So I am applying to West Point as my first choice and I want to be an army officer. So my question is how do the other military colleges compare to West Point in terms of military training and leadership development? Also, I understand it is a giant ROTC school, so do I need to get an ROTC scholarship as well, or is admission to one of the colleges automatically get me the ROTC scholarship and commission?
In terms of purely Army training while in college- nobody is going to match USMA. The Senior Military Colleges basically have the same Army training opportunities that every other ROTC program offers- chances to attend Airborne, Air Assault, Cold Weather, CTLT etc... But from the commissioning standpoint what the SMCs offer over other AROTC programs is a guarantee that if the PMS recommends it, they will be given Active Duty. That's a valuable guarantee in an Army that is drawing down in size. and of course- because their ROTC programs dwarf those of the normal ROTC programs, they get numerically more slots to everything though statistically they may not be that much higher a chance. like any other ROTC program - you do not have to have an ROTC scholarship to gain a commission- all you have to do is successfully complete the ROTC program.
There are however a lot of reasons to consider going to an SMC beyond the relationship with the Army. What I tell kids when doing my recruiting visits for VMI- you go to one of these schools because you really want to challenge yourself in all aspects of your life. The military framework at a Senior Military college exists as a way to teach discipline,
honor & integrity, perseverance, teamwork and a sense of duty and responsibility to others while pursuing a degree in a small rigorous academic environment (The student/faculty ratio at VMI for example is 11-1/2 to 1 and you will be in virtually no classes with more than 20 other Cadets in them. You are under a lot of Academic pressure with no chance to hide in a lecture hall- at the same time that you have to perform all of those military duties. Those are traits that stand you in excellent stead regardless of whether you become a career military officer, a reserve officer, or never commission and spend a lifetime in Civilian pursuits.
So what is different between the various Senior Military Colleges? As I said in my post on the other thread:
The SMCs are not all the same either in intensity, % military or in the general daily life of the Cadets. At VMI- you will be in a very physically, mentally and academically challenging environment. 100% of the students in uniform as Cadets, wearing a uniform 24/7 (no civies allowed to be kept in your room) with few to no opportunities to leave post as a Rat (4th Classman/ Freshman) and very few weekend pass opportunities subsequently , no car or driving privileges until you are a First Classman (Senior) , mandatory 4 years of ROTC(though not mandatory commissioning. About 50% of the class will commission- the rest choose not to do so). VMI is 100% military and undergraduate. The Citadel has a civilian night graduate program but otherwise is virtually 100% military (some Veterans do not participate in the Corps) and is very similar i think in feel to VMI though slightly larger. Norwich is about 50/50 military/ civilian. North Georgia, Va Tech and Texas A&M are all Cadet Corps within much larger State Universities and differ pretty significantly from VMI and The Citadel in size, feel and Cadet life.
These schools have some very informative web sites: The link to the VMI site is below- take a look, then do the same at the other SMCs.
http://www.vmi.edu/
also- here is a the profile of the VMI class of 2015 to give you some idea of where you stand for admission there:
http://www.vmi.edu/uploadedFiles/Admissions/Class_of_2015 Sheet1.pdf
These colleges are not for everybody for certain, but for the Cadet who does attend and stick with it, they become one of the greatest experiences of your life and one that you wouldn't trade for all the Frat parties in the world. (BTW if you really are into partying- these are NOTthe school for you. VMI managed last year to be deadlast on Playboy's ranking of Party colleges. The University of Alaska at Kotzebue- a college in a Dry (no Alcohol) Eskimo town north of the Arctic Circle scored higher
)