West Point SLE 2017

caralinzz said:
Well, I have a couple options I'm interested in. I've thought about medical school so I would probably major in chemistry if I went that route, I'm interested in political science but mainly in foreign affairs because I like foreign language so maybe an ambassador of some type, and I'm also really interested in military intelligence. Those are all super broad and really have nothing to do with each other but those are probably my main three that I'm thinking about. Maybe engineering if those don't work out.
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I'm dead set on intel and foreign affairs, so here's what I've learned so far:
I actually recently had a conversation with a USAFA rep regarding their opportunities for that career path. According to him, AF dedicates a lot of resources to intel despite being the smaller branch, and they have a very thorough major path for those seeking that career. You can either choose to major in political science and then pick a concentration within that (which would educate you more generally on world politics, and you could use that major to do practically anything, Ex: military law) or you can major in something called "FAS" (Foreign Area Studies) in which you would have to choose a geographical area and pick a language in which to become super specialized in. If you do FAS, they send you to your specialized area once you commission and you become the designated AF expert for whatever area that is. If you want to be an ambassador, having already lived in that area for a while as an officer should prove very helpful. USAFA also has a lot of opportunities for immersion while you're a cadet, including spending summers/semesters abroad practicing the language/culture you're learning about, exchanging with foreign military academies, foreign language/ culture clubs at the Academy, and more. AF also has a LOT of STEM power, and they love their engineers. USMA was founded to train engineers, and they also have good exchange/study abroad programs, but I think AF would be better in your case.
Go to the summer programs for the academies you are most likely to pick as your first and second choice. For some nominations, you can only pick one academy, so the summer programs could help you decide (or confirm) which academy is the best fit for you.
 
cama93 said:
I'm dead set on intel and foreign affairs, so here's what I've learned so far:
I actually recently had a conversation with a USAFA rep regarding their opportunities for that career path. According to him, AF dedicates a lot of resources to intel despite being the smaller branch, and they have a very thorough major path for those seeking that career. You can either choose to major in political science and then pick a concentration within that (which would educate you more generally on world politics, and you could use that major to do practically anything, Ex: military law) or you can major in something called "FAS" (Foreign Area Studies) in which you would have to choose a geographical area and pick a language in which to become super specialized in. If you do FAS, they send you to your specialized area once you commission and you become the designated AF expert for whatever area that is. If you want to be an ambassador, having already lived in that area for a while as an officer should prove very helpful. USAFA also has a lot of opportunities for immersion while you're a cadet, including spending summers/semesters abroad practicing the language/culture you're learning about, exchanging with foreign military academies, foreign language/ culture clubs at the Academy, and more. AF also has a LOT of STEM power, and they love their engineers. USMA was founded to train engineers, and they also have good exchange/study abroad programs, but I think AF would be better in your case.
Go to the summer programs for the academies you are most likely to pick as your first and second choice. For some nominations, you can only pick one academy, so the summer programs could help you decide (or confirm) which academy is the best fit for you.
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Thank you so much!!! That is such good information.
 
Hi everyone.

I'm a high school junior and just received my acceptance to the second week of SLE for this summer. I'm a female that was elected captain of varsity
field hockey for next fall, I'm on the varsity swim team, and I'm also on varsity lacrosse so I would say for the most part I am very active. Lacrosse season is about to begin so I will be running a large amount, but I was wondering if anyone who has gone to SLE before or knows about how much physical activity we do there? I'm not sure how much I should be training or what exactly I should do to prepare for the physical aspect of the program. I saw it says we participate in the CFA test, but is it the full test there and if so how should I prepare for it/is it optional to take it there? Thanks!
 
Emma123 said:
Hi everyone.

I'm a high school junior and just received my acceptance to the second week of SLE for this summer. I'm a female that was elected captain of varsity
field hockey for next fall, I'm on the varsity swim team, and I'm also on varsity lacrosse so I would say for the most part I am very active. Lacrosse season is about to begin so I will be running a large amount, but I was wondering if anyone who has gone to SLE before or knows about how much physical activity we do there? I'm not sure how much I should be training or what exactly I should do to prepare for the physical aspect of the program. I saw it says we participate in the CFA test, but is it the full test there and if so how should I prepare for it/is it optional to take it there? Thanks!
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I saw a thread that answers that very same question if you go into the USMA forum link from the home page
 
I'm going to SLE week one. One of my main concerns right now is the Candidate Fitness Assessment. I am working my way to get to the stands of this test but I am currently not remotely ready for 2 miles in good time and other parts. Should I treat this as a deterrent at this point? Even if I still got a year to train?
 
Hi everyone,

I'm attending Session 1 of SLE, and I'm pumped to say the least. Does anyone know when we will receive our schedules detailing which workshops we will be participating in? I know we were all required to submit a list of preferences on our application, but I was wondering which ones we would actually be assigned to take. Thanks so much.
 
bandathlete157 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm attending Session 1 of SLE, and I'm pumped to say the least. Does anyone know when we will receive our schedules detailing which workshops we will be participating in? I know we were all required to submit a list of preferences on our application, but I was wondering which ones we would actually be assigned to take. Thanks so much.
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Hey, I'll see you there! I haven't logged into the portal in a while, maybe it has insight on our scheduled itinerary? Would be good to check out if not.
 
maxmccrum said:
Hey, I'll see you there! I haven't logged into the portal in a while, maybe it has insight on our scheduled itinerary? Would be good to check out if not.
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bandathlete157 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm attending Session 1 of SLE, and I'm pumped to say the least. Does anyone know when we will receive our schedules detailing which workshops we will be participating in? I know we were all required to submit a list of preferences on our application, but I was wondering which ones we would actually be assigned to take. Thanks so much.
Click to expand...
we have a group msg if yall want to join in!
 
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