Citadel Honors VS Service Academies

What are the pros and cons to going to The Citadel versus going to one of the federal Service Academies? The end goal for me is to commission as an officer in the US Military and live a life of service. However, I believe that the means to the end is also important and am trying to figure out how I want to meet that end goal. Thanks.

My son is in Citadel Honors College feel free to reach out

Cons - it costs more, potentially a LOT more

Pro -
flexibility it's possible to choose which service you commission into or if straight to grad-school or med-school or law-school it's easier
wider range of students - you'll have classmates in all services and no services
The Ring - it's hard to explain but 'I wear the ring' will mean a lot if you get one.

The honors college is a very select group of young men and women

If your only interest is serving as an officer in the military, there is no SMC that can offer you the same level of military training and experience that a federal service academy is able to. You need to be fully committed to the task of getting admitted and be certain of the service you wish to serve in. The federal academies exist to produce junior officers for their service - period. If you decide at the end of your 2d year that military service is not for you - you must leave and transfer to another college.

At The Citadel, like other SMCs, you have a much more flexible set of opportunites. This is important as few 17 or 18 year olds know what they want to do for certain. Keeping your options open and having the broadest flexibility is wise. At The Citadel, for example, unless you are on a national ROTC scholarship from a particular service, you have a year to decide which ROTC program you are interested in completing. Also, there are options for serving the country outside military service that may appeal to you after learning about these careers. Unless on an ROTC scholarship, Cadets may choose not to commission in a military service, but remain at the college and complete their degree. This is an important flexibility not available at a federal academy. It definitely is more efficient and cost effective should you decide not to commission.

As for cost, if you are a South Carolina resident, the state lottery merit scholarships make The Citadel a great financial deal. If you are accepted to the Honors Program, beginning in 2017/18 school year, you automatically receive a merit scholarship of up to $10 grand not to exceed your total cost of attendance including any ROTC or other scholarship funds you receive. A new Scholars Program with merit and need based scholarships up to $16 grand, has been added to attract cadets interested in STEM and other majors like Intelligence and Security. The four Engineering programs are top rated, as are a number of other programs, that offer cadets opportunities to serve the country in non-military roles such as Homeland Security and DOD civilian cyber security careers.

In the way of a reality check it needs to be said that there is nothing wrong with aspiring to go to one of the service academies but you must be realistic about your chances and have a backup plan. Admission to the FSAs is extremely competitive; USNA has an acceptance rate of 6%, its harder to get into than Yale, Duke or Stanford. Academy grads do get promoted faster and more frequently than other officers by and large, however it does matter where you went to school if you aren't one; VMI and The Citadel are considered the next closest thing to the academies because they are the only military colleges and produce the largest number of military officers. Apply for ROTC scholarships and figure out what other colleges meet your needs as a backup to the FSAs, do your homework and best of luck.

conrack said:

Academy grads do get promoted faster and more frequently than other officers by and large, however it does matter where you went to school if you aren't one;

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I would be curious about the source of this information ? Commissioning source does not affect promotion , at least in the Navy. I do recall the USNA graduates are at the top of the linear numbers for any given year, so theoretically if a year group gets split because of needs of the Navy, the USNA grad would get promoted ahead of his /her ROTC peers, but beyond that the selection boards etc. are supposed to be neutral. I'm sure arguments can be made about the "The Canoe Club" or "Ring Knockers Association," and this was certainly true pre-WWII, but I don' think its true anymore.

Old Navy BGO said:

conrack said:

Academy grads do get promoted faster and more frequently than other officers by and large, however it does matter where you went to school if you aren't one;

Click to expand...

I would be curious about the source of this information ? Commissioning source does not affect promotion , at least in the Navy. I do recall the USNA graduates are at the top of the linear numbers for any given year, so theoretically if a year group gets split because of needs of the Navy, the USNA grad would get promoted ahead of his /her ROTC peers, but beyond that the selection boards etc. are supposed to be neutral. I'm sure arguments can be made about the "The Canoe Club" or "Ring Knockers Association," and this was certainly true pre-WWII, but I don' think its true anymore.

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Isnt it also true that the higher number of officers arent coming from the acadamies so therefore on a numbers basis, there must be more Rotc and OTS\OCS officers getting promoted faster and more frequent

conrack said:

--snip-- Academy grads do get promoted faster and more frequently than other officers by and large, however it does matter where you went to school if you aren't one;--snip--

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I this is untrue these days. Once you're our of school everyone is more or less equal and surely the longer you're out the less where you from matters except for the changes where you're from have made in you.

I should clarify that academy grads get promoted faster and more frequently for higher ranks, check the bios of Flag Officers and you will clearly see that academy grads move up much faster than ROTC grads. I have also personally witnessed this over my years of military service. Regarding commissioning source, last figures I saw for % of academy grads was Army 18, Air Force 22, Navy 24; the Coast Guard is about 80 because the only other sources are OCS and a direct commission program from the SMCs.

CitadelN88 said:

conrack said:

--snip-- Academy grads do get promoted faster and more frequently than other officers by and large, however it does matter where you went to school if you aren't one;--snip--

Click to expand...

I this is untrue these days. Once you're our of school everyone is more or less equal and surely the longer you're out the less where you from matters except for the changes where you're from have made in you.

Click to expand...

If you are considering a full military career, there may be a longer term difference. In the USNA Superintendent’s talk at Johns Hopkins, he cited 2014 statistics for Naval officer ascension. USNA grads supplied approximately 30% of all Naval URL officers, but accounted for ~40% of Captains, ~60% of 2 star select level, ~75% of 3 stars, and 80-90% of 4 star flag level officers. He acknowledges that this is not the only measure of success in the Navy but it sure is a tangible one.

I am not sure of the reason for this disparity. Could it be that those choosing to attend the Academy also more often choose longer military careers? Are they more efficient in rising through the ranks? Or is there another reason to account for this difference? These statistics also don’t seem to support the thought that all roads leading to a commission are equal. Of course, these are general stats and ultimate success is mostly up to each individual. (Posted from a different thread)