Aw great. Is my chance for ROTC doomed?
- Thread starter davidhwang
- Start date
I am afraid you are the victim of trying to transfer cultural norms from Korea to the U.S. That will only limit you. Let me explain:
I know from extensive college system reading and personal experience that in Korea, national scholastic achievement exams are given on one particular day... a day in which the exams cause traffic jams, national hysteria, etc. And why? Because in Korea, the score on this national exam DETERMINES the ranking of college the student may attend. And why is this important? Because Korea, like India in a way, has a caste system in which economic opportunity is defined by the rank of the college one attends, which is determined by the score on the national exams. Check out this vid, and particularly 0:41 to 0:46 http://www.ajc.com/videos/news/south-korean-parents-look-to-future/vCBYHW/
The US is not that way. Bill Gates, who I think may be the richest man in the world, did not finish college at Harvard... in fact I think he only got one year in. When he started writing computer code for personal computers, the computer did not stop his keystrokes to ask him what college he graduated from. When he, his Dad and a business partner worked together to buy the rights to ... can't even remember the name of that old Operating System (I think it was BASIC)... nobody asked what college he graduated from. When he negotiated with IBM to use his newly purchased Operating System in the newly launched IBM personal computer bundle, IBM negotiators did not ask him what college he graduated from. Get the picture? This is the US, it is not Korea. Different rules. Nobody gives a flip where you went to college unless you're targeting front office Wall St. jobs, or 3-4 particular consulting firms. Nobody else cares. In fact, some hiring managers are prejudiced AGAINST top 5 or even top 20 colleges in hiring... they figure (wrongly of course) that those alumni are likely elitist and arrogant, and won't be willing to stoop down to get dirty with the real requirements of just about all jobs.
So, back to you. It doesn't matter if you go to Oregon St, U of Oregon, U of Colorado, Reed College, Stanford, UCLA, or any college ranked in the top 50. What matters is your determination, discipline, creativity, moral character, personality, and to some extent, intelligence. The college you attend is irrelevant. It neither makes nor brakes/breaks (both apply) you, in contrast to how it does in Korea. Your parents I am sure think the ranking position of your college IS determinative, and have taught you to think that way. They don't know any better. After an entire lifetime of thinking the college ranking is determinative of job quality, they're not likely to change their perspective now. It is time for *you* to learn that that is not the case in the U.S.. Where did Sam Walton go to college? How about Warren Buffet? How about Michael Milken (bad character example, but good job hiring example)? Honestly nobody cares for 95% of jobs in the U.S.
If you cannot correct your errant thinking about the importance of a highly ranked college over a middle ranked college, you're in for a lot of unnecessary pain.
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Pima
10-Year Member
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- Nov 28, 2007
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+1 to dunninla's post.
A few yrs ago either 60 Minutes or Dateliine did a story on if the cost of a top tier college equated into a more successful career. They interviewed successful CEO's like Jack Welsh. The overall consensus was no. Although the education opens doors, it did not translate into success due to the fact that a large part of anyone's corporate world career is social. Those that cannot interact socially within the structure tended to level out at a lower level even with a prestigious degree compared to those that could from a leadership perspective.
As far as U of O goes, if I were you I would google colleges before you make assumptions because I am pretty sure the 10 Pulitzer prize and 2 Nobel Laureates recipients, along with Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA; Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia, former President of U Mich.; and Simon Priest Sr Vice President of Academics for the Virginia College system....which would include UVA (continually ranked as top 5 Public Colleges in the nation only behind Berkeley) all would disagree with your perception of the education at U of O.
As for U of Portland goes, if my child wanted AFROTC, I would 1000% support their decision to attend this college.
In the AF world nobody cares whether you graduated from Princeton or U of Oregon. They care about how you do your job, part of it is leadership, and they will train you....the Ivy prof won't.
Being part of a det. that has been recognized 3 times in 8 yrs from HQ AFROTC is highly impressive. To win 2x the best det in the nation, basically means the majority of cadets, except for yr group 09 - 11 were part of the det when they won those national awards. Do the math cadets entering in 00 were there for 04 and cadets graduating in 16 were also a part of 12's cadre. That is a lot of cadets getting an amazing experience from a top notch det. Yr group 9-11 were part of the best out of 34 dets. In essence 16 yrs of grads for sure were part of one of the best in the AF's eyes from a training perspective.
I know you want AROTC, but the fact is you will be going into the military one way or another, be it AD, Reserves or Guard. Point being, ROTC is going to be a large part of your life as much as academics.
The difficulty IMPO when it comes to college selection for ROTC is matching the caliber of the school with the type of ROTC det. that appeals to you.
My best wishes to you, I hope you take sometime and remove your prejudices when it comes to colleges.
FWIW, no parent of an IVY or top tier attack me, I am not trying to attack those colleges, only to highlight that going into a 6 figure debt when attending college with the intention to have a career in the military may not be the wisest decision, especially when you look at the fact that a school like U of Oregon has many notable alumni.
OBTW davidhwang,
I agree consider changing your moniker. There are many lurkers here that are part of the system, along with regular posters. You don't know if anyone that maybe interviewing you, be it for WP, MOC noms, or AROTC are here and now just put a check mark to your name in an unfavorable light.
I.E. the PMS at U of O where you do your interview, or a member of the MOC nom committee that is a U of Portland alumni. It would not be hard to figure out who you are because there are not many Korean applicants from Oregon that are not yet a nationalized citizen.
Not to make you paranoid, but just trying to illustrate when you innocently insult an organization, and have given out so much personal info, you take the risk of a negative image. I don't think you meant it in a bad way, I think you are the avg 17 yo due to societal assumptions regarding colleges.
A few yrs ago either 60 Minutes or Dateliine did a story on if the cost of a top tier college equated into a more successful career. They interviewed successful CEO's like Jack Welsh. The overall consensus was no. Although the education opens doors, it did not translate into success due to the fact that a large part of anyone's corporate world career is social. Those that cannot interact socially within the structure tended to level out at a lower level even with a prestigious degree compared to those that could from a leadership perspective.
As far as U of O goes, if I were you I would google colleges before you make assumptions because I am pretty sure the 10 Pulitzer prize and 2 Nobel Laureates recipients, along with Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA; Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia, former President of U Mich.; and Simon Priest Sr Vice President of Academics for the Virginia College system....which would include UVA (continually ranked as top 5 Public Colleges in the nation only behind Berkeley) all would disagree with your perception of the education at U of O.
As for U of Portland goes, if my child wanted AFROTC, I would 1000% support their decision to attend this college.
In the AF world nobody cares whether you graduated from Princeton or U of Oregon. They care about how you do your job, part of it is leadership, and they will train you....the Ivy prof won't.
Being part of a det. that has been recognized 3 times in 8 yrs from HQ AFROTC is highly impressive. To win 2x the best det in the nation, basically means the majority of cadets, except for yr group 09 - 11 were part of the det when they won those national awards. Do the math cadets entering in 00 were there for 04 and cadets graduating in 16 were also a part of 12's cadre. That is a lot of cadets getting an amazing experience from a top notch det. Yr group 9-11 were part of the best out of 34 dets. In essence 16 yrs of grads for sure were part of one of the best in the AF's eyes from a training perspective.
I know you want AROTC, but the fact is you will be going into the military one way or another, be it AD, Reserves or Guard. Point being, ROTC is going to be a large part of your life as much as academics.
The difficulty IMPO when it comes to college selection for ROTC is matching the caliber of the school with the type of ROTC det. that appeals to you.
My best wishes to you, I hope you take sometime and remove your prejudices when it comes to colleges.
FWIW, no parent of an IVY or top tier attack me, I am not trying to attack those colleges, only to highlight that going into a 6 figure debt when attending college with the intention to have a career in the military may not be the wisest decision, especially when you look at the fact that a school like U of Oregon has many notable alumni.
OBTW davidhwang,
I agree consider changing your moniker. There are many lurkers here that are part of the system, along with regular posters. You don't know if anyone that maybe interviewing you, be it for WP, MOC noms, or AROTC are here and now just put a check mark to your name in an unfavorable light.
I.E. the PMS at U of O where you do your interview, or a member of the MOC nom committee that is a U of Portland alumni. It would not be hard to figure out who you are because there are not many Korean applicants from Oregon that are not yet a nationalized citizen.
Not to make you paranoid, but just trying to illustrate when you innocently insult an organization, and have given out so much personal info, you take the risk of a negative image. I don't think you meant it in a bad way, I think you are the avg 17 yo due to societal assumptions regarding colleges.
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