General & Miscellaneous College Guides, United States Army, Armed Forces - United States - Organization & Management, New York (State) - State & Local History, Education - Directories, United States Colleges & Universities - Middle Atlantic States

West Point (College Prowler Guide)

Name: West Point (College Prowler Guide)
Author: Ryan Peter Peckyno
ISBN: 9781427402172

by Ryan Peter Peckyno

Write a review

Overview

Your ultimate source for honest, unbiased information, College Prowler delivers an inside look at colleges, straight from the students' mouths.

Synopsis

College guides written by students for students.

West Point Students

Tell It Like It Is

You already know that West Point takes pride in attracting the top talent from across the nation. The extensive application process is one of the many indicators as to the type of student who applies to West Point. Applying to West Point is best described as a process of attrition. Each year, over 10,000 prospective high school juniors and seniors submit requests for information on West Point. Applicants are assessed, and approximately 2,000 are qualified through West Point's academic, physical, and medical criteria. Of this number, West Point admits between 1,150 1,200 young men and women each year.

Whatever questions you may have about West Point, College Prowler has the answers.

Concerning the local atmosphere in the area around West Point Academy, one cadet responded:

"With the exception of a museum and a restaurant called Schade's, there is almost nothing in Highland Falls. West Point is very isolated, and until you are an upperclassmen, the regimented schedule won't allow you to do much outside of what is within walking distance, so odds are that you are not going to have a lot of interaction with students from other universities."

In terms of computers, one cadet stated:

"As a cadet, you are highly monitored, so be sure to watch what you send over e-mail and what sites you visit, because they are definitely watching. In past years, cadets have gotten kicked out of West Point for sending solutions to problem sets or projects out over e-mail."

As far as food is concerned:

"Besidesthe mess hall, there are four places where you can eat on campus: Grant Hall, where you can get subs and sampler-type food; Eisenhower Hall, where you can get the same type of finger food; and the Firstie Club, where you go to eat wings and get drunk."

This guidebook will not only answer what life is like at West Point, but also gives you an overall view of what type of people you will interact with, what a typical day will be like, and answer the age-old question of whether these will be the best years of your life.

As one cadet mentioned when asked what the guys and girls are like:

"The guys here are all studs. Take me for example: I am 145 pounds of raw steel and sex appeal. West Point definitely has the studliest guys on the face of the planet. And the studliest guys at West Point are found right here, in Pershing Barracks, baby."

From the many meanings of the term Hoo-hah to what you can expect to do after graduating, College Prowler's West Point guidebook will tell all. It is written for students by students, with no connection to the Academy whatsoever.

Find out if West Point truly has something for you, straight from the students' mouths.
Visiting campus isn't enough.

Read our West Point insider guide and discover what it feels like to be on campus for 4 years.

Discover if West Point is Right For You.

The Boston Globe

The prospective college student's antidote to the Princeton Review doldrums.

About the Author, Ryan Peter Peckyno

I grew up in Bradford, Pennsylvania, a small town in northwestern PA. When I was growing up, Bradford was one of those small towns where everyone knew everyone, a town where the community rallied behind its students and athletes, which created a sense of shared purpose. In high school, I participated in a number of competitive sports, and I was active in a number of activities outside of school, as well. Although there were times when I wished that there was more to do, I can say that I am glad that I grew up in a small town. Growing up in a small town allowed me to focus on what was important and eliminated a lot of distracters that I would have had if I grew up in a large city.

Because I did well in high school, I had the opportunity to attend the United States Military Academy. For the first two years, I was somewhat overwhelmed with all of the duties and responsibilities of a cadet. I did, however, manage to adapt, and I left the Academy with one of the finest educations in the world. Besides giving me the skills to further my education and make a difference, the Academy redefined how I defined hard work. After graduating from West Point, I found that my definition of hard work had changed significantly, especially when compared to the overwhelming majority of my peers, who attended other universities.

In the military, I have had the opportunity to take the broad education that I received at West Point and aggressively build upon it. I have attacked areas, such as writing, that my transcript may say that I am weak in relative to other subjects. While in the Army, I have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit. When I was stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, I tookseveral trips with people who were at the Officer Basic Course to various parts of South America. We visited the resort areas, but we also made it a point to visit areas that most people would have absolutely no desire to visit, such as Naco and Nogales. There were two reasons why I wanted to visit cities that were considered dangerous and were looked at by the majority of people from the area as having nothing to offer. First, I wanted to do what authors like Thomas Friedman, as well as some of our policy makers, attempt to do, and that is to get inside the pit with people. I didn't want to just see what people want you to see; I wanted to interact with people from all socioeconomic backgrounds, including people who were considered to be the lowest of society. I wanted to see and meet people who live in abject poverty. I wanted to try to relate to people who were inherently and fundamentally different than I am. And second, I wanted to place myself outside of my comfort zone, because that is the only way that you grow.

As I lean back in my chair and reflect on all of the experiences that I have had over the past three years, I realize that, like several other people, I am at a crossroads in my career. To be quite honest, I am not sure what I want to do next. Maybe I just want to keep people guessing. I have received some great training, and because I was in military intelligence (I know—it's an oxymoron), I'm quite sure that I can make up some really cool stuff, but I would rather be honest. Sure, I want to build on my broad education base and leadership training. Sure, I want to make some money so that I can become a philanthropist. And I know that it sounds cliché, but all that I really know is what I knew when I was a high school senior making a similar decision—that I want to be in a position where I can make the big time decisions that will, either indirectly or directly, affect peoples' lives.

Ryan Peckyno
[email protected]