Ascent really isn't that big of a deal. It runs more on the lines of a pussy version of military boot camp. Believe me, it gets a lot worse than Ascent. I didn't really mind it there...I can put up with 4 weeks of bullshit and base camp...course was actually kind of fun. What I can't handle is 2 years of mindfucking at the hands of powertripping staff. Sure, there are some real douchebags running the show at Ascent, but they don't have enough time to really start getting inside of your head.
And at 17 g's a pop and a constant flow of kids coming in there from home, cedu schools, and other schools, they're doing just fine financially. Not to mention they have a much easier time staffing the place - Ascent has simple little job ads running in the local classified sections, while it's a much more rigorous process to get hired at, say, RMA.
