My thoughts before coming here was that the bulk of cadets were going to be truly America's best and brightest (motivated to be soldiers), I believed that I was going to be thoroughly challenged in my courses based on material, and I thought the military aspect was going to be a lot harder than it is. The application process was extremely long and based on what I heard from my FFR/RC, West Point only wanted those with extremely high GPA's/Standardized Test Scores. I would say at least half of most of my classes are filled with individuals who struggle with algebra/writing cohesive essays. Also, many who have come here have literally said they do not want to be in the army. I find that the challenges of my courses come from being taught horribly. For example, many of my friends struggled in gen chem because of the way its taught: labs consist of material not yet taught, zero lectures (Thayer Method), course jumps around in book. I took most of these courses in college before coming, so I have a solid understanding of almost all of my classes, but I can totally see how someone who hasn't taken (or has a solid foundation in the subject) would struggle. They teach relatively simple subjects in an overcomplicated and unnecessarily difficult way. In terms of the military aspect, I have old grad family members who told me of the hazing/difficulties of their time here, and how they persevered through it all. I have yet to experience legitimate difficulty as a plebe, there hasn't been anything that has made me wonder why I came here and if it will all be worth it in the end, like the stories I've heard in the past. BEAST was kind of a joke with smoke sessions consisting of no more than 20 reps of calisthenics (push ups, flutter kicks, etc.). I assumed it was going to be like actual basic, like what my enlisted friends told me.
It is important to note these are just some of the aspects that surprised me about West Point, after I got here. I am not "hating" on the academy in any way, I am just pointing out what was different here than what I expected based on what I've read/heard from old grads.
