<p>I'm an appointee for the class of 2013 and would like to know what some of the hardest parts of attending West Point are.</p>
<p>It depends on what your not good at. If you are a PT stud maybe math isn't your thing. The academy will find something. Everyone has a difficult time no matter what. Part of the experience I guess.</p>
<p>Personally, I'd say it's just the overall length. First, your goal is to get through R day. Then Beast. Then plebe year, then Buckner. Somewhere around the middle of yearling year, you really think it's never going to end. Classes get harder, and then the whole dark ages (or whatever they call it now) time in Feb/March gets you down every year and it just seems like all of life is just focused on graduation and how far away it seems. Not trying to sound depressing here, but I see so much focus on getting through Beast, but not much on the long haul. </p>
<p>Otherwise, as airborne said, wherever you're weak is going to be the hardest part for you, especially during Beast. If you have trouble memorizing, that will become obvious quickly. If it's running, that too. Academics won't hit you until fall, but they will hit you! I guess just focus on staying ahead of wherever your weaknesses are. If it's physical, work on that now. If it's academics, ask for help as soon as you start to have trouble. Get used to depending on your professors, friends, classmates because you won't make it without their help!</p>
<p>I think what makes this place hard is how <em>many</em> things we have to do...not necessarily how hard one individual part is. I compare the classes here to my AP classes I took in HS, about the same type of kids, about the same difficulty. But combine that with going to bed late and waking up early, constantly having some duty, and sometimes have duties overlap...makes this place difficult. Another hard part is finding time to have fun. It's not like HS where you can do just whatever you want after practice, things come up at random times and you have to stop what you're doing and get it done. That happening constantly...begins to wear on you.</p>
<p>ditto to USMA011, its not one thing, its a combination of all the things.</p>
<p>do you have class 7 days a week?</p>
<p>Yes it's a stupid question but i seriously don't know =(</p>
<p>Interesting question. When I was there (20+ years ago), we had pretty regular Saturday classes, especially plebe and yearling year - probably 1 or 2 classes each Saturday morning. By cow/firstie year, I don't recall having any. Wonder if that's changed!</p>
<p>I'm assuming you mean during the academic year. During Beast, we had training every day, although I think we were allowed time to go to chapel on Sunday if we wanted.</p>
<p>only 5 days a week, with only a rare exception. Last semester we had one saturday class scheduled, but it was cancelled by President Bush because he came to speak. Saturdays are time for the occasional inspection and training. Otherwise the weekends are for the most part discretionary time.</p>
<p>Beast sunday mornings start at 7, not 5, and you get to attend services and not much official traing goes on until later in the day, if any is scheduled at all.</p>
<p>If your religion has services anytime besides Sunday morning, you'll be allowed to attend on those days.</p>
<p>And during Beast you also have time for religious services on Wednesday nights - which are amazing. Make sure you attend the Wednesday ones.</p>
<p>i'm a plebe, and to me the hardest part is the lack of sleep. For example, thursday night i got 3 hours. Most night it's either 5 or 6.</p>
<p>get used to not sleeping, I used to get about 6 hours a night at the academy and havent gotten that much since. As an XO just back from deployment and suposedly still in the post deployment "recovery", I usually dont get home from work until 6 or 7 pm, have to take care of whatever I need, and then get up at 430 in the morning. Simply put, the Army is not a big fan of sleep.</p>