DS is having a little bit of a tough time making a final decision on which college to attend. Wake Forest is his top choice in terms of college preference. Both schools have pros and cons but the biggest factor that he's faced with is AFROTC. Neither school is a host school so he'll commute at both. JMU has about 30 cadets so they PT at their school and travel only for military science classes (1 hr commute). Wake Forest has never had an AFROTC cadet there. They've been trying to get the program up and running for a few years but have never been successful getting a cadet to commit to it. Because there are no other cadets there, he'd commute for PT twice a week (45 min.) and again once for his military science classes. He's excited about being a trail blazer but has some obvious concerns. The biggest, not having any other AFRTOC cadets, at his school to bond with. Any thoughts on whether being the lone soldier would be a huge mistake or not?
AFROTC James Madison University v/s Wake Forest
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Pima
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JMU is a beautiful campus, but it is out there by itself. I do not know about WF, but I would put that in the equation regarding college life.
Personally that commute is not only fiscally hard with the price of gas today, but also physically draining because they will be getting up very early for PT. It isn't called O'dark thirty for nothing. I am sure there are other AFROTC cadets at WFU that he has yet to meet, but will once there.
I would go to the school he loves. It is unrealistic to believe with the military budget crunch and the announcement that dets will be closing he will ever see one at WFU while he attends the college.
You don't know the future and as much as he wants to be in the AF, life happens and kids change. The college is going to be a factor be in ROTC or not.
Good luck
Personally that commute is not only fiscally hard with the price of gas today, but also physically draining because they will be getting up very early for PT. It isn't called O'dark thirty for nothing. I am sure there are other AFROTC cadets at WFU that he has yet to meet, but will once there.
I would go to the school he loves. It is unrealistic to believe with the military budget crunch and the announcement that dets will be closing he will ever see one at WFU while he attends the college.
You don't know the future and as much as he wants to be in the AF, life happens and kids change. The college is going to be a factor be in ROTC or not.
Good luck
There are no other AFROTC cadets at WF. They have a cross town agreement with NC A&T, and have for several years, but they've never had anyone take advantage of it. He has an AFROTC scholarship. WF is the host for Army ROTC. He's going to commute either way but at WF he'll commute alone and more often. The detachment has a really good commissioning rate, which is great! But would his chance of a commission be harder without a core group at his school? I don't know.
Pima
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He is a member of the det. The command does not and will not take that into consideration regarding his ranking among everyone in his yr group.
Does he love WF and like JMU? Go to WF!
The fact and the reality is not everyone in the AF likes everyone. Taking the chances that he will bond with cadets at JMU, IMPO is the wrong approach.
DS in his freshman and soph yr lived with his college buddies, not his AFROTC buddies. At his college he moved off campus as a jr. and that was when he moved in with his AFROTC buddies, but mostly because they were all in Arnie Air together as pledges and C300 cadets with UPT slots or desires.
As I have stated, I love JMU campus, it is beautiful. However, not ever seeing Wake Forest, I could tell you that our DS would had rather put pins his eyes daily than to attend there. He wanted that collegiate experience, FB and BB games, the ability to have more options than rural VA.
That is part of college. I think your fear is that they have no other AFROTC cadet that you know of yet...remember they do have walk ons.
Curiosity, I am from No VA, and I know where JMU is located, I am only guessing in my mind which det. he will go to since you said 1 hr away, but which det is it that he will attend? It may be a player in your quest for answers.
Does he love WF and like JMU? Go to WF!
The fact and the reality is not everyone in the AF likes everyone. Taking the chances that he will bond with cadets at JMU, IMPO is the wrong approach.
DS in his freshman and soph yr lived with his college buddies, not his AFROTC buddies. At his college he moved off campus as a jr. and that was when he moved in with his AFROTC buddies, but mostly because they were all in Arnie Air together as pledges and C300 cadets with UPT slots or desires.
As I have stated, I love JMU campus, it is beautiful. However, not ever seeing Wake Forest, I could tell you that our DS would had rather put pins his eyes daily than to attend there. He wanted that collegiate experience, FB and BB games, the ability to have more options than rural VA.
That is part of college. I think your fear is that they have no other AFROTC cadet that you know of yet...remember they do have walk ons.
Curiosity, I am from No VA, and I know where JMU is located, I am only guessing in my mind which det. he will go to since you said 1 hr away, but which det is it that he will attend? It may be a player in your quest for answers.
Moosestache
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Do you want the realistic answer? If so, he has a chance of staying in ROTC if he goes to JMU, and he has almost no chance of staying in ROTC if he goes to Wake Forest. He won't know the other kids, he will have to drive all by himself and pay for the gas, he will have to drive for pt, for class, and for any of the other activities they do a couple of times a month. He will be struggling to do well at school and he will be adding hours of travel time every week to that schedule.
So, no friends, huge extra time commitment tacked on to the ROTC time, travel expenses, doesn't really seem like a combination destined to succeed. I would think sticking it out at JMU would be tough enough.
That then goes back to his list of wants in his life. How high does joining the USAF rank on his priorities? How much more does he like Wake than JMU? Is the college more important than ROTC and the Air Force. Those are the questions you and he should be asking and coming up with answers to.
I hope I didn't upset you, I just don't think expecting him to stick it out alone at Wake Forest is probably a realistic expectation.
So, no friends, huge extra time commitment tacked on to the ROTC time, travel expenses, doesn't really seem like a combination destined to succeed. I would think sticking it out at JMU would be tough enough.
That then goes back to his list of wants in his life. How high does joining the USAF rank on his priorities? How much more does he like Wake than JMU? Is the college more important than ROTC and the Air Force. Those are the questions you and he should be asking and coming up with answers to.
I hope I didn't upset you, I just don't think expecting him to stick it out alone at Wake Forest is probably a realistic expectation.