High School Junior - summer programs, planning ahead?

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BearDawg

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My son is starting his junior year in HS, and has discovered he really likes civics & American political history. He’s not sure what he wants to do post-college. Right now he’s at a Catholic high school, and has attended parochial schools for the past 7 years. While I think a part of his 16-year-old self would like an unstructured undergrad experience, I also see in him that thrives in a rigorous, structured environment. But he’s 16, he doesn’t know much beyond his current world. He may be interested in law, intelligence, or something entirely different. What I thought I wanted at his age was very different than where I wound up, after all.

I want him to consider a number of different schools and options to find what best fits him and what he’s interested in. He’s drawn to service, excellence, and achieving his personal best, but eschews (somewhat) competition (humble kid!).

Is there a summer exploration program at Annapolis, Westpoint, or Coast Guard Academy that he could look into for next year? Each academy is so different, and I can network him in to talk with people who have had careers in the different branches, but not kids closer to his age. Suggestions, ideas?

Thanks very much —
 
I should add - he’s done a lot of community service because he enjoys contributing to the community, runs track but wouldn’t be a sports recruit, and is engaged into pushing his limits physically, mentally, and academically.
 
I recommend pointing your son toward the SA websites and letting him explore on his own, looking at the descriptions of cadet and midshipman life, the fields of study, the summer training experiences, the career paths, the gallery of photos of the various institutions, activities, cadets and midshipmen. There are official and unofficial videos.

In non-COVID years, there are week-long summer experience programs for rising seniors.

USNA has STEM camps, don’t know what USMA, USAFA, USCGA and USMMA have.
There are sport camps. (Non-COVID times)

Graduates get a B.S. but can major in liberal arts disciplines for a broad education. While the SAs have many similarities, there are many differences and cultural nuances. Their websites are great to settle into for focused browsing by the potential applicant.

The key is your son should see something there that “clicks” for him, that he wants to go full-immersion military (USMA, USNA, USAFA, USCGA, USMMA is unique in their model), and that path appeals to him. He has got to want it, and to fully accept he will owe a minimum of 5 years active duty service after graduation as a serving officer

All personality types attend SAs and become successful officers, including the quiet types.

He can also explore the college ROTC path to a military commission and a service. Top universities in the country have ROTC units. That is a hybrid experience of normal college life and military coursework and training. There are robust scholarship programs. Again, he should settle into the NROTC, AROTC and AFROTC websites for a good read on cadet and midshipman life, typical schedule, desired majors, career opportunities, scholarships, service obligations.
 
Another area I like to mention that involves service but not in uniform, is that of the Federal path at the big “ABC” agencies such as FBI, NSA, CIA, HLS, etc. Googling “[agency name] high school and college student programs” produces all kinds of interesting opportunities. In addition to the door-kicker jobs, there are the equally critical analyst career paths in intelligence, cyber ops, foreign affairs, logistics, operations planning, forensics, etc.
 
To answer the summer program question, USCGA has AIM, and USNA/USMA/USAFA all have some sort of summer seminar (I don’t know the respective names other than for CGA) along with other programs as well. I did AIM and would highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in an SA.
 
Be sure to take a long look at the various ROTC programs. They require a substantial level of commitment that can impose a lot of the rigor and structure of the SAs and are quite a bit more accessible. Not only are there far more schools, many of them are not as academically demanding and not all have a STEM focus. There are a lot of colleges to pick from, and your parental instinct to take a broad look at the options is probably a good one. ROTC widens the scope considerably.
 
FBI and NRA have free competitive week long summer programs as does the Marines.

Boy’s State bc he loves gov’t and community.

Because he is a junior HOBY is not sn option anymore.
 
USMA has SLE in late May-early June for rising Seniors
 
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