I know Ill probably get hate for this but whats the easiest (in terms of work load) STEM major? I ask because a situation has arisen where I won’t be able to attend a service academy after high school. So I plan on going to college for a year before trying to attend one of the academies. I want to be able to keep my GPA somewhat high (since that is what the academies will be looking at) and have enough time on my hands to be able to stay in good shape. I know difficulty will vary from school to school, but in general, ya know? Also guys, taking one year of a liberal arts course, wont help me lol… as I intend to major in engineering or physics if I get into an academy. Thanks.
And what if you don’t get into one of the service academies? You need to treat whatever 4-year college you attend as the real deal, and not just a holding pen.
I take it from your CC handle “flightzealot” that you want to be a pilot. If you’re pursing the military path to become a pilot, it’s not necessary to go to a service academy.
Thanks for comment. Yeah, you’re right about that, I’m just wondering because in reality… I’ll really be ok with any STEM major. Ah, and I actually want to go into SOF (whether it be MARSOC, SEALs, SWCC, or EODs, preferably the 1st or 2nd), so I think the USNA will create the best possible chance of me being selected for training.
How about ROTC?
Yeah. I’ll do NROTC (without a scholarship (because I wouldn’t be able to get one at the moment)) my first year, in order for them to help assist me in the USNA application.
You don’t even need ROTC to become a Naval aviator. Graduate with a bachelor’s degree from a 4-yr college, then OCS.
I feel you man. But I don’t want to be a Naval Aviator or a pilot lol.
If you intend to go to college for one year and then apply into one of the service academies, why declare a major at all? Service academies don’t take transfer students in the traditional sense: they don’t care if you’ve attended college for a year, but you still have to enter as a plebe and attend for four years. Most colleges don’t require you to declare a major until your sophomore year, so if you intend to stay for just one year you don’t have to declare a major at all. Just take some classes that make sense.
If you intend to major in engineering or physics, there are prerequisite classes you will need to take in your first year of college if you want to stay on track to graduate in four years. You might as well get a jump on those and start with a program of calculus I, general physics I, and intro computer science. But service academies also require and cultivate the humanities and social sciences:
To prepare yourself for the academic curriculum at West Point, you should complete four years of English with a strong emphasis on composition, grammar, literature and speech…two years of a foreign language…and one year of U.S. history, including courses in geography, government and economics.
So you can also take an introductory English composition class and start a foreign language (picking a critical language, like Arabic or Mandarin Chinese, would be a good move).
Just take the bare minimum to stay full-time if you need to be full-time to do ROTC - that’s usually 12 hours, which is usually 3-4 courses a semester. So do like calculus I, physics I, English comp and language 101 your first semester, then cal II, an intro CS class, language 102 and some easy English literature course your second semester. Or something like that. Then spend the rest of your time concentrating on fitness and ROTC, maybe play an intramural sport.
Hmm… Thank you juillet. Your post really helped me out a lot. Thats seems like a good idea.