<p>hdhouse3rd - good luck to your son. Although not the ideal, remember that your son can always self study for AP exams.</p>
<p>To be truthful, the academies act like they prioritize academics, but once you get here it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Not everyone who gets in here is smart either; my roommate got a 21 on her ACT, but she got in because she's an IC. Classes are there, but most people are expected to not work very hard and get just barely above a 2.0. For people who want to challenge themselves, accelerated courses are available and at least offer you the chance to be in class with other people who actually want to learn. Unfortunately, academics just aren't prioritized here like you think they would be. Instead, it's all about the jocks and making sure that you pass the PFT. Maybe it gets better after 4 degree year, I don't know.</p>
<p>Bluefalcon - are you at the air force academy? We had a few parents give feedback regarding their plebe's academic experience earlier in the year. It would be interesting to hear follow up reports. Your news is disappointing.</p>
<p>"the academies act like they prioritize academics, but once you get here it doesn't seem like that big of a deal"
"most people are expected to not work very hard" </p>
<p>Bluefalcon,
Maybe you need to see about xfering to West Point.</p>
<p>Ann, thanks that was something neither of us knew was available. He thought AP was only available through courses at the school. I would have to think it would be beneficial to him to so a self study on courses he might have scored week on in school. If he were to score well, I would think it would show his commitment and desire to make himself more presentable to both the academies boards and MOC's. Also as it would be more self paced he could </p>
<p>Bluefalcon sorry to hear that you do not feel challenged. Hopefully the next year your academics will offer more of what you expected.</p>
<p>BlueFalcon</p>
<p>"most people are expected to not work very hard and get just barely above a 2.0"</p>
<p>West Point does not have courses which grade on a "curve". Average is a 2.0 and that means most people will land around a 2.0.
Whether one does better (or worse) than a 2.0 has has everything to do with the cadets and the standards they apply to themselves.</p>
<p>I find your statement pretty incredible given the experience reported to me by my plebe. When she isn't in class or at cross country practice or meals she is studying--7 days a week. That seems to be more in line with the culture of the service academies as I understood it. To state that academics aren't that big a deal seems odd. They aren't going to spoon feed you--maybe that is the big difference. I can't believe even the Air Force Academy is that bad.</p>
<p>Obviously, BlueFalcon is speaking from a narrow viewpoint-yeah, maybe your roommate isnt smart and doesn't expect to succeed, but most of the people there are. I'm sure of that. Also, you may just think that because the teaching philosophy is just so much different at the college level (I'm experiencing that right now at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). It's easy to come out of the first few weeks or months of classes with the viewpoint that academics arent important, but thats only because they expect YOU to do a lot of work on your own. People who dont do that are only cheating themselves. The people who you are referring to as "not expected to work very hard" are probably among the relatively large number of people who transfer out after the first year.</p>
<p>It's not the teaching style that bothers me. In fact, I love it because teachers don't waste your time with pointless busywork. It's just the fact that we aren't really challenged. Last week, I didn't do any homework 3 nights in a row, yet still didn't have any super late nights this week because of it. If I spend more than an hour a day doing stuff for class, it's a lot. To my knowledge, I am one of the people in my squadron who works the most too. I know that all the other girls just spend their time chatting and goofing around, as do many of the guys. I had expected to come here and be busy as all heck, but instead I'm finding myself with even more free time than I had in high school. That's with commitments to various activities every afternoon and some evenings too. Who knows, maybe after next semester when we have most of the core classes knocked off we'll get into more challenging courses.</p>
<p>Perhaps the Air Force Academy needs to adopt the Thayer method.</p>
<p>Bluefalcon:</p>
<p>Let me be clear, you get no sympathy from me. I'm jealous. Freetime to explore pretty much whatever you want at a great instituion of learning and leadership development.</p>
<p>I glean from your postings a combination of bragging and complaining about the small amount of study time you spend on homework and class preparation. You don't say whether you're not learning much or just not spending a lot of time learning. For your complaint that you're not academically challenged, look in the mirror and you will see a cohort to the crime.</p>
<p>AFA is providing you a great opportunity to test your level of self-motivation and to decide if you will push yourself or only do the minimum required to get by. You also have the benefit of being at an institution that has a multitude of activities to fill any time voids you have.</p>
<p>One of life's lesson is that most success is acheived by doing more than the minimum, more than the required. This is true in school, business and, most importantly, in personal and family relationships.</p>
<p>While I question your appraisal of the AFA's academic expectations for its cadets, let's assume for argument's sake that you're correct. Certainly the AFA doesn't prohibit academic excellence or have rules against opening doors to non-required academic subjects. Sounds like you have an excellent chance to explore new areas in academics or any other area you chose.</p>
<p>Hope you take advantage of your situation and explore, explore and explore.</p>
<p>I was recently asked: What is the difference between a top-ranked school [Harvard, Yale, and, say, USNA] and a third-tier school. [Univ. of local city or State A&M or Univ. of S.E. state]</p>
<p>My response? The students. The students were more motivated at top-flight schools. The students demanded more answers from their professors. The students read all of the homework and then some. </p>
<p>Certainly top-flight schools have more money. The additional money, however, is part of the cycle of excellence. More money attracts better professors who attrach better students, etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>I have a friend that went to Harvard Law. He say that it was amazing. Not only did the students read ALL of the assignments, they were hungry [almost voracious] in their capacity to read additional materials, visit w/ professors, etc.</p>
<p>Aspen has it right. Top students will fill the void with a quest for more knowledge. Bluefalcon does not state whether or not those students that have so much time are among the top students in his/her class.</p>