Why did you choose West Point over other service academies?

C

Candidate39

USMA ‘27
Joined
Jan 20, 2022
Messages
35
I am applying to the service academies and am trying to learn more about each of them. For those who have gone to West Point, what made you choose it over the other academies? What made you choose the army over other branches?

Thank you for your time.
 
HighSchoolJunior said:
I am applying to the service academies and am trying to learn more about each of them. For those who have gone to West Point, what made you choose it over the other academies? What made you choose the army over other branches?

Thank you for your time.
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My DS is interested in more than one as well. Class of 26. I highly recommend taking advantage of overnights, summer events, etc, if it is financially and logistically possible. I feel that way you'll get a sense of the culture, facilities, etc. and be able to find the best fit.

I'm sure others will share more, but on the forums you don't know who is writing what, what background to they have, what do they like, and how are they similar to your background and likes.

My DS has not visited West Point yet, that's about 8 days from now. So you also have time to fit them in. Can even be spring of your Sr. year.

The good news is they are all great schools.
 
My boys visited all the campuses. Also local ROTC units. For them, after spending time with people from each branch, they felt most connected to the culture of the Navy.

If you are able, highly recommend interacting with the branches you are interested in. Sometimes? It’s a feeling. In the heart and gut.

Good luck as you discern!!
 
I have said this before several times and will no doubt say it again before my days are over.

IMO it’s all about the job not the service. It’s the jobs that might have a certain culture not a service.

If someone wants to fly for the military IMO they will be happy with any service they can get an aviation slot.

If they want spec ops they should be happy ( happy being a relative term) with SEAL, Ranger, Recon, etc.

If they want military cyber they should be happy with cyber no matter where they end up.

I served with two completely different services in 3 totally different jobs. It was the job and the culture for that job that I loved or did not love .

Although before I served I did think it was about which service. I was wrong.

Grads of the USMA have become Navy Captains and Admirals. Grads of the USMA have become USMC MOH awardees. It’s really about the job in most instances IMO .
 
We are non-military. I was surprised when DS expressed interest, but I wanted to support whatever his goals are after high school. He is now a USMA class of 2026 accepted candidate and he had a USAFA2026 appointment that he declined.
He was too late to apply to USAFA summer seminar on his Junior year. But it was just beginning for USMA SLE applications. He was selected and attended virtual SLE which he appreciated a lot; interacting with the cadre and other SLE attendees like himself.
When seriously selecting which branch, I told him to think of ADSO and if he gets the worst possible job and location what do you think it would be and will you be committed to see it through to the best of your abilities with a ready&willing attitude? After a lot of soul-searching and looking at jobs, he picked USMA first and USAFA second (he didn't want to be a pilot). He didn't even apply to the others but focused his energy on the two SA applications. Don't forget ROTC as well, if you want to commission but somehow don't get the SA appointments.
 
Small Team Bacsi said:
I have said this before several times and will no doubt say it again before my days are over.

IMO it’s all about the job not the service. It’s the jobs that might have a certain culture not a service.

If someone wants to fly for the military IMO they will be happy with any service they can get an aviation slot.

If they want spec ops they should be happy ( happy being a relative term) with SEAL, Ranger, Recon, etc.

If they want military cyber they should be happy with cyber no matter where they end up.

I served with two completely different services in 3 totally different jobs. It was the job and the culture for that job that I loved or did not love .

Although before I served I did think it was about which service. I was wrong.

Grads of the USMA have become Navy Captains and Admirals. Grads of the USMA have become USMC MOH awardees. It’s really about the job in most instances IMO .
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This wasn't true for my dh and myself. My dh branched aviation out of West Point. I was an intel officer in the AF. My dh's culture and job were VERY different from the pilots I worked with in the AF. Most of the pilots I worked with would not have been satisfied with dh's flight hours or his main duties. In the Army, he was a leader first. He got his minimum number of flight hours and jumps (when he was in the 82nd) per month but that was it. There was never time nor the opportunity to get more flight time. The pilots I worked with FLEW...even the DOs and CCs. When we deployed, they flew. I also have a good friend that was a Navy pilot (USNA grad). He loved flying but didn't mesh well with the Navy culture. He had appointments to all three service academies back in the day and now wishes he'd gone to USAFA only so that he'd have commissioned in the AF. He also acknowledges that this is a personal preference and not a problem with the Navy. He ended up getting out when his service committment was up and works for the FBI.

Intel might have been a little more similar but our missions were so different that my day-to-day and deployed functions looked very differnt to my Army counterparts.
 
Academy culture and in-service opportunities. Study all of them, and pick the one that fits you the best.
 
HighSchoolJunior said:
I am applying to the service academies and am trying to learn more about each of them. For those who have gone to West Point, what made you choose it over the other academies? What made you choose the army over other branches?

Thank you for your time.
Click to expand...
For DS it was West Point or nothing. Wants to branch Infantry only. He did consider USMMA but only because he could branch Army once he graduated. Not sure what his reasoning was but it was always West Point then Infantry.
 
My kids were both 100% Navy (DH is a marine and had always wished he could have gone there) - did the camps - wore the shirts from about 7th grade on.....one discovered USMMA and is loving it there - plans to go USMC still and the other one did overnights at Navy & West Point and fell in love with the culture and opportunities that West Point provided. Shocked us - but he knew what he liked. He reports in June!
 
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