Prep School?

Quick question: with minorities...would that include women as well? Or do they mean more towards race minorities (black, hispanic, asian etc.)

One of the recruiting goals of the USCGA is to assemble a diverse Corps of Cadets by increasing the proportion of underrepresented ethnic groups and women. :thumb:

(And as you may already know, the USCGA has the highest percentage of women (approx 30%) than any other federal service academy, and all USCG career paths are open to women as well.)
 
Sweet! lol, works for me. Thanks for all the help! Would the Prep School Program be similar to 4/c year at the academy or is it more ROTC style?
 
Well, IF (and that's a big IF), they modeled it after NAPS, it will be something between ROTC and 4/C Year.

Never a clear answer in some things, right? :thumb:
 
MMI and NMMI are both military schools. They are Junior colleges and NMMI also has a high school program.
They each have a corps of cadets - you will be issued and wear uniforms, take ROTC and follow military protocol. The Corps is organized into Companies and you will have a chain of command.
Both schools will take first year students through an "orientation" phase - though these are different.
At MMI, at least, the SAP kids are looked highly upon by the school. More is expected of you in the way of grades and leadership. There will be leadership opportunites within the Corps and opportunites for promotions.

At MMI, most weekends are open and many students go away for the weekend - while there is some freedom you are restricted by geography as the school is in a very rural area. NMMI - same way.


About diversity - I suspect the directive comes from higher than Admiral Allen. Essentially all the Service academies have been instructed by Congress to be representative of the enlisted service. Even though all billets are open to women I doubt the CGA is actively recruiting women. Don't count on receiving extra points for being female.

Diversity/minority - the aim is for more economic diversity and racial diversity. They are sometimes one in the same but not always. Recruiting for racial diversity is very difficult. These kids are wanted by everyone and there are few of them who come from a strong economic background with a strong family support structure. Economic diversity is difficult as well and there are many barriers that prevent success.

While I don't think it's appropriate to single out a certain group of people and announce their success or failures clearly there are kids who much overcome many obstacles. It goes far beyond just "wanting to be there".
When the first women were admitted to SA's many of them did not graduate - they too had many obstacles and some were not able to overcome them. Thank goodness, no one listened to the howls in the background that admitting women was a failure.
 
Just A Mom,

I know that the service academies have changed a lot since 1976. I would venture to guess (although it's not an actually guess), that those challenges that existed for women 32 years ago, do not exist for minorities today. Blacks in my class were not challenged anymore than the whites, and women were as successful as the men.

The "division" exists before arriving to CGA, and the chances applicants had before they stepped through those front gates. If you didn't perform in high school, you may not be the best bet. So for those who found themselves in terrible schools because of their socio-economic status may find it harder to get in.

I believe very much that it is socio-economic, and not race related.
 
trackandfield08 said:
Would the Prep School Program be similar to 4/c year at the academy or is it more ROTC style? .

Listen to what J_A_M is saying, she knows the prep programs at NMMI and MMI well.

Just_A_Mom said:
About diversity - I suspect the directive comes from higher than Admiral Allen. Essentially all the Service academies have been instructed by Congress to be representative of the enlisted service.

Although Congress and the Secretary of Homeland Security are indeed above Admiral Allen, there is no one higher in the US Coast Guard. He is the Commandant of the Coast Guard. He is the face of the USCG, and he is one who gave the instructions to Admissions during his speech.

JustAMom said:
Even though all billets are open to women I doubt the CGA is actively recruiting women. Don't count on receiving extra points for being female.

Don't doubt what you don't know. My information as an AAP comes directly from the Recruiting Goals of the USCGA, and women ARE being actively recruited as I stated in the post above.
 
About diversity - I suspect the directive comes from higher than Admiral Allen. Essentially all the Service academies have been instructed by Congress to be representative of the enlisted service. Even though all billets are open to women I doubt the CGA is actively recruiting women. Don't count on receiving extra points for being female.

Diversity/minority - the aim is for more economic diversity and racial diversity.

Great post JAM.......however, could any of the AAP's substantiate this. Especially the economic diversity claim......kvh
 
women ARE being actively recruited as I stated in the post above.

Allow me to clarify - women are being recruited and encouraged to apply. This does not mean concessions will be made to applicants who are women. The women who are accepted are every bit as qualified as the men. Young women who apply should not expect their admission journey to be any easier BECAUSE of being female.
Relying on the "girl card" in any aspect of academy admissions or performance is a mistake. My comment was sort of directed to trackandfield who thought is was "sweet" that she was female.

I would be interested to know if the CGA breaks down the class profile by gender. I suspect that the SAT scores and class rank of men and women are similar as the % of varisty athletes and leadership roles.


LITS - Applicants who are URM's have some but not all of the same barriers that women had. I don't believe nor do I hope that minorites are subject to racism the same was women were subjected to sexism.
I was more or less using the admission of women as an example.

An African-American applicant from a two parent household where they are professionals and college graduates, who got a 1400 SAT does not have the barriers to success as an African American from an inner city, single mom who never went to college who is supporting several younger siblings and got a 1400 SAT.
Kids who grew up in economically challenged households or those who are first generation college students need a lot of support to be successful. This is true for any college not just Service Academies.
 
Allow me to clarify - women are being recruited and encouraged to apply. This does not mean concessions will be made to applicants who are women......

...My comment was sort of directed to trackandfield who thought is was "sweet" that she was female....

You are correct, the recruiting goal is to continually increase the proportion of women (yes, even though it is the highest of the SA's, now around 30%) but there's no free pass just for being female. :wink:
 
Interesting I learned yesterday that CGA is virtually eliminating NAPS from their preps list...only about 8 kids this year...hmm?:confused:

BTW in case nobody mentioned, CGA has the highest percentage of women cadets of any of the service academies...the retention rate in my son's class(09) is higher among the females than males. The top cadet in the MPL is a woman; the number one or two cadet in the class is a woman...need I go on?
 
I in no way meant for my comment to seem as though I was unwilling to work for an appointment. That is not true. Honestly, I believe that everyone deserves an equal opportunity. My remark ("sweet") was simply an exclamation at the fact that CGA does consider women to be a minority, many colleges do not. I am sorry if my comment came off as laziness, it was not intended to come off as such.
 
trackandfield08 - in no way do I or did I think you were lazy.

I just want you and other young women who apply that you will not get in just by being female. Your credentials needs to be just as strong as the men. I think it might be better said that USCGA ENCOURAGES young women to apply, and apply they do. Many of them. I don't know what the Coast Guards goals are for the male/female split but right now they are at 27-30% and that is quite excellent for any engineering school. I don't see a 50/50 split - at least in this generation.
The comments I made were for your benefit and also for the benefit of any young men who may read this thread. I do not want the men to get the impression that it's easier to get in by being female or that you have an edge - trust me, if you get accepted it will be through your hard work and merit.
 
Well said JAM and track and field we are not judging you...you seem like a great candidate and I look forward to your taking the oath next Summer....best of luck! :thumb:
 
That makes sense, I guess I read what you wrote and took it out of context. Thanks for the advice though, and it is true what you are saying. My mom is retired Air Force and she says the same thing, in that women work just as hard to get somewhere in the military as men and that they do not acheive their positions just because they're women.
 
....and she says the same thing, in that women work just as hard to get somewhere in the military as men and that they do not acheive their positions just because they're women.

FYI -

The 2nd highest position in the USCG is held by a woman, Vice Admiral Vivien S. Crea, Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard.

As second in command of one of the United State's Armed Forces, she is the highest ranking woman in the history of the US Military.

:cool:
 
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