<p>I am a junior in high school and my parents are really cracking down on me to start researching colleges. I am an average student, 4.0 gpa weighted, played Lacrosse for 2 years, a lot of community service dealing with church including a big praise band show and an inner city mission trip. Anyways, enough about me, I need some help in deciding either to go to the Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, or apply to a state school. I do not have much information about the Air Force or Navy, and i'm wondering if any of you guys have any information on applying, how to get in, etc. . . I already know there is an athletic portion of the application, but i'm wondering will it be difficult for me to be accepted since I did not take ROTC in highschool? Thanks a lot guys.</p>
<p>if you have a 4.0 gpa you can so get into good schools. what did you get on your sat's. what state do you live in. what do you think you want to major in?</p>
<p>Try moving your post to the Service Academy Parents page. It's in the "Colleges" section. You will get lots of input from people who really know about applications to the academies.</p>
<p>See the problem is... My parents really want me to go the Air Force or Navy because they believe I will have a guaranteed career. I want to make my parents proud and I want to listen to them, but I am still iffy on my decision. I took the SAT's on April 1, so I haven't gotten the scores yet. I live in Florida and I want to major in computer science or business/marketing. I know that in the Air Force or Navy I will be able to deal with computers so I am leaning towards that decision... More input anyone?</p>
<p>I was a Navy officer for 10 years. Very different cultures between the two services. I was in a field where I worked side-by-side with Marines, and spent as much time on Air Force and Army bases as I did on Navy bases, so I got a good feel for all the services. The Air Force is more of a bureaucratic country club, and its bases tend to be in remote places because they use so much land. They often have the newest equipment and most luxurious accomodations. The Navy is more traditional and old-school, and puts a premium on being resourceful and getting the job done despite whatever hurdles the enemy or Mother Nature puts in your way. Their bases are almost always near water and tend to be in resort areas (San Diego, San Francisco, Hawaii, Florida, Newport RI, etc.).</p>
<p>Both services provide a much more intellectual environment than people on this board would have you believe. I worked with people who went to colleges such as Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Cornell, Union College, Michigan, Georgetown, and MIT. The pay is also better than you'd think, and you can't beat the retirement after 20 years. You also get plenty of opportunities to get more education. I had a B.A. when I went in, and after 10 years had an additional bachelor's degree and a master's degree; they also paid for me to do nothing but study Russian for a solid year.</p>
<p>j3fff:
Maybe you should consider doing the ROTC program in a regular college setting. My S is in Navy ROTC at a State university and really loves it. It would give you a chance to see if the military is something you are truly interested in and if not you could still continue on with your degree program at same university. The military requirements are not easy. It would be hard to make it through if it's something you really want.</p>
<p>Correction...meant to say it would be hard to make it through if it's not something you really want. Also, many who do ROTC in college or go to the academies did not do ROTC in high sch.</p>
<p>PackMom is right, a guy who graduated last year from my high school went to the Naval Academy, he was the only one to every go to a service academy from here(small town) so it was a really big deal. And I mean, nothing beats a quarter million dollar scholarship</p>