<p>Which prof you have can definitely have an effect; however, there are definitely plenty of people who fail the “easy” prof’s. Pray for the best, but prepare for the worst.</p>
<p>The academic challenges cannot be overstated. I’ve said this before but it bears repeating… if you treat this place like it was “grade 13” you will be gone by Christmas.
Too many plebes start off in chemistry or physics thinking “I’ve had all this before.” The problem is, the difficulty ramps up very quickly and you can be in over your head before you know it. If you tank on the first exam you may dig a hole for yourself that is impossible to climb out of. Moreover, Admiral Worley has made it clear that he believes that there have been too many academic set backs in the past and is determined to reign the practice in. If we are to take him at his word (and why wouldn’t we?) academic set backs will be allowed only if sickness or injury made it impossible to attend class. We may see a very large number of disenrollments very early on in the program this year.</p>
<p>While academic failure should not be tolerated when the student is not applying themselves, if all failures result in disenrollment, there will be a significant reduction in the number students graduating, which, at a certain level, the academy must meet. The Academy must look into all aspects of why so many people are failing - specifically Physics, Calculus and Chemistry. Is it because some students come in weaker academically, but have other qualities the Academy is requiring such as passing the medical, getting the nomination and passing the fitness requirements? But if the Academy is being totally introspective now in an effort to strengthen the program, they must also look at those teachers perennially failing the majority of students in their classes and ask why. There still needs to be a critical mass of students graduating to justify the viability of the program without compromising reasonable standards or some bureaucrats in Washington will defer to the State maritime schools.</p>
<p>I believe if you ask the mids, they will say the majority of failures are due to the students. They come in thinking it is just like high school and that they can breeze through it the same way. What they are not used to is the other pressures on them as well as the academic ones. Time management seems to be the key here. </p>
<p>One Mid may choose to stay in on a Saturday night to study and prepare for a class the following week while another goes into the city and returns late resulting in no study time and also throwing off their “extra” sleep time to recuperate from the week.</p>
<p>I’ve heard numerous times from many Mids that if you want to graduate from KP you can, but it takes a lot of work and good time management skills.</p>
<p>KPmarines, sorry if it looked like I was using the excuse of getting lucky and having a somewhat easier professor. I’m not going to treat this as “grade 13” either. I know that assignments and projects can’t be put off here, unlike high school where you could throw something together last minute and still pull out an A or B. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get through the academy in four years.</p>
<p>Then you have the right attitude Swimmer! Just keep your eye on the prize and you will do fine :)</p>
<p>Good Study Habits…Work every time.</p>