I don't know if phrogpilot73 realizes it or not, but we know each other very well. CS '98 as well, lived one floor directly above him plebe year, taught his sponser kids...
As a clarification, my point regarding your GPA was a generalization. Absolutely, there is more room for movement than just a half point over the course of 8 semesters. But the point is that if you dig a deep hole, it's going to be a tough spot to climb out of. I meant is generally as more a rule of thumb. At the extreme ends of GPA, you have a lot of room to bring them up (or down) with a big correction. A guy who gets a 1.5 first semester, turns it around in the spring and pulls a 3.2, has definitely moved the maker. My thought was more towards the guy who didn't work through high school, showed up with crappy (no) study skills and pulls down a 2.3. Moving up over a 3.0 (the magic number for big time grad schools) from there is a challenge that eliminates room for error the next 7 semesters.
Again, GENERALLY SPEAKING, without a major change in study routine, attitude, determination...it was my experience that semester by semester a person's GPA hovers around the same point for the entire 8 semesters.
As far as "Bancroft Hall silliness" I was refering to the things that get you in trouble and distract from your true mission as a student at USNA (leadership training and commisioning) not the camaraderiebuilding of spirit spot filming, football tail gates, intramurals, wardroom fun, etc.
USNA is a great place, but the fleet, the admissions officer at <big name school>'s MBA program, the HR manager at <high paying job> doesn't care that you could spit out chow calls better than anyone else in your squad plebe year, or that you gave the toughest come arounds as a 2nd class.
I used to say this to my students and truly believe this whole heartedly:
USNA is the hardest thing you will EVER do. Mentally, physically, emotionally, spritiually, nothing you ever do will ever be a challenge after your time there. You will be prepared in every way to face any challenge in life by your time at the Academy. I have faced the challenges of flight school, SERE school, long deployments, sudden deployments, combat, graduate school, family & friends' deaths and other challenges. None of them were as difficult as the four years I spent in Annapolis. USNA prepared me to meet life's hardest test with my head up, back straight, and the knowledge that I would succeed and I was ready.
That is why people should go to the Academy and not ROTC at State University.