United States Naval Academy

I attended many years ago as a member of the class of 1993, dropping out at the end of plebe summer in 1989. As I write this decades later, going there remains the biggest mistake of my life, and my failure there, my biggest disappointment.

Given my personal history with the place, I've long been interested in who drops out and why. The navy's determined that personality type is the strongest indicator: 8% of extroverts, 40% of introverts, and roughly 50% of creative types (e.g., artists, writers, actors, musicians, etc.) drop out.

The bulk of the student body is made up of extroverts. Creative types make up a very small portion, and introverts make up the balance. This leads to an overall dropout rate of 25%.

If you're a type-A personality - outgoing, aggressive - you'll probably get a lot out of USNA and do well. If you're either creative OR shy by nature, you probably shouldn't go - you won't enjoy your time there, and there's a very good chance you won't make it through. However, if you're BOTH creative AND shy, don't go. You will fail. Don't waste your time or the Navy's, don't bring upon yourself and your family the heartache that will inevitably result when you drop out.I speak from experience here - I'm highly creative and highly introverted, so fate had me doubly screwed. I realized by the end of my first month that I had no business being there, and that no incentive in the world would make me want to stay. The prestigious degree and "free" education, room, and board just weren't worth the mental torture. Based on my own casual observation, I would estimate that about 2/3rds of my fellow dropouts that summer were also creative introverts - it wasn't just me.

1st Year Male -- Class 1993

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Useful Schoolwork: F

I would urge students considering the academies to choose ROTC or alternative officer programs instead. I believe that most students who are able to be successfully admitted to USNA are ultimately failed by USNA's restrictive environment and its inability to modern times which greatly retards their social development and ability to work with people within and without of the military. Students who attend the academy are undoubtedly some of the best and the brightest but at the end of the day the Academy hinders rather than advances their development as young officers and people. While the Academy may be a good fit for a small fraction of USNA students, the obnoxious bureaucracy and ancient system of restrictions provides students with the worst aspects of the military while programs alternative officer programs like ROTC provide their prospective officers with the best of both military and civilian college worlds with meaningful field exercise training and exposure to the diversity, social maturation, and academic freedom provided by college life. USNA's students come in as the cream of the crop from their hometowns and yet, after being allowed off-base for a handful of hours per weekend during plebe year, people still wonder why they start behaving as they do with binge drinking, synthetic drug usage and even sexual assaults. There is no excuse for such behavior but, for pete's sake, let's give these young men and women some fresh air and let them take a walk-off campus during the week and relax some of the absurd weekend policies so they can come back ready for success. I wouldn't abolish the academies as some would but I would definitely advise the administration to get over the romanticism and optimize academy leave policies so as to prevent the midshipman from going insane or getting miserable and depressed as many of them do. Another negative aspect of the academy is the "soccer mom" culture which pressures the midshipmen into acting like they are absolutely in love with the place to outsiders when in reality most of them are completely miserable and would transfer out if not for the tremendous pressure from family and classmates. Honestly, a lot of the time it feels so artificial and even cult-like when everybody here knows everyone else is miserable but they put on a fake smile even though they dream of doing ROTC at a civilian school. Ultimately, I would like to thank prospective future officers for their willingness to serve but I strongly advise attending a different officer program to become the best officer and young leader you can be.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2015

Friendliness: A+, Useful Schoolwork: F