Texas A&M Culture

Can anyone share how the Aggie Corps of Cadets culture is compared to VMI and the Academies ? I was talking to a student who had just graduated and he said it is much more geared to academics then in the past and said the Corps of Cadets had changed a lot in last five years. I liked what I heard. Any thoughts ?

Well I have visited both TAMU and VMI. Initially I thought TAMU was my dream school, but I was massively disappointed when I visited. There were chubby cadets, short PT sessions and a much more relaxed atmosphere. I went to VMI and loved it. Personally, I like the fact that the entire student body was Corps and didn't have to worry about civilian students. Every cadet was squared away and sharp. Felt less like a regular college and more like something special. I crossed TAMU off the list and now VMI is my backup school if USMA/USNA don't say yes.


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Jarhead1775 said:

Well I have visited both TAMU and VMI. Initially I thought TAMU was my dream school, but I was massively disappointed when I visited. There were chubby cadets, short PT sessions and a much more relaxed atmosphere. I went to VMI and loved it. Personally, I like the fact that the entire student body was Corps and didn't have to worry about civilian students. Every cadet was squared away and sharp. Felt less like a regular college and more like something special. I crossed TAMU off the list and now VMI is my backup school if USMA/USNA don't say yes.


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Having been apart of the 12th Man for a few years I can tell you one thing, it is second to none. The 12th Man is synonymous with the student body and the culture here is awesome. In regards to the Corps, it all depends on what outfit you choose. I have friends who are the most physically demanding outfit on campus and is also in Seal Platoon and loves it. I also have a friend who is in the most academically based outfit and loves the Corps. You can find the outfit that best fits your needs/desires via the internet. TAMU is great, I have nothing negative to say about and I feel my perspective is supported through my experiences on campus.

WestPoint2017 said:

Having been apart of the 12th Man for a few years I can tell you one thing, it is second to none. The 12th Man is synonymous with the student body and the culture here is awesome. In regards to the Corps, it all depends on what outfit you choose. I have friends who are the most physically demanding outfit on campus and is also in Seal Platoon and loves it. I also have a friend who is in the most academically based outfit and loves the Corps. You can find the outfit that best fits your needs/desires via the internet. TAMU is great, I have nothing negative to say about and I feel my perspective is supported through my experiences on campus.

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I think WestPoint said it very well. TAMU is large school, and the Corps of Cadets are the guardians of tradition and the keepers of the spirit. Most experiences in life are, in large measure, made up by what we put into them. There are things about TAMU and the Corps there that make it very attractive for some people. Similarly VMI and the Citadel or the federal academies have their own strengths that make them very attractive for some people. Academics are important part of the TAMU Corps life, but you should expect that in many of your future pursuits, how well you did in school will play a large part in what options are open you later. By that I mean graduate schools consider undergraduate GPAs, as do prospective employers. I still get asked for transcripts 30 years after graduating from law school. VMI, The Citadel, Norwich, and UNG are smaller institutions that focus more on undergraduate education - no place to 'hide' in those schools. Larger institutions like VT and TAMU have much larger classes, particularly for freshman and sophomores, with a corresponding reduction in the amount of 'face time' you'll get with the instructor.

I wish you the best with your decisions and choices.

TAMU has a very active Alumni "Corps of Cadets Association." To me, a healthy, active alumni group is one indication of a successful collegiate program with a large universe of people who would probably be eager to talk to you and provide guidance about their experiences there. Google it. (I can't post links yet.) The website is a fantastic resource.

Jarhead1775 said:

Well I have visited both TAMU and VMI. Initially I thought TAMU was my dream school, but I was massively disappointed when I visited. There were chubby cadets, short PT sessions and a much more relaxed atmosphere. I went to VMI and loved it. Personally, I like the fact that the entire student body was Corps and didn't have to worry about civilian students. Every cadet was squared away and sharp. Felt less like a regular college and more like something special. I crossed TAMU off the list and now VMI is my backup school if USMA/USNA don't say yes.


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It's funny to me that our PT session length bothers you since the academies don't even have morning PT. Army cadets have PT 5 mornings a week from 0600-0650 and our special units PT from 0530-0650. We also have two afternoon training sessions per week that run from 1630-1800. The atmosphere at USNA/USMA is also much more relaxed during the school year than at A&M. I know this from first hand experience since I had the chance to stay at West Point last year for a week. The Corps at A&M is one of a kind because of the fact that we attend a Tier 1 Research Institution and have over 50,000 students. We also consider ourselves the premier leadership development program and have many programs to assist non military contract seeking cadets with internship and job placement. I think much more well-rounded leaders come from the Corps at A&M due to the amount of responsibility and trust the Corps leadership gives to Cadets. We truly run our own Corps, with minimal interference from military advisers.

The Corps at TAMU is an outstanding organization that I could honestly go on about for days. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

I hated the Corps culture at A&M. Immaturity and immorality are rampant throughout, although that's certainly not to say everyone in the Corps is bad. From my experiences, I'd only recommend attending A&M if you are dead set on joining the military and are not attending a service academy for whatever reason.

MaxB said:

I hated the Corps culture at A&M. Immaturity and immorality are rampant throughout, although that's certainly not to say everyone in the Corps is bad. From my experiences, I'd only recommend attending A&M if you are dead set on joining the military and are not attending a service academy for whatever reason.

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I know a few cadets in the corps and none of them fit the picture you are painting. I have seen impressive growth and maturity in these young men.

An institution with a civilian student population will be significantly less "military" than one that does not. This is a benefit for some, and a drawback for others. Every organization has nasty individuals. How you deal with the people around you is up to you.

As far as the physical demand goes, that will depend on you. You will have free time. How you spend that free time is up to you. If someone has to make up mandatory PT in order to get you outside for exercise, you might want to reconsider your career path. If you want to take academic internships over the summer instead of going to military schools, that is your choice.

Comparing equipment and facilities is nice and all, but will you be the midshipman/cadet that actually makes use of those facilities? Or will you make a 2.5 and never come close to doing any independent research? Will you spend four years in a "leadership laboratory" only to follow the leadership of others, only pointing out where the strong man stumbled and where the doer of deeds might have done them better?

Simply going to a military school, a service academy, or enrolling in ROTC will not make you a successful officer. That responsibility is yours, and yours alone. The degree is a piece of paper. The officer and leader is you.

Packer said:

I know a few cadets in the corps and none of them fit the picture you are painting. I have seen impressive growth and maturity in these young men.

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Some of the best people I know are or were in the Corps, but they're the minority by far. Have you lived with sixty cadets for sixteen weeks at a time? My outfit chaplain cursed constantly, my roommate was a porn addict... Perhaps I joined a bad outfit (I'm certain I did), or perhaps only Army outfits were this bad. The only friends I might "marry and bury" were in the Navy regiments, strangely enough for someone who was in a brigade.