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A Day in the Life
Exceeding all your typical colleges means eclipsing expectations each and every day. Learn what a (not so typical) day is like as an Academy cadet and decide if this one-of-a-kind experience filled with rigorous challenges and character-building discipline is the right fit for you.
Plan of the Day
From Reveille to Taps
6:00 AM – Reveille
The day begins early at the Coast Guard Academy. Reveille marks the start of the day and is a reminder that with a new day comes responsibility, honor, respect and devotion to duty.
6:20 AM – Morning Formation/Breakfast
Formations take place every morning and afternoon – in the quad when it’s fair weather, or inside during foul weather. Formations are a time to meet with your Company to share information and inspect uniforms.
7:00 AM – Military Training
At certain times of the week, in the morning or evening, you’ll engage in military training. These trainings are designed to further enhance your professional development and prepare you as a leader.
8:00 AM – Morning Classes
Classes at the Academy are small and led by professors who know of what they teach. Academy faculty are highly experienced, and their knowledge and insights greatly enhance their teaching.
12:00 PM – Lunch
After noon formation, you’ll head to the mess hall for lunch. Command views lunch as another training period – you’ll learn to socialize at a table, to eat with good manners and be prepared when a superior asks you questions.
1:00 PM – Afternoon Classes
These are not ordinary college classes. When your teacher arrives, someone will yell, “Attention on deck!” You’ll then stand with your fellow cadets until the teacher tells you to “carry on.” It’s very orderly.
4:00 PM – Athletics
Each afternoon, academics are put aside and cadets report for daily athletic practice. Here, every cadet is an athlete – whether competing on an intercollegiate team, in a club sport, or as part of the Academy’s inter-company intramurals program.
6:00 PM – Dinner
After practice, you’ll head to dinner, which is a time to decompress. Dinner is buffet-style and takes place in a more relaxed setting. It’s a time to gather with friends, joke and laugh, and enjoy some good chow.
7:00 PM – Evening Study Period
Corps-wide events and club meetings take place at 7:00; otherwise cadets go straight to studying. Cadets will often meet up with classmates to study, or they may choose the library and its comfortable chairs and free coffee and tea!
10:00 PM – Taps
Every night at 2200, taps is played on a bugle. Performed at funerals, memorial services and at the end of the day, the purpose of taps is to signify the close of the day and to remember the sacrifices others have made before you.
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