Questions from the Incoming Rat Mass of 2020+3?

C76706340

VMI 2022, US Army
5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2018
Messages
184
Good Evening,

This is directed towards the members of the Incoming Rat Mass of 2020+3:

Hello! I'm currently a 4th Class Cadet at VMI, and I was wondering if any of you had questions regarding life at the Institute as a new cadet (RAT). As a 4th, I am by no means an expert on the ins and outs of Mother I, but I figured some of my insight as a just recently broken-out RAT might be useful for any of you who may be nervous or hesitant to begin your new journey at the Virginia Military Institute. Becoming a member of the VMI Corps of Cadets is an undertaking not to be held lightly and, as seen from the attrition of my class, many do not arrive on Matriculation Day thoroughly prepared for the mental, physical, and emotional strain of life in the Ratline and VMI in general. Alright, fire away!

Very Respectfully,
C76706340
 
Congratulations on your making it to breakout! A very impressive accomplishment, indeed. Do you know how many have left the Institute up to this point from your class? Of those that left, did they attend STP? I know that these are questions that you may not be able to answer but I was just curious. Thank you for making yourself available to questions.
 
Congratulations on your making it to breakout! A very impressive accomplishment, indeed. Do you know how many have left the Institute up to this point from your class? Of those that left, did they attend STP? I know that these are questions that you may not be able to answer but I was just curious. Thank you for making yourself available to questions.

Our class matriculated at 519 (largest class to ever matriculate) and broke out with 457. Having attended STP myself, I will say that STP is a great way for a prospective cadet to knock some credits out of the way and to get into better physical shape. However, STP did not by any means prepare me for the mental strain of the Ratline, and a good number of my former-BRs who attended STP dropped out before Breakout.
 
Good Evening,

This is directed towards the members of the Incoming Rat Mass of 2020+3:

Hello! I'm currently a 4th Class Cadet at VMI, and I was wondering if any of you had questions regarding life at the Institute as a new cadet (RAT). As a 4th, I am by no means an expert on the ins and outs of Mother I, but I figured some of my insight as a just recently broken-out RAT might be useful for any of you who may be nervous or hesitant to begin your new journey at the Virginia Military Institute. Becoming a member of the VMI Corps of Cadets is an undertaking not to be held lightly and, as seen from the attrition of my class, many do not arrive on Matriculation Day thoroughly prepared for the mental, physical, and emotional strain of life in the Ratline and VMI in general. Alright, fire away!

Very Respectfully,
C76706340


What does the daily routine look like before and after breakout? I've been looking at the credits per semester and it seems like a lot, let alone with all the additional cadet responsibilities. Is there an actual balance or are you just strategically choosing what can and can't be juggled?
 
I’ll be around if someone wants an upperclass perspective on something. I’ll be your dyke’s class....(not trying to hijack the thread). Feel free to PM me also.

Is there a rhyme or rhythm to how dykes are chosen? I know there's supposed to be some sort of connection like both on a team, same major, some hometown, etc. Do the dykes pick their rats, are they assigned, or is it a little bit of both?
 
Yes, both. I haven’t been through the process on the dyke end yet, but as a Rat, I got a survey from my company OGA rep (don’t worry about what that means yet). They will try to match you based on your survey results, normally with someone in your company. All of the criteria you mentioned is looked at along with ROTC preference. Rats can also be picked by Dykes for the reasons you mentioned. Mine had picked me early and came to meet me at the “Rat send off” gathering in my state, for example.
 
I’ll be around if someone wants an upperclass perspective on something. I’ll be your dyke’s class....(not trying to hijack the thread). Feel free to PM me also.

Is there a rhyme or rhythm to how dykes are chosen? I know there's supposed to be some sort of connection like both on a team, same major, some hometown, etc. Do the dykes pick their rats, are they assigned, or is it a little bit of both?


It was a variety of things
If you are on D1 scholarship a lot of times the seniors on the team identified dykes on their recruiting visits or when practice kicks off a week or two before matriculation

If you knew someone from back home or meet them on a prospect visit that is another means. For all others their is a designated time at the end of hell week after everyone returns where they put all rats and firsts together and divy out.

I met my dyke over 20 years ago through a hometown friend. We built one of my longest friendships and I am looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.

My rat is one of my three closest friends. We were in each others weddings, talk monthly and our wives are now close friends after we did an overseas tour together. That relationship is one of the most unique about VMI.
 
Is there a rhyme or rhythm to how dykes are chosen? I know there's supposed to be some sort of connection like both on a team, same major, some hometown, etc. Do the dykes pick their rats, are they assigned, or is it a little bit of both?

Parent of a first classman, happy to answer parent questions as well.

My son selected his Rat at the local rat send off in August prior to matriculation. However, when my son was a rat his selected him during hell week. He just came into his room, introduced himself and said he was his show
 
My dyke said he picked me because I reminded him of his HS friend. The bad part about being his Rat is one of his good buddies was the president of the Rat Disciplinary Committee. The friend/RDC prez was in his room a lot so some unnecessary hazing happened when I showed up to bring my dyke’s laundry or to just visit. He was one mean looking NROTC-MO cadet. It got to the point where if I entered my dyke’s room and his RDC friend was there, I went ahead and got myself in the front leaning rest position. I was maxing out the push-ups in the VMI PT and AFPT in no time! [emoji4]

My roommates selected my Rat for me because I showed up a bit late for the school year since I was doing CTLT in Korea. They picked him because he was the sorriest looking Rat and he didn’t have a dyke yet.
 
Rat training doesn’t actually take up a large portion of your day. When you include ROTC PT and Rat stuff it’s about 2 hours/day. The rest of the day is classes and time for you to do homework. The problem most Rats who have academic problems run into is using their time wisely. Most would prefer to go sleep in the library during free class periods instead of homework. It’s up to you to use the time you have to get things done. Your academic load as a Rat, even if you’re an engineering major, really isn’t that time consuming. You’ll be busy just because of everything added together.
 
I’m doing AFROTC, and I’m thinking about maybe doing summer stuff on campus to get prepared. How would that work? Also, do you have any tips on getting ready for rat year?
 
I’m doing AFROTC, and I’m thinking about maybe doing summer stuff on campus to get prepared. How would that work? Also, do you have any tips on getting ready for rat year?
My son did the STP program and I think it was valuable. Nothing like the ratline, but if you can afford the cost it's worth it. In state it's pretty cheap but out of state it's a bit pricey. Everyone will tell you to show up in physical shape. Running, push ups, sit ups and pull ups, and then repeat.
 
I’m doing AFROTC, and I’m thinking about maybe doing summer stuff on campus to get prepared. How would that work? Also, do you have any tips on getting ready for rat year?

I did STP. The main benefit is getting a class out of the way. You also learn where things are and do a little PT. The PT is an adequate taste of how hard Hell Week PT will be, but not at all a taste of PT in later Ratline events. Also as poster above me stated, not at all a prep for the Ratline at large. OOS price is over $5000. If that’s too much, I’d recommend knocking out a history or english class at local community college. Perhaps even 2 classes. Even just 2 classes out of the way can greatly increase your flexibility later in your cadetship, particularly for engineering majors (think I read in another feed that you’re engineering). Many engineering programs now, especially for ROTC cadets, are 4.5-5 years. VMI compresses that to the standard 4 and adds many of their own graduation requirements on top. Summer classes help with this. Of course if you take classes at home, PT a lot on your own, but that’s obvious.
 
My son will be reporting to VMI this summer with an NROTC scholarship, and a spot on the soccer team. Any insights on how life is easier/harder/different for rat athletes amongst all the other pre-breakout chaos?
 
My son will be reporting to VMI this summer with an NROTC scholarship, and a spot on the soccer team. Any insights on how life is easier/harder/different for rat athletes amongst all the other pre-breakout chaos?

I’m not an athlete, so no first hand knowledge here. Fall sports practices will largely take the place of Rat training events during the semester. Therefore,the main difference in terms of time commitment and handling academics comes after the ratline where non-athletes now (at least by default) have free time in place of Rat training. Athletes continue with their demanding schedule of practices based off what the season is. Having said that, fall athletes travel, so that makes juggling academics harder potentially, but also, non-athlete rats never have free Saturdays either...they’re just (most often) more available then if you’re on the road.

Difficulty is both subjective and has lots of differing and conflicting metrics. In terms of fitness, most sports will increase difficulty. In terms of psychological stress and emotions, it’s probably easier...they’re going to sports practice with a (theoretically) supportive coach/team after classes everyday instead of cadre time 2-3 times/week.

I’m over simplifying as well. Different teams have different sub-cultures that can either mesh well with the Ratline despite their missing some Rat training, or on the other hand can very much detract and cause Corps-wide resentment. I don’t know where Male Soccer falls on that spectrum.

Lastly, that last paragraph is most important. All fall athletes get out of a lot of Rat stuff, and the reason those team cultures matter is because they *often* dictate the attitude of the affected Rats. When the culture is good, that’s great, but if it’s not, the Rat can still choose to have a good attitude about things. The fact that you’re son is commissioning is hopefully an indicator that he truly wants the military system and not just play a sport, if his attitude shows that, regardless of what he misses, he’ll be just fine.

Sorry for the novel.
 
Appreciate the insights. He actually chose VMI over the Service Academies because he wanted a truly spartan experience coupled with the tradition. He got offers to play elsewhere and picked VMI, so fingers crossed, but I think he's going in with a good mindset. Thanks again for all the info. Cheers.
 
Appreciate the insights. He actually chose VMI over the Service Academies because he wanted a truly spartan experience coupled with the tradition. He got offers to play elsewhere and picked VMI, so fingers crossed, but I think he's going in with a good mindset. Thanks again for all the info. Cheers.

My son's rat is on the soccer team. My son is not an athlete. My son really connected with his rat at the local rat send off. He was a little concerned about having a 'permit' ( athlete) for a rat, since he was not. Like mentioned above depending on the attitude of those w/in the team it can affect the relationship with the corp. In the end they have a great relationship. My son understood that his rat would have other committements and may not be involved in some ratline events. His rat understood that he was to have a good attitude and that he was expected to be at and give 100% at those events he could attend.

VMI is an amazing place, if your son takes advantage of and embraces the suck.

Feel free to PM me if you have any parent questions and best of luck to your son.
 
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