Female Mids
- Thread starter Gijane
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Same advice I would give to male plebes ...
eyes and ears open, mouth shut.
Low profile is best, no need to be the hero or the villain.
Just follow the rules no matter how stupid or trivial it may seem.
Get through indoc, so the real challenge can begin.
Participate in only as much extracurricular activity as needed to stay sane.
A high GPA plebe year can carry you through a bad trimester or two later.
I'm not sure I would give my daughter any different advice than I would give my son.
eyes and ears open, mouth shut.
Low profile is best, no need to be the hero or the villain.
Just follow the rules no matter how stupid or trivial it may seem.
Get through indoc, so the real challenge can begin.
Participate in only as much extracurricular activity as needed to stay sane.
A high GPA plebe year can carry you through a bad trimester or two later.
I'm not sure I would give my daughter any different advice than I would give my son.
Thanks
Thank you for your input. I should have been more specific with my question. I would not expect different advice for males and females regarding academic or regimental issues. I was looking for any female specific advice regarding hairstlyes, boots and undergarments for example. Any female mids have any advice or tips?
My DD is class of 2021. She would tell you to leave your hair long because it is easier to deal with than short hair and having to spend time getting haircuts to keep it within regs. Practice putting it in a stay-all-day bun before you get there, the faster the better. My DD has an 8-second all-day bun perfected (not exaggerating). Do not worry about footwear. They will issue you what you need except tennis shoes. The requirements for those will be in your reporting in orders. The bottom line is find some that are mostly white if you can with either blue or gray trim. Break them in before you report. Best footwear advice is to get some good insoles. Lots of standing and running on hot surfaces during INDOC. Once classes start, you will have to run between classes until recognition and your shoes and feet take a beating. I would recommend at least 2-3 pairs of insoles. On undergarments, bring white, sturdy, cheap as required for INDOC, but you can wear anything you want after INDOC. My DD wears lacy sports bras in wild colors and patterns to keep a small vestige of femininity when she is wearing the same uniforms as the men everyday. No one cares what kind of underwear you have after INDOC. But do make sure to keep one white bra and panties to wear with your white uniforms. Before you leave, I would make up a package of stuff for your parents to send you after INDOC is over. Last piece of advice for female mids is not to sleep with anyone at the academy. You will have plenty of opportunities, but you do not want to be THAT girl. It is a small school and word travels fast. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck to you.
The rest is good stuff, but this?!? Really??? It's 2019 not 1950. I'll be sure to let all my classmates who met and dated their wives at the Academy know that they are married to THAT girl!
A1Janitor
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I think the advice is not to be the girl who sleeps around. Which is good advice in or out of the academy ... regardless of sex.
But especially important for females in the SA.
I think it the way it was stated and later reiterated ("especially for females") perpetuates a double standard. I can't imagine someone posting to a male, "make sure you have an extra jock strap and dry socks, oh yeah one more thing, don't have sex with any girls or people will talk about you." It's 2019. Time to stop judging women.
A1Janitor
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It’s free advice. Do what you want with it.
I bet a woman who sleeps around at a SA and gets a reputation in that environment will wish she took it. It’s motherly advice fwiw.
It’s no different than the advice I gave to both my son and daughter.
I think the Kavanaugh hearings provided more than enough examples to young men and young women about avoiding compromising situations of any sort.
A1Janitor
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LOL without getting into politics - we don’t know that he actually was in any compromising situations.
But good advice about avoiding compromising situations.
Not trying to start a war here. The OP asked for advice for female mids and I gave it, based on what I know from my DS and my DD and their friends at Kings Point. If you do not like the advice, disregard it. If you have different advice, feel free to post it. The fact remains that no matter what year it is, life at a service academy is different for men and women, no matter how much you wish it weren't so. The differences are magnified at USMMA due to its small size and the proportion of the regiment that is female being the lowest of any of the academies.
Bad advice, if you are going to have a bad trimester, have them your plebe year. The admin isn't very sympathetic to upperclass mids who are failing. They also like an upward trend.
I have to say, being in my 3rd year at KP there is no shaming of men or woman who sleeps around. We all know that multiple females and males have slept with 10+% of the class. It is not wrong or shameful, simply a choice. I would disregard the advice of KP Mom and The Janitor, they are not students or former student.
joriebelle
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I'm just an observer here on this thread, and what I noticed was KP Mom offering advice in a kind and helpful manner and then basically being jumped on by some of you. If you don't agree and have a different opinion, fine, but it seems like some people are just waiting to cause drama and stir up dissension. People coming to this site to get information will surely get turned off by the tone from some of you. Can we keep it civil?
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My point is one of math. At the end of plebe year you are already about one third of the way through the academics. A poor trimester plebe year will have a significantly greater impact on your cumulative GPA than the same poor trimester 2/C year. Assuming you are not pulling multiple Fs, the high GPA plebe year can prevent you from falling below the mendoza line overall with one low trimester GPA thus negating the need to worry about admin sympathies.
Overall, I'm with KPEng on this one, he has a right to his opinion. The reality is the males got a worse reputation then the females. We used to refer to men even dating other M/N as "turning to the dark side" but I don't recall that ever being expressed towards the females. I can recall a couple females not thought highly of, but it had to do with the quality of their choices among the male M/N and not at all related to quantity.
As for compromising situations, I will refer to the Nassau County detective who came and spoke on the topic. At one point he was discussing diminished capacity due to alcohol and someone asked the question what if I was drunk too, then didn't she assault me too? The detective stated that Nassau County does not entertain cross complaints. The M/N's responded with so basically then its a race to the police and whoever gets there last goes to jail? Moral of the story ... avoid the situation entirely!!!!
Agreed on the early hustle. Those classes Plebe year are relatively "easy", or at least I found them that way, as well as third class year, too. I carried a 3.0+ into my last two years and it really saved me. Now I never failed any classes, and I believe I only had one "D" (damn Material Science). . . . As for the other, my class was not the first to have women, that honor fell on the Class of 78. They were seniors when I started. I know that there were some that dated other Cadets, but I don't know that it really caused much of a problem. I really avoided that kind of complication just because I was busy and really just wanted (and hell, still want to) have a simple life. Not that I was well behaved. . . .just not with other cadets/midshipmen. . (midshipwomen?).
I would certainly not offer any advice to a woman about KP that was different from a man. I do know that a woman in the maritime industry, even today, faces struggles that a man may not. When at sea, we all live in close quarters, and on some vessels, privacy is rare and precious. I know that some of the tugs I sailed on would have both women and men sharing cabins and heads.
Thank you very much for all of the advice!
I haven't yet. I have been to USMMA many times but would like to wait until after my overnight to decide.@Gijane, have you accepted your appointment? I see you're still listed as 'Undecided' in the 2023 Appointment thread.
Thank you for your advice.
KP2020Dad
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It's good advice for males and females. I gave my DS the same advice about "relations" on campus and with other Mids. All it does is open the possibility (more like probability) of problems. The problems might manifest in different ways (between the sexes), but they are still problems and distractions. KP is too tough to get through without distractions…relationships amongst Mids just adds to it. Once a relationship goes sour, you can’t escape the awkwardness that follows…and you don’t want that for 2-4 years. (and God forbid that one of the people in relationship has a hard time ending the relationship) It’s best to stay single. Needless to say, my DS has stayed away from other Mids, but for some reason loves being in relationships and a couple of his ex-girlfriends have caused him to be distracted, at times. Good luck.