I’ve never known anyone formally to have attended an academy, though my dad pursued AF ROTC at UNC and really enjoyed his experience. I was wondering what if any any downsides there were (as an aspiring business person) to attending USNA rather than pursuing ROTC at a more business oriented school.
ROTC vs Attending Academy
- Thread starter Woop199
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It honestly just comes down to personal preference. I know that USNA will offer much fewer freedoms, which can be demoralizing for mids. ROTC is often marketed as an officer training program combined with a standard college experience, so there's more freedom there. USNA will offer a much more immersive experience, so if all that it comes with--PE, military training, stricter rules--appeals to you, then go for it.
The freedom component of ROTC does appeal to me, though I’m not sure if my tuition would be completely covered at the schools I’m applying to. Might be a strong reason to still pursue USNA if not.
Check the ROTC coverage for each school. I believe at most schools, tuition and fees are fully covered but you're on the hook for room and board (or living expenses if off campus). Often about $15-20k a year, which is considerably less than what your fellow students would pay. Just make sure you're not passing up a great opportunity based on cost, especially if ROTC at that school will also cover your living expenses.
From what I've heard, it's a bad idea to go to an academy for the "free college." You will pay for it with your blood, sweat, and tears, so base your decision off what you actually want to get out of your college experience, not what you might have to pay.
Exactly. Free college can be a reason, only if you're looking for a multiyear commitment as well. Those who only join for free college will most likely find that it isn't for them.
Free college isn’t my only reason, because I’ve received multiple full ride or close to full ride scholarships elsewhere. I’ve decided I want to serve my country, so now I’m just trying to determine which opportunity would allow me to do that and best suit my needs.
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Have you visited the SA? Applied for an immersion experience? Done a guided tour or admissions visit?
Same with visiting the ROTC unit interested in.
There are lots of differences. A SA is a leadership lab. You will be exposed to and listen to great leaders. You are practicing/learning/developing your own leaderships style constantly. This is a big difference between a SA and ROTC. You are exposed to more military leaders daily, and through lecture series, at SA’s.
Another difference is the focus of the school. A SA is 100 pct vested in graduating and commissioning you as an officer. VS at ROTC, the actual school’s focus is not that. So, imo, at regular college one doesn’t necessarily have the entire school dedicated to commissioning you. Whereas at a SA, that’s the focus of the school.
At a SA, everyone is geared towards the same thing. Your friends/classmates are all in the same boat. The same situation. At a regular college/ROTC, there are many different focuses vying for your time. You have more freedoms. But that means you also have more freedoms...and need to make sure and choose the right ones to engage in. It’s more on you as an individual to succeed, vs at a SA, the entire focus is on everyone succeeding (and by succeeding, I mean commissioning).
In some ways, ROTC is more challenging. In other ways, a SA is more challenging. It’s a personal choice.
Same with visiting the ROTC unit interested in.
There are lots of differences. A SA is a leadership lab. You will be exposed to and listen to great leaders. You are practicing/learning/developing your own leaderships style constantly. This is a big difference between a SA and ROTC. You are exposed to more military leaders daily, and through lecture series, at SA’s.
Another difference is the focus of the school. A SA is 100 pct vested in graduating and commissioning you as an officer. VS at ROTC, the actual school’s focus is not that. So, imo, at regular college one doesn’t necessarily have the entire school dedicated to commissioning you. Whereas at a SA, that’s the focus of the school.
At a SA, everyone is geared towards the same thing. Your friends/classmates are all in the same boat. The same situation. At a regular college/ROTC, there are many different focuses vying for your time. You have more freedoms. But that means you also have more freedoms...and need to make sure and choose the right ones to engage in. It’s more on you as an individual to succeed, vs at a SA, the entire focus is on everyone succeeding (and by succeeding, I mean commissioning).
In some ways, ROTC is more challenging. In other ways, a SA is more challenging. It’s a personal choice.
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No business major at USNA but many grads that I know got MBAs in their post-USNA lives. I am one of them.
From my experience it’s not necessarily possible to visit most of the colleges I’m interested in, or they are limited in what they can show you on the tours. (Due to covid) I did however participate in a few online USNA events, shadowing zoom classes, meeting current Midshipmen, ETC. It’s definitely been a challenge trying to evaluate college environments in their current state.
If attending USNA my plan is to major in quantitative econometrics and get my MBA after service.
Just sharing this meme I found. My mom did this same thing so I thought it was pretty spot-on.
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So much is challenging these days. Unfortunately.
The good news, is you can go for both, continue to evaluate, and then decide should you have offers of both. Hopefully stuff open up to help with decision making.
ekb1398
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I've done both (NROTC MO and USCGA)! If you have any specific questions I would be really happy to compare and contrast. I am happy I decided to go to USCGA because I think I'll be much more happy as a Coastie than I would have been as a Marine, but all things being equal, I would pick ROTC over Academy any day (e.g. NROTC over USNA). That said, everyone who said it's a personal decision is 100% correct. My only advice would be to not get all caught up in the "grandeur" or "prestige" of the SA's. In my opinion, it ain't all it's cracked up to be and at the end of the day, you'll be an Ensign/2nd Lieutenant no matter which way you go.
Thank you for the offer, I might accept your hand of knowledge when I’ve narrowed my options down more!
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When DD’s BGO was doing her USNA admissions interview, he said: “There are three main ways to become a commissioned officer. Why are you choosing the most difficult path?”
It might have been hyperbole to provoke a certain response. But I think he was right. SAs are very difficult places to be, and you need to be very committed to that lifestyle and path to thrive there. Not saying other schools aren’t difficult either — ROTC at an Ivy sounds intense — but there’s not the same 24/7 scrutiny and assessment that goes on at an SA. It most definitely is N*OT COLLEGE.
UHBlackhawk
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Well, yes and no.
Yes, both will be O-1s. And people will be more interested in performance than how you obtained your commission. However, SAs can present leadership lessons not available to ROTC if you take advantage of them. We see this the past year with COVID. AROTC advanced camp was cancelled, so many ROTC graduates are being commissioned with no real leadership experience.
When you leave the service a school name can make a major difference in many fields. In my field some companies require a 3.0 for entry, but it’s a 2.5 if you attended an Ivy League or a SA. I once sat next to a head hunter on a flight. She said the first cut for many positions is the school you attended. SA and Ivy League graduates make the first cut.
This does not mean one can’t overcome school name with hard work. It also doesn’t mean you should just go to a SA for the name. But don’t fool yourself. The name of a school can make a difference in the doors that are opened.
foxtail0520
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What about schools like Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, and Duke that are technically not Ivy League schools but are pretty much at the same level?
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This falls under the "sad but true" world we live in to some extent. An HR staffer, a recruiter or other person in charge of hiring at most jobs is dealing with likely tens, hundreds and maybe thousands of applicants. If you have a metric that "could" many times be a first indicator of success then you would almost always use it to make your job easier.
If a SA or "elite" school has vetted a candidate already to gain admission (not applying all of the random variables that could exist as to why a person that might not be as "qualified as others" on some scale did still get into that particular school, like a billionaire donor kid or a "legacy" with poor grades, etc.), then that same person in the hiring position can and many times will feel that some of their work has been done for them by the admissions personnel at that school. This is also true for the same situation in a job when the candidate pool is only HS grads, former enlisted applicants, junior/community college grads, "non-elite" school grads or whatever (but not SA or "elite" school grads). In that case, the recruiter may say "the military did my work for me" and I am taking the 4 year enlisted solider to the top of the pile vs. the others.
There may always be a "metric" that gets you to the top of the pile at first review in the "eyes" of that person making the hiring call even if it is unfair to a certain degree. It really is all relative.
UHBlackhawk
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Much will depend on the field you are entering, GPA, and grad school. For example, if you are entering the engineering field, MIT and Carnegie Mellon have much better reputations than Ivy League schools. Want to work for a top tier law firm? Better have the Ivy League undergraduate and law school pedigree.