The posts on that thread are eerily similar to the posts on this one...
Posted on 08/29/2005 2:15:21 PM PDT by Little_shoe
As the newest students at the nation’s four U.S. service academies start their classes this month, they may not realize they had a slight advantage — they benefited from a shrinking pool of applicants. All of the schools saw a drop in prospective students, with the Air Force Academy (search) experiencing the most drastic change — a 23 percent decline from last year. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point (search) fared the best with a 9 percent drop in applicants, according to figures provided by the academy. The declines are notable because, with the exception of the Coast Guard Academy (search), the schools all experienced a jump in applications following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The numbers remained high during the U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. And they come at a time when some branches of the military are experiencing their own manpower problems.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Thanks for the info.
As a '76 grad of USAFA and a dad of a 05 USNA grad and a current cadet at USAFA, I can say that the quality of military academy cadets and midshipmen is not declining.
Below are the numbers for the USAFA Class of 2009:
2009 Demographics:
Applications 9601
Offers 1746
Males 1149
Females 241(17%)
Minorities 260(19%)
Athletes 320(23%)
Avg GPA 3.90
Avg SAT 1280
Please note these are AVERAGE numbers for class entry. Also if you haven't lettered in a sport or led either as a High School class officer or been a community leader, don't bother applying.
The Academies are in good shape and maintaining their high standards. This is what drives the liberals nuts and makes the Academies such a rich target.
Sorry to hear of it on your birthday too - how is the job search in civilian life going - have you started doing that yet?
Its effective 30 Sept 2005, my birhday is 1 Oct.
Oh well - Navy has always screwed enlisted men - they usally take care of officers - maybe Rummy is shalking things up?
Seriously - most "setbacks" lead to new opportunities. I would consider Army if you want a military career - sure to be a need for Army officers.
That seems like such a waste to not make it worth your while to find something to do in the Army or the Marines. During the Army RIFs of the 70s the CG took a fair number of Army Aviators (Commissioned) but they had to give up one grade. A lot of Army Captains became CG LTjgs.
USNA is still really tough to get into especially for guys which disaggregated application ratios would make abundantly clear. These ratios are pretty close to other top notch Ivy Leagues.
The article is totally misleading and the numbers can only be interpreted by comparing data on other comparable schools.
Good Point. I know the numbers for mine were about 1 in 10. Heck I didnt even get in until my second shot. I also think 30 percent of each class had some prior college experience.
I don't know. I've known several men my age and up who went to the Naval Academy ... their key advantages were connections or sports. This is not to say that they didn't turn out to be decent officers.
And I have friends whose son is at the Air Force Academy; he was recruited for swimming.
Working on your Congressman's political campaign might help you get his attention :-).
Academies are for warriors, anyway. Not women and career bureaucrats. I wonder what percentage of the reduction are women who would have entered as a career plan, but don't want to face a war.
Don't get me wrong, I am an athlete- I'm in excellent physical shape, I just enjoy working out alone. School sports require much time and accomplish little. Unless you swim- then you get your money's worth. I've decided I'd rather teach piano lessons for good cash (very good cash) than spend 3 hours a day at track practice doing what I can do in half the time.
What does the AF need with swimmers? I am a lifeguard, trained and certified, but that seems like a Navy/Marines deal.
Concerning political campaigns, I do live in the fine (well, sorta) state of New York... and I really want to uproot Hillary...
NCAA sports. My cousin went to the Naval Academy for football; he graduated in 1975 and spent about 10 years in the Navy.
Many colleges will take athletes as "walk-ons"; you just show up at the tryouts. My husband's niece just got on the gymnastics team at George Washington U. this way. But I don't know if that's an option with the academies.
Interesting. I'm actually looking to go to the UMUHS (Uniformed Medical University of Health Services, hooray for abbreviations)... Luckily, my school hasn't kicked military recruiters out (at least not to my knowledge) so I can learn a bit from them. But Westpoint would be fun, albeit very close to home.
You will get 'hip-pocket orders' until you are out five years or until age 55..whichever comes first..
Do you do horseback riding or shooting sports or fencing? Those are all big plusses for getting into West Point (or so the grapevine says :-). I think they're looking for Modern Pentathlon competitors!
You can get all the application information from the academies' web sites. I think some of them will even provide a contact in your area who's been through the process and can advise you. (You could probably find this on FR, too.)
FR is such a great resource, eh? So many different walks of life, so much experience and firsthand knowledge... I'll have to look into the websites- thanks for the tip!
Happy to help. I'm constantly amazed at the people who turn up here, and all the things they know.
Here ya go! :)
Military Academies Face Drop in Applications
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1472980/posts
Thankee much.
The posts on that thread are eerily similar to the posts on this one...
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