Accepted to: The Citadel, Norwich, etc.....

newmusic11

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Hey, I am going into my Junior year of college this Fall with 55 credit hours, so basically a second semester sophomore 5 credit hours shy of being a junior; I've been accepted to The Citadel, Norwich University, Saint Louis University, and Webster University in Saint Louis as a Transfer Student and I am trying to make up my mind.

I am interested in the Army ROTC and even more interested in the Air Force ROTC - but if the AF doesn't work and I can't join their corps of cadets then I'll accept the Army's.

I am just wondering how it would work out being technically a late sophomore/early junior and being a KNOB or ROOK at the same time?; After my first year as a KNOB/ROOK and going into my final-senior year, would I be a corporal or something whereas everyone else in my class will highly outrank me and their uniforms are filled and mine is bland? (Also, keep in mind once I get there I may be there for more then just 2 years; could be 3 years or 2 years with an extra semester, just depends on how my credits work out)

Also, what school would you choose from out of that list? I am majoring in Business Administration/Management/Accounting Fields -- one of these.
 
as a grad I know that The Citadel has an excellent School of Business and also a highly rated MBA program; I honestly know nothing of the academic offerings at the other schools. The Air Force wants only technical majors at present so as a business major better figure on going Army ROTC, The Citadel has the largest detachment in the country which means more commissioning opportunities.
Everyone has to go through the fourth class system irregardless of academic standing, its the seminal rite of passage at the school. It might be a little more of a culture shock being a knob after the freedom of being a student at a civilian college but being older and hopefully more mature should be an advantage. You will bond with your fellow knobs and no one has to know or care what your academic year is, a knob is a knob no matter what point academically.
Rank is based on year; sophomores are corporals, juniors are sergeants and seniors are officers. Getting it is competetive and based on many factors like GPA, military record, etc.; assuming you would be at least an academic junior after your knob year you would outrank your classmates if you got rank and ditto senior year since you would leapfrog ahead of the class you started with. The downside would be that you would not have the same bond with your academic classmates since you did not go through knob year with them.
 
as a grad I know that The Citadel has an excellent School of Business and also a highly rated MBA program; I honestly know nothing of the academic offerings at the other schools. The Air Force wants only technical majors at present so as a business major better figure on going Army ROTC, The Citadel has the largest detachment in the country which means more commissioning opportunities.
Everyone has to go through the fourth class system irregardless of academic standing, its the seminal rite of passage at the school. It might be a little more of a culture shock being a knob after the freedom of being a student at a civilian college but being older and hopefully more mature should be an advantage. You will bond with your fellow knobs and no one has to know or care what your academic year is, a knob is a knob no matter what point academically.
Rank is based on year; sophomores are corporals, juniors are sergeants and seniors are officers. Getting it is competetive and based on many factors like GPA, military record, etc.; assuming you would be at least an academic junior after your knob year you would outrank your classmates if you got rank and ditto senior year since you would leapfrog ahead of the class you started with. The downside would be that you would not have the same bond with your academic classmates since you did not go through knob year with them.

so I would go from being a knob my first year, to being an cadet officer my last year/ senior year? Since i have 2 to 2 1/2 years left of classes
 
you could compete for rank based on your academic standing, if by chance you were to go from knob to academic senior it is unlikely you would get rank because it would not be fair to the other seniors who had been there for 3 years.
 
you could compete for rank based on your academic standing, if by chance you were to go from knob to academic senior it is unlikely you would get rank because it would not be fair to the other seniors who had been there for 3 years.

is this a thought, based on experience, or in their school catalog - handbook?
 
TAMU has two outfits that are for Frogs(out of the normal 4 year route cadets). I would look into if either SMC has a similar grouping.
 
you could compete for rank based on your academic standing, if by chance you were to go from knob to academic senior it is unlikely you would get rank because it would not be fair to the other seniors who had been there for 3 years.
newmusic- you really don't understand the system. These schools are a lot more than just college academics while wearing grey. They- at least VMI and the Citadel- are 24/7propositions. You may be an academic class year, but your classmates are really the ones who you sweat your way thru your fourth class year with. Those First Classmen - who would be your academic classmates- won't really be your classmates in any other sense. Your friends (in VMI parlance your "Brother Rats") are the people who you sweat with and proved yourself to. If you are an Academic First after one year, in the corps you be competing with a First Class that will have spent 3 years paying their dues and working their way thru the system and they (and the Commandants staff ) know that an awful lot changes in those two years since they completed their 4th class year. At VMI, I am pretty certain that the rank you would be eligible for would be the rank offered to those of your "class" (which is the graduating year of the class you went thru the Ratline with- so those entering in August of this year will eventually be the class of 2016) so you could conceivably be a Cadet Corporal at graduation- but you aren't going to be marching around with a sabre and a sash- (nor you will find after you have been there for a year, will you want to.)
The systems are a little different between the Citadel and VMI and I'm not an expert on the Citadel by any means, but they are similar enough for me to be confident in saying that Bo80q is telling you reality, though I doubt that you will find this in the catalog.
 
I don't understand why so many are concerned about achieving rank. It was the last thing I was concerned about and the last thing anyone should be concerned about. You should be concerned about just getting through knob year without pissing off the upperclassmen, and more importantly, your classmates, as well as cutting it academically. The only rank that mattered to me was the 2LT rank that I received on graduation day.
 
I don't understand why so many are concerned about achieving rank. It was the last thing I was concerned about and the last thing anyone should be concerned about. You should be concerned about just getting through knob year without pissing off the upperclassmen, and more importantly, your classmates, as well as cutting it academically. The only rank that mattered to me was the 2LT rank that I received on graduation day.
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Absolutely. For most Cadets, their interest in Cadet rank will decrease proportionally to the amount of time you spend there.
 
:thumb:
Absolutely. For most Cadets, their interest in Cadet rank will decrease proportionally to the amount of time you spend there.

We figured out DS not really wanting rank at VMI really is not a terrible thing. He is more worried about spending time getting thru Calc and Physics, and is not interested in being Cadre or holding position. His father and I weren't sure how to take it when he said that he didn't want the rank so he didn't put a lot of effort into the application process. That is just the opposite of his attitude in HS and it kind of surprised us and it worried us a little at first until we realized what he is facing next semester along with all the accomplishments he achieves by just being there. He seems to be living on the edge of being "maxed out" academically and with everything else he has going on the added responsibilities that go with "rank" could lead to failure at the most important thing.. passing with good grades. When he first saw the Corps march out on the parade ground on visitation weekend... parades were cool... rank was cooler.. now he has a much different perspective about what matters the most. He admires and respects his classmates that got rank and wanted it, and are carrying a 3.something GPA. But that is not the majority. SMC's are demanding, and time management issues are a lot different than anything you will face at a regular college, so anything he can do to give himself a breather, so to speak, is sought out. Anything extra piled on his schedule is seen pretty much as the plague in his eyes.
 
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