USCGA or USAFA?

[Jcleppe]

Just FYI...a gentleman I met in Baltimore this last summer had a Naval Academy grad son who was in Flight Training at Pensacola. They called his entire group in one day and said "Adiós". Cutting back....his USNA grad status did not help him at all. He is now "out" of the service...they separated all of them...no choice give...waived his academy commitment years and bid them all well. Guy is trying hard to re-up in any service that will send him to pilot training including the Coast Guard. No luck yet. So, service academy grads, may or may not, fare better in any RIFs.

Also...acoording to "dad", the young ensign was doing great with his training...no problems at all, so was not a case of "not doing well"...whole group was "cut" not just this ensign.

So, yes, indeed...academic major and academic work while at any SA is VERY important.

I have heard the same for some in the Air Force, though in that instance they asked for volunteers, they made no distiction between AFA or AFROTC grads.

I have no reason to doubt what you say, it does seem odd though that they would release an entire Group at Flight School and then continue to bring in new flight students for following classes.

I have not heard of this happening in the Army as of yet.

I would have to agree with you the a SA grad will probably not be considered safe in a RIF, at least for the Army, since all commissioned officers through both WP and AROTC by law are Regular Army.

 

[SamAca10]

The bottom line USCGA does not offer student the opportunity for medical school. You could take their enviromental studies major and apply after your service. It's your bill then....

It's true that we don't offer the opportunity for medical school, but my classmate is planning on 5 and diving and then going to med school. And luckily for him Congress goofed up the post-9/11 GI Bill for CGA graduates so the government will be picking up his medical school tab once we reach our 3rd graduation anniversary...

 

[Mark Nielsen]

Medical School

My son is 2014 for USAFA. Was so very close to attending USCGA. I'm sure you would have known him if he had attended. Small class size was a strong point for him. He runs track for USAFA..200 and 400 meters....

All the best!


Mark

 

[LineInTheSand]

Never be a friend of a 400 m runner... they are crazy and freaks of nature.

200 m was enough for me.

 

[MN-Dad-2016]

It's true that we don't offer the opportunity for medical school, but my classmate is planning on 5 and diving and then going to med school. And luckily for him Congress goofed up the post-9/11 GI Bill for CGA graduates so the government will be picking up his medical school tab once we reach our 3rd graduation anniversary...

Remind your friend that his MCAT scores may only last 1,2 or 3 years (assuming he wants to take it next year). In rare instances some MED schools will take even older scores than 3 years. But the vast majority of schools will only accept 1 year old scores.

Organic Chemistry is one class that will quickly fade. Of course there are many many others. There are several schools that won't accepted 'validated classes" (they physically want to see the class taken). So taking a MCAT test 5 years after taking the curriculum will be a challenge.

Getting Med school advice is like accounting advice. You can call an accountant or IRS employee and get several different answers for the same question. Only one is correct. So taking advice from a school adviser can be dangerous. It's always best to double check their work.

 

[lsredmond]

Would it be alright if you could share your daughter's career path choice and what an academy exchange to USCGA entails? Thank you for your much valued input.

Well, my daughter is a sophomore (C3C) at USAFA and hopes to be chosen for USCGA exchange for next fall so I don't know anymore about the details other than there are 4 slots available and USAFA chooses cadets they feel will positively represent the Academy. She has been on the dean's list every semester and she is a bio-chem major. She does not want to be a pilot and originally wanted to be a researcher. However, being a researcher greatly limits her opportunities as to where she could be stationed. Now she is toying with other grad school options. When she went to the Academy exchange meeting, she was told that she could swim for USCGA next fall and she really misses the competition so that was a selling point for her! She was also concerned about getting the classes she needs for her major but she talked to her academic adviser and he said there would be no problem in getting the classes she needs next fall at USCGA.

 

[Matthewmillr94]

Just to jump back to the original question for a bit...

Regardless of what anyone posts on here, no one can say that USAFA is better than USCGA or vice versa. Going to any military academy is a big commitment and should be considered based on which service you feel called to. The purpose of both academies is to train future officers for their respective branches so to take full advantage of the service academy experience and to get the most out of your training, you should be training for the service that you feel suits your capabilities best. It doesn't take a whole lot of research to get a feel for the mentalities or "flavors" of the different branches.

This has probably been said a million times on here, but it's a point that should be emphasized, even coming from someone who hasn't graduated a service academy yet.