A&M against other colleges

magtalas192

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Can anyone tell me the difference between the college Texas A&M againsat other regualr universities, when it comes to its rotc program.
 
Well- to start with - if you are going to take ROTC at A&M you are going to be in the Corps of Cadets which means you will more or less be in a 24/7 military environment compared to other colleges (other than the Senior Military Colleges) where ROTC is a course that you will be taking but otherwise will have a normal student environment.

There are a couple of multigeneration Aggies on this forum - perhaps they can flesh this out some with a description of daily life there?
 
I am a second generation Aggie, and my son is currently a freshman in the Corps of Cadets at A&M.

The best word to describe your freshman year in the Corps... INTENSE!

As bruno mentioned, being a Senior Military College, your ROTC life is pretty much 24/7 during the school week. A typical schedule for my son during the week is as follows:
5:30 am wake-up, 5:45 am physical training, 6:30 am morning formation and chow as a corps, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm academic day, 4:00 pm outfit activities, 6:00 pm evening formation and chow, 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm call to quarters (study), 10:00 to 10:30 pm personal time, 11:00 pm lights out.

In between all of that expect to get yelled at (a lot), do many "educational" workouts (a lot), and have your brain crammed with and then be able to regurgitate a book full of campusology (Corps and A&M history).

They have approximately 20-25% of each freshman class quit the Corps by the end of the year. As the Commandant of the Corps says, "The Corps is hard, and we designed it that way." If you stick it out, though, it will be one of the most rewarding accomplishments you will ever have and something to be very proud of for the rest of your life! As my son said when he came home for Christmas break after getting through his first semester, "There's nothing that phases me now."
 
Wow thanks bruno & CadetMom777 that was exactly the kind of information I needed. Because of this my passion for A&M has just grew 10x greater. Because I am trying to find a college (other than an academy) which offers a lifestyle like the academies. Thanks again.

Now all thats left is to be accepted.:smile:
 
Wow thanks bruno & CadetMom777 that was exactly the kind of information I needed. Because of this my passion for A&M has just grew 10x greater. Because I am trying to find a college (other than an academy) which offers a lifestyle like the academies. Thanks again.

Now all thats left is to be accepted.:smile:

Magtalas: I think that I posted this in another thread but basically if you are looking for a lifestyle similar to the academies here are your options:
There are several colleges that the Army has listed as " Senior Military Colleges". These are:
VMI (Virginia Military Institute) in Lexington Virginia
The Citadel in Charleston SC
Norwich University- Northfield Vermont
Virginia Tech- Blacksburg VA
Texas A&M- College Station TX
North Georgia - Dahlonega GA
VWIL (Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership) at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton VA

Both VMI and the Citadel are essentially "all military- all the time".
VMI
is all undergraduate and all students are members of the Corps of Cadets (even those who are veterans). All Cadets there must take ROTC although they are not required to take a commission (about 60% of graduates took a commission in class of 2009)
For all practical purposes- The Citadel is all military -there are some civilian graduate and undergraduate students there but they are in evening classes and there is no comingling between the Cadets and these other students. ROTC is similar to VMI in that all Cadets have to take ROTC I believe but not a commission.
Norwich is the oldest of the military colleges (Private college founded in 1819)& has both Military and Civilian Students but the character of the school is still predominately military.
Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and North Georgia (I don't know much about North Georgia) are predominately Civilian Universities with Corps of Cadets to which you must belong if you are going to take ROTC. A&M and Va Tech are very large universities. The Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M is a large and historic presence on the Campus - IMO the Corps is a smaller presence on the campus of Va Tech.
VWIL is really unique- it is an all Female Corps of Cadets located on the campus of Mary Baldwin College.

In addition there are State Maritime Academies in
New York Maritime (SUNY Maritime College at Ft Schuyler (New York City))
Massachusetts Maritime Academy (Buzzards Bay MA - Cape Cod)
Maine Maritime (Castine Maine)
Texas Maritime (Texas A&M - Galveston)
California Maritime (Vallejo California- Bay Area)
All of these schools have regimental programs- Massachusetts Maritime is all military, the rest are predominantly military in which you must participate in the Regiment if you are pursuing a license in the Merchant Marine or in ROTC programs. They all have focused engineering or business and transportation programs focused on the marine or ocean engineering and environmental management programs. All have dedicated training ships on which all Cadets take annual 2month training cruises visiting ports around the world. All have ROTC programs or MMR (Merchant Marine Reserve) programs which offer commissioning opportunities in the Navy & Coast Guard and some have Army & Af programs available as well. The State Maritime Colleges also all have regional agreements which offer instate rates for out of state Cadets if they are from states covered by these agreements (and at least for the Maritime colleges in the North East (Mass, Maine, New York) there are about a dozen or so states that have these regional agreements- it's a very good deal! )

Hope the above helps in your quest for an "academy like environment".
 
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Well my POV,
I'd compare the Aggie corps with the Hokie corps.
Both are part of a HUGE civilian school, but both are also one of the biggest ROTC units. Both are :thumb:.
 
My two cents on Texas A&M:

Corps of Cadets is about 1700 members. Student body is 48,000. Corps has a disproportionate impact on student life: Fightin' Texas Aggie Band is part of the Corps. Large portion of student government is in the Corps. Yell Leaders (an important student position, not just a cheer leader) are almost always Corps.

The student body refers to themselves as "Army" -- New Army (not-so-good), Old Army (good;right). NOTE: not US Army, the Corps is split into outfits somewhat based on service branch but also on academics. The band is in four units regardless of service branch.

You are probably not from Texas, but if you qualify for a $1000 scholarship from the University/Corps (LOTS do), you will get in-state tuition rates. BIG savings.

The website is down right now but it is www.aggiecorps.org

Thanks and Gig 'Em!!!:thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
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