EOD/SEAL Mom,
I was just wondering how things turned out for your daughter. My 17 year old DD just announced yesterday that she intends to enlist in the Marines in the Early Entry Program. Not without my signature, I responded, and that's not going to happen. I believe she should wait and play out the application process before she enlists in the Marines. DD claims that enlisting in the EEP will help her chances of getting into USNA or getting an NROTC scholarship because it will show her committment to service. I think enlisting will prevent her from having the option of reapplying to the USNA in the future should she decide to and I'm not at all convinced it is as easy to get out of the EEP as DD says it is. I read all the posts on the forum and the unanimous opinion is to wait, and not rush into signing up for EEP. How did you handle this with your DD?
By the way, I think there is a good chance our daughters know each other through Sea Cadets. Was your daughter a little chilly at a training recently?
This thread changed her whole future. She'd also originally wanted to enlist if not offered an appointment to USNA, and had been talking to the recruiter who was urging her to sign now (then, as this was last fall), to be able to start working out and training with them. She really did not want to go to State U if she needed to reapply.
How we handled it was to ask her questions to get her to prioritize her goals. One VERY important thing we learned along the way was that it is not possible to become an officer without a college degree. So the first question was "Do you want to be an officer or do you just want to serve, wherever they put you?" Her first priority was to become an officer.
The next question was "Do you want USNA only or do you want become an officer through any source?" Her first priority was to become an officer, and while she loves USNA it was more important to her to become an officer through any source. That pretty much took the prep schools off the table for her (unless of course it was offered to her through USNA).
We had never heard of the senior military colleges before I started this thread and others suggested those. Much more her wheelhouse to be in a full time military environment. She decided after researching all six SMC's that she liked both the Citadel and Virginia Military Institute, and applied to both last November, and was accepted into both within a month. We visited both schools for her to do an overnight visit. She did not care much for Citadel but fell in love with VMI.....and in many ways we all liked VMI even more than USNA.
She then scrambled to apply for the NROTC scholarship, but only finished in time for the final board and was not selected.
She was turned down by USNA a couple weeks ago and will be attending VMI this fall. She plans to join the Marine Corps there and will reapply for the scholarship in the fall, choosing the Marine option this time. The prof of Naval Science at VMI thinks she has a great shot at earning one. She's been emailing with him since we got back.
She has not yet decided whether she will reapply to USNA. She is the type of young lady that always chooses the hardest path to follow, knowing that the harder path usually has the greatest rewards; that's what led her to USNA in the first place. Choosing whether to reapply or to grow where she's planted is something only she can decide.
And haha - yes she was chilly on that last training - frostbite on her toes! Your daughter is probably just like mine since all the girls there are very similar. Have her text mine for feedback about enlisting.
Once you've made a few more posts send me a message and I'll give you my email address. Is your daughter a junior or senior this year?