Hello everyone. It has been my goal since I was young to serve in the military in some way and now that it's time for applying to college, I sought acceptance to the Naval Academy and West Point as well as NROTC and Army ROTC scholarships. I have been very fortune and recieved an LOA to the Naval Academy as well as West Point. I also recieved two seperate full tuition four year scholarships to attend the Massachustetts Institute of Technology from both NROTC and ROTC. I am very well aware of the distinctions between the two accademies and the careers that lie beyond them, however, I am less knowledgeable about the specifics of NROTC and ROTC at MIT. My questions are: is it true that at MIT or other equally reputable institutions that ROTC scholarships do not help with admissions, how many people typically recieve these appointments per year, is there any difference in what is paid for by the scholarship, is there any drastic difference in the two programs beyond meeting the specific needs of the Army and Navy, and does anyone have any personal information or experience about either of these programs that could help me to make a decision in the event that I am accepted. Thank you and I apologize if any of this was posted in another thread.
ROTC/ NROTC Advice and Questions
- Thread starter mahkcots
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You do realize that by picking a ROTC program that you'll be responsible for room and board, unlike a service academy, right? Fundamentally there are no real differences between the programs. There are differences in details like NROTC will have you on summer cruises each year, and I can't keep up with what Army is doing in that regard currently. However, you don't pick a service based on their ROTC program, you should base it on what you want to do after college. eg. If you hate the water and can't swim, then Navy is not for you. Look at the MOSs for each service and figure out what appeals to you. Personally, I would go with the service academies, but they're not for everyone.
Congrats on your scholarships. At MIT not sure if there is any pull from admissions or not you will here both sides on this forum but if you do get accepted, the Navy will pay the full tuition. I think it is a cross town unit and not too many students from MIT. There are also some posters on here with kids at that program that may chime in. IMHO the military training is not as good as the SA's but the education is better. Coming from MIT you would more than likely get any service assignment requested. My DS had a LOA to USNA and did not use it, but preferred a top public university. He is now in nuclear training and according to him, everybody is blending in and it doesn't matter the commissioning source. So I think it comes down to what kind of college life do you want, 24/7 military or somewhat more normal college life. In contrast to Kinnem, if I had the option, I would do the super elite university.
The MIT NROTC Company used to be stand alone but is now part of the Boston Consortium, though for most practical purposes it remains self contained. There are around a hundred midshipmen in the company, with the majority from MIT, a fair percentage from Harvard and a few from Tufts. Almost all classes and labs are held on the MIT campus, with an occasional event, such as change of command, held at Boston University across the river. The NROTC is not big on PT or drill (once a week PT and no marching) as opposed to AROTC (three times a week PT); unless you are NROTC Marine Option. NROTC prefers technical majors, especially engineering While MIT doesn't give you the military training which you would receive at an academy, it likely gives you superior academics, and you will have access to a lot of top military personnel who are MIT alum (example, the SECDEF had lunch with a dozen ROTC students there last week).