United States Naval Academy

In my opinion, USNA is one of the finest institutions in the country. That being said, it is not for everyone. The school's purpose is to produce officers in the USN and USMC. If you are not prepared to work very hard with the goal of being an officer, you should not attend. The friends I made there will last a lifetime. Where else do they pay you to go to school and while you're there you can travel around the world, parachute, scuba dive, fly planes, drive ships, and drive submarines? Finally, the degree is very well respected in both acadamia and the civilian world.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000

As of the new Supt and Dant, this place will test you, but it will reward you accordingly. Nights of sleeping at 2200 every day are completely possible if you have 15 credits. You can even have a whole day of school off every week provided that you validated a considerable amount. The workload is what you make of it. You can put efficient and wholesome effort into it and you will understand it, but you might be sleeping at 2400. You can completely skip homework and readings and you can either ace the course or barely pass it (or fail). Honestly, provided the varieties of skill sets available here, you will often be humbled by the person you thought was a dirtbag. On another note, the professors are, on the whole, amazing. Most (and I mean most) will bump your grade up if you show considerable improvement and/or effort. However, it goes the other way as well. If you are a sleeper (as most of midshipmen are) then your professor might not be as inclined to do so. They are availible pretty much from 0600 to 2400, so it is amazing considering the extra instruction and Mid Group Study Program. You will be challenged to balance your workload between academics and professional duties, so time management is a great skill to have, but is often not necessary. Overall, the academy is here to foster whatever attitude you have toward it. If you are a go-getter and are able to orient yourself toward success, you will succeed with the faculty and your shipmates to augment your experience. This helps especially if you want to intern with the NSA, FBI, or CIA over the summer or if you want to conduct undergraduate research (which looks really good for postgrad. We have a lot of MIT, Stanford, Harvard bound mids here. In the end, regardless of the work, it is always comforting to know that there is a weekend life. (Video games help during the week)

1st Year Male -- Class 2014

Education Quality: A+, Individual Value: C+