Questions about Service Academies

M_of_BTT_s_10
Thu, 25 May 2006 20:14:09 +0000

Godfather, it seems like you have a lot of drive and ambition. Believe me, there are a lot of options out there for you besides the service academies. There are a lot of merit based scholarships too, especially if you think you will do well on your SAT’s. When we were looking at schools, my CC truly wanted very badly to go to USMA. The desire to serve had been there for a long, long time. Before thinking about college, there were a lot of community events and time spent, just because…it’s what she wanted to do. I used to call her “My Peace Corp Baby”, because that’s what she wanted to do, serve her community, town, now country. The desire was always there. Leadership…that was there too. Yes, the good grades, sports, etc. But I think more importantly, the desire to serve her country and lead were there way… before. I understand the fact that you will need scholarships, we did too. We left many avenues open. First and foremost was USMA, but you can’t put all your eggs in one basket and we went to visit USMA in Junior year. We were also encouraged to apply to more than one service acadamy. If you can, visit the academies. We were lucky enough to live close enough to visit USMA on day trip . I know how important it is to visit, because you kind of get that “gut” feeling. We visited other colleges too. There were some yays and a few nays. You mention prestige as one of the reasons. There are many prestigioius schools out there that will also fit the bill for you. A lot of her high school friends “wrinkled their noses” when they heard her choice. She didn’t care and knew where she was meant Tto be. I think if it’s a service acadamy that is your calling, you will know. You are smart to keep posting and asking questions. Your generation is lucky to have the internet avenue open to you.

Good luck with your decision, but you sound smart enough to get scholarships to plenty of other schools, too. I wouldn’t rule them out!