USNA vs. NROTC Nursing

N

navyproud2021

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Feb 16, 2017
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Hi all,

I am aware that these are two very different programs, but I just wanted to know regarding the quality of life of both programs and what you believe are the benefits/drawbacks of each.

Just some background - I want to be a naval officer. After my commission at USNA (if I get in), I was thinking of attending med school to become a navy doc. After my commission from NROTC, I was thinking of doing the same thing as well.

I am flexible about what I major in (probably would do engineering at USNA, and nursing at NROTC).

Edit: I have been accepted for the NROTC nursing scholarship already.
 
I believe that, at present, there are no NROTC nursing scholarships available. Based on posts from knowledgeable folks on this forum no NROTC nursing scholarships were awarded last year and supposedly the same is true this year. Who knows about next year? It's my understanding that an educational delay for med school after USNA occurs very rarely. You might search some older threads on educational delay, NROTC nursing, etc.
 
Do you want to be a nurse or a doctor? If you go NROTC nurse they aren't likely to let you go to medical school.
 
They are still selecting folks for NROTC Nursing scholarships. Not many, but they are available. I believe they are awarding about 20 total this whole year. Only ONE was selected on the 6-10 FEB board, the results of which came out today, so I guess we know who that lucky person is......
 
navyproud2021 said:
Hi all,

I am aware that these are two very different programs, but I just wanted to know regarding the quality of life of both programs and what you believe are the benefits/drawbacks of each.

Just some background - I want to be a naval officer. After my commission at USNA (if I get in), I was thinking of attending med school to become a navy doc. After my commission from NROTC, I was thinking of doing the same thing as well.

I am flexible about what I major in (probably would do engineering at USNA, and nursing at NROTC).

Edit: I have been accepted for the NROTC nursing scholarship already.
Click to expand...
My wife was a AF nurse and then the AF sent her to grad school to be a Certified Nurse Midwife. If you go Nursing, it's a great career and opens up a lot of good places to be stationed. She spent most of her career in England, Japan, and Germany. I got to tag along to the last two! But if nursing is your desire, you also have the career option of the Navy sending you for advanced nursing degrees, such as what the AF did for my wife.
Have you been accepted into any Nursing Programs yet?
As for going to Med School, my kids were also told that very few go from the academies, and that ROTC is the better option. I don't know though how our undergrad degree applies to being chosen. Good luck with either route!
 
navyproud2021 said:
Hi Kinnem, I received an email notifying me of my acceptance today! My portal was updated earlier today as well. I could provide a screenshot of my portal to show you privately if you want.

And thanks, I'll take a look at past threads!
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Congrats! I stand corrected.
 
That sounds amazing @unkown1961. Something that played a part (a small part) in me wanting to become a naval officer was the chance to travel a bit.

Do you mind if I ask what she did at those stations specifically?
 
Congratulations, you must be an outstanding candidate.

Becoming a Nurse, Doctor and Navy Officer any all very different things. They could work together, but it would be a very atypical path. Through NROTC there is no educational delay to become a doctor, so you would need to serve your commitment then apply and go to medical school. Here is a link to some NROTC alumni, about half way down for a NROTC to doctor. He graduated in 04 and was on track to graduate med school in 16. Long way to go. http://aig.alumni.virginia.edu/nrotc/alumni/alumni-updates/

USNA does have about 10 bullets a year for medical and dental school. Very competitive and a rigorous path. Read through these links from USNA on their pre med program https://www.usna.edu/ChemDept/ChemMajor/pre-medical-options.php Unlike NROTC it is possible to go directly to med school from USNA, but you will need to be a the top of the class. It would also be possible to commission through USNA, serve you committment and then go to medical school.

With both of these path, getting all your premed requirements completed, along with your military commitments will challenge your time management skill. Pre Med requires more than academics and will include Research and volunteering to add to everything else. Again you seem to be smart enough to get all that done.

Nursing to Physician seems to be the least conventional path. Typically nurses go on to get advanced degrees in nursing. I am sure it has and can be done, but again an atypical path.
 
Congratulations!
First and foremost, you should decide if you want to be a Nurse first or a physician first. As 5Day has stated above, there are other ways to become a physician that may be more direct.

One of these paths is the Navy HPSP program. You would forego your hard earned NROTC scholarship and just be a conventional student for your undergrad work, graduate with top grades, take the MCAT and get accepted to a Med school. (easy, right?)

At that point, you would apply for the HPSP scholarship. This pays for med school tuition, monthly living expenses and in some cases a possible signing bonus. Once you become an MD you would then direct commission into the Navy as a Naval Physician.

Here is a link to this program.
https://www.navy.com/joining/college-options/hpsp
 
navyproud2021 said:
Hi all,

I am aware that these are two very different programs, but I just wanted to know regarding the quality of life of both programs and what you believe are the benefits/drawbacks of each.

Just some background - I want to be a naval officer. After my commission at USNA (if I get in), I was thinking of attending med school to become a navy doc. After my commission from NROTC, I was thinking of doing the same thing as well.

I am flexible about what I major in (probably would do engineering at USNA, and nursing at NROTC).

Edit: I have been accepted for the NROTC nursing scholarship already.
Click to expand...

There are many, many threads over recent years discussing the limited number of med school slots out of USNA. If you haven't done so, please search and browse. The 13-15 or so mids who get to do that are usually fairly high in their USNA class, and have competed with classmates to get one of those slots. They have to carefully manage their classes and major to get what they need to get a decent score on the MCAT and acceptance to medical school. Many major in Chemistry, as more compatible with a med school goal, but mids with other majors juggle their schedule, take summer school as needed, etc., to get the subject matter they need. You will also want to research the years of payback involved, and when it starts, as compared to the 5-year obligation.

The majority of Navy doctors come in via direct accession commission after civilian med school. I encourage you to research the HPSP program. You can also apply for the USUHS med school and receive a commission when starting there. The Naval Academy is designed to deliver warriors to the Fleet and Corps. If you are fine with doing either, then USNA is certainly an option. Be sure you are okay with going into one of the warfare specialties if you do not get selected for Med Corps. Start here:


https://www.usna.edu/ChemDept/ChemMajor/pre-medical-options.php

https://www.navy.com/joining/college-options/hpsp

https://www.usuhs.edu/medschool

Congratulations on the NROTC Nursing scholarship. That's a very nice bird in the hand. I'm not an NROTC expert, but if the Navy has set aside funds from its nursing pot to fund your college career, I would assume they expect to get a nurse out of it. Once you have completed that obligation, down the road, there may be opportunities to attend medical school.
 
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What school are you thinking of going to for Nursing NROTC? All the Nursing option NROTC schools are excellent.
 
navyproud2021 said:
Hi Kinnem, I received an email notifying me of my acceptance today! My portal was updated earlier today as well. I could provide a screenshot of my portal to show you privately if you want.

And thanks, I'll take a look at past threads!
Click to expand...
First of all, congratulations! That is a big accomplishment. My daughter is an Army ROTC nursing student, MS1, awarded a scholarship last year. I will echo what has already been said, nursing and medicine are two different paths. It is possible your nursing classes won't even work for pre reqs for medical school and that would be something you would have to do after your navy commitment is done. If the Navy is only handing out 20 scholarships to nurses this year, they are going to expect you to be a nurse, period. You might be able to become a nurse practiomer down the road with the Navy though. These are questions I would be asking now.I know for Army, and am assuming for Navy, there is no ability to change your major either if you are on a nursing scholarship, it is for nursing only.

Edit: I type slow everyone's beat me!
 
5day, I got the scholarship for the University of Michigan, but I haven't "got in" to the school yet. I heard that I will hear back from them before Apr 1.

Dckc88, lol thank you! How does your daughter like AROTC?

CaptMJ, thank you again! I will take a look.
 
Make sure you let Michigan admissions and the NROTC battalion know that you have a Nurse option NROTC scholarship. NROTC Nursing majors are rare, my DS battalion only has 2. It may make a difference, it may not, but it can't hurt.
 
navyproud2021 said:
5day, I got the scholarship for the University of Michigan, but I haven't "got in" to the school yet. I heard that I will hear back from them before Apr 1.

Dckc88, lol thank you! How does your daughter like AROTC?

CaptMJ, thank you again! I will take a look.
Click to expand...

She is really enjoying it. She says she is learning so much and it is solidifying her desire to be an officer in the Army. She is also at a school that nursing school starts as a freshman, and she is loving learning more about the profession of nursing, which is also being confirmed that it is the right path for her. She has been saying since she was twelve that she wanted to be an Army officer and a nurse so to be nineteen and still feel that way is a relief for her! +1 5day, University of Michigan may or may not care, but I would let NROTC at Michigan know that you did get the scholarship and would like to use it, if you end up going to the he academy, no worries, but they might have some influence on admissions. I would email admissions as well, it honestly cannnot hurt.
 
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