United States Air Force Academy (USAFA)

Students who seek out a United States Air Force Academy education note their satisfaction in how "values of integrity, service, and excellence...are actually the norm." This esteemed institution not only promotes a "culture of excellence" that molds students into "leaders of character," but also offers "prestige in both the military and private sector." It does so, incidentally, while offering free tuition and a "guaranteed job" following graduation. Of course, if you decide to attend, be prepared to "be challenged physically and mentally" and held "to a higher standard" than at your average college. In return, however, students suggest you'll also get "incredible opportunities" not found elsewhere. These opportunities can range from taking "trips around the world" or "operating a real DoD satellite" to "jumping out of planes [and] getting a secret clearance." Additionally, undergrads benefit from "extremely small" class sizes. As one cadet shares, "the biggest class I've had in four years was 24 students." The faculty itself is a nice "mix of military and civilian" instructors who "tend to make class interesting" and often excel at "bring[ing] their life experiences into the classroom." The majority also do their utmost to ensure that they are "accessible for extra instruction, exam review, etc." Many students also feel that their professors "really seem to care about your performance and work with you on a one-on-one basis." As one cadet frames it, "Their only focus is supporting us."

Air Force Academy cadets seem to agree that the school attracts a number of "type A personalities" and "hard working" individuals who are "much more motivated than many other normal college students." They are also united in their deep desire "to serve [the] country" and are often "team oriented" as well. Further, cadets pride themselves on being "more fit than the general population," and cadets at USAFA "come from all over the nation, territories included, and from allied partner nations." While there may be a "healthy diversity of thought" at the academy, students do acknowledge a disparity in gender. A few individuals also grumble that some of their peers can be "very cynical." Thankfully, students view themselves as "one brotherhood and sisterhood looking out for each other." One cadet delves deeper adding, "We hold each other to an honor code the best we can and feel very close as a student body because we all live on campus and spend a majority of our time together." All in all, "there is a definite culture of helping out fellow cadets and of striving to bring peers up that helps people to perform at their best."

As you might have suspected, life at the Air Force Academy is rather regimented and cadets "don't have much free time." Students "go to class from 0730 to 1530 [and] freshmen have physical training multiple times a week after[wards]." Additionally, everyone "participate[s] in an athletic activity [whether] it be NCAA athletics, club sports, or intramurals." And on the weekends it's quite common to "have the Cadet Wing marching" or to have to perform "other military duties." Students also make a point of mentioning that "once every semester we have mandatory fitness tests, and throughout the semester [there are] random mandatory military briefs in the evenings." Even with a schedule packed with academic obligations and military training, one individual notes that there are "various clubs and activities for different interests, as well as religious services, all [of] which take [place] intermittently throughout the week." And if they do have a moment to relax, cadets will typically kick back with "Netflix or video games." Of course, when students really want to have fun, they generally leave "USAFA and [go] out into CO Springs or Denver" or they will "take advantage of outdoor areas for hiking, fishing, etc."