What is This $h*@?

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Does West Point take into account the competition you face in your rank? My high school is extremely selective (<10% acceptance rate) so my competition is very challenging, as you would imagine. My school doesn't rank either, but my guidance counselor said they could provide the percent of the class I'm in - would West Point accept that as an alternative? Thanks as always everyone.

My understanding from RC & FFR presentations/dialogs is that they factor in the competitiveness of your HS. And find ways to proxy class rank if the school does not provide it directly.

Same for our local Senate/Congress offices... they know and have schemes to normalize school competitiveness.

As to class rank changing with attrition... it's a fact. If there was an equal distribution of cadets which separated it would technically be neutral on rank from a statistic perspective.

But it's not, a significant % of the cadets forced to separate are due to academic or physical performance, so they are skewing the average upwards when they leave.
 
Focus your energies on those thiings you can control (your academic performance) and not on the things that are out of your control.
 
Focus your energies on those thiings you can control (your academic performance) and not on the things that are out of your control.

Which is good advice in each and every area of life! :thumb:
 
Does West Point take into account the competition you face in your rank? My high school is extremely selective (<10% acceptance rate) so my competition is very challenging, as you would imagine. My school doesn't rank either, but my guidance counselor said they could provide the percent of the class I'm in - would West Point accept that as an alternative? Thanks as always everyone.


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Yes and no. My understanding is West Point uses the percentage of seniors going to 4 year colleges to weigh your class rank. So if you attend a school that sends 100% of graduates to 4 year college and you are ranked top 5% vs another kid that attends a high school that only sends 50% of graduates to 4 year college and she is ranked ranked top 4% you should come out ahead.

West Point has been considering class rank for a long time, so I am pretty sure that they got a system.

As some other posters mentioned, worry about what you control.
 
Yeah you have no credibility. You have no idea and should silence your rant. "But being an Officer is fundamentally about getting those guys home, that he described as low lives". If you interpreted men who joined the military as lowlifes your missing the point. These people are drugatics and kids who play videogames all day. I will ignore this hypocrite BS and focus on what I can change. I thank the rest of you for being supportive and giving me insight instead of condemning me like a bunch of self-righteous goons.

I find it ironic one side I hear my JROTC instructor condemning all these dropouts. He also says it makes better person to go to college than not, and then there's people supporting this and saying its not. Who's right?
 
Yeah you have no credibility. You have no idea and should silence your rant. "But being an Officer is fundamentally about getting those guys home, that he described as low lives". If you interpreted men who joined the military as lowlifes your missing the point. These people are drugatics and kids who play videogames all day. I will ignore this hypocrite BS and focus on what I can change. I thank the rest of you for being supportive and giving me insight instead of condemning me like a bunch of self-righteous goons.

I find it ironic one side I hear my JROTC instructor condemning all these dropouts. He also says it makes better person to go to college than not, and then there's people supporting this and saying its not. Who's right?

This kid cracks me up. Or at least his grammar does.
 
Wow, self righteous goons?

I guessing they have more credibility then a rising senior in high school.

Good luck ignoring the hypocrite BS, you find someway to get an appointment to WP, you'll be swimming in it.

You must be a star in JROTC, make sure you let everyone know at WP, they will really respect your JROTC experience.

You think people were condemning you here, just wait and see what your life will be like as a junior officer when your Commander takes a huge hunk out of your A*# because your Power Point presentation on how to set up the Cotton Candy Machine at Family Day didn't have enough pixels on the screen.

You are a real piece of work kid and I'm sure that will shine through in your interviews when you explain how the low lives have damaged your class standing.

I was hoping you might have gotten the point that your post was not the way to address an issue like this, guess that was wishful thinking.

Your trying to get an appointment to a place where the majority of people will be better then you. But hey, stay with this attitude and save the military the trouble.

I'll silence my rant now, but for the record, I do have the cred and have seen plenty of JO's come and go just like you.

To USMCGrunt, I apologize for not following what was your good advice, that last post just hit a nerve.
 
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What set me off wasn't his blaming 'drugattics' for life treating him unfairly.

It was "This makes it very hard to keep a high class rank . Not only that but since I live in the county with the best schools in a very desirable area of the south. Because of this a lot of smart kids move there. Not to mention there is strong middle class presence of college-minded kids."

Jeez Louise. I will sleep well as a tax payer knowing that the SAs will weed out both the drugattics (addict might be an SAT word to study), and might even have a bias towards smart middle class kids.
 
Hardknock96,

Please rethink your choice in both colleges and careers. From what I have read so far, you don't have what it takes to succeed in and actually enjoy being in my Army. (Read "round peg, square hole".) It would be like me working for PETA. I may have the education and skills, but my personality and character traits would make it so that I would be miserable there... and they would hate me too.

About that dropping class rank thing... Sometimes God's greatest gifts are those unanswered prayers. It might have just save you a short but miserable stint as a soldier. Oh, and may I add.... a 3.8 GPA won't cut it for WP regardless of class rank.
 
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How does one motivate those who do not care?

Billyb has a great idea, with only one problem.How does one motivate those who do not care? It would be great for the school and community if these kids would stop smoking crack and became productive members of society. The only problem is how? I have tried to continue a SWAT club my sophomore year but it fell through because none of the people I worked with did anything. How could you create something when no one will help? (Especially mainly at people who know no dedication.)
 
Billyb has a great idea, with only one problem.How does one motivate those who do not care? It would be great for the school and community if these kids would stop smoking crack and became productive members of society. The only problem is how? I have tried to continue a SWAT club my sophomore year but it fell through because none of the people I worked with did anything. How could you create something when no one will help? (Especially mainly at people who know no dedication.)

Perhaps you should not worry about changing others and just try to do better than the 19% ahead of you; my classmates did...
 
Billyb has a great idea, with only one problem.How does one motivate those who do not care? It would be great for the school and community if these kids would stop smoking crack and became productive members of society. The only problem is how? I have tried to continue a SWAT club my sophomore year but it fell through because none of the people I worked with did anything. How could you create something when no one will help? (Especially mainly at people who know no dedication.)

The answer to that question, has been asked for thousands of years. No one has an answer, but just an ideal that is expressed in an attitude. From Jefferson, to Lincoln. Individuals can change history. Few Americans supported the Revolution. No one would have fought the Civil war if they knew the cost in advance.

So you, and USMA....There are 1200 slots. The kids that will get them have studied their history, and know that people left to their own devices will not do well. Nevertheless, their focus is on trying to protect those who are hopeless, and trying to inspire those who have the potential to be something more. That is the essence of leadership. The truth is, this group is not 'selected'. They self select...and they deal with the rules, and models, and scoring systems, and beat them.

So tomorrow, we get a speech at West Point. I am not a George Bush fan, and I think Obama would be in the bottom 75% of your class, but I think this was great speech that captures what being an Officer means in todays times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/01/international/02PTEX-WEB.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1

"Service" is fundamentally about using your strength to protect those who are weak. And its also about your undisciplined classmates finding a place, and it is about being a role model so their children can aspire to what you aspire to.

That people took the time to 'beat you down' can be read two ways. I would read it that your passion people read as real, and a key trait of leaders. But you also *****ed about things that you control. "Unfair" is a very bad code word in an SA aspirant that sets people off. Its life.
 
@hardknock96
That is the task you are entrusted with if you do successfully become an officer in the military. You must inspire the unmotivated to take action and develop a passion to what you what them to be passionate about. That is a true leader and if it was so easy, everyone could do it.

Honestly, you're complaining a lot about events that are supposed to guide you in the right direction. Your class rank is suffering? Embrace the suck and work harder. There are unmotivated kids? Wow, that is absolutely shocking and I would never have thought unmotivated kids could exist.

Also, blaming drop-outs and drug addicts for their problems is quite selfish of you. I wouldn't expect you to understand that they may be ensnared in circumstances beyond their control. Instead of whining about it and blaming them for your failures, why don't you go out and start a drug awareness program in your community or some community project to help them bond over blatant issues.

I really must agree with Jcleppe and the others here. You're a real piece of work and thank you so much for insulting the enlisted and the kids in your community that are struggling.
 
My Resolve

Your right, I will worry about me and nobody else. Every failure is mine and mine alone. No one can answer for failure. I am a one-man solider until my life gains value. Everything is in my hands...MY HANDS. I will only worry about me. I will forget about helping anyone else , till its my time to help them. A young person like me cannot afford to waste time with compassion especially considering my lack of resources. Now, its time to be greedy and do what I must. A selfish world breeds selfish people. For now I will help me and only me..If these addicts and fools want to waste their lives and dropout fine...but don't expect for me to anything for them, let them rot Its a cutthroat world, getting worse and worse. NONE of you can deny this. It would only be foolish wasting energy to help others when your entire life is meaningless. My family emphasizes a persons value is their accomplishments. I have no value till I am successful and is not wise for me to bother. When the day comes and I am successful I will shower the community and people who have helped me. I will lead and die for the people I work for. But until then...Its all me, as my blood as no value.
 
OK this guy is getting a little scary.

It may be a good idea to delete this thread, after keeping a copy along with this person's IP address.
 
Your right, I will worry about me and nobody else. Every failure is mine and mine alone. No one can answer for failure. I am a one-man solider until my life gains value. Everything is in my hands...MY HANDS. I will only worry about me. I will forget about helping anyone else , till its my time to help them. A young person like me cannot afford to waste time with compassion especially considering my lack of resources. Now, its time to be greedy and do what I must. A selfish world breeds selfish people. For now I will help me and only me..If these addicts and fools want to waste their lives and dropout fine...but don't expect for me to anything for them, let them rot Its a cutthroat world, getting worse and worse. NONE of you can deny this. It would only be foolish wasting energy to help others when your entire life is meaningless. My family emphasizes a persons value is their accomplishments. I have no value till I am successful and is not wise for me to bother. When the day comes and I am successful I will shower the community and people who have helped me. I will lead and die for the people I work for. But until then...Its all me, as my blood as no value.

That would not be huah. See video of kid in BMW last week.

You CAN serve. Just focus more on using your gifts to help people who don't have your focus. Don't quit. Don't be bitter. Don't accept unfairness. Just make a difference for the better for people who don't have your passion. The world is full of bad things, and the world is starved for leaders. If you can bridge these, you are good to go.
 
If you make it and you're accepted, and I'm not sure you will be, you have a lot of growing to do in the "take responsibility" and "take feedback" departments. Frankly, if you approach any academy the way you approach these forums, you will have a very hard time, and you won't last.
 
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