NROTC - VA Tech, Penn State, or University of Washington

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rholt

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My son has an NROTC-MO scholarship but did not get into his first first choice school (Notre Dame) or his second choice school (UVA - wait listed). So - now we are looking further down his list. Options include (been admitted to all of these)

1) University of Washington
2) Penn State
3) VA Tech

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on these - both in terms of the NROTC programs and the schools overall.

Thanks
 
rholt said:
My son has an NROTC-MO scholarship but did not get into his first first choice school (Notre Dame) or his second choice school (UVA - wait listed). So - now we are looking further down his list. Options include (been admitted to all of these)

1) University of Washington
2) Penn State
3) VA Tech

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on these - both in terms of the NROTC programs and the schools overall.

Thanks
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I went to Penn State. Longtime season ticket holder. Loved it. My dream was to send all of my boys to PSU. I took my DS to Virginia Tech to visit the Corps of Cadets. After sitting through the presentation, I was convinced that Virginia Tech was the place for him. I would strongly recommend you visit. The program is very impressive. I had no clue about Virginia Tech before the visit. The only reason we visited was NROTC. Now he is going to go on a Arotc scholarship to VA Tech.
 
I'm sure you know, ROTC life at an SMC, like VA Tech, is very different from a "normal" college. That should be an important factor in your decision, whether you're pro SMC or "anti" SMC. Any of the programs will provide you with the necessary opportunities to transform yourself into an officer and leader.

Any choice should certainly take his major into the decision and since we don't know it, it's difficult to comment on that aspect. If he is studying drama and dance then I don't think I'd be going to VA Tech.

Aside from that college life is college life. Each had it's unique aspects but very few find any of them "unenjoyable".
 
UW is surrounded by an urban environment, which should factor into the decision. Having Seattle (and the Puget Sound) right there is a huge plus in my book, but others may want something different. Academically, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of those three, although agree with @kinnem that your major may be an important deciding factor. Good luck and congrats!
 
I went to Tech but not as part of the Corp (but I hung a round a lot of them) and I can tell you that you would never regret becoming part of Hokie Nation. its just special and Blacksburg is a little piece of heaven. the Corp goes to class and to football games with everybody else but they have their own separate part of the campus that is just for them, which I think is nice. they wear their uniforms 100% and its like being at a SMC, but better because its Virginia Tech ;)

good luck, all good options. except UVa because ...well...im a hokie.
 
UW is a great school, as stated above it sits in the middle of urban Seattle, the light rail train station is literally on campus making it just a couple minutes to downtown Seattle and surrounding neighborhoods.

If your son is into the outdoors the area is terrific. The campus is on Lake Washington and it's easy access to water sports and Puget Sound. Winter snow skiing is as close as an hour away with many ski resorts in the area. Camping and hiking are big in this area.

The Navy has a strong footprint here, Naval Station Everett, Whidbey Island NAS, Bremerton Naval Shipyard, Bangor Submarine Base are all in the area. Being a port city Seattle has an annual Fleet Week.

If the UW is of interest to your son I would highly suggest a visit to the school and the area, the urban school location is a big plus to some and some find it to busy, something he will want to see first. Take a day and explore the area to get a feel for things and what opportunities are available.

Best of luck to your son, he has some great choices to choose from.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. FYI - my son't major is Economics. I like Tech, but it is relatively weak in Econ - so that is a minus. He is interested in Washington (perhaps because it is far from home), but not sure he will love the urba setting (even though the surrounding area is beautiful.
 
I took my son to see VT and that is one of the prettiest campuses I've seen and the Corp of Cadets is impressive. 7 medal of honor winners too. We both loved it.
 
rholt said:
My son has an NROTC-MO scholarship but did not get into his first first choice school (Notre Dame) or his second choice school (UVA - wait listed). So - now we are looking further down his list. Options include (been admitted to all of these)

1) University of Washington
2) Penn State
3) VA Tech

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on these - both in terms of the NROTC programs and the schools overall.

Thanks
Click to expand...


My brother is at UW. It's not a bad school but the main parts of the Quad and areas around the dorms are incredibly unsafe after dark. He has heard gunshots and mugging numerous times and all his female friends need to be escorted by at least two male friends for safety after dark.
 
I’ll weigh in on behalf of PSU. My brother did AROTC at PSU and we gave friends who did both AFROTC and AROTC. All liked the program, loved PSU. Most of my in-laws went to PSU and we lived there while my husband got an MS and PHD at PSU. It’s a really large school with something for everyone. I can reach out to a friend who teaches in the ECON department but I imagine it’s a pretty solid department. It’s large and a bit rural, which could be a pro or a con depending on who you are. I do know that those who attended ROTC (15-20 years ago) loved it. If you like Football it’s a bit crazy. They love football and the whole town supports the team. But football weekends are busy. The campus is pretty and the town is safe. When we lived there we had neighbors who would go out of town and not lock their house. My current freshman in HS plans to apply and hopefully go there.
 
PSU was DS's #1 choice until we visited the battalion. In his mind, the NROTC program was a little less "Navy" than Villanova, which is now his #1. This could be a positive for a young person looking for a more laid back ROTC program. DS was looking for an all-Navy-all the time program and found Villanova to be a better fit for him.
 
My daughter visited VA Tech with a fellow Young Marine. She was very impressed with the Corps of Cadets. She was all Marine Corps, all the time until recently. She felt Tech was perfect, while VMI was a little intimidating to a female. She was impressed with what she saw of Cadet Leadership.
 
rholt said:
Options include (been admitted to all of these)

1) University of Washington
2) Penn State
3) VA Tech
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All outstanding for engineering and hard sciences, of any kind. Depending on your son's interest, this would be the academic ranking:

Comp Sci, Artificial Intelligence, Biomedical Engineering:
1. UW (best by far)
2. PSU
3. VT

Aerospace Engineering:
1. PSU and VT
2. UW

Materials Science/Chemical Engineering/Chemistry
1. PSU (by far)
2. UW
3. VT

Liberal Arts: International Relations
1. UW (by far)
3. PSU, VT

Regarding the setting, these three are quite different from each other.

UW is urban (though it's a manageable town) and is in hte heart of the tech boom, which will have a great influence - some would say for ill - on the culture, conversation, and the general reference points of everyone caught in that orbit. If you love tech, great. If not, it can be annoying (I work in the belly of the beast), as it often crowds out other pursuits and social spheres, especially the arts.

State College is great if you want the traditional big state school experience with sports and parties. A big student ghetto, but some like that.

Blacksburg is gorgeous, remote, and far more pro-military than the other two, thanks to the Corps and the surrounding southern VA area. It can be isolating, but if DS is a nature boy and loves to hike, it may be the best fit.
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