I’m a sophomore and thank you for making this thread! I will be visiting USNA in two months for their stem program so I am curious about your experience.
1). What made you want to attend the Naval Academy instead of the other four (USAFA, West Point, and so on).
2). As a 1/C mid, what do you and your peers do on the weekends. How do you like Navy’s location in Annapolis?
3). All the SA’s are unique in their own ways, so what do you think makes Navy unique compared to the other academies. Why should one consider it as their top-choice?
4). How is the STEM curriculum at Navy and do you get a lot of hands-on experience? Do you like the professors and do you receive a lot of academic assistance when you need help?
5). Do mids get assigned their careers for after graduation or they get to choose what they want to do as an officer? What will you be doing?
6). How is the physical standards at Annapolis and are you currently in any sports?
Thank you in advance and congratulations on finishing out your Naval academy journey to becoming an officer! (Sorry that’s a lot of questions)
Thanks to everyone for the questions -- I'll try to get around to everything. I will do my best to be completely honest; so many people come here with the academy on this gold and shiny pedestal only to realize it wasn't everything they thought it was. Been at school all day so I haven't been able to respond yet.
1). Honestly, I had a strange attachment to the Naval Academy for no good reason. Looking back, I wish I considered West Point more. That's not to say that I regret my decision; I wholeheartedly know that I made the right choice to come to Navy. However, depending on what you want to do in the military, give the other services a look. For example, I know TONS of midshipmen that want nothing to do with ships or submarines... not a great place to start considering half of every class will end up in those communities. It's nearly impossible to avoid ships/submarines, regardless of the community you go into -- even Marines, especially now with Force Design 2030. Please, don't come here simply because you liked the school more. You'll be spending more time in the service than at whatever academy.
2). Weekends are great as a firstie. At this point in the year, we have weekday liberty, and have overnights Friday and Saturday. Things that people do vary, but in general, I think an all-encompassing word that describes weekends here is "relax." Lots of people go to their sponsor's place or have a friend with an apartment that their parent pays for, etc. Also, an observation that I think most midshipmen would agree with is that a lot of firstie weekends are spent in DTA (downtown annapolis) at the bars. Overall, the most consistent theme among midshipmen weekends is that they try to get away from the academy and forget about it for a couple days before it's back to work.
3). Consider Navy as your top choice if you think the Naval Service is the environment in which you want to lead. Like I touched on earlier, each Service Academy is unique, but I would think further ahead into the TYPE of service you want to be doing when considering which academy to go to. Navy's unique for its location. I think you can't argue that it's the best among the SAs, unless you're considering USMMA.
4). STEM Curriculum is solid, but definitely kicks some people in the butt. Regardless of major you WILL be taking classes like Electrical Engineering and Thermodynamics. If you're an engineering major I think there's a decent amount of hands on experience, especially because we all have to have a firstie Capstone project. Basically, it's like a senior thesis. I'm personally an Econ major, so it depends on what you classify as "hands on."
Professors are VERY available here; when they come here, they know that there is a great emphasis on teaching, unlike some big research universities. If you have bad grades you really don't have much of an excuse. There are tenured professors here who will come in at 10pm just to have one-on-one with a student. Usually, all you need to do is ask. Of course, as is anywhere, there are bad instructors. But, even they are usually willing to help.
5). The process is known as service assignment. In August of your firstie year you put in preferences, and in November you find out what you get. Ultimately, to answer your question, your warfare community is assigned to you, but you have a say in what you want. There's never any guarantees, though, unless you early-select for a nuclear community. I will be a Marine Corps Officer.
6). This is an interesting question. In all honesty, I think you would be surprised by the amount of people at our institution that aren't in great shape. I will say this, though -- our PRT (physical readiness test) standards are much higher than the actual Fleet. So, as long as you're passing, you're technically well within the Navy's standards. Overall, as long as you're passing the PRT, how much you workout and how good of shape you're in is 100% up to you, if you're not a varsity athlete. I know guys that work out for about a week every semester, right before the PRT, and I know guys that work out for hours every day. Whatever works for you. At the moment I am not in any sports, but I'd be happy to answer any questions about them.
