I'm a Cow at USMA, AMA (Ask Me Anything)

ahl1358 said:
How are members of minority groups treated at west point, by cadets and also the administration? Not only racial minorities, but also members of the LGTB, I guess liberals in terms of political ideologies though I'm not sure if they count as a minority group, women, etc.?
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Don't think you'll get much of an open response on this one though I'm sure everyone has their opinion on treatment and acceptance. As an evolving subject, not sure who will want to post openly when there is a tendency to vilify anything that doesn't conform with the correct social norms that are constantly evolving. I recommend getting a few more posts under your belt and you will probably get better responses as private messages from those with relevant perspectives who don't necessarily want to post openly either.

Can't say that there is an active elect-Sanders progressive political movement among the corps, but there is Knights Out and one of the appointed board members/first females graduates is out openly. Take that for what it's worth.
 
845something said:
Don't think you'll get much of an open response on this one though I'm sure everyone has their opinion on treatment and acceptance. As an evolving subject, not sure who will want to post openly when there is a tendency to vilify anything that doesn't conform with the correct social norms that are constantly evolving. I recommend getting a few more posts under your belt and you will probably get better responses as private messages from those with relevant perspectives who don't necessarily want to post openly either.

Can't say that there is an active elect-Sanders progressive political movement among the corps, but there is Knights Out and one of the appointed board members/first females graduates is out openly. Take that for what it's worth.
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Nice honest response 845. That is good advice.
 
ahl1358 said:
How are members of minority groups treated at west point, by cadets and also the administration? Not only racial minorities, but also members of the LGTB, I guess liberals in terms of political ideologies though I'm not sure if they count as a minority group, women, etc.?
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Sorry I was away for a couple days. Minority groups are treated fairly well here. There is a large LGTB club and I have multiple openly homosexual friends who have had no issues in their time here. Same goes for liberals. Despite what people think, USMA as a whole is not very conservative. Many of the people I meet here are moderates or progressive. I'll be completely honest, women have it the hardest here. More so then minorities and LGTB folk, at least from my perspective. It's mostly men, so the thought process tends to be male centric. Also, 80% guys means that a lot of cadets are single and stay single and for whatever reason they blame female cadets. I personally don't get it, but I have seen and heard some mean stuff said.

EDIT: To elaborate further, since this is a pretty big topic that might upset others. I would say that 95% of cadets are open and accepting of all different paths of life. While I'm an independent and don't belong to a party, I'm probably more progressive and libertarian on the scale. I have had zero issues with it. I've met Trump supporters here, I have friends who are all for Bernie. I have deeply religious friends who go to bible study every night and I have friends who are openly atheist. I have friends who are gay and are proud to admit it. The idea West Point is trying to reinforce is that no matter what they believe or what they look like, the people around you are your battle buddies. You stand up for and support them because it's the right thing to do. They'd do it for you in a heart beat.

Now, why do I say women have it harder here? As I mentioned, since it's majority male people tend to think male centric. The big issue I've seen is that there is a lot of male attention. Not in a bad way (Although there are bad apples) but with 4 guys to each girl, that's just the way the ratio falls. My female friends don't mind it too much, you just have to be prepared for it. The biggest issues are with the few guys who don't get that USMA is like work, and you don't hit on coworkers. Stuff like making crude comments or hitting on subordinates. I, and my peers, have had to talk with a few cadets each year about getting their act together. Some people just don't have the awareness of what is and isn't acceptable in a professional environment. That said, when we see stuff like that we take care of it quick because that is a fast way to destroy a healthy command climate.
 
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As for razors, I use gillete as well. I do it real quick in the morning, sometimes with and without shaving cream. There's been a number of times where I'll straight up dry shave, but I got pretty tough skin and don't get rashes. Just wait for CFT when you'll be shaving out of a canteen cup at 5 am.
 
TPIAD said:
As for razors, I use gillete as well. I do it real quick in the morning, sometimes with and without shaving cream. There's been a number of times where I'll straight up dry shave, but I got pretty tough skin and don't get rashes. Just wait for CFT when you'll be shaving out of a canteen cup at 5 am.
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You recommend any particular razors?
 
EVDfootball said:
You recommend any particular razors?
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Whatever is cheap and onhand, the cadet store sells the gillette razors so that's what I use. I prefer to shave over electric because I never get a decent shave from electric.
 
Hi, I am currently torn between USMA and ROTC. USMA seems like a close to ideal school to me, although the one thing I am very worried about is that I have heard that USMA cadets have close to no social life and are always busy, whether it is school work or PT. How accurate is this? How much free time do you have and how often are you able to leave campus? Has this changed much from plebe year?

Thank you
 
bfhsj said:
Hi, I am currently torn between USMA and ROTC. USMA seems like a close to ideal school to me, although the one thing I am very worried about is that I have heard that USMA cadets have close to no social life and are always busy, whether it is school work or PT. How accurate is this? How much free time do you have and how often are you able to leave campus? Has this changed much from plebe year?

Thank you
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It is a touch choice. I made a similar decision and I came here. I have friends who were in ROTC who came here. The answer changes over time. What I said before coming to USMA is not the same as what I would say now, when asked the same question.

We don't have social lives. School is in the middle of the woods in NY, the closest resemblance to society is a half hour away by car, and only upperclass get cars. I had plenty of free time, but it wasn't until now, cow year, that I frequently left post. Plebe and yuk year I would go months of being stuck within the boundaries of USMA. It gets better towards firstie year, but it is a long, long journey.
 
TPIAD said:
Sorry I was away for a couple days. Minority groups are treated fairly well here. There is a large LGTB club and I have multiple openly homosexual friends who have had no issues in their time here. Same goes for liberals. Despite what people think, USMA as a whole is not very conservative. Many of the people I meet here are moderates or progressive. I'll be completely honest, women have it the hardest here. More so then minorities and LGTB folk, at least from my perspective. It's mostly men, so the thought process tends to be male centric. Also, 80% guys means that a lot of cadets are single and stay single and for whatever reason they blame female cadets. I personally don't get it, but I have seen and heard some mean stuff said.

EDIT: To elaborate further, since this is a pretty big topic that might upset others. I would say that 95% of cadets are open and accepting of all different paths of life. While I'm an independent and don't belong to a party, I'm probably more progressive and libertarian on the scale. I have had zero issues with it. I've met Trump supporters here, I have friends who are all for Bernie. I have deeply religious friends who go to bible study every night and I have friends who are openly atheist. I have friends who are gay and are proud to admit it. The idea West Point is trying to reinforce is that no matter what they believe or what they look like, the people around you are your battle buddies. You stand up for and support them because it's the right thing to do. They'd do it for you in a heart beat.

Now, why do I say women have it harder here? As I mentioned, since it's majority male people tend to think male centric. The big issue I've seen is that there is a lot of male attention. Not in a bad way (Although there are bad apples) but with 4 guys to each girl, that's just the way the ratio falls. My female friends don't mind it too much, you just have to be prepared for it. The biggest issues are with the few guys who don't get that USMA is like work, and you don't hit on coworkers. Stuff like making crude comments or hitting on subordinates. I, and my peers, have had to talk with a few cadets each year about getting their act together. Some people just don't have the awareness of what is and isn't acceptable in a professional environment. That said, when we see stuff like that we take care of it quick because that is a fast way to destroy a healthy command climate.
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Thanks so much for the detailed answer! Having a first-hand account really helps a lot
 
TPIAD said:
Sorry I was away for a couple days. Minority groups are treated fairly well here. There is a large LGTB club and I have multiple openly homosexual friends who have had no issues in their time here. Same goes for liberals. Despite what people think, USMA as a whole is not very conservative. Many of the people I meet here are moderates or progressive. I'll be completely honest, women have it the hardest here. More so then minorities and LGTB folk, at least from my perspective. It's mostly men, so the thought process tends to be male centric. Also, 80% guys means that a lot of cadets are single and stay single and for whatever reason they blame female cadets. I personally don't get it, but I have seen and heard some mean stuff said.

EDIT: To elaborate further, since this is a pretty big topic that might upset others. I would say that 95% of cadets are open and accepting of all different paths of life. While I'm an independent and don't belong to a party, I'm probably more progressive and libertarian on the scale. I have had zero issues with it. I've met Trump supporters here, I have friends who are all for Bernie. I have deeply religious friends who go to bible study every night and I have friends who are openly atheist. I have friends who are gay and are proud to admit it. The idea West Point is trying to reinforce is that no matter what they believe or what they look like, the people around you are your battle buddies. You stand up for and support them because it's the right thing to do. They'd do it for you in a heart beat.

Now, why do I say women have it harder here? As I mentioned, since it's majority male people tend to think male centric. The big issue I've seen is that there is a lot of male attention. Not in a bad way (Although there are bad apples) but with 4 guys to each girl, that's just the way the ratio falls. My female friends don't mind it too much, you just have to be prepared for it. The biggest issues are with the few guys who don't get that USMA is like work, and you don't hit on coworkers. Stuff like making crude comments or hitting on subordinates. I, and my peers, have had to talk with a few cadets each year about getting their act together. Some people just don't have the awareness of what is and isn't acceptable in a professional environment. That said, when we see stuff like that we take care of it quick because that is a fast way to destroy a healthy command climate.
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As always, great answer. I really appreciate all of the help/insight that you've brought to this forum.
 
Well I'm sure if you participate in competitive sports you'll have the opportunity if you make first team to travel? I plan to tryout for the TKD team.
 
dkdino said:
Well I'm sure if you participate in competitive sports you'll have the opportunity if you make first team to travel? I plan to tryout for the TKD team.
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I also do taekwondo! The team jsut recently competed in Nationals. PM me if you want
 
dkdino said:
Well I'm sure if you participate in competitive sports you'll have the opportunity if you make first team to travel? I plan to tryout for the TKD team.
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All teams and clubs travel on their discretion. Even as a plebe you're allowed to go on trips (trip sections) approved by a team or club and it won't count against taking pass (Since you're limited to how many passes you have). I would recommend trying out for a ton of clubs because enjoying a hobby and getting out of USMA is a great feeling. As a plebe I went skiing twice far in the North East and it was crazy seeing that part of the country, I am originally from the Southwest.
 
Felix Rosa said:
As always, great answer. I really appreciate all of the help/insight that you've brought to this forum.
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My rationale is that, for me at least, understanding the situation removes the stress. I remember very well how I never thought I would get in here. There were many late nights I doubted my abilities to be accepted. Now, on the other side, I want to prevent that. West Point is hard, but it is not what it seems like (at first glance). Hopefully by answering questions honestly everyone here will have a better idea if USMA is right for them, and if so, maybe they won't worry so much before R-day. All of ya'll should be having the times of your life senior year because the next few at USMA will be fairly boring.
 
D.H.C.123 said:
So we should bring a good amount of razors?
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For the summer, bring one and maybe a few attachable blades. If you're going to use disposable, bring a couple. You'll get to go to the cadet store to re up on supplies so you don't need a massive amount. Beast is only 6 weeks long, which really isn't much.
 
TPIAD said:
For the summer, bring one and maybe a few attachable blades. If you're going to use disposable, bring a couple. You'll get to go to the cadet store to re up on supplies so you don't need a massive amount. Beast is only 6 weeks long, which really isn't much.
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I plan on bringing a basic 5 pack of blades
 
Can we pack compression underwear with logo ? With loose briefs is it okay if it says " fruit of the loom" etc?
 
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