I presume you mean a service academy prep school? If so, as a prior self prep (NWP) who is now in the Corps, I would honestly recommend neither if your end goal is an academy. Go to a typical ROTC unit and get the basic military experience, but focus more on academics because that's what will get you in. Self-preps have a significantly lower acceptance rate than those on a scholarship program (like FFS), but that's not advertised much since the prep schools wouldn't make money. If you go to the corps, the freshmen experience (and time commitment) is very similar to that of the academies, and freshmen grades are usually pretty bad compared to their civ counterparts. If you're ok with long term at the corps, but the academy would be nice, then that's a different story and it'll probably be worth it.
When I say self-prep, my plan is to enroll at a 4-year college that I'd be happy at for the full 4, then take a freshman year course load similar to that of a plebe/swab. That way, if I don't earn an appointment, I'm still at a school that I'm happy with and progressing toward a degree that I can take to OCS (or commission via ROTC if I wind up at VT -- my other option, St. Mary's College of Maryland, unfortunately does not have an ROTC program, though I plan to participate in the Coast Guard's AUP) and still commission. With regard to what you said about academics -- that's a major part of the struggle in deciding. Having the military experience would be excellent, but I want to pick the school that will better enable me to be academically successful in order to make my way to an academy. Like you said, there's a tradeoff if I pick the Corps -- I get the academy experience (which may in itself be useful in easing the transition should I earn an appointment), but what good is that if I don't get the grades?
The last sentence here kind of sums it up -- I do think I'd be happy long term at the Corps, but I'm still pushing for an academy. I'm just still uncertain whether I'd be ok with (potentially) giving that dream up to go to the Corps, or if I'd rather set myself up better for an academy appointment at the risk of not getting that kind of experience at all should I fail to earn the appointment. Not that that's a decision anyone else can make for me; it's just time for a lot of (slightly accelerated) soul searching.
I'll also take a stab at the second question because I also think I get where they're coming from. Be warned, this is a brain dump and not well structured or thought through. Many cadets complain the corps isn't as "hard" as it used to be because they're modernizing and not hazing people as much, but it's in a transition period where there have been a lot of restrictions to what can be done for training, but there haven't been a lot of new solutions to fill in those gaps leaving a vacuum. Again, transition period. Very similar to how the Army and AF are restructuring their basic enlisted training (but they have professionals doing that and we have untrained cadets). That being said, the Corps mission has also shifted a bit more towards trying to produce "leaders" since each branch has its own specific training and culture of what an officer is expected to do, which they get during ROTC time throughout the week. It's an interesting culture with lots of pros and cons, but honestly not any more significant pros and cons of the academies. If you want to contrast this, just look at the "standards in free fall" thread under the USAFA category. It's a bunch of cadets learning how to lead other cadets so there's a lot of failure and people get upset along the way when things change because change is scary. Anyways, this has been a brain dump and just my opinion. Many here disagree with me, but many also agree.
That's all very good to consider. Like you said, lots of pros and cons! Makes sense that the Corps is moving more toward letting the branches dictate what officer training their cadets get. Thanks for the help!
First - I completely agree with what the poster above me said. I think a lot of it stems from the (perceived or real) reduction of freshman training/standards, which appears to be becoming an issue at the academies too. I try not to get worked up about it since those kind of things vary extensively year to year but there is beginning to be a noticeable difference between what was permitted when '24 (and to an extent '25) were freshmen compared to what has been allowed for '26 and '27. There has been a tightening of the right and left bounds for cadre and not much help on what they can do to fill that gap. So we're kind of in a limbo where cadre are trying to figure out how to best train the freshmen given the restrictions in place and a lot of people have struggled to find solutions in that area. There is really only one ROTC-exclusive training block (plus the academic class) per week so a lot of the leadership instruction centers on personal development instead of specific instructions for leading as an officer. Not that that's a bad thing, I think a lot of people just wish the ROTCs were given more chances to kind of hone in on branch-specific skills.
That all makes sense. It does seem like it may be reflective of a broader trend rather than just a VT thing, and having that context is helpful. Hard to tell if it's more of a pro or con for me -- but that's a decision nobody but myself can make.
For what it's worth, I know at least 7 cadets who reapplied to an academy after a year in the Corps and were accepted and are thriving. At the end of the day though, once you put the butter bars on you're a 2LT/ensign like everyone else no matter where you commissioned from. It really comes down to what you want out of your college experience, and I don't think there's a right or wrong answer to that question.
That's good to know! Col. Shelton mentioned a similar trend during his brief at my STN, so I'm glad to have confirmation of that. I absolutely agree that an officer is an officer, regardless of commissioning source (and whatever I do, there'll be options to pursue a commission), but like you said, it's a matter of the journey from here to there.
Thank you both so much for your input! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.
