USNA/USMA vs Princeton ROTC

One of my USNA company mates has sons who graduated USNA and USMA. The USMA son just finished a Masters at Princeton en route to USMA where he will teach. One of my fellow congressional panel members is a female USMA grad who is now assigned to Princeton where she is also getting a Masters. Both of their degrees are fully funded grad opportunities.
 
Capt MJ said:
To add to looking at the decision from a 360 point of view, he can always go to Princeton for grad school later on.
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I concur with @Capt MJ … you can’t flip the order, so this way he/she will have experienced both … more possibly?

Too much mental calculus can be overly stressful …

FWIW … our daughter has found a “New Love” from her Naval Academy 2nd degree major, which is the Russian language/culture/… She’’ll have a hard science degree and Russian minor when she graduates … and she is already looking at graduate programs in International Relations because of her professors and Advisors/Mentors at the Naval Academy — one of her mentors is a retired Admiral

I don’t say much …. I’m just a caveman lawyer … I’ll champion & be excited about whatever she’s doing
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Daughter was Chinese Major and did a short summer and then semester in China, Great pictures from the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. Don't think Russia or China are open for semesters currently. Friend of mine in High School had all 800's on SAT's. Got a C in Russian at Tufts. Said it was the hardest class he ever had. I also stay out of the Mother/Daughter bonding conversations but inside I am chearing but stoic on the outside.:bounce1:
 
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Dr. Kim was a Doc before become a physician. His NASA bio states he is a graduate of "Hospital Corpsman “A” school training." We call it Corps School. He then went to BUD/S, to war, to undergrad to Harvard and beyond. Many of the articles and biographies on Jonny omit the fact he was a Corpsman before he had any other title.
 
Old Enlisted Marine said:
I believe back in the day all enlisted SEALs had a primary MOS before BUDS. Now you can enlist direct.
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Yes, in 2006 (I think but maybe the year is off by a little) Naval Special Warfare changed all the enlisted source ratings to SO. Same with EOD techs. We could always send corpsmen to Ft. Bragg for the Special Operations Combat medic course (SOCM) but now the SEALS send their people there for their first medical training. I went to Independent Duty Corpsman School and became good friends with a SEAL HM1 who had the option to go to the advanced course (ADSOCM) at Bragg instead of IDC school in Portsmouth, VA. He still earned the NEC 8492, SEAL Independent Duty Corpsman, and I earned NEC 8425, Surface Force Independent Duty Corpsman. The Navy in recent years however has blown up the NEC codes and I have no idea what any of them are.

Apologies for not having any advice on choosing between Princeton or a service academy. I barely graduated high school.
 
As a parent of a kid who is trying to navigate choosing the appointment, the Ivy acceptance (with ROTC scholarship) and a top public school plus honors program and ROTC I really appreciate this feedback, especially the thoughtful and specific comments about Princeton from Herman Snerd and Ivy22. These kids are encouraged to pursue all avenues of serving, and when they do, opportunities can abound. That is awesome, but can also be a little overwhelming. My older son committed ED to a school with ROTC early on & has benefited from all that program could offer, with a service assignment that was not even open to him in the beginning of his journey. It is my firm belief that all of these options are great, just different and unique paths. And that is what I keep telling my younger son.

edit to add I really love the Ted Cruz story!
 
To OP, I wish you and your son the best and I would love it if you could update us when he makes his decision and what motivated him to make said decision. I got into Notre Dame yesterday and I'm super excited! My original intent was to have ROTC at ND as a backup if I am unable to fulfill the remaining requirements of my LOA. However, the more I've ruminated about it the more trouble I've been having about which one I would choose. I know I don't have an appointment in hand but what if? I don't know which one I'd choose. They each have their pros and cons. My mom is telling me that I should choose USNA if I receive an appointment because of how hard I've worked on my application and my nomination applications.

Additionally, Notre Dame is a good friend of mine's dream school. A lot of his family went there and he's been dreaming of going there since 1st grade. He unfortunately got rejected last night and I was fortunate enough to get in thanks to my Army ROTC scholarship. It just makes me feel funny swooping in at the last instance (I decided to apply to ND about a month before the deadline) and getting in while he didn't, and in the end, I don't even end up attending.
 
Must have been a great High School. :thumb: The Winds of Change Are Always Blowing.
 
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Dr. Strange Love said:
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I concur with @Capt MJ … you can’t flip the order, so this way he/she will have experienced both … more possibly?

Too much mental calculus can be overly stressful …

FWIW … our daughter has found a “New Love” from her Naval Academy 2nd degree major, which is the Russian language/culture/… She’’ll have a hard science degree and Russian minor when she graduates … and she is already looking at graduate programs in International Relations because of her professors and Advisors/Mentors at the Naval Academy — one of her mentors is a retired Admiral

I don’t say much …. I’m just a caveman lawyer … I’ll champion & be excited about whatever she’s doing
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DS loves his Russian language minor. Has been lucky to have two phenomenal instructors.
 
OP...lots of great advice so far and I can my add my DS (USNA '25) experience. He received appointments to USNA and USAFA. He was also admitted to Harvard with a 4 year AFROTC scholarship. He had been to visit USNA during a summer vacation but due to COVID, travelling to visit USAFA and Harvard was limited if not doable so he had to go pretty much sight unseen. He really struggled between Harvard to have a "normal" college experince and the SA's. In the end he chose USNA as he decided Navy was were he wanted to serve.

I believe DS has had more experiences (good/bad) and certainly different then at Harvard. Despite only being a 2/C, he has been across the country, spent a month in Japan, and spent a weekend in Dublin (for Navy-ND game) and he already knows he gets a month in Summer '24 for language immersion program in a yet to be determined country that speaks Arabic. Additionally he has met and had discussions with high level military and government officials, been published once with a second article out soon. He will graduate and commission debt free where if he went to Harvard he would have been on the hook for Room&Board as ROTC did not cover those costs and Harvard deemed he (meaning me) could have afforded the $20K per year. And as stated by @Capt MJ ...he still has opportunity to attend Harvard post USNA!

My 2 cents....don't rush decision, go visit the schools (if not done already), figure out the culture/service he thinks fits his desires, then decide.
 
I would worry less about prestige, etc. DS will do fine in life whichever path he chooses. IMO, it largely comes down to whether DS wants a "normal" college life or life at a SA. They are entirely different. USNA is all military all the time. That can get very old in a hurry if you're not ready for it / don't really want it. That said, as the above poster said, you get some absolutely incredible experiences at USNA that are hard to replicate.

OP, you didn't say whether DS had done NASS or CVW. If he's not done CVW, I highly recommend it -- especially in Jan/Feb if possible. That's the "Dark Ages" at USNA. Plebes are often at their "most miserable." For this reason, it's a great time to visit. :D
 
smokey% said:
Additionally, Notre Dame is a good friend of mine's dream school. A lot of his family went there and he's been dreaming of going there since 1st grade. He unfortunately got rejected last night and I was fortunate enough to get in thanks to my Army ROTC scholarship. It just makes me feel funny swooping in at the last instance (I decided to apply to ND about a month before the deadline) and getting in while he didn't, and in the end, I don't even end up attending.
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Don't let your friend's situation cloud your review. Your interests are what matter here. And, the time and effort of a SA application, in and of themselves, should really not be a factor. Focus on your goals and how each program fits into those! Good luck.
 
NavyUMO said:
Well my DS just found out that he was accepted to Princeton last evening. He has Navy and Army ROTC scholarships and also has appointments to USNA/USMA. As a USNA grad, I completely understand the differences in the experience and pros/cons of one versus the other. I have tried to impart my experiences to him but, at the end of the day, he has to live it and do it. Would love to get others in the forum for additional sage input on factors to consider to put into his calculus and final decision. He would like to decide by Christmas, to put a bow around (pun intended) this long and arduous multi-month process.
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Just curious what happened with the decision. I have a senior at P now in engineering and her best friend is Army ROTC (she turned down USMA to attend Princeton.) My DS will be attending USAFA in June but still in the Princeton process as one of his Plan B. It is a wonderful campus, students are supportive and pretty serious scholars. If you wish you can PM me and I can get you contact
 
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