I could have in the Navy and how much he loved Annapolis and USNA. Being from Indiana, I've always been more of a land guy so the whole "live on a ship for months at a time" idea is foreign to me, but I definitely think I can adjust. I'm also very interested in the Aerospace Engineering program there and the opportunity it gives me to become a pilot. I have a friend at the academy who's a plebe and absolutely loves it and in his biased opinion the mental attitude of students at USNA is more positive. I kind of let USNA fall to the way side again and concentrated on USMA until I got an LOA from them and realized that I should get a Nomination for Navy to guarantee myself a spot in an academy. Also, my less-than-stellar visit to USMA made me really want to consider Navy again.
I can definitely see myself at either academy. Navy gives me opportunities to try completely new things like aviation and life at sea, but Army will give me multitudes of opportunities as well. I fell in love with Army first and still at this time consider it my preference, but Navy started to present a lot of opportunities to me that I think would be interesting.
Any feedback or helpful advice would be awesome! I'm thinking out loud and figured I could post on here to get help. Thanks!