USC?
- Thread starter dlee96
- Start date
dlee, not sure actually what you mean about Powerhouse. USC has a VERY large student population for a Private. Over 17,000 undergraduates and a similar number of graduate students, all shoe-horned into a pretty small geographic space.
USC is the host for ARTOC, NROTC and AFROTC, so there is a good visible presence on campus. Don't know how many AROTC are there, but NROTC when I checked 18 months ago was about 30. I would guess AROTC would be about 50.
If by Powerhouse you mean well respected, then I don't think you can really answer that. You can ask who won the MacArthur awards each year, but that represents only about 1-2% of schools. You can ask how the cadets of the 270+ Host Battalions performed at LDAC last year, but there are only about 30 schools that had multiple cadets receiving awards at LDAC, with 240 or so sending just one or no cadets receiving the awards.
Another issue is that a Battalion might have a PMS of the Year, or some such Cadre award, but that PMS is likely to be gone from that Battalion by the time you are an MSIII, which is the year a cadet enters Advanced Course and starts to gets mentoring from the PMS. Before that time it is other Cadre who mostly interact with a cadet. Most PMS serve 2-3 years at a school. Now, having a crack civilian HR Administrator at the Battalion is worth gold, but that's another subject.
That is not to say one Battalion is the same as any other. I think absolute Size is important, both positively and negatively, and that it is hugely advantageous to be a student at the Host Battalion vs. commuting from a cross-town affiliated school. However, USC is neither very large nor very small, and is a Host Battalion. So there isn't really much to differentiate it from 100 other medium sized Host Battalions.
USC is the host for ARTOC, NROTC and AFROTC, so there is a good visible presence on campus. Don't know how many AROTC are there, but NROTC when I checked 18 months ago was about 30. I would guess AROTC would be about 50.
If by Powerhouse you mean well respected, then I don't think you can really answer that. You can ask who won the MacArthur awards each year, but that represents only about 1-2% of schools. You can ask how the cadets of the 270+ Host Battalions performed at LDAC last year, but there are only about 30 schools that had multiple cadets receiving awards at LDAC, with 240 or so sending just one or no cadets receiving the awards.
Another issue is that a Battalion might have a PMS of the Year, or some such Cadre award, but that PMS is likely to be gone from that Battalion by the time you are an MSIII, which is the year a cadet enters Advanced Course and starts to gets mentoring from the PMS. Before that time it is other Cadre who mostly interact with a cadet. Most PMS serve 2-3 years at a school. Now, having a crack civilian HR Administrator at the Battalion is worth gold, but that's another subject.
That is not to say one Battalion is the same as any other. I think absolute Size is important, both positively and negatively, and that it is hugely advantageous to be a student at the Host Battalion vs. commuting from a cross-town affiliated school. However, USC is neither very large nor very small, and is a Host Battalion. So there isn't really much to differentiate it from 100 other medium sized Host Battalions.
Simple answer...Yes
Dlee -- I have never seen the numbers of those who applied vs. those who got scholarships for a particular school.
I can say that of the 40 or so new MSI AROTC cadets at my daughter's private school last year (not in California), about four cadets were on 4 year scholarship, about 5 were on 3 Yr. AD scholarships, and about 30 were without any scholarship. This new year I just heard from her that about 3 MSIs were on Scholarship (don't know what kind), and about 20 enrolled without scholarship. So this year both the # of scholarships is way down, but so is the total number of students who are enrolling in ROTC without scholarship. I would imagine that would be true of most Private schools -- when the word gets around the Scholarships are down a lot (as it has the past year), fewer people are willing to enroll in ROTC and roll the dice that they will be awarded a Scholarship for years 2-4. Instead they opt for the safer route of their in-State public, in case they enroll, and advance through MSI - MSIV, but are never awarded an AROTC scholarship. At least at the in-State public they can afford to continue, without incurring crushing debt, without ever getting the scholarship.
I can say that of the 40 or so new MSI AROTC cadets at my daughter's private school last year (not in California), about four cadets were on 4 year scholarship, about 5 were on 3 Yr. AD scholarships, and about 30 were without any scholarship. This new year I just heard from her that about 3 MSIs were on Scholarship (don't know what kind), and about 20 enrolled without scholarship. So this year both the # of scholarships is way down, but so is the total number of students who are enrolling in ROTC without scholarship. I would imagine that would be true of most Private schools -- when the word gets around the Scholarships are down a lot (as it has the past year), fewer people are willing to enroll in ROTC and roll the dice that they will be awarded a Scholarship for years 2-4. Instead they opt for the safer route of their in-State public, in case they enroll, and advance through MSI - MSIV, but are never awarded an AROTC scholarship. At least at the in-State public they can afford to continue, without incurring crushing debt, without ever getting the scholarship.
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2011
- Messages
- 1,332
Powerhouse? My school is a small liberal arts school and we won the MacArthur Award. ROTC is what you put into and there isn't really any advantages among different schools unless you go to one in WA state and you can train on all the LDAC sites
Academically and sports wise though, USC is a powerhouse.
Academically and sports wise though, USC is a powerhouse.
efirestone14
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2012
- Messages
- 115
When looking at schools for ROTC, first look at the schools that fit you academically and socially. Don't go to a college just because it has a "powerhouse" ROTC program. As was stated above, ROTC is about what you put into your training. Ultimately, you get out of ROTC what you put into it.