Citadel v. Norwich. Input please.

Good choice. The Citadel is generally regarded as the better academic institution. And if he is staying in South Carolina they have a fantastic alumni network in the state.
 
Hopefulmomma said:
Good morning. I am looking for a little input,personal experience and advice on the Citadel versus Norwich.

My son was excepted almost immediately when he applied to the Citadel in September. This is the school he's wanted to go to for two years. On a whim we applied to Norwich on the free application they provided. They did not except him immediately, yet asked for us to send first semester transcripts when we got them. My son is a realitivly average student, but a very good athlete and very involved in his community. During the semester he received many emails and phonecalls from the Norwich coach for his particular sport, despite the academic conditions. We almost did not send his semester grades in to Norwich,as the grades remained the same, and he was already accepted at his school of choice. Just yesterday he received an acceptance from Norwich along with a recognition scholarship that will cover half his tuition the next four years. The Citadel did not offer any scholarships.

We are from the Southwestern US, and the Norwich location is isolated and transportation to and from our area is an all day affair. But my son is rather fascinated with the idea of being cold after a lifetime of blistering heat. We have an extensive family support network in the Carolinas, and this is where my son would like to live eventually. We don't know a soul in the NE.

He will be doing the Knob experience in March and the Citadel, and we are trying to figure if we can also afford to make it up to Vermont for their overnight in April.

The financial boost and interest Norwich has shown for my son is making this a difficult choice. School of choice/good location/family support nearby v. Good school/scholarship/not ideal location and no family support network nearby. It's a hard choice to make as a family. Has anyone else been in a similar position?




Thank you!
Click to expand...
Which did he choose?!?!? What does he think?
I am in your same position right now.
 
@myjakemax They chose Citadel basically for ease of transportation, it was posted earlier. Our DS has accepted Norwich and the NROTC scholarship while waiting for USNA. We are basically 20 miles from Mexico so him being 2656 miles north east boggles my mind. He has spoken to Norwich alumnus, and other academy alumnus and it has a great reputation. Also considered to be the birthplace of ROTC. The cold and isolation concerns me, but he is excited. I have friends on the east coast, so options for support. My nephew just was accepted into WEB in Long Island so they will be closer to each other than they are now.

They do have sponsor programs and the families are listed on the website along with lots of information for local lodging and maps, webcam (brrrrr) etc. One of the things he learned was how active their alumnus club is which speaks well of the experience those alums had.

We couldn't swing Notre Dame's costs nor Citadel. Norwich offered him 30k per year in merit, and will convert that to room and board if he attends (they offer all ROTC full room and board). I appreciated reading this thread even though it is old and has just been revived. We are also very rural and his graduating class only has 100 kids so a small enrollment and town will be familiar.
 
Interesting note, our DS checked the webcam for Norwich 20 mins ago, Arizona time, the Cadet Core was in uniform and formation in freezing temps conducting something we can only speculate on. His initial reaction was that it was after 10 pm and below freezing, then he grinned and watched the live feed. Think I may have a DS hooked.
 
Heatherg21 said:
Interesting note, our DS checked the webcam for Norwich 20 mins ago, Arizona time, the Cadet Core was in uniform and formation in freezing temps conducting something we can only speculate on. His initial reaction was that it was after 10 pm and below freezing, then he grinned and watched the live feed. Think I may have a DS hooked.
Click to expand...

Cool that a viewer can directly control the camera for 3 mins and pan around the campus! It does look pretty cold there.
 
Hopefulmomma said:
Good morning. I am looking for a little input,personal experience and advice on the Citadel versus Norwich.

My son was excepted almost immediately when he applied to the Citadel in September. This is the school he's wanted to go to for two years. On a whim we applied to Norwich on the free application they provided. They did not except him immediately, yet asked for us to send first semester transcripts when we got them. My son is a realitivly average student, but a very good athlete and very involved in his community. During the semester he received many emails and phonecalls from the Norwich coach for his particular sport, despite the academic conditions. We almost did not send his semester grades in to Norwich,as the grades remained the same, and he was already accepted at his school of choice. Just yesterday he received an acceptance from Norwich along with a recognition scholarship that will cover half his tuition the next four years. The Citadel did not offer any scholarships.

We are from the Southwestern US, and the Norwich location is isolated and transportation to and from our area is an all day affair. But my son is rather fascinated with the idea of being cold after a lifetime of blistering heat. We have an extensive family support network in the Carolinas, and this is where my son would like to live eventually. We don't know a soul in the NE.

He will be doing the Knob experience in March and the Citadel, and we are trying to figure if we can also afford to make it up to Vermont for their overnight in April.

The financial boost and interest Norwich has shown for my son is making this a difficult choice. School of choice/good location/family support nearby v. Good school/scholarship/not ideal location and no family support network nearby. It's a hard choice to make as a family. Has anyone else been in a similar position?




Thank you!
Click to expand...
I am in the exact situation. I got accepted in September and then Norwich a month later with a $100,000 scholarship. I will try and make a visit to Norwich because I want to experience life with my own eyes. One pro about The Citadel for me is that it's about 20 minutes from my house, so I would get in-state tuition. Also, The Citadel will not give scholarships out until around March. Good luck to your son!
 
shadow18 said:
I am in the exact situation. I got accepted in September and then Norwich a month later with a $100,000 scholarship. I will try and make a visit to Norwich because I want to experience life with my own eyes. One pro about The Citadel for me is that it's about 20 minutes from my house, so I would get in-state tuition. Also, The Citadel will not give scholarships out until around March. Good luck to your son!
Click to expand...

The Citadel is an incredible bargain for SC residents who make up about 60% of the Corps - if they have moderately prepared for college. Cadets receive over $30 million annually in merit and direct financial aid. And they have access to state of the art business, engineering, cyber security and intelligence majors. The Citadel ranks #1 in ROI among the state's colleges and universities - better than Clemson (assuming your are not attending college for football and plan on an NFL career). SC Lottery scholarships pay about 1/3 to on-half tuition for SC high school students who have moderately good test scores and grades. For Out-of-state cadets - like other public colleges in South Carolina - tuition is the big hurdle at 3 X in-state tuition. But 2/3 of out-of-state cadets attend on ROTC or athletic scholarships or they earn merit scholarships based on their grades and test scores - out-of-state cadets need to be very competitive academically for merit awards.
 
My son attended multiple hockey camps at Norwich when he was younger and fell in love with the school. He applied and was accepted. This is his first choice school. He also received a scholarship from the school but we still need/are hoping for an ROTC scholarship. This is the only way we can afford the school. Norwich's campus is beautiful, I am sure your son will love it. Congrats to him and best of luck on his decision.
 
Wallypip said:
My son attended multiple hockey camps at Norwich when he was younger and fell in love with the school. He applied and was accepted. This is his first choice school. He also received a scholarship from the school but we still need/are hoping for an ROTC scholarship. This is the only way we can afford the school. Norwich's campus is beautiful, I am sure your son will love it. Congrats to him and best of luck on his decision.
Click to expand...
This is good to hear. Our DS is hoping for USNA but is pleased with NROTC and the full room and board he has for Norwich. Glad to hear your son felt good things when he was there. Good luck!
 
Heatherg21 said:
This is good to hear. Our DS is hoping for USNA but is pleased with NROTC and the full room and board he has for Norwich. Glad to hear your son felt good things when he was there. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Glad to hear that you are considering Norwich! I was in your DS's same situation 6 years ago. Had applied to USNA and USAFA with Norwich as a backup. Ended up waitlisting to both places with hopes of reapplying after my freshman year at Norwich. Norwich definitely grew on me during that one year and ended up staying and commisioning from their in '18. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I can answer to the best of my ability.
 
Good info in this old thread! The two schools are very similar with one in the North and one in the South. Both have a cadet corps with civilian students and similar online degree options and loyal alumni. Norwich alums have strong network in Boston while Citadel alums have strong connections in Charleston. For what it's worth, heard it is a bit more challenging to get into Norwich and academics are more stringent.
 
@AF_2018, thank you for the offer for assistance. I will mention to our DS. He is in the middle of finals week and has dual credit MAT 220 final today. Just submitted his Capstone essay for ENG 102 dual credit last night (pretty darn good essay if you ask me) and studying for the rest of his finals which are Thursday and Friday. I imagine over break he may have time to reach out to you.
USNA is where he really hopes to attend. Spent a week there at summer stem and said it felt like where he should be, felt at home. We have discussed the long odds and he knows he has a great plan B at Norwich. In all of the interviews for noms, the feedback on Norwich was excellent. Nice to have a plan B very early (Oct 30).
He was researching things to do near Norwich, for some reason he has decided visiting Nova Scotia is a good idea. Weird kid. :)
 
From US News:
Citadel enrollment: 3,784
Norwich enrollment: 3,986
Citadel Admission Selection Rate: 81%
Norwich Admission Selection Rate: 66%
Median income $61,100 and $56,600
Both have unique traditions and proud graduates. They both offer non-traditional or professional (night/part-time) student degree programs, veteran programs, and have highly rated online degree offerings as well.
For their undergraduate students, both offer ROTC programs with the opportunity of serving in the military upon graduation.
Biggest difference=location
Hope this helps!
 
Last edited:
Heatherg21 said:
@AF_2018, thank you for the offer for assistance. I will mention to our DS. He is in the middle of finals week and has dual credit MAT 220 final today. Just submitted his Capstone essay for ENG 102 dual credit last night (pretty darn good essay if you ask me) and studying for the rest of his finals which are Thursday and Friday. I imagine over break he may have time to reach out to you.
USNA is where he really hopes to attend. Spent a week there at summer stem and said it felt like where he should be, felt at home. We have discussed the long odds and he knows he has a great plan B at Norwich. In all of the interviews for noms, the feedback on Norwich was excellent. Nice to have a plan B very early (Oct 30).
He was researching things to do near Norwich, for some reason he has decided visiting Nova Scotia is a good idea. Weird kid. :)
Click to expand...

As for things to do, I hope he likes the outdoors. While I was a cadet I had a season pass to sugarbush mountain all 4 years there and went snowboarding probably 10-20 times a season. As far as traveling im suprised he did not mention Montreal, Canada since its only 2.5 hours away from campus.
 
AF_2018 said:
As for things to do, I hope he likes the outdoors. While I was a cadet I had a season pass to sugarbush mountain all 4 years there and went snowboarding probably 10-20 times a season. As far as traveling im suprised he did not mention Montreal, Canada since its only 2.5 hours away from campus.
Click to expand...
Snowboarding at Sugarbush mountain, now that is a great way to spend extra-curricular time! I’ve also heard Norwich has their own places to ski/snowboard and cross-country ski!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top