<p>Hello, I got accepted into summer seminars for Air Force Academy and West Point. Is there a difference between the two (besides different academy and branch of course)? Do you think I should go to both, or just one?</p>
<p>1mathboy1,
My son attended SLS for West Point last year and he mentioned that there were many attendees that were going to 2 or more of the programs offered by the different academies.
I think it’s an excellent opportunity for someone as yourself to make sure which academy you really want to go to. The nomination process is long and hard and since each congressman or senator only allows you to pick one academy, you will have a better chance of receiving a nomination if you are focused on just one academy by the start of this process. As for my son, he has always wanted to attend West Point and just received his acceptance for 2016.
One thing my son mentioned when he go back from SLS at West Point was that each person had a completely different suitcase packed for each academy. After unpacking his suitcase I totally understood why. You will not be able to use most of your clothing from one program to another </p>
<p>Go to as many of the 3 as you can. Our D was accepted to all 3 but was only able to squeeze Navy and Army into her schedule—A great opportunity–take advantage of it!</p>
<p>I went to AFA and USMA. I liked USMA better but i wanted to go Army so that influenced me. AFA was better but was only four days while WP was six. I really liked that AFA had a day where they treat you like a freshman (i don’t remember what they call them there). They woke me up at 3am and made me do ten pushups for every letter of the phonetic alphabet I didn’t remember-- they gave us a packet the night before! It was a fun experience that I wished West Point did. Nothing in either program is very phyiscal so don’t worry about that. Go to both if you can.</p>
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<p>All 3?</p>
<p>There are 4 military academy summer programs.</p>
<p>West Point Summer Leaders Seminar (SLS)
Air Force Academy Summer Seminar (AFASS)
Naval Academy Summer Seminar (NASS)
Coast Guard Academy Introduction Mission (AIM)</p>
<p>:cool:</p>
<p>yeah “duh” on me lol. Thanks for pointing out the weaknesses of an old man :)</p>
Okay forum, tell me what our family needs to know… please. After Boy’s State, our son is going to three summer seminars, West Point, Naval and the Air Force. He will then return to USNA for another week at crew camp. He was lucky the timing worked. He wants to serve but feels that a week at each is the best way to evaluate which service academy is the best fit for him. We have already considered two suitcases, each with fresh clothing. That was a great idea proudfather2016!
This is great advice. Our son will attend all three this summer. We thought about 2 suitcases, to rotate fresh clothing but now I’m thinking I might need another one.
Extra suitcases is an excellent plan. My son went to SLE last summer and several there were attending another summer seminar that began the following day. The parents were all trying to figure out the logistics of finding a laundramat that evening as everything the cadet had packed with soaking wet and filthy (it was a rainy week so lots of muddy clothing and then it rained hard at pick up time, so the suitcases/contents got soaked too).