Hey guys, I recently received an appointment to USAFA and USNA, I was trying to weigh my post-graduation careers at both. I know USAFA has the "fly a desk or fly a jet" stereotype, but both sides interest me greatly. Could anyone provide insight as to how the process goes for job selection at USAFA? I'm interested in Medicine, Aviation, and Cyberwarfare and I know USAFA has excellent facilities for all three.
Any input/insight is greatly appreciated. I hope all is well with everyone hearing back from academies and seminars.
Thanks.
Congratulations on your appointment. To get right to the point, if you want to be a doctor, my advice is to go somewhere else for undergraduate and then apply for HPSP or to the Uniformed Services University for medical school. Yes, it is possible to go directly from the Academy to medical school. My DD is a senior and she has been accepted and will start medical school in the Fall, but if you asked her she would strongly suggest you take another route. The path is much harder in that you are not just at college studying and keeping your grades up. Your time is divided between military duties, studying and by the time you throw in shadow hours, volunteer work, research or any other endeavors needed to shine as a medical school applicant, you may fall short. There are just not enough hours in the day.
Think about it, most pre-med students at any other college have more time for studying, volunteering, shadowing etc. They also have a more tailored curriculum. At the Academy, your core curriculum is set for you and includes many Engineering courses. If you pick a science major like Biology or Chemistry you will be better off because you still have to do the required pre-medical courses, many of which are chemistry and biology related. Pick any other major and you will have double the work load. If you think you will do all your shadowing in the summer, think again. As an Academy cadet, you get 3 weeks of leave during the summer, the other 6 weeks you will either be doing OPS, ESET, CSLIP, cadre for basics or a myriad of other assignments. You can maybe squeak in some shadow hours somewhere, but makes it very hard to get enough to be competitive with non-Academy grads. The first 2 years you will not have a car, so you will have to borrow a car or get your shadowing done at the clinic on base. It can be done, but you will be limited. During the time you need to ramp up studying for your MCAT, on top of everything else you are doing, you will have more responsibilities in your squadron or the wing. You need those jobs to set yourself apart from your competition. It all matters. And the MCAT, if you want to do well, takes many hours of studying.
If you want to go to the Academy then to medical school, it is possible. But you need to go with your eyes wide open because it will not be an easy task. I am not saying you are looking for easy, because pre-med is not easy in any school. But, without a doubt, getting there from the Academy is even more difficult and you must take that into consideration. There were about 150 cadets that started out contemplating pre-med at the beginning of my DD class in 2016. There are 17 left standing at last count. Some dropped due to lack of interest or they changed their minds. Many of them dropped and picked a different course because it is very hard to maintain the GPA you need and the ability and time to fulfill all the other qualifications necessary to be a competitive candidate for medical school while attending a military academy.
One last note, the Naval Academy does not offer as many medical school slots as the Air Force does, so that should be a factor you consider as well.
Good luck, and again, congratulations on your appointment. It is no small feat.
