ROTC and History Major

L

LOTR2000

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Joined
Jul 19, 2018
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I was recently admitted to a top 20 university as a transfer student and will be participating in NROTC. I had a few majors that I was considering, one of them being Econ, another being History. At this time, I will be pursuing a history degree due to the way the curriculum lines up with my previous classes, but I am concerned that I will have a hard time in the job market later in life. My question is how much impact will a history major have on life in the navy and beyond and how different will that impact be if I had majored in history coming out of USNA vs. NROTC?
 
My son was a Marine Option midshipman who majored in history. Hasn't hurt his career any and he actually works in a fairly technical area, after not taking a single technical course in college. He's highly respected and is often meeting with DoD and CIA personnel who are looking to learn things and collaborate with him. Like everything else it's what you bring to the situation and the effort that you put into it that matters. Time will tell if history was a poor choice when he eventually leaves the service, but the farther he is from graduation and commissioning, the less that major matters. They'll be far more interested in what he did as a Marine.

EDIT: That being said, being a Navy Option might be different. 85% of scholarship awardees are tech majors... and being a tech major influences how you actually think about problems. I suppose history does too, but in a different way.
 
I would not choose your major based on the impact it may or may not have on a military career. There are many things that can happen to impact if and how long you stay in the the Navy. Pick a major based on what excites you and what you want to do when you graduate. I will give you the same advice as I gave my DS - I hope it woks out and you make a career out of the Marine Corps, BUT you need to have a skill when you graduate college. Don't major in basket weaving because it gets you to commissioning with less work. I am a firm believer that graduates need to have a skill - engineering, finance, accounting, nursing.......Just my 2 cents. As @kinnem states above - it matters less based on how long you are out of school. Pick something you are interested in. If you like History - then pursue it.
 
Agree with the above advise. Don't want to scare you, but I believe that NROTC requires all cadets to take a year of calculus by end of sophomore year and a year of calculus-based physics by end of junior year (except for Marine and Nurse Options.) A lot of cadets have difficulty, so there is group study and tutoring available.
 
Thanks for your quick response. I am aware of the Calc and Physics requirements. I've taken both in HS, but was not able to place out, since I earned 4's in both and the new school requires 5's on the AP's. I'll be taking those courses again. I do love history, but I am definitely a STEM kind of person. What are some of the opportunities available to naval officers with history or other humanities majors? At this point, if I continue to pursue a history major, then a graduate degree seems likely if I choose to ever leave the navy.
 
As explained above, the major should have little bearing on your military career. Once you’re out, it’s what you make of it.

History is an awesome subject to study deeply. I wish that was done so today, through high school and college. If I could do college again, I’d major in history. The great value of liberal-arts majors is that they teach two very important skills: critical thinking and influential writing. Both are highly valuable if you aspire to management or leadership positions, especially the higher you go. Most employers seek managers/leaders who can think deeply and broadly, make decisions based on critical thought, and communicate that intent clearly.

Best way to strengthen a liberal-arts major is to supplement it with a technical minor. Whether it entails business or science or technology, that “hard” minor will position you as someone who is well rounded, adaptable and versatile.

Proof that there’s more to history grads than just teaching: Management consultants such as McKinsey, investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, consumer-goods companies such as General Mills all seek smart, savvy liberal-arts majors for their entry-level management positions.
 
Great advice from above. I've told this a few times here. My son wasn't ROTC or Academy. He's a product of Brown Field and a graduate of a mid-ranked state school which was his fifth college before finally graduating . His major is Conflict Analysis and Resolution. A social science like history. He concentrated in Middle East and African terrorism. He has or used to have a huge interest in human trafficking. He's on his first B billet in eight years with three operational commands and two company commands on his resume. He is most recently the CO of Mobility Assault Company which is as BA and cool as it sounds. He did a year with CENTCOM Forward where he was the OIC of a team of joint service senior enlisted personnel with various war fighting and engineer MOSs. They did security and threat assessment type of work all throughout the Central Command AOR. He is currently an exercise controller and evaluator and teaches demolitions to infantry units at 29 Palms. He'll stay for a career and will not have a problem getting a job after retirement.

While a technical degree will be more beneficial in today's technical world, the person is what the company or agency will hire. The resume gets you in the door and the interview seals the deal. I teach high school medical sciences and biotechnology. We are in the CTE arena so resumes, interview techniques, and dress for success is part of our curriculum. I'll be entering my 14 year but the job I had before was as a medical recruiter at a staffing agency. A big part of my job was reviewing resumes. I knew based on a candidate's resume if I would hire them. They had to seal the deal with the interview and of course my due diligence of background check, credentials check, and references check. The best thing you will have on your resume is your successful time spent in the military with your outstanding fitness reports to back that up.

@kinnem makes a great point about technical degrees and the Navy. So, join the Marines. They don't care what degree you hold.
 
As for future jobs, you'll learn a job and skills in the Navy. But organizations want people who can think critically, express themselves well, and write clearly - all things a good History major will have. But the big issue is as kinnem mentioned, can you get the NROTC scholarship with that major?
 
There are a few areas in NROTC where your major will actually have an impact. A few of the communities look for technical majors (notably Subs, SWO-Nuke, and SWO-EDO) although it is certainly possible to join those communities with a liberal arts major, you just better have killer math and physics grades. Other communities like Aviators and the SEALs care a lot less, although GPA still matters.

Overall, you'll be expected to have a higher GPA than your STEM counterparts (for example, if you and a nuclear engineer both have a 3.3 GPA they're pretty much guaranteed to be ranked above you, all other things equal). It is going to be more difficult to pick up a scholarship, as 85% of scholarships are mandated to go to STEM majors, but if you have a solid GPA and PT scores at your T20 university, you should be more than fine.

Once you're in the fleet people care a lot more about your performance than what you majored in or what university you went to. As many others have stated, there's plenty you can do with a history major long-term, and besides, by the time you transition to the civilian world your major will hardly matter considering the 5+ years of job experience you will have (the main exceptions to this would be being an engineer or pre-med).

If you have more question PM and I'll answer them directly.
 
Because of the reality mentioned above, that Major and Navy role will have little bearing on one another. I think NROTC or NA grads can be disadvantaged compared to civilian STEM majors looking for technical careers. If you desire a career in a fast moving field, you may need to plan out graduate education which refreshes you with the field prior to moving back into civilian life.

Your mgmt experience is going to be off the charts but technically you will have lost ground to folks who spent time dedicated to the field.
 
I am an Academy grad and have a BS in History. I have since earned 3 Masters Degrees. I did one while in the Marine Corps (on my own time, the USMC did not send me to school) and completed the other two in a dual Masters Program over several years in my civilian life. The three Masters are sort of all over the map and one, 2 MAs and 1 MS. I now work at large Fortune 50ish (idk what are we today but somewhere around there) in tech and have spent time in IT and engineering. Who would of thunk it? Bottom line, people who can lead, manage people, solve problems, communicate and show passion and integrity are needed everywhere. It helps being able to consume large amounts of information and process it rather quickly too. Everywhere includes a 5th grade classroom molding young minds and making them passionate about history, working in government service or a corporate boardroom.

It won't impact your service selection for the most part. It would eliminate things like SWO-EDO, CEC or Test Pilot school. It would also be more impactful if you are looking for the Navy to send you to grad school and what you would earn your degree in. Most of the time the Navy is looking for you to earn your Masters then do a "pay back" tour (in many cases). But, it also opens other doors. There are programs that would allow you to earn a Masters in History and your payback is to teach at USNA or some smaller obscure roles (Naval History & Heritage Command). I had many friends who served as a PMS at NROTC units and were able to earn Masters and some amazing institutions at no cost. There are so many career paths in the military, very few of them are the same. In reality a great deal of it will depend on what you service select. Each community has its own unique nuances. You fly F/A-18s... there are certain things at specific times you need to complete to make it to the next stage of your career. I had friends who followed it exactly and have been very successful and had command. I had other friends who said, nope... I want to go do this because it's what I want to do. They retired as O-4s and were willing to live with that as they got more freedom to choose what they wanted to do as opposed to what the pipeline dictated. In their eyes, they were extremely successful too. It comes down to what makes you happy, what is best for you and your family and what your goals are. There are certain nuances to all these communities and none of them are the same. The civilian world has its own nuances. The key is getting your foot in the door and making whatever job you have yours. Own it, transform it and you will figure out what makes you happy there too.
 
NJROTC-CC said:
Agree with the above advise. Don't want to scare you, but I believe that NROTC requires all cadets to take a year of calculus by end of sophomore year and a year of calculus-based physics by end of junior year (except for Marine and Nurse Options.) A lot of cadets have difficulty, so there is group study and tutoring available.
Click to expand...
For Navy Options the required technical courses are:
- Calc I and Calc II
- Physics I and Physics II

As it has already been put by the more experienced members of this board, your major doesn't matter for most things. You can still go into Nuke Power (Subs and Nuke SWO) as a Tier 3. However, things like TPS* and EDO will look very fondly upon or "require" STEM degrees, and these programs can often lead to getting a Masters in a technical field via Naval Postgraduate School (NPS).

*= this last selection group there was one selectee with a non-STEM major for TPS, so there are exceptions to everything.

Even if you start as a Tier 1, you can switch to a Tier 3 after a semester or year.
 
BarryD said:
For Navy Options the required technical courses are:
- Calc I and Calc II
- Physics I and Physics II

As it has already been put by the more experienced members of this board, your major doesn't matter for most things. You can still go into Nuke Power (Subs and Nuke SWO) as a Tier 3. However, things like TPS* and EDO will look very fondly upon or "require" STEM degrees, and these programs can often lead to getting a Masters in a technical field via Naval Postgraduate School (NPS).

*= this last selection group there was one selectee with a non-STEM major for TPS, so there are exceptions to everything.

Even if you start as a Tier 1, you can switch to a Tier 3 after a semester or year.
Click to expand...
You MAY be able to switch from tier 1 or 2 to tier 3, but that is not guaranteed by any means. Making the change may also mean losing your scholarship. This is from the Regulations on Officer Development:
(9) The PNS may approve Tier 1 to Tier 2, Tier 3 up to higher tiers, or within tier changes. The PNS notifies OD of the change.
(10) NSTC OD will convene a panel to review midshipmen requests to transfer to Tier 3 academic majors. NSTC OD3 will chair the panel. If there are no available Tier 3 quotas, the panel will review the midshipmen’s request and consider for transfer to the College Program, Nurse Corps Program, or Marine Corps Program.

www.public.navy.mil › NSTC_Directives › NSTC_Manuals
 
ProudDad17 said:
You MAY be able to switch from tier 1 or 2 to tier 3, but that is not guaranteed by any means. Making the change may also mean losing your scholarship. This is from the Regulations on Officer Development:
(9) The PNS may approve Tier 1 to Tier 2, Tier 3 up to higher tiers, or within tier changes. The PNS notifies OD of the change.
(10) NSTC OD will convene a panel to review midshipmen requests to transfer to Tier 3 academic majors. NSTC OD3 will chair the panel. If there are no available Tier 3 quotas, the panel will review the midshipmen’s request and consider for transfer to the College Program, Nurse Corps Program, or Marine Corps Program.

www.public.navy.mil › NSTC_Directives › NSTC_Manuals
Click to expand...
This is a true and important note.

Everyone I know who has applied (including myself) have successfully done so and not lost their scholarship.

I was concerned about loosing my scholarship if I applied; what I did was submit a package and wait for the board results before ultimately changing my major. Just my experience with the process, and I'm sure that it can vary from year to year.
 
Tier 3, 1/C MIDN here. Best decision of my life. Do what makes you happy, school will be 10x more difficult if you choose Something more “desirable” that you don’t love. Being a tier 3 major has opened countless of doors that are not open to my tier 1/2 friends such as political military internships, fellowships, etc.
 
Hard to find a better, deeper, more versatile major than History.

Like STEM majors, History majors are intensely analytical and bring advanced skills in breaking down a complex problem into its component parts and seeing how those parts relate to each other.

Like Social Science majors, History majors bring formal, structured thinking and deep knowledge of many societies and eras to important causal questions about social institutions and complex social relationships.

Like Humanities majors, History majors know how to pose fundamental questions about human civilization and give fluent, gracefully-composed answers informed by the very best that has been thought and said.

No matter what graduate or professional training you decide upon later, a History major will stand you in good stead. Challenge yourself, seek out professors who will force to think critically and write extensively, and you'll do fine whatever path you choose.
 
Yeah I'm a rising 2/C who just submitted a package to go from tier 2 to tier 3. My company officer mentioned that the unit's old XO (who was there for 7 years) had never seen someone lose their scholarship, but he had seen people get their request denied. Still waiting to hear back, but it'll be interesting to see what happens.
 
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