While there hadn't been any Aggies in our family before, as I said, now I have two of 'em, and given my financial contribution to the effort feel that I can use a bit of their lexicon; so in that vein, you are getting "Good Bull" from all of the individuals who bring a variety of perspectives.
http://texags.com/forums/5/topics/2324899. A distinction between the Senior Military Colleges (SMCs) and the federal academies is that not everyone commissions. Not everyone at VMI, not everyone at VT, not everyone at The Citadel, not at the UNG, or Norwich. I've learned from reading Bruno's postings that at VMI it used to be that everyone had to commission but that this was changed some years ago. One of the reasons that people in general, perhaps rightly, hate us lawyers is that we can argue anything. Sad but true. From my experience in life I've come to the conclusion that often our strengths are our weaknesses, or as I like to say in my pithy way, there is a little ying in every yang. At the extremely focused institutions like The Citadel and VMI the cadets are going to be in a more cloistered environment, and as a result, have the opportunity to bring a laser like focus on their academic pursuits while combining that focus on their military instruction and training. One need only look at their alumni pride and support of their respective institutions to see what tremendous institutions those schools are. One can, and many do, make a compelling argument for attending them, and cite as one of reasons to do so that atmospherics of the schools.
As for not everyone commissioning at A&M I would observe the following. Our daughter went there with the intent to commission but decided not to. It is her trail and she'll need to walk it as she thinks she should. She was required to take two years of ROTC while there and she's learned a great deal from the experience, as she did from four years of an SMC lifestyle. Given that most individuals who do indeed commission won't make an entire 20+ year career in the military I think one could reasonably observe that learning how to effectively integrate with civilians in college is an important skill set. Similarly, I think it would be reasonably observed that the armed forces greatly benefit from institutions such as the Corps at A&M and Virginia Tech. The cadets that don't commission are going to know many cadets who do; and I suspect, they will be able to bring their experiences and friendships with serving officers to bear as there are office/home conversations that involve things military as well as in public debates involving budgeting and support for the military as they go about their adult civilian lives. With less than one percent of the population serving the armed forces any force multiplier for support and appreciation is a very valuable commodity for the Department of Defense; particularly at budgeting time.
As one of the posters observed, as least from my perspective as an outsider, which unit or "outfit" you are in at A&M is a significant factor in your institutional identity. Some of the other posters are, I think, absolutely correct that there are many ways to the top of the mountain. Another Scout Dad was a career Naval Academy graduate with a graduate degree from Harvard, his second son went to VMI and loved it. Another career officer went the PLC route into the Marine Corps and had a great career, and his son will be starting at Holy Cross next month with an NROTC scholarship. One of my office mates in my home district (I'm on detail) had a daughter who went to the University of Michigan as an NROTC nursing student and is now on active duty in Norfolk and loving it. Students at smaller schools are going to be able to interact more with professors than freshmen and sophomores will at a huge research university. Our kids love the pomp and circumstance of going to football games with 110,000 at Kyle Field, loved the Midnight Yells the night before when 30,000 kids show up at midnight on a Friday night, like Silver Taps, Muster, and the other TAMU traditions. Again, wherever you go, embrace it and it will turn out just fine. Good Luck.