Here is the situation I have been mulling over. I have received and accepted a 3 Year AD Army ROTC Scholarship to Santa Clara University. I have also been admitted to Oklahoma State, 45 minutes away from where I live. Santa Clara has given me essentially a full ride for the first year, OSU is going to cost $9000 after all financial aid. Any suggestions as to what ROTC battalion is best and or which school is the better value?
SCU or OSU?
- Thread starter cravius
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Can't answer your specific questions, but I wouldn't worry to much about the ROTC battalion. Pick according to the school. If you're unhappy with the school you will not be successful in ROTC.
EDelahanty
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Congratulations on having options. That's quite a dichotomy to choose between.
Close to home & familiar environment vs. half-day via connecting flights;
Large public vs. smaller, religious affiliated;
College town vs. So. Cal megalopolis;
California dreamin' vs. Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain.
By the way, the $9,000 disparity will be reduced when you factor in four or five round trips at $400-$500 each.
Close to home & familiar environment vs. half-day via connecting flights;
Large public vs. smaller, religious affiliated;
College town vs. So. Cal megalopolis;
California dreamin' vs. Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain.
By the way, the $9,000 disparity will be reduced when you factor in four or five round trips at $400-$500 each.
Is the $9,000 at OSU per year, I assume it is.
What is the Room and Board at Santa Clara per year or does the college pay the R&B due to the ROTC Scholarship.
Have you figured out the total cost of 4 years at each school when you factor in the Scholarship and Fianacial Aid.
The cost of travel is a good point, consider that expense when you think about coming home for breaks. At OSU you would be able to make it home for Thanksgiving, Winter Break, and Spring Break with little costs at OSU. You may not be coming home so much from Santa Clara, and if you do the Airfare will add up. You could easily rack up $4,500 in just airfare over 4 years not to mention shipping costs to move your stuff back and forth. This doesn'r even count what your parents would be spending to visit you at school.
Now that was just the money side of things, we went through the same discussion with our son when he was looking at a school cross country.
First and foremost you need to decide which school you will be the most comfortable at, where do you see yourself succeeding. EDelahanty gave some great comparisons.
What is the Room and Board at Santa Clara per year or does the college pay the R&B due to the ROTC Scholarship.
Have you figured out the total cost of 4 years at each school when you factor in the Scholarship and Fianacial Aid.
The cost of travel is a good point, consider that expense when you think about coming home for breaks. At OSU you would be able to make it home for Thanksgiving, Winter Break, and Spring Break with little costs at OSU. You may not be coming home so much from Santa Clara, and if you do the Airfare will add up. You could easily rack up $4,500 in just airfare over 4 years not to mention shipping costs to move your stuff back and forth. This doesn'r even count what your parents would be spending to visit you at school.
Now that was just the money side of things, we went through the same discussion with our son when he was looking at a school cross country.
First and foremost you need to decide which school you will be the most comfortable at, where do you see yourself succeeding. EDelahanty gave some great comparisons.
WestminsterDad
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I have no input on OSU but I am familar with Santa Clara University. Santa Clara is a private university located 10 minutes to San Jose airport so air travel should not pose a problem. I believe that SCU was the top army Rotc unit this year in the 8th Brigade. Stanford Rotc cadets train at SCU. So you get to interact with some of brightest cadets in the nation building friendships and relationships that could pay dividends if you decide not to make the army a career. SCU is in the heart of Silicon Valley so depending on your major business or tech there are great opportunites for internships. As far as doing things when you are not busy with ROTC and school there a unlimited possibilities. The 49ers are building a new stadium which should be ready for the 2015 season. San Jose has the Sharks and San Francisco is a 45 minute train ride away. The Earthquakes play their home games at Buckshaw stadium located on the SCU campus. The weather is mild no humidity, snow or tornados. Anyway it is worth considering.
One thing to keep in mind.
If you are unable to transfer your 3 yr scholarship to OSU then I assume you would be doing ROTC as a walk on non scholarship cadet. Remember that you would be unable to contract until your junior year unless you are able to get a campus based ROTC scholarship after your first year,
The ROTC battalion at OSU will be larger then the unit at SC. There is a good chance there will be more MS1's then there are contracts available come your junior year. You would be in a much more competitive environment at OSU, you run the risk of not getting a contract which would mean you could not continue in ROTC past your sophomore year.
You have a much better chance of getting your contract at SC with the 3 year scholarship, you would contract the first day of your sophomore year providing you pass the APFT and meet all the requirements of the contract. Once you are contracted you must just abide by the contract and you will commission when you graduate.
Just a couple things to think about, the Army is getting much tighter on contracts, the less risk the better if your goal is to commission.
Congratulations