Summer Seminars - Did you teen do more than one?

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LMK72

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Hi Academy Parents, My son is a Junior in High School. He wants to attend a Service Academy but isn't sure about which branch. I am looking at the Summer Programs for:
  • Naval Academy
  • Coast Guard Academy
  • Air Force Academy
I think it would be good for him to attend a week at each academy, to figure out which really feels right.

I'd love advice from parents who had their child attend multiple military summer sessions.
 
You are going to get differing opinions, but here was my son's reaction after he was accepted into all four of them last summer (those 3 plus USMA): "Dad, I want to try them out, but I don't want to spend my last summer in high school going to four mini plebe summers." So he elected to attend one in person, and completed two more virtually. One, unfortunately, he turned down. He felt like he got a lot out of all three, but only had to physically attend one. I saved a lot of time and money, and he was able to do more traditional summer things, like vacation and sports.
 
DD attended summer sessions at USNA, USMA and USAFA. She worked with each one to create a back-to-back-to-back schedule. Entailed a lot of travel, with only a couple days home amid the three. She was exhausted when it was all done, but also high as a kite.

From it all, she cemented USNA as her top choice. She loved West Point and cemented it as her second choice. She enjoyed USAFA too, especially watching low-landers barf into trash cans during PT. 😬 She said it was great to compare and contrast, and to meet so many people like her. She still keeps in touch with some of them, including the ones who went to another SA or not at all.

If you can pull it off, it’s worth it. SAs are a very foreign concept for most. So the more you can experience, the better decision you’ll make.
 
Apply to ALL because you don't know which he will be accepted.

My DD was accepted to all, and chose USMA SLE and Girls State over USNA NASS and USAFA SS (conflicting June dates) because she could do the CFA at SLE and then used it all 4 SAs, Girls State for the application value, and because she had been to USNA CVW already. She was lucky and also got an invite to FVE so visited USAFA then. She really enjoyed the experience at AIM (July with no conflicting programs), and got a respectable PFE but was allowed to replace it with a higher score at Genesis Invite in November of her senior year which was a perk for anyone that attended. She visited USMMA her junior year on a swim recruiting trip, so got to see all 5 SAs in person at least once.

Again, apply to all and then decide.

But whatever you do, I highly suggest getting the CFA done in the earliest window possible; it's unambiguous and you aren't going to be any less busy from here until the end of senior year but you could get injured. Also plan to get anchoring scores in the SAT/ACT before senior year, and when all college applications open, he is on a roll and not having these things on his plate along with everything else.
 
My DD is only interested in USNA and West Point so she applied to both NASS and SLE. She submitted her transcript and SAT score to both SAs before she left to NASS and SLE.
She got a chance to do her CFA at both summer seminars and passed both. She also got her interview done at SLE.
Through the summer seminars, she learned that it was challenging physically and mentally since it’s so different from civilian life but she learned a lot about herself and it solidified her desire to attend a service academy. Also she met so many like minded and high achieving people which inspires her to work harder.
Beside the summer seminars, she also attended ann overnight visit at both USNA and West Point. It helped her to make her final SA choice.
She received an LOA from West Point in July.
 
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My DD didn’t express an interest in service academies until Feb junior year, so she missed USAFA summer application. She did apply to the other programs, and attended SLE and AIM, and loved both. It cemented for her, though, that she could see herself at West Point and not USCGA. This was reinforced visiting during the academic year. I’m curious to hear her thoughts after FVE next month.
 
I always get a chuckle out of these posts. Understand that although the summer sessions enable candidates to take a CFA, get questions answered, and tour the posts, they don’t reflect the actual life of a plebe one iota. If they did, no one would apply. 🤣
 
My first piece of advice would be to pick the service, not the Service Academy. We have been stressing this with our kids. As a dual Army/AF family, our academy days were not that different but our active duty time was night and day! DS#1 had a really hard time choosing between USAFA and USMA, but chose the Air Force in the end as it had more career fields in which he is interested.

I especially wanted DS#2 to attend one of the summer programs to ensure that the SA path was one he wanted to pursue. It needed to be his decision alone and not because that’s what mom, dad, and big brother did. SLE was perfect for that. They did have a practice R-Day which he laughed all the way through. He loved the face time he got with cadets and became a little more familiar with West Point. He could only fit the virtual USAFASS into his schedule due to Boys State, but it was informative. No where near as fun as going to an academy in person.

However, like others have said, apply to all of them because you don’t know what you’ll get into. I’d encourage my boys to go to as many as fit in the schedule as long as finances work out.
 
VelveteenR said:
I always get a chuckle out of these posts. Understand that although the summer sessions enable candidates to take a CFA, get questions answered, and tour the posts, they don’t reflect the actual life of a plebe one iota. If they did, no one would apply. 🤣
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I agree. Summer Seminar @ USNA is more of a sales pitch to give those who might not otherwise consider an SA a chance to learn about their program. Many older threads on that topic. Others SA's likely have similar programs and perhaps go by different names. Some attend Summer Seminar and immediately see this is NOT anything they are interested in. I have no idea how any type of 'virtual' session would give you a better perspective on an SA. Perspective applicants and their parents can always visit the SA which is a good thing to do with ANY college you are seriously considering. When applying to any highly selective college, a Plan B is always good to have.

CVW is a much better opportunity to get a taste of what USNA is actually like from experiencing the daily routine in person. Since these take place during the academic year, you get to interact with many current mids, attend some classes, get various perspectives on what they like/don't like, etc. Other SA's may offer similar opportunities.
 
My son attended both SLE at West Point and AIM at the Coast Guard Academy. For some reason, he wasn't interested in the other two academies....not sure why! He enjoyed both summer programs, but SLE was definitely more "fun," while AIM was more like the "real deal." SLE was a different feel each day: Day #1 was supposed to simulate "BEAST," Day #2 represented plebe year, and so on until the last day simulated being a "Firstie." AIM was hard from the first night until the morning of the last day! He got into both academies and had a really tough time making a decision. He ended up at West Point and really feels that he made the best decision for him. Good luck to your son!
 
I went to both USNA SS and SLE. Definitely do both, though I probably wouldn't skip Boys State for it. My schedule this summer was SLE->Boys State->NASS. It was tiring but a ton of fun.
 
LMK72 said:
Hi Academy Parents, My son is a Junior in High School. He wants to attend a Service Academy but isn't sure about which branch. I am looking at the Summer Programs for:
  • Naval Academy
  • Coast Guard Academy
  • Air Force Academy
I think it would be good for him to attend a week at each academy, to figure out which really feels right.

I'd love advice from parents who had their child attend multiple military summer sessions.
Click to expand...
My son attended USAFA, USCGA, and USNA. He was accepted to SLE but had a conflict, so he attended a sports camp at West Point. He received a Letter of Assurance at that sports camp in July, and I don't think that would have happened if he hadn't gone. He also attended a 2-week sports competition and Boys State. It was a VERY busy summer (he was literally only home a handful of days!) but he loved it. He had a great time, and, in addition to getting a general feel for the academies and having a blast all summer, he met a lot of people that he kept in touch with. No doubt he will know people wherever he goes and he appreciates that.
 
lisanoelle said:
My son attended USAFA, USCGA, and USNA. He was accepted to SLE but had a conflict, so he attended a sports camp at West Point. He received a Letter of Assurance at that sports camp in July, and I don't think that would have happened if he hadn't gone. He also attended a 2-week sports competition and Boys State. It was a VERY busy summer (he was literally only home a handful of days!) but he loved it. He had a great time, and, in addition to getting a general feel for the academies and having a blast all summer, he met a lot of people that he kept in touch with. No doubt he will know people wherever he goes and he appreciates that.
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This is great info. Thank you for sharing.
 
HCopter said:
Apply to ALL because you don't know which he will be accepted.

My DD was accepted to all, and chose USMA SLE and Girls State over USNA NASS and USAFA SS (conflicting June dates) because she could do the CFA at SLE and then used it all 4 SAs, Girls State for the application value, and because she had been to USNA CVW already. She was lucky and also got an invite to FVE so visited USAFA then. She really enjoyed the experience at AIM (July with no conflicting programs), and got a respectable PFE but was allowed to replace it with a higher score at Genesis Invite in November of her senior year which was a perk for anyone that attended. She visited USMMA her junior year on a swim recruiting trip, so got to see all 5 SAs in person at least once.

Again, apply to all and then decide.

But whatever you do, I highly suggest getting the CFA done in the earliest window possible; it's unambiguous and you aren't going to be any less busy from here until the end of senior year but you could get injured. Also plan to get anchoring scores in the SAT/ACT before senior year, and when all college applications open, he is on a roll and not having these things on his plate along with everything else.
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What is the CFA?
 
momofusna1 said:
IMO, Coast Guard Academy's AIM, is the most realistic and similar to 4th class summer. My daughter's at USNA and USCGA agree:)
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My DS at USMMA agrees with this. AIM is very realistic and assured him he could handle the physical, mental challenges of indoc. Keep in mind depending if you are in under represented area, population you are more likely to get into these programs. But just because you don’t get in, doesn’t mean not strong candidate.
 
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