<p>Ok, I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret, something that happens every year...</p>
<p>First let me tell you this:</p>
<p>I bought a reef point off ebay before coming to the USNA last summer and it was one of the best decisions I made before I got here. Everyone says you forget the stuff...but you don't.
I got the same message you all are getting...if you buy a reef points before you come here everyone will hate you...or its "bad"--needless to say, it was a big suprise to me when I found out after I got here that almost everyone had gotten a reef points before coming and had looked it over...</p>
<p>Just a word of advice...If I were you, or I had to do it again, I would go to ebay and buy a reef points</p>
<p>Agreed above. If nothing else, at least reading through Reef Points gives you a better idea of the general layout of the book and makes it easier to flip through during the summer when you have to do that really fast. Learning a few of the traditions/history things also never hurts.</p>
<p>If I had advice to give on what to "study" or memorize: know the basic military stuff: ranks, general orders...the stuff that the priors WILL know coming in. First set is all about knowing this stuff. The academy stuff will come later (Man in the Arena, Qualifications, Laws of the Navy) with the cadre...all in good time.</p>
<p>you don't need to buy them on ebay, esp given the mark up some are putting on them, just go to the usna online gift store and buy one; ~$26.00 plus shipping, at least the proceeds there benifit the Mids......</p>
<p>Just be sure not to act as if you know it all. To begin with, you won't, and secondly, even if you did, it's not a good way for a plebe to behave. EVERYONE will come after you.</p>
<p>My Mid said you first should be enjoying your time with friends etc. and second if you are going to be "studying" something, review for validation tests. It will get you farther in the long run as you and everyone else will be learning reef points together so coming in ahead of the curve he did not think got you anywhere. Just another opinion..</p>
<p>It doesn't matter whether or not you get reef points, your summer is still going to be 7 weeks. In the long run, it doens't matter; don't waste your time.</p>
<p>are you kidding. DON'T buy reef points ahead of time. Very few people do and it doesn't provide you with any benefit. Suck it up and deal with things how they are meant to be dealt with.</p>
<p>Don't get Reef Points, you don't want to look like a "bilger" in front of your classmates. Your performance during plebe summer says a lot about you how you perform under pressure, and having Reef Points beforehand is kind of like cheating.</p>
<p>Well, I can safely say that the ones who said not to waste your time buying it ahead of time probably needed to ABSORB more of what they read when they bought it. </p>
<p>Timing your response wisely as to when and how to spit out that previously retained off-the-wall info-bit is everything or prepare to be pounced upon by an upper classman. Forewarned is forearmed. A wise, crusty old MCPO and a hard-nosed GySgt. once told me (actually screamed) that "You will see this material again you [blankety-blank-blanking] Boots". </p>
<p>I bought my son a copy of Reef Points (also a USNA hoodie, some bumperstickers, etc.) from the Midshipman store as a "congratulations!" present when he got his LOA and acceptance letter, about 6 months pre-I-Day.</p>
<p>His girlfriend made little flashcards with the ranks and some rates on them, and they practiced them the spring before he entered as a plebe. He did NOT bring the book or flashcards with him on I-Day (are you kidding? that would be insane!)</p>
<p>I asked him about it on Plebe Parents Weekend, whether it helped. He said, "it was the best thing I did, I had more time for other stuff since I had the basics down pat."</p>
<p>I think it took the edge off those first few days, AND it gave him something to do with all the nervous energy he had before I-Day. His senior year of HS was pretty slack, relatively, because his super-tough classes were mostly over.</p>
<p>Go ahead and study all of that stuff before hand. Everyone has the opportunity to learn it, some people just take advantage of it. It doesn't take reef points to know the ranks of the USMC and USN or the general orders of a sentry or laws of the navy. Priors come in knowing the stuff and there's stil more to learn, like your chain of command. So learn it; i wish I had better, I would have done a lot better on those rates tests and done better overall.</p>
<p>You'll do plenty of memorizing throughout the summer and freshman year; a few passages here and there won't make much of a difference. The priors already know this stuff cold, but they have to play the game too (and no, they aren't cheating the system intended for USNA by having already been indoctrinated with the basics). The stuff you can't learn beforehand (menus, days, names, CoC etc) is what gets most people anyways and makes the memorizing here unique. Besides, there will ALWAYS be something to learn. I'm with Jack on this one...learn what you can but don't stress over it before you get here, because there will be plenty of time for that later...</p>
<p>"Cheating"? That implies there is a rule against buying reef points ahead of time . . . which there isn't.<br>
Can one cheat if there is no rule against that which you are doing? Does a tree falling in the woods make any noise if there is nobody there to hear it?</p>
<p>Its not like the book is classified or something. Heck, its available for sale to anybody.</p>
<p>If it makes you feel a bit less fretful about I-day, buy it. By day two, you won't know the difference one way or the other.</p>
<p>Cheating, as per my Webster’s, “does not always suggest fraudulence or a harmful motive”. Remember, on man-to-man defenses, our coaches always told us to ‘cheat’ to our opponent’s strong side. Not a lot of high school athletes in jail for it though.</p>
<p>Everything one does plebe year is there for a reason. And OBTW, that reason is not to “stay under the radar” which, in my opinion, is horrible advice. No one breaks out on top by not being noticed. With all the celebrations currently in vogue for completing plebe year, it may be hard to think beyond it, but the purpose of plebe year is to prepare one for the fleet. The chow calls, managing the tables during mando meals, Reef Points, etc.; they all have a purpose.</p>
<p>Picture yourself in six years wherever the ‘war of the year’ happens to be. 3AM. 1000’ overcast. Supporting the grunts. Under the scud layer having to drop dumb bombs. Somehow you manage to FOD an engine and it flames out. Single engine with all the resulting hydraulic and electrical crossover failures, no HUD, tanker problems, back to the boat, no divert, below minimums, low fuel, totally pi**ed at yourself for being so stupid. Armpits down around your ankles, you have your pocket checklist open to about a dozen pages, and during the brief lightening flashes, trying to quickly memorize all the non-bold pertinent info . Even though, every since plebe summer, you had ‘cheated’ on all your memorization tasks because you were ‘lousy at memorizing’, you will probably still get aboard. Or will you?? Play the game. It is there for a huge reason and it does a fantastic job.</p>
<p>oh my! I actually will second USNA69 on this one!</p>
<p>If you have your nose in reef points, then chances are you don't have it in where it is really needed right now- and that is your senior year textbooks and homework and papers and anything else you need to compete this final semester!</p>
<p>Plebe year will start soon enough- enjoy whatever free time with your friends and family. You will be gone all summer- and then some- so leave the reef points behind for now! You will have more than enough time to memorize what you need to know, when you need to know it. Trust the system- as hard as that may be sometimes!</p>