NROTC to med school vs. USNA to med school?

abku95

5-Year Member
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Feb 8, 2012
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I'm currently a junior very interested in becoming a doctor in the navy but didnt know what route I should take. I really want to go to the Naval Academy but I was told that it is very hard to get into med school from USNA. Should I still try or should I go the NROTC route? Thanks a lot for your help
 
You should pursue both options vigorously. Once you have options in hand, if you have both options in hand, then you can decide. Just know that the statistics of last year don't necessarily mean they will be relevant this year or next. Stuff happens. Don't close doors until you see what's inside.
 
The Navy is one Department that appears to be very, very careful about creating absolutely equal opportunity out of USNA or NROTC for desired billets.

The latest published data I have show the % of 2LT out of USNA and NROTC to be within 1 percentage point of each other into Aviation, EOD, NUC, SWO, Educational Deferral (that includes Med School, Law School, Dental, Veterinary), etc. Within 1 %... i.e. 30% were assigned Pilot out of Annapolis, 29% assigned Pilot out of NROTC. There is a slight advantage for SEALS out of USNA, but only 10-12 billets to NROTC equalizes them.

This tells me there is zero advantage, within your peer group, of going to USNA vs. NROTC as far as billeting.

These are the results for FY 2011

Service Community/USNA# Billeted/USNA % Billeted/NROTC # Billeted/NROTC % Billeted

Pilot / 227 / 30% / 273 / 29%
Naval Flight Officer / 75 / 10% / 108 / 12%
Surface (Conventional) / 225 / 29% / 280 / 30%
Surface (Nuclear) / 32 / 4% / 34 / 4%
Submarines (8 women) / 132 / 17% / 143 / 15%
SEAL / 30 / 4% / 22 / 2%
EOD / 14 / 2% / 18 / 2%
Restricted Line / 22 / 3% / 32 / 3%
Medical Student / 10 / 1.3% / 18 / 1.9%
 
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Question w/ regard to total number of USNA graduates in 2011. Your numbers add up to 767 total for USNA graduates in 2011. I was under the impression that the USNA graduates about 1000 per year. My data comes from an on-campus briefing in the fall of 2010 w/ DS. Does the delta between the 1000 number and the 767 number represent those who selected the Marine option?
 
^ Yes, the delta is those who were appointed to Marines. There were probably a couple of who commissioned to Air Force or Army also.
 
I'll look that up tomorrow... for Fiscal Yr. 2011, probably about 950 Navy Option, under 100 Nurse Option, and about 250 Marine Option.
 
thank you all for your responses. i am still trying to get into contact with my local bgo to talk to him but he seems to have been "out of office" for the past two months so im going to see if i can talk to another bgo. thanks again
 
Here are the Target # for NROTC for fiscal 2011 (Oct. 2010 - Oct. 2011)

Naval Flight Officer / 108 / 12%
Surface (Conventional) / 280 / 30%
Surface (Nuclear) / 34 / 4%
Submarines (8 women) / 143 / 15%
SEAL / 22 / 2%
EOD / 18 / 2%
Restricted Line / 32 / 3%
Medical Student / 18 / 2%
Total Navy Option / 928 / 71%

Marine Corps Ground / 269 / 71%
Marine Corps Air / 111 / 29%
Total Marine Option / 380 / 29%

I don't know where to get Nurse Option #s.

Of the Navy Option total of 928 commissions, 17%, or 158, entered NROTC out of non-commissioned Active Duty (STA-21). The Marine Option also has a significant number entering out of Active Duty, called MECEP, but I don't know those numbers.
 
Thanks for the update. DS is a MIDN 4C w/ a four year scholarship to a private school in the Northeast. He realizes that he has earned a great opportunity and wants to pursue the nuclear SWO option. Based upon his first semester grades and projected major (physics) the unit leadership has encouraged this nuc-SWO path. As a parent, I must admit that 4% selection number seems a bit daunting. The journey is just beginning and many things can change between now and commissioning but it is always valuable to have some "real" historical numbers to review as part of the decision-making process.
 
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