Tell me about Texas A&M

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Roughrider

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Our son, a sophomore, has ambitions of active duty Army. He's studying engineering at a STEM magnet high school. We live in Texas, and he's likely to qualify for automatic admission to TAMU (we understand the application to the CoC is a separate process.) He's been planning on applying to West Point, with ROTC, with or without a scholarship, as his plan B. As he considers college choices, we have a few questions about Texas A & M's corps of cadets.

1. Enrollment in the corps of cadets is mandatory for ROTC, correct?

2. How many members of the corps of cadets, generally, are interested in active duty?

3. Is there a particular unit that is only for serious ROTC students going after an active duty commission, and if so, how does one get placed on it? Don't misunderstand -- he respects the Aggie cadets who have joined for social reasons, or in order to participate in particular events or teams, or because they appreciate the network of corps alumni professionally, or in order to honor a family tradition, etc. -- but he really would prefer, if possible, to be placed with cadets who share his goal.

Thanks for any input/advice.

RR
 
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Hi Roughrider. My son is a senior in AROTC at A&M in the Corps of Cadets. To answer your questions:

1. Yes, if you are in ROTC you must be in the Corps of Cadets.

2. The past few years, about 40 to 50% of the graduating seniors went on to be commissioned. With recent cutbacks in personnel for all the services, it may be a bit less the next several years. All senior military college cadets are guaranteed active duty, but, again with cutbacks, some cadets are given the option of going reserve.

3. There is a mix of scholarship, SMP, non-scholarship but contracted, and DNC cadets (cadets just in for the experience, but not commissioning) in each outfit. Some outfits lean more toward one of those groups over others. Your son can pick the outfit he would like to be in based on what characteristics he wants to emphasize. That includes outfits that have a heavier emphasis on contracted cadets. My son chose his outfit because it was known as the "Army" outfit because the majority of their cadets are on contract and going on to commissioning upon graduation.
 
Gig 'Em!

Roughrider -

Disclaimer: We love Texas A&M Corps of Cadets!! My DD is a fish NROTC-MO @ A&M.

CadetMom77 gave great answers to your questions! The only thing I would add is not only might your son pick his unit based on contracted vs. non-contracted, he could also choose units based on other areas of focus. Some units are all about engineering, some on military tradition, some on agriculture, physical fitness, some are male only. A great way to figure out which unit is a good fit is to "Spend the Night with the Corps" and actually live and breathe a day with them.:thumb:
 
Thanks!

His high school schedules a weekend field trip every year to A&M (they do this for Tech, Baylor, and UT-Austin, as well) and he's hoping to talk to some cadets then. He's also planning a trip to Texas Christian with some buddies from his church group.

At the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, is there a listing anywhere of which A&M Corps of Cadets units focus on which special interests, or does it vary from year to year?
 
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