DS received a 3 yr AD AROTC scholarship to two schools. We are waiting for a NROTC decision, which may include other schools. So I'm wondering if there are meaningful differences in the ROTC programs between schools and what those differences may be? Or perhaps, all AROTC units are very much the same and all NROTC units are the same and the decision is entirely based on ones school preference . Any thoughts are appreciated.
comparisons between ROTC units
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gonavy91
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I wouldn't think it matters in terms of ROTC units. The point is that they will all go through the same summer training and then after graduation, everyone will be thrown into the same mix along with the Academy graduates.
I would focus more on the school itself, especially based upon the degree selection, along with other items such as overall out of pocket costs, quality of life of the school, etc.
During the selection process with my DD, I can honestly say we never took into account ROTC selection, except with the minor issue of whether we had to be a cross town affiliate or not.
I would focus more on the school itself, especially based upon the degree selection, along with other items such as overall out of pocket costs, quality of life of the school, etc.
During the selection process with my DD, I can honestly say we never took into account ROTC selection, except with the minor issue of whether we had to be a cross town affiliate or not.
Pima
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The problem with a question like this, responses will be all over the place.
For us, when DS went through the decision making process between colleges (all of them were hosts), we took him to the dets., and asked to meet some 400's after meeting with the CoC. We did this because just like colleges, dets have a personality.
I agree from the point that they will all cover the same type of materials and training, but people are different.
I think this does come in part from the college feel too, but again some dets are much closer than other dets. Some have weekly social time where cadets all love going to, some have this where you can hear crickets chirp.
This can be just as important as the college choice, it maybe that like our DS it is the make or break. After DS met with some 400's and talked to them one on one (we were not there---on purpose), he liked the cadets he met at one college more than anything he expected. He walked out and asked Bullet to take him to the Bursars to pay the deposit. He did not visit anymore dets after that. We couldn't even convince him to do another visit to another college. As parents we were hoping he would visit at least the other ones where he had merit scholarships (had merit to the one he went to with AFROTC scholarship).
If your child is torn between colleges, make an apptmt to visit and meet some cadets. Leave them to meet alone so they can just hang. DS and the cadets played Xbox in the lounge while they talked about AFROTC. It was just 4 kids being 4 kids.
For us, when DS went through the decision making process between colleges (all of them were hosts), we took him to the dets., and asked to meet some 400's after meeting with the CoC. We did this because just like colleges, dets have a personality.
I agree from the point that they will all cover the same type of materials and training, but people are different.
I think this does come in part from the college feel too, but again some dets are much closer than other dets. Some have weekly social time where cadets all love going to, some have this where you can hear crickets chirp.
This can be just as important as the college choice, it maybe that like our DS it is the make or break. After DS met with some 400's and talked to them one on one (we were not there---on purpose), he liked the cadets he met at one college more than anything he expected. He walked out and asked Bullet to take him to the Bursars to pay the deposit. He did not visit anymore dets after that. We couldn't even convince him to do another visit to another college. As parents we were hoping he would visit at least the other ones where he had merit scholarships (had merit to the one he went to with AFROTC scholarship).
If your child is torn between colleges, make an apptmt to visit and meet some cadets. Leave them to meet alone so they can just hang. DS and the cadets played Xbox in the lounge while they talked about AFROTC. It was just 4 kids being 4 kids.
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Both posts above are correct. The first thing is to make sure the child likes the college and can do well there. That alone makes it much more likely one will succeed at ROTC. I think next might be how close to home it is depending on how often your child might want to come home. We see our DS at Thanksgiving, Christmas, a day or two at spring break, and over the summer last year. And he's only 3.5 hours away by car. Thought I would see more of him. This year there won't even be a summer visit as his summer job is at the college.
Units can have different personalities and I expect these personalities can change over time as cadre rotates in and out and cadet/midshipmen leadership billets change. I'm sure there is a pendulum affect like there is in the corporate world as they focus more on one issue and then turn around to focus on on another. Location can also have some impact. DS's NROTC unit is close to an Army base so they do some training on the obstacle, endurance, and land nav courses there during the semester. They are also close enough to Parris Island that they can usually do a long weekend of training there each year (but not this year due to sequester). Some units have competitive drill teams, some don't. Some units have clubs (eg. Boat Crew, or special operations conditioning) that no other units have. And then there is the normal large group vs small group dynamics.
School choice should come first though in my opinion.
Units can have different personalities and I expect these personalities can change over time as cadre rotates in and out and cadet/midshipmen leadership billets change. I'm sure there is a pendulum affect like there is in the corporate world as they focus more on one issue and then turn around to focus on on another. Location can also have some impact. DS's NROTC unit is close to an Army base so they do some training on the obstacle, endurance, and land nav courses there during the semester. They are also close enough to Parris Island that they can usually do a long weekend of training there each year (but not this year due to sequester). Some units have competitive drill teams, some don't. Some units have clubs (eg. Boat Crew, or special operations conditioning) that no other units have. And then there is the normal large group vs small group dynamics.
School choice should come first though in my opinion.
This is also the opinion of three different PMS our daughter spoke with two years ago... UCLA, Baylor, TCU. They said this not once, but multiple times. The only exception to this would be if the school is a cross-town affiliate, and not a host unit. That would require some additional analysis around transportation ability and time-cost.
The odds are that the PMS who interacts with you as an MSIII, and who enters your competency scores (OMS) into the system that ranks cadets (OML) will not be the same one you meet now.
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For AROTC it doesn't really matter but it does help to go to a school located near a major training base or better yet the fort that hosts LDAC 
The MacArthur Award given every year to the top BDE school can be a good gauge to see the top university in every AROTC brigade.
The MacArthur Award given every year to the top BDE school can be a good gauge to see the top university in every AROTC brigade.