<p>1) United States Merchant Marine Academy
2) United States Military Academy
3) United States Naval Academy
4) United States Coust Guard Academy
5) United States Air Force Acacemy</p>
<p>The rest are just party schools ;)</p>
<p>deja vu all over again</p>
<p>Don't listen to LFWB dad; West Point occupies the top three slots.</p>
<p>And here's another factoid to chew on. At West Point they grade using a system called "forced distribution". That means there will only be so many A's, so many B's, etc. Conceivably you can get 90+ on all of your exams and work and still get a C for your class grade. The cadets are competing against each other for every class grade in a way most other students at civilian universities using a more conventional grading system couldn’t begin to understand. Good enough is never good enough.</p>
<p>I imagine the other service academies are very similar and equally rigorous.</p>
<p>^ Sounds like the college I'm at (Stonehill) and the one I'm transfering to (Cornell)...ur not special :)</p>
<p>"^ Sounds like the college I'm at (Stonehill) and the one I'm transfering to (Cornell)...ur not special"</p>
<p>Really? You're going to spend your next summer driving tanks and jumping out of airplanes too!?!</p>
<p>Figgy, all kidding aside, I was wondering how many colleges and universities use the "forced distribution" grading method to combat grade inflation. Centuries ago, when I was in college, one of my friends went to a very expensive and exclusive private university where they didn't give any grades at all. Last I heard she selling whirligigs.</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence?</p>
<p>
[quote]
And here's another factoid to chew on. At West Point they grade using a system called "forced distribution". That means there will only be so many A's, so many B's, etc. Conceivably you can get 90+ on all of your exams and work and still get a C for your class grade. The cadets are competing against each other for every class grade in a way most other students at civilian universities using a more conventional grading system couldn’t begin to understand. Good enough is never good enough.</p>
<p>I imagine the other service academies are very similar and equally rigorous.
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</p>
<p>Unless they changed things at USNA (and I hope they haven't), then no, they do NOT follow this stupidity.</p>
<p>If you earn a 90 then you have EARNED an A. PERIOD. Sure, they'll still be ranked against each other anyway and via other means, but I have always despised that forced distribution crap. I'll stop here because I don't want to hijack the thread.</p>
<p>Oh, and Army will hold the top three spots when pigs fly, and since neither Congress nor West Point have been designated as airports, I am quite confident that NAVY holds the top slot, thank you very much. :D</p>
<p>I think the Wall Street Journal ran an article about a month ago in which the Journal commented that as a result of Congressional overspending on military aircraft that there was more "pork" in the air than ever before. The author concluded that in fact, pigs do fly. I guess then the earlier comment regarding West Point occupying the first three places stands...</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal ran an article about a month ago in which a writer commented that as a result of Congressional overspending on military aircraft that there was more "pork" in the air than ever before. The author concluded that in fact, pigs do fly. I guess then the earlier comment regarding West Point occupying the first three places stands...</p>
<p>MIT Caltech Cornell and Chicago come to mind, as does Wake Forest (large workload + grade deflation)</p>
<p>"I imagine the other service academies are very similar and equally rigorous."</p>
<p>I stand corrected; West Point is more rigorous.</p>
<p>And most stressful.</p>
<p>But that's the idea.</p>
<p>I still maintain that because the Mids at Kings Point have to complete the same academic course load in three years as the other Academies do in four years, and pass the Coast Guard licenising exam before graduating, the stress is at least 25% more than at the other Academies.</p>
<p>^^^^^nah, how can that be? they get a whole year off to play at sea! ;)</p>
<p>I must say, this is one of the very few threads on CC that I have read every single post. Bravo.</p>
<p>On a side note, where do you get off on calling President Carter a "loser leftist idiot?" In retrospect, his micromanaging completely changed the norms of U.S. foreign relations for the better.</p>
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^^^^^nah, how can that be? they get a whole year off to play at sea!
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<p>I know you are kidding ;) But I thought you might be interested in a little of the history of Sea Year at KP and what my son passed on as some of his experiences on the first part of his Sea Year. At the end of Plebe year they divide the class in half and one split will go to sea for a trimester while the other is at KP and then that split will come back for a trimester while the other goes to sea, and then the first split will go to sea for 8 months (the next two trimesters). When they come back the second split goes to sea for two trimesters. The class is reunited for its 1st class year.</p>
<p>From its earliest days, (KP was founded during WWII) the United States Merchant Marine Academy distinguished itself from its sister academies by sending its Midshipmen to sea, often into harms way, as an integral part of their undergraduate training. While the Cadets at West Point and Midshipmen at Annapolis were studying and preparing to go to war upon graduation, the students at Kings Point were actively fighting, making runs aboard the Liberty ships to England and Russia, bringing provisions to support the invasion of Africa, and transporting fuel, ammunition and troops to battles in the Pacific. During the war, 1,768 merchant ships were sunk, damaged, captured or detained. Many Midshipmen lived for days and weeks on rafts after their ships were attacked and were sent went back out to sea immediately when they returned to shore. In all, 142 Kings Point Midshipmen made the ultimate sacrifice while training at sea. </p>
<p>As during World War II, the United States Merchant Marine Academy continues to be the only federal service academy that routinely places its students aboard ships that may go in harms way. Kings Point Midshipmen have contributed to every war effort since that time. Today over 250 Kings Pointers have participated in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Because of this record of service, Kings Point has the honor of being the only U.S. Federal Service Academy to carry a battle standard as part of its Color Guard. </p>
<p>My son recently returned from making two trips to Iraq. Since merchant ships have minimal crews, his ship had a total of 21 folks including the two Mids -- one deck Mid and one engine Mid -- they were put to serious work. On watch he was put in the rotation with the other three Mates on the ship and be responsible for everything from being a basic lookout, to navigation officer, to command of the watch. He also, had his share of chipping and painting and cargo maintenance. In port, he was often given responsiblity for the cargo operations. </p>
<p>In addition to the work, he was given six academic sea projects to be completed during his first four month period of sea training. Between the few hundred questions on everything from the organization of the ship, to how one would handle certain situations at sea, he had to draw diagrams of the ship and various engine systems, and memorize the entire Nautical Rules of the Road. In addition to all the basic paperwork, his project required hands on training as well, in both fundamental seamanship and navigation. In addition to turning in the completed project, they were also tested on it when they got back.</p>
<p>He said his favorite of the six projects was navigation. It required everything from taking azimuths and amplitudes, to acquiring bearings off objects on land, and even finding where in the ocean we were using nothing but the sun and stars. </p>
<p>In the process he circumnavigated the world, visited to eight countries and 17 ports of call. Pretty heady stuff before you turn 19. </p>
<p>Not your typical 3rd Class Cruise ;)</p>
<p>"In the process he circumnavigated the world, visited to eight countries and 17 ports of call. Pretty heady stuff before you turn 19."</p>
<p>Yep. The service academies rock!</p>
<p>the service academies rock until you attend one</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins and Cornell (apparently has the highest suicide rate for students!)</p>
<p>From the sample of service academy students I've seen, I got the impression that they don't seem very cultured (plus, it's annoying to see them walking around in their uniforms). They're heavily indoctrinated, possessing relatively little charisma or poise. Um, they're not even that fit. To unnecessarily suffer and brag about it is a joke. What's the point? Unless I had little money to spend on college, I would not go to one. I'm not impressed that cadets need a highly rigid system in order to have discipline. Plus, the service academies should try harder at balancing the male/female ratio.</p>