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The Academy

The United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, the nations oldest service academy, offers young men and women the nations premier education and leadership development programs. West Point advocates the whole person concept and provides a broadly structured undergraduate curriculum that balances the physical sciences and engineering with the behavioral and social sciences.

West Points mission is to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character who is committed to the values of duty, honor, and country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the United States Army. West Point provides its graduates with a solid foundation for intellectual and moral/ethical growth that is essential for successfully handling high-level responsibilities in national service. When students enter West Point, they are also entering the profession of arms. Upon graduation, cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army and are normally required to serve on active duty for at least five years.

There are more than 4,100 men and women enrolled at West Point. Cadets compete for Rhodes, Fulbright, Marshall, Olmsted, Gates Cambridge, George Mitchell, Hertz, National Science Foundation, Rotary Foundation, Truman, and East-West Center Scholarships. West Pointers who remain in the Army are normally selected to attend civilian graduate schools in the United States or abroad between their fourth and tenth years of service.

The Academy develops the nations future Army leaders by immersing cadets in programs of academic, military, and physical development. Each of these programs is rooted in principles of ethical-moral development, epitomized by the Academy motto, Duty, Honor, Country. The Academy provides cadets with opportunities to observe and practice leadership and to develop vital intellectual and interpersonal skills through formal instruction. The honor code simply states: A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. The code is a source of pride and mutual trust that are essential in the profession of arms.

In addition to academic and military education, cadets participate in athletic and extracurricular activities. Cadets have distinguished themselves in twenty-six intercollegiate varsity sports: baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, gymnastics, hockey, indoor track, lacrosse, outdoor track, rifle, soccer, sprint football, swimming, tennis, and wrestling for men and basketball, cross-country, indoor track, outdoor track, rifle, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, and volleyball for women.

West Points modern academic facilities are matched by its athletic facilities. Michie Stadium, home of Army football, attracts crowds in excess of 39,000 during picturesque fall football weekends. Kimsey Athletic Center is a four-story, state-of-the-art facility that includes a strength-development center, an athletic training center, locker rooms, football coaches offices, and meeting rooms, as well as the Blaik Gallery and the Kenna Hall of Army Sports. Randolph Hall is the new home for Army mens and womens basketball teams. It also provides four skybox seating areas overlooking Michie Stadium. The Gross Center is a gymnastics and multisport practice and competition facility. Adjacent to Michie Stadium is the Holleder Athletic Center, a multisport complex housing a hockey rink with seating for 2,746 and a basketball arena with a 5,045-seat capacity. The huge state-of-the-art Arvin Cadet Physical Development Center renovation was recently completed. West Point has a track stadium, a new softball complex, a baseball stadium, an indoor tennis facility, numerous athletic fields, outdoor tennis courts, and outdoor swimming facilities. Victor Constant Ski Slope is used for instructional and recreational skiing. An eighteen-hole golf course is also located on the Academy grounds.

There are more than 100 organized extracurricular activities, including mountaineering, hunting, fishing, scuba diving, archery, team handball, and orienteering clubs as well as clubs that compete on a national or intercollegiate level in crew, orienteering, powerlifting, handball, rugby, sport parachuting, triathlon, horseback riding, sailing, judo, karate, bowling, and marathon running. There are academic clubs, including mathematics, language, and electronics clubs; the Cadet Fine Arts Forum; Model United Nations; and the Debate Council. The Student Conference on United States Affairs has met for more than thirty years.

Location

The military reservation, consisting of more than 16,000 acres, is in New Yorks scenic Hudson Valley, overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City.

Majors and Degrees

Cadets may choose an academic concentration from more than forty majors. A cadet may study art, philosophy, and literature; basic sciences; behavioral sciences; chemistry and life science; civil and electrical engineering; computer science; economics; electronic and information technology systems engineering management; engineering psychology; environmental engineering; environmental geography; environmental science; foreign area studies (Latin American, Western Europe, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and East Asia); foreign languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish); geospatial information science; history; human geography; law and legal studies; leadership; life science; management; mathematical sciences; mechanical engineering; military art and science; nuclear engineering; operations research; physics; political science; psychology; sociology; systems engineering; systems management; and others.

Academic Programs

The academic program at the United States Military Academy provides cadets with a broad background in the arts and sciences and prepares them for future graduate study. The total curriculum is designed to develop essential character, competence, and intellectual ability in an officer. The core curriculum is the cornerstone of the academic program and provides a foundation in mathematics, basic sciences, engineering sciences, information technology, humanities, behavior sciences, and social sciences. The core curriculum, including twenty-six to thirty courses, depending upon the major, represents the essential broad base of knowledge that is necessary for success as a commissioned officer while also supporting each cadets choice of academic specialization.

Classes at West Point are small, averaging 12 to 18 cadets per section. Cadets receive individual attention, and tutorial sessions are available upon request. Advanced and honors courses are available to cadets having exceptional ability.

All cadets study military science and receive classroom instruction in the principles of small-unit tactics and leadership in eight semester-long courses. Concentrated summer field training provides each cadet with the opportunity to learn and practice individual military skills and to apply the principles of tactics and leadership studied in the classroom.

Off-Campus Programs

During the summer before their first (freshman) academic year, students are initiated into the United States Corps of Cadets through the Cadet Basic Training (CBT) program. Uniforms, room inspections, military drill, parades, and physical exercise become part of everyday life, and extensive demands are made upon new cadets to foster maturity, perseverance, and ability to succeed when challenged. All cadets complete Cadet Field Training (CFT) during their second summer at West Point. The emphasis in CFT is on advanced individual skills and small-unit tactics in order to create competent, confident leaders for the Army. Extensive training in infantry operations, artillery firing, weapons training, Army aviation, military engineering, and land navigation make up most of this training experience. CFT also provides a powerful leadership experience that develops the leadership skills and abilities of the first- and second-class (senior and junior) cadets. Operation Highland Warrior, a ten-day tactical field exercise that focuses on the combined-arms-close-fight, is the capstone event of CFT. During Operation Highland Warrior, cadets execute air assault raids and lead fire ambushes and defensive operations. Cadets are also exposed to the heavy forces of the Army (armor, artillery, air defense, and aviation) when they deploy to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for a week of Mounted Maneuver Training. The highlights of this training event are a Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise, which allows the cadets to see all of the Armys most lethal fighting systems operating as a team on the battlefield, and Operation Thunderbolt Strike, a mounted force-on-force battle, where cadet companies engage each other in M1A2 tanks.

All cadets complete Cadet Advanced Training during their last two summers at West Point. Cadet Advanced Training consists of three parts: attending a military school, serving in a field Army unit, and serving in a leadership position at West Point during CBT or CFT. Cadets can attend one of many United States Army military schools, which include Airborne School, Air Assault School, the Sapper Leaders Course, and the Combat Diver Qualification Course. First-class cadets also participate in Cadet Troop Leading Training (CTLT). CTLT is a thirty-day troop-leading experience, during which cadets go to a field Army unit and perform the day-to-day functions of a platoon leader. Each summer, more than 1,000 cadets participate in CTLT at more than twenty-seven locations worldwide. Selected second-class cadets may participate in the Drill Cadet Leader Training (DCLT) instead of CTLT. During DCLT, second-class cadets serve as company executive officers and platoon trainers in basic training units. DCLT is conducted at major training installations such as Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; and Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Each summer, approximately 40 second-class cadets participate in DCLT. During one of their last two summers at West Point, second- and first-class cadets are also required to serve in various leadership positions, from platoon leader to regimental commander, in Cadet Basic Training or Cadet Field Training. The training allows second- and first-class cadets to further develop their leadership skills while teaching, training, and leading new cadets or third-class cadets in demanding, fast-paced environments.

Academic Facilities

West Point maintains some of the finest facilities and equipment in the world. Every cadet is issued a laptop computer, and everyone is connected to a large array of powerful academic computing services at West Point, with unlimited access to the Internet. West Point has carefully crafted an electronic environment in which virtually every course offered has integrated computer use. This developmental computer thread fosters cadet use of personal computers in the barracks. Computer-aided math, design, and simulation; dynamic news sources; worldwide e-mail; spreadsheets; statistical analyses; database access; library bibliographic research; electronic bulletin boards; and document preparation and printing, among other resources, all contribute to an academic environment that is rich with information resources and electronic media tools. Among the research facilities are general and physical chemistry laboratories and engineering, analog computer, digital computer, electromagnetic energy, electronics, physics, solid-state, hydraulic turbine, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, nuclear science, free flight, rocket testing, land locomotion, and wind tunnel laboratories. The modern 600,000-volume library contains reading rooms, seminar rooms, and microfilm and audiovisual facilities.

Costs

The cost of the four-year West Point experience, including tuition, room, board, and medical and dental expenses, is paid by the U.S. government. Cadets, as members of the Army, receive an annual salary of almost $10,000, which helps to pay for uniforms, books, a laptop computer, supplies, and incidental living expenses. A deposit of about $3000 is required to cover initial uniform costs, a personal computer, and other incidental services (haircuts, laundry, etc.) during the first year.

Financial Aid

There are no financial aid programs because expenses are paid by the U.S. government. Scholarship awards that are not earmarked specifically for tuition may be used by candidates to offset the cost of the initial deposit.

Faculty

Most faculty members are Army officers who hold advanced degrees from civilian colleges and universities; approximately 30 percent have earned doctorates. The teaching faculty numbers nearly 500 and includes civilian professors and several visiting professors from civilian academic institutions. Because many of the faculty members are Academy alumni and most are Army officers, the faculty has an exceptional rapport with the cadets. The student-faculty ratio is 8:1. Typical class size is16.

Student Government

All cadets are strongly encouraged to serve in positions of student leadership and to seek responsibility as a means of enhancing their effectiveness as leaders. Cadets manage the social program, the Cadet Honor System, the intramural athletic program, and a wide range of extracurricular activities.

Admission Requirements

Admission is open to all unmarried U.S. citizens who are at least 17 and have not yet had their 23rd birthday by July1 of the year of admission. They must have no legal responsibility to support a dependent (e.g., a child or family member). The United States Military Academy offers equal admission opportunities for all qualified candidates. Candidates must seek a nomination from a legal authority (usually a member of Congress), preferably in the winter of the junior year in high school. All candidates must take either the standardized timed ACT or the SAT. Applicants must also pass a Qualifying Medical Examination and a Candidate Fitness Assessment.

The Directorate of Admissions has a rolling admissions process. As soon as the candidates file is complete, it is evaluated by the Admissions Committee. All applicants must complete their admissions file by the last working day in February.

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