Ivy League and the Service Academies megathread

[Gaffer]

Take a look at this current thread. Many common issues are addressed.

Thread 'United States Naval Academy vs Brown BS/MD'
https://www.serviceacademyforums.co...ed-states-naval-academy-vs-brown-bs-md.95252/

Your son should drill down in the primary sources, as well as contact the pre-med program people at USMA and USAFA, and talk to the recruiting officer at his target AROTC or AFROTC units, to determine how the medical school path works. He should be clear on whether his primary goal is medical school or military service, and if he wants nothing to do with non-medical paths in the military, ever, or would be willing to do that first. The SAs and ROTC programs primary mission is to produce warriors, though narrow paths exist to Med Corps.

There are also threads each year on going to medical school out of service academies and ROTC programs, as well as later in-service transfers, getting it and using veterans’ benefits to pay for medical school, going to the military medical school at USUHS and being active duty from Day I, taking advantage of the HPSP scholarships available for medical school (where the military gets most of its M.D.s. The Search function inside SAF can help, as can external Google searches that use the SAF URL in the search string.

Thank you so much Capt MJ. His passion is medicine and he wants to serve those who serve our country. He takes pride in our nation, and his heart is also in service through medicine. He did get into USAFA and USMA, some great Boston schools, and a couple of BSMD programs. SA's are a wonderful special experience ( he went for both summer SLE programs and loved every bit of it ) and the sense of fulfillment and camaraderie is beyond comparable. But since he aspires to serve through medicine, and I hear how tough it is through SA's, there are some concerns there.

The link shared is great. Thank you for your time. I'll do more research and read about it so I can be clear of the other options available. Appreciate your time

 

[Gaffer]

You can join ROTC as a sophomore.

I think some branches have programs to recruit medical students, and they'll graduate and commission as doctors in that branch after they finish medical school. Don't have to do ROTC in college to do these programs. There are similar programs for law students at law schools to become JAGs.

Are these the USUHS and HPSP Ivy22? or are there other ones that I need to look at? Thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it

 

[matchagirl]

So my kid got a Type 1 scholarship and acceptance to Yale and chose USAFA. I was pretty bummed as I thought rotc was a best of both worlds situation but kid thought otherwise. Kid also wants to be a pilot - greater chance coming out of USAFA (usually). But the biggest and unexpected upside for the kid (other than kid is enjoying usafa) is that the kid decided not to be a stem major. Would not have been able to make that choice if went to Yale.

Hello! Yale is my dream school and I'm interested in also applying for ROTC. Can we please PM?

 

[CrewDad]

May be I am so late to the thread. I am using my DS's profile to post a question here..
got accepted to USMA and USAFA and a bunch of Ivys including a couple of BSMD program. Wants to serve our nation and passionate about medicine. He does want Med no swaying from that. He did not apply to ROTC. Financials matter but I also want him to choose what is better.
It is doable but yet a tough tough path to med from academies or other private/public schools. it is only getting tougher i hear. Not in med and know nothing of either worlds ( Academies or Medical profession..) so it is all hearsay and reading..

will he be able to do ROTC as a sophomore? Is that a viable path ? Should be consider joining now itself in ROTC but is that doable given that dates were done in Dec/Jan I think. Sorry for my ignorance. Could he apply and do ROTC as a sophomore & finish his bsmd and join service direct? What will this look like in terms of service and role ( officer role still or his one year of missing out will affect ? )

For a defined Med path ( I know it is less 4 days to make a call now and some programs extended deadlines. But not the ivies ) , is it better to take rotc pathway?

Looking forward to hearing back!
Best
Mom

You can join ROTC after finishing 1 semester as a walk on College programmer. Most can get remaining 3.5 year scholarship if you have 3.0 or higher GPA in fall term. I assume that would be no problem for him if he intends to remain in the BS/MD program.

Alternatively, your may finish college like a normal student and focus on his medical interest and not do ROTC. Instead, do ROTC at Med School through scholarship. I believe this is an option. He will then commission as O-3 Lieutenant if Navy, Captain if Army or Air Force.