Questions for a Freshman Cadet

[bsa07eagle]

Actually, they just put in an ATM at their building here in town. You can now deposit/withdraw cash from USAA in town.

Later,

Brian

 

[Rage_14]

hello all,

Just wondering what I should bring to BCT as my instructions to appointees booklet was a little vague.

Do I need to/am I allowed to bring a watch? It should most likely be a military style one right?

Sunglasses, Colorado is really sunny, are we supplied sunglasses or should I look into getting some Oakley M frames?

Should I bring my Leatherman?

Should I bring my own Headlamp?

thanks!

you won't be able to have any of these during basic. I would just suggest that you have your parents send them out to you after A-day.

 

[hornetguy]

Actually, they just put in an ATM at their building here in town. You can now deposit/withdraw cash from USAA in town.

Later,

Brian

An ATM is still not a banking office. The only added ability is being able to deposit cash (which some non-USAA ATMs can do IIRC). You aren't able to walk in and talk to a teller. With the fee-reimbursement ability, there is no reason to travel to the USAA ATM for withdrawal since they reimburse the fee from the AFB ATM anyway. Plus, even if you wanted to avoid the fee, the gas probably cost more than the fee anyway!

 

[laxfan17]

Soon you'll realize how little you really need an actual bank. I don't know the last time I used an actual bank for anything personal. I have had USAA as our/my bank since 1982 (oh my!!!), never seen one, or even some close to one of their ATMs. And now they have this cool app where you can deposit any check using your phone!!! Gotta love that!! What do you need a bank or bank tellers for? Then again, that is just my opinion....

 

[Christcorp]

I definitely suggest USAA. My recommendation for Armed Forces Bank "Initially", is because not to many individuals at 17-18 years old, have a lot of experience with banking and finance. Having an actual bank to talk to in person if you have questions or concerns is nice. Within your first 2 years, you'll have the whole debit card, online transfers, charging online with ebay or whomever, paying your bills, etc... will become accustomed. Then, you'll be ready to move on to a bank like USAA that offers a lot more services; albeit online or via a 1-800 phone call. But you'll be more comfortable with your finances at that point.

Granted, I'm old(er); and when I first came into the military, I made about $210 a month after taxes. (I did have free food and a place to live). I got paid with a check, and simply put the money in my wallet. Then, I moved to Mississippi (Keesler AFB). Opened up an account with the local credit union. When I moved again and started working with Sandia Laboratories at Kirtland AFB, NM, I opened up a new account there. I kept that account for the remaining 18 years of service, and the 11 years since i've retired.

Anyway; that's why I recommended armed forces bank. They are local and can be of more help to the novice when it comes to banking, debit cards, charge account, bills, etc... USAA will be a better choice later on. mike...

 

[Bigman2014]

hello all,

Just wondering what I should bring to BCT as my instructions to appointees booklet was a little vague.

Do I need to/am I allowed to bring a watch? It should most likely be a military style one right?

Sunglasses, Colorado is really sunny, are we supplied sunglasses or should I look into getting some Oakley M frames?

Should I bring my Leatherman?

Should I bring my own Headlamp?

thanks!

If you want a watch after BCT, go for it. Just know you won't have anything that tells time during BCT. As long as it's not a "fad" watch (i.e. bright pink, sparkly, etc), you should be fine.

Yeah Colorado can be sunny, but you won't be allowed to wear them (you won't want to stick out anyway, trust me) until after BCT.

Just to answer the rest of your questions I'll tell you what I brought with me to BCT. All my toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, shaving cream, deo, soap. Protip: use LIQUID soap, it's much much easier to deal with when you're given 60 seconds to undress and shower), my wallet (with around 200$ cash), phone, and the clothes on my back. I went through perfectly fine. Oh, I also had all my required paperwork, obviously.

Don't stress and think about BCT and I-Day too much. I had no idea what I was getting into and I got through it and have some awesome memories that I still joke around with even with the upperclassmen in my squad who worked BCT. It's all about what you put into it and that's what you'll get out of it. Be smart, be a team player, and get through this together.

Also, Jezzie was in my Basic flight (No guts, no glory right Jezzie? ) and we still talk to this day. (Even if she is a nasty T-Bird)

 

[johnd9090]

I'm interested in Drum and Bugel if anyone has any information on it. I played trumpet in high school and am interested in playing at the academy. I played in Jazz, Pep, and Concert Band but did not do marching band. I am not amazing, but i'm pretty decent i suppose. Will i be able to join? Is joining competitive? Also, will I be able to participate in Drum and Bugel while at the Prep School?

Thanks

 

[ima-gina-tion]

what's the AFSC selection like? how does it work, and what is their basis for giving you 1st choice, 2nd choice, etc?

and what are the requirements to go to med (or grad) school directly after the academy? is there a certain gpa you need to have; basically how do you get selected for that AFSC?

also, because my friend and I were arguing about this:
do all freshmen HAVE to take chem their first year there? Because I've already had a year of college chem w/ lab (and I'm at the top of my chem class...). I wouldn't mind retaking it since it would be easier the second time around, I'm just curious to see who's right here.

And I know they mentioned having to take a test for certain languages for placement purposes, but I didn't hear that mentioned for chinese. will I still need to take a placement test for that during bct, or do they not have one for chinese?

 

[marciemi]

My 4/c son had had honors Chem at his HS, then a year of AP Chem (and a 5 on the exam) and then a full year of Organic Chemistry (1 & 2) at a local college with A's in the class. He was able to validate a semester and was in honors Chem last semester and didn't have to take it this semester. But he was told there was no way to validate all of it. And it honestly seemed to be more of a biochem class he had - there was very little repitition of anything he'd had before and it was a still a LOT of work. He went in seriously considering majoring in Chem Engineering and by the end of the semester was counting down his remaining classes of chem EVER! (He's now majoring in Computer Engineering instead!).

@JohnD - my son did D&B this year and loved it. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me and I can either answer them or give you his email. However, I don't know how it works at the Prep School. I know they didn't have any prep students in their D&B but not if the school has one of their own.

 

[hornetguy]

And it honestly seemed to be more of a biochem class he had - there was very little repetition of anything he'd had before and it was a still a LOT of work.

That's because Dr. H was the biochem lab teacher! He was the single greatest BANE of my existence as a firstie. Gave me my worst grades at USAFA... And watching the poor 4 digs who had him, he was giving them far too advanced of work for Chem IMO. Only teacher in that dept I could not stand.

For the grad/med school questions:
GPA reqs:
Med school is 3.0 with waiver (not much chance), 3.25 minimum without waiver, >3.5 to be competitive.
Grad school: >3.8 for UK scholarship shots (Rhodes, Marshall, Holiday), >3.7 for Harvard/Rice/MIT/UofMaryland/NSF/Draper labs/Lincoln labs (unless you're the wing commander for Harvard consideration...then they are quite slack on grades), >3.5 for department sponsored AFIT, >3.3 or so for most AFIT slots, sometimes less if it is an AFIT spot for a AFSC requiring it (like scientist/engineer).

 

[marciemi]

Thanks for the info Hornetguy - that helps explain a lot! I thought it seemed strange that a kid who had loved 3 years of chem could suddenly hate it so much!

And the stats are interesting for grad school - I know my son is interested in that as well - looks like he's on track for the Department sponsored AFIT (which is probably what he'd want) - if AFIT still exists in 3 years!

 

[hornetguy]

Thanks for the info Hornetguy - that helps explain a lot! I thought it seemed strange that a kid who had loved 3 years of chem could suddenly hate it so much!

And the stats are interesting for grad school - I know my son is interested in that as well - looks like he's on track for the Department sponsored AFIT (which is probably what he'd want) - if AFIT still exists in 3 years!

Yup, he was bad enough that, if I could do it over again, I would have gone the Materials Science course instead. Let's say this guy gave my my first academy grades by a full letter.... made most of us hate (bio)chem. Quite disappointing since we actually liked the stuff a lot.

I'll add that I was intending on going ChemE at every other civilian back-up school I applied to! Sad that USAFA has no such program.

 

[marciemi]

Yup, he was bad enough that, if I could do it over again, I would have gone the Materials Science course instead. Let's say this guy gave my my first academy grades by a full letter.... made most of us hate (bio)chem. Quite disappointing since we actually liked the stuff a lot.

I'll add that I was intending on going ChemE at every other civilian back-up school I applied to! Sad that USAFA has no such program.

Just told my son your comments via FB and he said "Yep, sounds exactly right!" and asked if I hadn't believed him that it was that bad!

My next son has also been deciding between USNA and civilian options/NROTC and wants to major in either Chem Engr or Nuclear Engr and go subs and can't figure out either why USNA doesn't offer either major! He filled out his declination for USNA today in favor of the MIT/NROTC route instead.

 

[luckymacy]

Yup, he was bad enough that, if I could do it over again, I would have gone the Materials Science course instead. Let's say this guy gave my my first academy grades by a full letter.... made most of us hate (bio)chem. Quite disappointing since we actually liked the stuff a lot.

I'll add that I was intending on going ChemE at every other civilian back-up school I applied to! Sad that USAFA has no such program.

Doc still at the academy? Do you ever get to give anonymous feedback on profs?

 

[tutmom]

I know everyone has different experiences with profs, but in Dr. H's defense, my ds really liked that course. His sister (who did pre-med at an ivy-league type school and aced organic chem) sat in on the class during parent's weekend. She also thought the level of material was really difficult, pretty scattered and didn't really teach the fundamentals before asking the cadets to come up with answers beyond the scope of the class.

My ds is in the scholars program and likes challenges like that, but I think he is unique (I would say weird, but he IS my son ).

 

[hornetguy]

Doc still at the academy? Do you ever get to give anonymous feedback on profs?

I gave anonymous and non-anonymous feedback about this guy to the dept! We wasn't particularly liked in the dept, but the response was usually "whiny cadets" or "can't do anything about him." :/

I know everyone has different experiences with profs, but in Dr. H's defense, my ds really liked that course. His sister (who did pre-med at an ivy-league type school and aced organic chem) sat in on the class during parent's weekend. She also thought the level of material was really difficult, pretty scattered and didn't really teach the fundamentals before asking the cadets to come up with answers beyond the scope of the class.

My ds is in the scholars program and likes challenges like that, but I think he is unique (I would say weird, but he IS my son ).

The theory behind what he tries to do is good, IMO. He tries to take recent research and have cadets move forward and try it out. He did that in the 4 dig course and to us both semesters of biochem. Problem is....he doesn't actually test out the research before assigning it. While that is somewhat ok for the 400 level course (though much experimental failure occurred), a fresh group of undergrads with no real research experience and still trying to grasp the fundamentals can't do this stuff effectively without clear guidance and defined goals, which that course lacked! My biochem lecture course (different teacher) was at the same time as the honors chem and across the hall. I got to watch them occasionally and get their feedback. Sad to hear many that wanted to go chem decide it was a bad choice after that course.

I graduated the scholar's program. The honors chem course (while non-existent during my 4 dig year) is not representative of the scholar's program! I, and my peers, LOVED the scholar's program. We thrived in it compared to the core courses.

 

[marciemi]

I graduated the scholar's program. The honors chem course (while non-existent during my 4 dig year) is not representative of the scholar's program! I, and my peers, LOVED the scholar's program. We thrived in it compared to the core courses.

Even if you're an "engineering" type person as opposed to a "fuzzy" one? My son thinks he'll have a chance to get into the scholars program after this semester if his grades stay where they are, but obviously that class is dissuading him from even trying. However, he was also less enthused by the fact that all the scholar's classes were fuzzy ones and afraid of being challenged then in classes that he wasn't particularly interested in instead of those he was!

 

[hornetguy]

Even if you're an "engineering" type person as opposed to a "fuzzy" one? My son thinks he'll have a chance to get into the scholars program after this semester if his grades stay where they are, but obviously that class is dissuading him from even trying. However, he was also less enthused by the fact that all the scholar's classes were fuzzy ones and afraid of being challenged then in classes that he wasn't particularly interested in instead of those he was!

Tell him, 100%, DO IT. Over 75% of us in the program were science, math, or engineering majors. I think Aero engineers were the highest represented followed by Chemistry. Almost all the courses are fuzzy, but they are taught so much better. They are less focused on memorization and textbook learning. More oriented towards primary texts and class discussion. I found, compared to my peers, that our work load was LOWER, our enjoyment HIGHER, and grades BETTER. I hate to make it sound this way, but the scholar's program is easier. It is not easier because the material is dumbed down, but our grades were on a different system. A typical scholar's course would have 2 papers and a final project/paper with reading being done on a participation basis. Classes (the best ones) were very student led with instructor moderation. I don't think anyone got less than a B, and the average grade was probably an A- with most getting A- to A.

Another advantage: many of the USAFA international/travel programs and immersions are now given preference to scholar's program students. For example, I went on the Israel JINSA trip in 2008. Every year after that it has been commandeered by the scholar's program (Dr. Talbot who is the co-lead on that program is a scholar's program teacher) such that almost all participants since 2009 have been scholar's students.

People wanting to go to grad/med school are better off in scholar's. Our grades are usually better, so that reinforces it. The program is seen as an honor's program which is a good comparison to other universities. DF (Department of Faculty) provides a lot of scholarship support and almost every person in the Scholar's program, if they want, will be able to attend grad/med school. I'd take a guess that 80% of the 2010 scholars are at grad/med school now.

Any other questions? lol Honors chem, like honors calculus, is not representative of the scholar's program philosophy as I knew it.

 

[marciemi]

Thanks so much for your help - I forwarded him a link to your last post and we'll see how it goes in the next month or so! Thanks again!

 

[ima-gina-tion]

what is the scholars program, and what does it entail/how is it different from other classes? and how do you get into it?