Majors and Minors Info

[BobSanderz]

I am interested in these academic programs at West Point and am curious if anyone could detail information about them that is not disclosed on USMA's website.

Any insight from past or current cadets would would very welcome

-Major Difficulty
-Applicability to the U.S Army
-Professers
-Ect

I am very intrested in leadership theory and plan to have a full career in the army
army
-I have taken 4 years of mandarin in highschool and wish to continue that skills development

Major: Organizational Psychology and Leadership
Major: Defense and Strategic Studies
Major: Systems and Descions Science
Major: Chinese
Minor: Chinese -can you become fluent, how does it compare to major-
Minor: Grand Stratagy

 

[Cdkd]

My DS is double major Computer Science and German. You should go to Westpoint.edu under Academics tab to read all the majors/minors USMA is offering. If you receive appointment, during your second semester of plebe year you will select major(s) +/- minors. You have opportunities to discuss with the department adviser(s) before making your decision. I know couple cadets never had taken Arabic prior coming to West Point but now graduating with Arabic major in the class of 2020.

 

[BobSanderz]

My DS is double major Computer Science and German. You should go to Westpoint.edu under Academics tab to read all the majors/minors USMA is offering. If you receive appointment, during your second semester of plebe year you will select major(s) +/- minors. You have opportunities to discuss with the department adviser(s) before making your decision. I know couple cadets never had taken Arabic prior coming to West Point but now graduating with Arabic major in the class of 2020.

Thank you for your insight

 

[high2024hopes]

Not a cadet, but an active duty Chinese linguist and 2024 candidate hoping to major in Chinese. As far as applicability to the Army, Chinese is a hot language right now. It will be for a long time too, given the consistent political turmoil. While I was at the Defense Language Institute, there was a girl who left West Point as an Arabic major. Not sure how familiar you are with the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR), but the highest level most non-native language majors at USMA achieve is considerably lower than what an enlisted linguist would, so she decided to pursue something that would cultivate her skills in a quicker and more effective manner. If you are looking to pursue FAO work, Chinese proficiency will help you immensely. I can’t speak to the coursework or professors, but I hope that you are able to get some greater insight from my limited knowledge. 祝你好运，继续加油！

 

[BobSanderz]

Not a cadet, but an active duty Chinese linguist and 2024 candidate hoping to major in Chinese. As far as applicability to the Army, Chinese is a hot language right now. It will be for a long time too, given the consistent political turmoil. While I was at the Defense Language Institute, there was a girl who left West Point as an Arabic major. Not sure how familiar you are with the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR), but the highest level most non-native language majors at USMA achieve is considerably lower than what an enlisted linguist would, so she decided to pursue something that would cultivate her skills in a quicker and more effective manner. If you are looking to pursue FAO work, Chinese proficiency will help you immensely. I can’t speak to the coursework or professors, but I hope that you are able to get some greater insight from my limited knowledge. 祝你好运，继续加油！

Thank you. I probably will not diverge from my path at westpoint if appointed as it's been my dream for over 5 years. That being said, the knowledge that other programs are out there is great. Following my usma experience, would I have an opportunity to cultivate my language skill within the army as an intelligence officer?

 

[high2024hopes]

Thank you. I probably will not diverge from my path at westpoint if appointed as it's been my dream for over 5 years. That being said, the knowledge that other programs are out there is great. Following my usma experience, would I have an opportunity to cultivate my language skill within the army as an intelligence officer?

Absolutely! There are always refresher courses, FAO billets (working at an embassy or within a PSYOP region doing interpretation work) and slots within the agencies. I know the NSA has opportunities for service members to work missions involving foreign language, and there are advanced courses that the Army offers to get yourself to an even higher level.