NROTC schools: couple of questions

Jabor3

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My son is a rising senior and will be applying to 4 NROTC schools: Penn State main (with Schreyer Honors College), UVA, and GW and its cross town affiliate Georgetown.

1. How do you find out about the strength of these NROTC programs? He will be doing some second visits to each school to learn more and has talked to a number of students but it’s been hard to get information that would help him compare across schools. (Or are they all designed to be the same preparation level for naval service?)

2. Does anyone know about the experience/preparation at an affiliate school vs the host school for NROTC participants? (He was very impressed with GW, but the Georgetown tour guide didn’t know about NROTC.)

3. The NROTC schools are all really competitive (a great thing!) but what happens if you don’t get in to the school you get a scholarship for, and instead you get in to another school on the list?

What he wants is the best possible instruction and preparation for being a naval officer / he wants naval service career… and needs to rank his schools on his 4 yr NROTC application.

Thank you.
 
Echoing @Herman_Snerd: The best ROTC program is the one at the school that best fits the candidate. In other words, if the school isn’t a good fit for the candidate, then the ROTC program won’t be a good fit either. School comes first and will be the largest determinant of satisfaction.

Some ROTC programs have vaunted reputations. But they aren’t always accurate and things do change as battalion leadership comes and goes. Perhaps the most obvious difference you’ll see is size. DS considered the very large battalions at a couple flagship state universities, as well as the very small battalion (platoon is more accurate) at a midsize private college. He ended up in a medium-size battalion at a state school. But more importantly, he chose the school and not the battalion.
Copying over my response to a similar post elsewhere, which you should find and read. Go to the search function and type “best ROTC programs.” It’s a common topic here.

If your ROTC scholarship is assigned to School A but School A doesn’t accept you, simply request to transfer the scholarship to School B. I’ve been here a while and have yet to hear of this request being denied.
 
There was, just in the past few days, a thread with the same question. The consensus advice was “pick the school.” NROTC staff rotates in and out, per normal duty rotations. Rule of thumb is generally 30% turnover every year. The PNS will change, instructors will change, culture will change.

Your son should pick the school where he thinks he will find his best fit and thrive. If he is happy at the school he will be free to do his best at the NROTC program, which are all governed by the same policies and requirements.
 
See this thread within the last few days:
 
That thread was helpful in some ways. The consensus advice was to narrow down to a few schools that fit the student well… and then compare NROTC programs (thus Q#1). Also, it gave some conflicting advice about instruction/experience at cross town affiliates. I understand that programs change over the years — are there any specific insights on these schools’ programs today? The rest of the info there (and here thus far) is super helpful - and thank you!
 
What is your criteria for measuring ‘the best program’? In terms of what? That will affect biases and opinions.

For example, some would prefer smaller units so there is more leadership opportunities. Other maybe a larger unit, for other reasons.

I think a Midshipmen can have an impact and learn wherever they are. My guys visited the unit to get a feel for their culture. Ultimately they chose the SA route, but their visit with the unity was very informative.

Absolutely pick the one that ‘feels right’. Imo. For the quality of life factor from happiness. If you are happy where you are, and it’s a good fit, you will be your best self. Just any work situation. In my opinion.
 
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That thread was helpful in some ways. The consensus advice was to narrow down to a few schools that fit the student well… and then compare NROTC programs (thus Q#1). Also, it gave some conflicting advice about instruction/experience at cross town affiliates. I understand that programs change over the years — are there any specific insights on these schools’ programs today? The rest of the info there (and here thus far) is super helpful - and thank you!
A program can change from one year to the next - new leadership, new policies, new programs, new requirements, etc. It’s a dynamic environment, just like any active duty organization, so it’s good training for incoming midshipmen to learn to quickly adjust and do their best in any program environment.
 
Best advice is to pick the school that has the best fit for you - and at which you can do the best. ROTC cadre at college and universities turn over every 2 or 3 years. There is little hard data on “best” ROTC schools, but DOD does track commissions - chart below shows the top ten colleges and universities over the latest five year period that statistics are available (as of 2020). 07F2A746-F452-45B0-A408-9AE1228FBFBF.jpeg
 
Since 2 of the universities listed are under my purview, I am happy to arrange a discussion by phone or zoom or whatever works. Probably easier than a forum discussion per se. Just shoot me a PM if desired.
 
Perhaps @GWU PNS will chime in here and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the curriculum for the Naval Science classes is the same at all the programs. Leadership structure and purpose should also be consistent across units, adjusted for unit size. All the units my DS visited when he was looking had unit activities as fund raisers for the unit. One unit cleaned the football stadium the day after games; another sold programs at the games, etc. They all had volunteer opportunities. The unit my DS ended up at worked with Habitat for Humanity; there was a VA hospital near campus where they went to visit and several other opportunities. Summer training opportunities should be the same at all units. Some of that will be up to the staff member responsible for coordinating summer training. What will be different is how units implement some of the activities and that is one of the things that can change with leadership changes.

As others have said, picking the right school is the most important part. Aside from that, is unit size important to your DS? Also, some universities only have one ROTC program, while others have multiple. DS' university had Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC programs. They had a tri-service color guard for games. They also had various competitions throughout the year; flag football, basketball, softball, etc. At the end of the year, the program with the most points won the Commander's Cup for the unit. They also had a tri-service ball in the spring.

As for cross-town affiliates, that will vary by unit. DS' university had one cross-town affiliate. It was actually in the next town over, but it was near enough that it was a short drive, without a lot of traffic. There were several mids at that university, so it was not an issue. In other units the commute could be a real barrier.
 
DOD does track commissions - chart below shows the top ten colleges and universities over the latest five year period that statistics are available (as of 2020).
That table is a good add by @glen. Key thing to note is that “top” relates to “most” or “biggest.” Which is not necessarily the same as “best” — or more importantly for the candidate, “best for you.”
 
That table is a good add by @glen. Key thing to note is that “top” relates to “most” or “biggest.” Which is not necessarily the same as “best” — or more importantly for the candidate, “best for you.”
Exactly ….’best’ is a relative term.
 
+1 to all of the above. One additional suggestion I have is to ask about training during the academic year. Some colleges have reasonable access to military bases and can have training events there... if that's what floats your boat.
 
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