USAFA or USNA?

[Capt MJ]

Please compare the day-to-day life between the USNA and the USAFA.

You haven’t gotten a response here for two major reasons, I suspect: 1) You won’t get any eyewitness accounts of someone who has experienced 4 years at each. You might get someone who has tasted 1 semester as an exchange. Other options will be from the outside looking in. 2) This is a hugely broad question. If you narrowed it down to some aspect, say, summer training, or academics, you might get responses.

Both SAs have a mission to deliver quality junior officers to their respective services, equipped with an excellent B.S., professional training in officership and leadership, and physical fitness. Many elements wIll be similar, but distinguished by different names/nicknames/traditions. Much will be different, because the service missions and cultures are different.

Have you read every page, link and drop down menu item at the SA websites? That is your first place to take the initiative on primary source research. Info on academic requirements, summer training, daily routine, majors, officer specialties, sports, ECAs, physical training and on and on.

Magically, at USNA.edu, there is:

Daily Schedule

Daily Schedule page for Admissions at USNA.edu. Updated Wed Apr 03 05:23:38 EDT 2024.

www.usna.edu

I will leave the rest of the research in your capable hands.

 

[northernlights]

Thank you, it was more of a mom question on the small and fun differences between the two SA’s. Our DS has wanted and worked for the honor of being considered for an appointment for many years. We are a multi generational military family who have served in WWII, Vietnam, The gulf, Afghanistan…. My husband is a retired Marine. If selected, our DS would be the first member of the family on either side to attend a SA. This truly is a huge honor to make it this far in the process and to be one of those checking their portals everyday. Yes, there has been much research and countless visits to both SA’s over the years to include USNA summer STEM. He has multiple noms to each SA and we are patiently/anxiously awaiting an answer. Being a military family we understand that decisions on this level take time and much consideration from those choosing the appointments. There is a back-up plan in place, but like everyone else on this forum, nothing would compare to receiving an appointment. Fingers are crossed.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

I dissent on the point that USAFA is logically the place to go if you want to compete for an aviation spot. As long as you have reasonable grades and don't have any serious vision problems, you have a very high chance getting an aviation spot. In my company this past year, we had 12 people pursing aviation. Every person got an aviation spot. 10 went Navy Pilot and 2 went Naval Flight Officer (NFO). Out of the 2 that got Naval Flight Officer instead of pilot, one had a like a 2.1 GPA, and the other failed out of the the Powered Flight Program (A summer training that prepares people to be Navy pilots). All this to say, it is not all that difficult to get a Naval Aviation out spot out of USNA if that is what you want to do.

^ True ! I've also heard that its easier to get a TACAIR (jets) in the Navy (of course, if you have the flight training grades).

Please compare the day-to-day life between the USNA and the USAFA.

No, No, No -- 4 years at USNA and USAFA is but a drop in the bucket of a potential 20-30 year career. The truth is , the daily life of a USNA Midshipman and USAFA Cadet is probably not all that different, and the difference in the culture of the two services is very distinct. Think about where /how you want to serve....then chose Service Academy. (There are many threads on this very topic on SAF).

 

[northernlights]

Thank you, he is looking for a 20+ year career. Has perfect vision with a 1510 SAT and a 34 ACT.

 

[IronmanDaremo]

As a Marylander, the Senators will typically coordinate their nominations to not give the same person more than one. Last year, my son got one for the USAFA and USMA from our Congressman (Sarbanes - MD-03). And then a letter from one of the Senators congratulating him on the nominations, and as a result, he would not be getting one from them. To put it even more in perspective, my son received a Letter of Assurance to the USNA, with basically only the nomination required to fulfill the LOA, and he informed each of the boards that this was the case. None of them gave him a nomination there. So, no appointment.

This year, he only applied to the USNA, and once again, no nomination from our reps at any of the 3 offices.

Maryland is tough for the USNA. It is right down the street, it is a highly populated area with a lot of strong school systems, and a lot of Government and military presence. For each of the years my son applied (c/o '25 and '26), they told him there were 250 - 300 applicants for nominations for the Naval Academy. It is SUPER competitive.

 

[ders_dad]

My DS had a USAFA cadet (2/C semester exchange) in his company last semester that he got to know. The cadet said that USNA is stricter militarily that his experiences at USAFA and midshipmen have less liberty. 4/Cs have a lot more freedom at USAFA. He also said the NARP gym at USAFA (and other facilities) are in much better shape than MacD. Way, way more room at USAFA to spread out but he absolutely loved DTA. But it seems these are just different flavors of the same thing. Cadet thought Navy football games were a lot more fun (especially the Air Force game this year).

 

[Carlooo]

Hello everyone! I took the advice on ranking the academies in the way I truly wanted on my MOC nom preference. Glad to say I have a nomination to USNA from Congressman Anthony G. Brown (MD-04) now! I guess what’s left is to just hope for the best and “hurry up and wait”

 

[IronmanDaremo]

Congrats!!!

Best of luck in your application.

 

[Capt MJ]

Hello everyone! I took the advice on ranking the academies in the way I truly wanted on my MOC nom preference. Glad to say I have a nomination to USNA from Congressman Anthony G. Brown (MD-04) now! I guess what’s left is to just hope for the best and “hurry up and wait”

Thank you for circling back. Good luck to you!

And if a USNA appointment doesn’t work out for you this year, and you find yourself brilliantly executing your alternate plan and re-applying, you will be able to show consistency in your drive toward your goal in an updated nom re-application. But let’s hope you get in this year!

 

[EvanB]

I had a similar experience so I'll speak on this. Like you, I was interested in both USNA and USAFA, except I had the opposite situation where I was closer to USAFA. I ended up putting USNA as #1 and USAFA as #2 and only ended up with a nom to USNA. I I think a few people in my district got noms for both, but most of the people that got a USAFA nom had it as #1. The point is that I didn't put USNA as #1 because I thought it would be less competitive, I did it because it was genuinely my first choice and I preferred the Navy. I'm not totally set on flying, and I liked the Navy's variety of careers. These posts make a good point on thinking about what you would do if you didn't get aviation. I'd focus more on the branch the school commissions to rather than the school itself. You can still consider location, culture, certain majors, summer opportunities, etc. but at the end of the day you will be commissioning as an officer so really think about which service you see yourself in. As @Heatherg21 put it, where do you want to serve and which branch's mission speaks the most to you?

For me, USAFA was still in the mix because it was a lot closer to home and West Coast = Best Coast (feel free to disagree with me on that). When I realized that the Navy was a better fit for me in terms of jobs, station locations, and the lifestyle, the choice became a lot easier. I definitely miss Colorado, but I think I would have been a lot less happy if I received a commission through USAFA. The Air Force is a very respectable branch, but I just wasn't as interested in the mission because I'm not crazy about being a pilot. You might have different priorities since you want an aviation slot, so I would encourage you to look at the aviation aspects of the Air Force and Navy, as well as both branches as a whole. I'd exercise caution with trying to game the system, because while it can work it can also backfire. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to PM!

Thank you for writing this, I live in Colorado and USNA is my #1 choice with USMA close behind and after reading this I do think I should keep USNA as my #1 choice since it has the job I want and I come from a Navy family, so I'd be carrying on the tradition. I had been looking into USMA since obtaining a nom would be much easier since I'm in Army JROTC and my SAI approves of my work in JROTC so far(Cadet Captain and Company Commander as a Sophomore) and is more than willing to give me a nom to USMA if I so want it but USMA doesn't really call to me as where I want to be. I want to join the Navy and I want to fly but even if I don't fly for the Navy I would still really enjoy working for the Navy, whereas the Army doesn't do that for me. I have also looked at USAFA and I think it's too close to home for me because I want the feeling of being on my own for once and also proving to my parents I'm capable of great things on my own, also I feel as if USAFA doesn't have the culture of school I want to be in as well.