|
So you think that HONOR will not be a problem when you apply to a Service Academy...
No honor problems? GREAT! That is a positive start, because you KNOW THEY ARE GOING TO CHECK!
What?
OK, so you DIDN'T KNOW they could check? Hmmmmm. What to do?
First things first. Let us get some common terminology. Honor Code and Honor Concept. One applies to some Academies, the other to the other Academies. Which one goes with your Academy? You NEED TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. You will be asked.
But the basics are to not "Lie, cheat, or steal". For those who have studied, there is more, but we'll get to that later.
OK, so you pretty much are going to be in one of two groups. You either think that you will have no problem because you do not really lie, cheat, or steal now. Or you belong to the other group that feels like you sort-of, kind-of, fudge things now but nobody knows... and you can change by the time you start classes.
For the first group, congrats but don't get over confident and start taking a break on the Honor subject. You will be interviewed and questioned. Scenarios will be proposed. Your understanding of Honor and how it is looked at at your Academy will be questioned. There is work to be done.
For the second group, you have a lot of company in class these days! Surveys of High School students across the nation consistantly show vast majorities of High School students not only cheat, but don't see a problem with cheating since "everybody does it". In case this is the first place you have read it... not everybody cheats! If you get into an Academy, not only do your classmates not cheat, but they will take action if they catch you cheating. Friends, strangers, upperclassmen, underclassmen. Everybody. Do you REALLY want to go and mingle for 4 years with a bunch of people who won't let you look at their exams? Can you even get through a week without getting to copy someone's homework now? Do you think you can last a week when the classes are four times as hard? You might want to think about this.
So how do they check?
Interviews
Recommendations
Essays
INTERVIEWS
You will be asked about how you look at lying, cheating, and stealing, and what you will do when you see a classmate commit an Honor offense. Many people will tell you in all earnestness that there are no right answers. Let me be clear. There are MANY wrong answers! There will be scenarios. Questions about your past. There is no list of required questions so there is no way to "Know" what is going to be asked. But know this, you WILL be asked. You will probably be interviewed by several people as part of the Nomination process. There is also a good chance ('mandatory' for Navy and Air Force, down to- not often conducted -for Coast Guard) that you will be interviewed by an active duty or retired officer who reports directly to the Academy. If you apply to more than one Academy, each will have its own interview. These questions will be asked. How will you answer?
RECOMMENDATIONS
Ever wonder why the teacher's recommendation is supposed to be in a sealed envelope? Or the correspondence is directly between the teacher and the Academy? The Academy knows. The teacher knows, since he or she does this every year. You still don't know? Really?
The sealed envelope, the recommendation that you never see needs to be the one you never hear about because it can have no repercussion on the reporting teacher- and therefore will probably be the truth. Even if the teacher LIKES you, do you think he or she wants to see your name in national newspapers when you are involved with (or for you overachievers- are the ringleader of) a cheating scandal? You are who you are. Do you think your teachers REALLY don't know if you cheat? You know the local papers next year will say, "Joe Schmuck-a-telly, graduated locally in 2010 from CHEATERS High School in Loser'sville was recently discharged blah, blah, blah...". Won't THAT make everyone proud? So what happens FAR TOO OFTEN is that your recommendation, the one you'll never see, will say the truth. This means less than stellar things will be included. "Although a pleasure to have in class, I was surprised when he/she asked me about the Service Academy. I am not so sure if his/her relaxed style would be a great match for a strict engineeering school.". Nothing bad. It doesn't have to be bad. It doesn't have to have evidence. Just enough of a code to say, "RUN AWAY". There are more ways to check your honor.
ESSAYS
There are essays. You will write about what you believe is the suitability of yourself at the Academy. You will write about your relationship with alcohol. You will tell about any drug use. You will write about any problems with the Police, and then you will get a signed paper from the police that will be a background check just before your first day in attendence. All of this - essay, personal statement, background check, - will be parts of your writing that will be presenetd to the Admissions board. Again, there is no right answer. There is just the truth. Is it any wonder that most applicants are not admitted?
So no lying, cheating, or stealing "or tolerate those who do". This is a very important part, some say the MOST important part, of matching you to the Academy.
Are you ready? |
