Penn State vs. Drexel

equestriangrl93

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
77
I want to attend Penn State or Drexel University for NROTC. Which one has the better ROTC program?
 
Have you researched the graduation stats for both? That should be important to you!
 
I want to attend Penn State or Drexel University for NROTC. Which one has the better ROTC program?

penn state but I'm not going to write 3 paragraphs to justify why I've come to that conclusion. After doing research my son didn't even bother putting Drexel on his list of schools. We did visit the PSU campus and NROTC unit, big on all accounts but nicely done. You will have a very hard time though getting in to PSU's program, it's one of the most sought after in the nation and draws out of state kids with scholarships and very competitive just like the NROTC scholarships are these days. They have a reputation for getting a large percentage into the Aviation branch upon graduation and if you talk to them they'll be happy to give you their stats. You need to consider the school as a whole too, obviously. But within the local Philly area, Villa Nova has the 'best' NROTC program, so says the philadelphia based regional NROTC coordinator.
 
Penn State vs Drexel

luckymacy hit this dead on. Penn State is this best period. If you need any help, let me know. I only live 90 miles aways.

Go State

God Bless and God Speed,

RGK
 
I have to agree PSU over Drexel.

Now the caveat: Drexel and PSU could not have more different campuses if they tried, starting just from the position of where they are located and ending in overall size. College is more than academics and ROTC, it is the whole package. Big football fan and Drexel is not going to cut it for you. True college feeling and again Drexel is a college within a city. PSU is city around a college.

It is how you feel when you visit the campus, does it feel like home or does it feel like you are visiting? Talk to the commanders there find out their stats, but I would bet PSU will offer you more than Drexel.

JMPO now throw it in the circular filing cabinet.:biggrin:

OBTW I grew up in NJ, and went to a private college in Philly so I have experience with Drexel. I would also agree with luckymacy Nova is the Philly NROTC school. However, over the course of yrs Nova has become highly competitive for admissions and thus, Drexel is now on the rise.
 
I am leaning more towards Drexel because: 1.their co-op program. I love the idea of getting real world work experience. 2.I prefer a smaller campus and class sizes. PSU is a huge school and I've heard from friends that there are 300 students to a class.

If I choose to join the Army or Navy Nurse Corps, I thing Drexel would be the better option.

What are your opinions on the PSU and Drexel Army ROTC battalions? Also, what makes one college's ROTC programs better then others?
 
My advice would be to go to the school you feel suits you best - you can be a great officer from ANY ROTC program. Go where you feel you will be happy!
 
Are you sure that Drexel's coop program is compatible with ROTC? I have heard that Drexel's coop is normally 5 years. You should also be aware that "every" engineering school has a coop program. In any case, the best way of deciding would be to visit both campuses and visit both ROTC units. They are only a few hours apart by car, so they must both be within easy driving distance for you. Far better than to rely on anyone else's opinion.

Good luck.
 
Are you sure that Drexel's coop program is compatible with ROTC? I have heard that Drexel's coop is normally 5 years. You should also be aware that "every" engineering school has a coop program. In any case, the best way of deciding would be to visit both campuses and visit both ROTC units. They are only a few hours apart by car, so they must both be within easy driving distance for you. Far better than to rely on anyone else's opinion.

Good luck.

Did you mean if I recieve a 4 year scholarship? Almost all cadets and mids choose to the 5 year co-op option. I'm not planning on studying engineering.
 
Re:co-op programs and ROTC, for some they never elect to go this route due to various reasons.

1. The employers may have specific days of the week they want you to work and those days are in conflict with ROTC requirements.

2. Many kids enter engineering with the belief it is not as hard as everyone makes it sound, only to quickly realize it is that hard or even harder. ROTC scholarships are tied to a gpa, and if you fall below that gpa you are in jeopardy of losing the scholarship. 2.5 min might seem like a breeze to a kid who has a 4.0+ wgpa, but you won't feel that way when you are there.

The students at that point realize they can't juggle ROTC, 2.5+gpa and work. Something will have to give and the job is usually it.

3. They get there and say why should I bust my hump for work experience when the military doesn't care one iota, and I am going to work for them for at least 4 yrs. They realize that their co-op program will never be on their resume or will not matter in their real world as an officer.

Co-op programs really are for the traditional student as a stepping stone for employment opportunities.

4. ROTC cadets/mids have jobs in the cadre, and the higher you get up in rank the more work you do. Our DS is a C300 (jr) on top of writing papers for school, studying for tests, he is a flight commander with 9 cadets and 3 mentor cadets. He must write reviews/evaluations for each of those 12 monthly and submit them to the command, where they review each one with him, edit the report if the command says so, re-review and than submit. This does not include than reviewing with the cadet. It also doesn't include ROTC and LLAB or the community service that is mandated monthly by the cadre, such as cleaning football stadium on a Sat or feeding the homeless.

ROTC if you want to be successful in it will be much more time consuming than you ever imagined. If you desire a coveted field for your career, it will def. become your priority over any co-op position.

That being stated our DS interned on the Hill for a semester, because it was "required" by the college, thus the det. had no issue with him doing it. He worked for a Sen., and they accepted the fact that certain days he could not work due to ROTC, but yet he had to fulfill 20 hrs a week. That meant the most grueling semester for him. 2 days were ROTC and his classes, and 3 days were full days on the Hill. He still had to carry 15 credits + 3 for the internship, and due to the competitiveness of Summer Field Training he wanted to keep his gpa up over 3.2. Don't get SFT and they pull your scholarship for AFROTC. He did accomplish all of that, but I won't lie when he came home for spring break he slept the entire time when he wasn't on the Hill because he was that exhausted. Yes, they may even tell you you have to work during the breaks.

Just wanted to shed a different light on how reality and theory sometimes don't mesh.
 
Did you mean if I recieve a 4 year scholarship? Almost all cadets and mids choose to the 5 year co-op option. I'm not planning on studying engineering.

No, it doesn't depend on the scholarship, and just after writing the first post, I realized the 4-year vs. 5-year question doesn't matter either. Like Pima, I think ROTC and coop programs serve competing purposes. In addition, a coop assignment may be for a whole semester or summer away from campus, and that would play havoc with ROTC schedules. How could you do summer training, for example? Well, it sounds like you spoke with people at Drexel and now I'm curious how they do both.

Nursing programs have a lot of clinical time built in. Does coop make sense on top of that?

All of these questions are easily settled in campus visits. For nursing, I hope you at least considered Pitt, with Army and AF ROTC on campus and NROTC at Carnegie Mellon, which is physically adjacent to Pitt's campus.
 
All I can say is if Navy is your ultimate career, than you should place the ROTC program at the top of the list. If 4 and door is your intention, you should place ROTC at the bottom of the list.

One thing I strongly stress is these are hard economic times and President Obama wants a 1 Trillion decrease over a decade for the DOD.

Keep that in mind.
 
^

She want Nursing. In that case - choose your Nursing school first, over the ROTC battalion. ROTC Cadets in Nursing have different training programs in the summer than regular ROTC cadets. AROTC Nurses still go to LDAC. If you don't like being really physical - Army stuff (shooting, land nav etc) then choose Navy.
I would not recommend PSU for a Nursing major. There are much better programs and if you want Coop (yes, it makes sense in Nursing with clinicals) then Drexel is a fantastic choice.
As mentioned Pitt and Villanova also have great Nursing and ROTC programs.

Go visit Drexel and the AROTC battalion. They are together with Penn which is next door.

Also - you don't have to do ROTC. Navy has a program for Nursing majors in college. Sign up your last two years, sign a contract and get $$$$$. Then go to OCS for 8 weeks after graduation and you commission. It's a good deal. No shooting, crawling through the mud etc. You have to pass the PRT and medical - of course.
 
^

She want Nursing. In that case - choose your Nursing school first, over the ROTC battalion. ROTC Cadets in Nursing have different training programs in the summer than regular ROTC cadets. AROTC Nurses still go to LDAC. If you don't like being really physical - Army stuff (shooting, land nav etc) then choose Navy.
I would not recommend PSU for a Nursing major. There are much better programs and if you want Coop (yes, it makes sense in Nursing with clinicals) then Drexel is a fantastic choice.
As mentioned Pitt and Villanova also have great Nursing and ROTC programs.

Go visit Drexel and the AROTC battalion. They are together with Penn which is next door.

Also - you don't have to do ROTC. Navy has a program for Nursing majors in college. Sign up your last two years, sign a contract and get $$$$$. Then go to OCS for 8 weeks after graduation and you commission. It's a good deal. No shooting, crawling through the mud etc. You have to pass the PRT and medical - of course.

I am leaning more toward the Navy Nursing and ROTC programs. I'm not a huge fan of shooting rifles and participating in typical Army stuff (I'm a real girly girl lol!). Where will I train during the summer as a mid in the NROTC nurse program? I wanted to do ROTC in college so I can have the experience, make friends, and have what I consider the best of both worlds.
 
I do have to say if nursing is your thing, Drexel is a great choice because the hospitals in Philly are renown. The work experience will be an incredible asset to the military. You can't beat the Shriners Children Hospital or UP, people from around the world go there because it is their best hope medically.
 
I would recommend you first look at colleges that have ROTC units on campus (or at least across the street). Then evaluate their nursing programs and where your clinical hours are supposed to be performed. PSU....IMHO has a great NROTC unit but if you consider where your clinical hours need to be taken...they fall short in their nursing program (regardless of how many apply).

My daughter (PA resident) was awarded AFROTC, NROTC and AROTC scholarships last year for nursing and we spent considerable time visiting evaluating programs throughout the state. IMHO your best choices in PA for nursing and NROTC / AROTC (you didn't mention AFROTC so I will skip that one) are the University Of Pennsylvania, Pitt and Villanova for NROTC. I've sent you a PM with a link about some concerns with Drexel's nursing program. Good Luck!
 
I have stated multiple times you always should talk to the Command at the school. Investigate, and then investigate further. When you think you have investigated enough, do one more.

Put the glossy material away that each school sends you, and pull out a notepad. Be honest regarding each school. If you find you can't be honest than the decision has been made because you are stacking the pile in favor of one over the other.

The key to success in college and life is not better schools or better careers. You can only be successful if you are personally happy in your choice. We are usually the biggest reason for the downfall in our own success.

If you hate the school, but went there because it had the reputation of being better, you will pay the price and that will be your own success. Love the college even if people say take the other; you will shine. That will parlay into being selected as the "it" person, which will parlay into even more success.

As a Mom with 2 in college, 3rd will be class of 16. I look at PSU and Drexel as total opposites, like my 1st 2 kids colleges. DS would rather put needles in his eyes than go to VT. Campus and town are completely different. Blacksburg exist because of VT, and there is no other life than VT. Even the architecture and layout of the campus is different. DD would put needles in her eyes if she had to go to his college. Too her the campus is too big, town too big, and she hates the Federalist look of their buildings, plus how it is so spread out.

That is how I see Drexel and PSU. Way different. PSU to me is VT. Drexel is UMDCP. Not every kid wants to live in a city and not every kid wants to live in a college town.

IMPO I think you made your decision and that is Drexel. You need to keep your mind open, but you also need to be able to say "Ball called, and I won't look back".

Good luck.
 
Drexel is a very good school for ROTC. ROTC scholarships do not cover housing, but Drexel waives the housing fee for ROTC members. The ROTC scholarship requires you to graduate within 5 years so the coop program is a go. Drexel also provides priority class registration and discounts meal plans to cadets/midshipmen.
 
Back
Top