VMI vs Citadel

TXChas said:
My youngest son is currently a Rat at VMI on a national 4-year Army ROTC Scholarship (Class 2020+3). My oldest son is a Class of 2018 grad of the USMA at West Point, so my wife and I have twice-experienced this application and decision-making process.

Attending VMI was "Plan B" for my youngest son, after not receiving an appointment to West Point (Plan A). In addition to VMI, he also applied and was accepted to Citadel, Norwich, and Texas A&M (TAMU). With regard to your questions above (MNRC2018), my VMI son's experience has been as follows:

1. Army ROTC Scholarship: He completed his online application prior to the 1st Board deadline. He did not receive a scholarship after the 1st Board convened (notified that his status was still "Boarded - Under Consideration"); he received a 3-year scholarship notification after the 2nd Board (on 1/25/19); he was later notified that he had been upgraded to a 4-year scholarship after the 3rd Board (on 3/28/19).

2. West Point: My son received his rejection letter (TWE) from USMA about a week after notification of his 4-year AROTC upgrade, though the rejection letter was dated 3/20/19. He was a very qualified applicant and very similar on paper to his older WP brother (Eagle Scout, Boys State, USMA SLE attendee, varsity athlete, excellent SAT score, 20 hours of dual-credit college classes, etc.) and had received both a Congressional and a Senatorial nomination, but unfortunately did not receive an appointment. We were somewhat surprised and disappointed, but glad we had a good Plan B.

3. ROTC College Choice: We visited both VMI and The Citadel with my son; he had attended the West Point Summer Leaders Experience on his own. He has a fellow Eagle Scout friend (a year older) who is currently attending Norwich on Navy ROTC scholarship (Marine option) who had given him a very good idea of what that college experience is like, such that we felt no need to visit Norwich. After digesting all information from our visits and the discussion with the Norwich friend, my son decided that VMI was the best fit for him. He ranked his choices as follows: VMI, Norwich, Citadel, TAMU.

My son chose VMI in the end because he wanted a military college environment where all students were cadets living the military lifestyle (like at USMA); this easily eliminated Norwich and TAMU from consideration (in addition, TAMU was just way too big for him!). Norwich would have been the best financial choice, in that they offered enough in local scholarships to cover all expenses that were not covered by ROTC! He chose VMI over The Citadel for reasons that were important to him as an individual, so it was a subjective decision rather than objective. Fortunately he has received some outside scholarship money to supplement the ROTC scholarship, so out-of-pocket cost is about $5K per year for us at VMI. It would have been approximately the same cost had he chosen The Citadel.

4. Hotels at VMI are really not a problem at if one plans ahead. We had no problem getting a hotel in Lexington for Matriculation Day, but the demand is definitely greater (and prices higher) for Parent's Weekend. For Parent's weekend in 2019, we chose to stay in a hotel in Raphine over Lexington because it was much cheaper, and only 20 minutes away.

Hope this helps.
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TXCHAS, this was a very helpful response. We are not experienced at all about this process and just going with the flow of things. I am so glad that he has already been accepted to two great military schools. We will see if he can manage to get some scholarship. Your description of timelines and decisions making is insightful. How is your son liking VMI?
 
TXChas said:
My son chose VMI in the end because he wanted a military college environment where all students were cadets living the military lifestyle (like at USMA)
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TXChas, VMI is definitely ‘different’ from the other SMCs in this regard. Good luck to your son, sounds like he made the right decision!
 
Here's the difference that should make the decision much easier:🤔

One school had Stonewall as a professor & was the school that General George Catlett Marshal (& his brother) decided to attend & graduate from...
& the other school doesn't.
Good enough for the only general ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize, good enough for me.

Hope this was helpful!!
 
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MNRC2018 said:
TXCHAS, this was a very helpful response. We are not experienced at all about this process and just going with the flow of things. I am so glad that he has already been accepted to two great military schools. We will see if he can manage to get some scholarship. Your description of timelines and decisions making is insightful. How is your son liking VMI?
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I don't know if "like" is really the right word to use in describing the experience of a Rat at VMI or a Plebe at West Point. My West Point son never ever used the words "like" or "enjoy" regarding his experience at WP, but he is definitely proud to be a WP grad. My Rat son is confident that he has made the right choice for himself regarding VMI, but he has been greatly challenged by the Rat Line. He had attended STP during the summer and thought he was adequately prepared physically, mentally, and emotionally, but learned very quickly that he was not during Hell Week. The Rat Line has challenged him down to his core, and Hell Week is an experience that he hopes to never repeat! He told us more than once that he had no idea it would be as tough as what he has experienced, but he has managed to dig deep within himself and persevere. He would say that he is glad he chose VMI and believes it is the right place for him, but he doesn't yet "like" it. He soooooo wishes he had done much more to prepare himself physically prior to Matriculation Day!
 
I posted this a while ago but I believe it's still applicable.

My DS had that same choice. He was offered a 4 year AROTC scholarship to VMI, VT or El Cid. He chose VMI because all students are in the corps, closer to home, much cooler temperature for doing PT (which you'll be doing often) and he prefers the mountains to the beach. If you love the idea of a small, charming town in the mountains while attending a top-notch, difficult military school, go to VMI, if you want to live in an awesome city (Charleston is one of my favorites, and I've been to a lot of places) go to the beach on your rare day off while attending a difficult military school go to the Citadel. Both schools are rated highly and both will serve you well if you want to be a military officer.

This is a neat website in terms of career earnings divided by state or otherwise.
https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-state/bachelors/new-york
VMI is number two in Virginia, behind Washington and Lee, which borders VMI and the Citadel is number one in South Carolina. It's relevant to divide them by state due to cost of living adjustments geographically speaking. Good luck in your search, that senior year is probably more stressful than it needs to be. Things will work out and everything happens for a reason.

My son is now halfway through his second year and it's been an incredible experience. Difficult but rewarding.
 
My DD is 1/C (senior) at VMI. She also was accepted to the Citadel and both schools offered generous merit scholarships. We are out of state for both schools. She fell in love with VMI on her overnight and when she was turned down by usna the choice was easy for her. She won the NROTC MO scholarship fall of her freshman year, but it did not kick in until sophomore year. The merit scholarship VMI gave her for Rat year put the tuition in line with an in-state school, so we would have been ok even if she had not won the scholarship.

Lexington is a beautiful little town. The hotels do tend to jack up the rates for parents weekend and graduation. Supply and demand, free enterprise, etc. VMI and W&L tend to coordinate their events so that there isn’t too many people at once. You can always FIND an available room - the question is are you willing to either pay an outrageous amount, or risk a kind of sketchy hotel with a more reasonable rate. There is also a lot of rooms that open up at the last minute, as people hop into a different location etc. so you won’t likely not be able to find *something*!
 
TXChas said:
My youngest son is currently a Rat at VMI on a national 4-year Army ROTC Scholarship (Class 2020+3). My oldest son is a Class of 2018 grad of the USMA at West Point, so my wife and I have twice-experienced this application and decision-making process.

Attending VMI was "Plan B" for my youngest son, after not receiving an appointment to West Point (Plan A). In addition to VMI, he also applied and was accepted to Citadel, Norwich, and Texas A&M (TAMU). With regard to your questions above (MNRC2018), my VMI son's experience has been as follows:

1. Army ROTC Scholarship: He completed his online application prior to the 1st Board deadline. He did not receive a scholarship after the 1st Board convened (notified that his status was still "Boarded - Under Consideration"); he received a 3-year scholarship notification after the 2nd Board (on 1/25/19); he was later notified that he had been upgraded to a 4-year scholarship after the 3rd Board (on 3/28/19).

2. West Point: My son received his rejection letter (TWE) from USMA about a week after notification of his 4-year AROTC upgrade, though the rejection letter was dated 3/20/19. He was a very qualified applicant and very similar on paper to his older WP brother (Eagle Scout, Boys State, USMA SLE attendee, varsity athlete, excellent SAT score, 20 hours of dual-credit college classes, etc.) and had received both a Congressional and a Senatorial nomination, but unfortunately did not receive an appointment. We were somewhat surprised and disappointed, but glad we had a good Plan B.

3. ROTC College Choice: We visited both VMI and The Citadel with my son; he had attended the West Point Summer Leaders Experience on his own. He has a fellow Eagle Scout friend (a year older) who is currently attending Norwich on Navy ROTC scholarship (Marine option) who had given him a very good idea of what that college experience is like, such that we felt no need to visit Norwich. After digesting all information from our visits and the discussion with the Norwich friend, my son decided that VMI was the best fit for him. He ranked his choices as follows: VMI, Norwich, Citadel, TAMU.

My son chose VMI in the end because he wanted a military college environment where all students were cadets living the military lifestyle (like at USMA); this easily eliminated Norwich and TAMU from consideration (in addition, TAMU was just way too big for him!). Norwich would have been the best financial choice, in that they offered enough in local scholarships to cover all expenses that were not covered by ROTC! He chose VMI over The Citadel for reasons that were important to him as an individual, so it was a subjective decision rather than objective. Fortunately he has received some outside scholarship money to supplement the ROTC scholarship, so out-of-pocket cost is about $5K per year for us at VMI. It would have been approximately the same cost had he chosen The Citadel.

4. Hotels at VMI are really not a problem at if one plans ahead. We had no problem getting a hotel in Lexington for Matriculation Day, but the demand is definitely greater (and prices higher) for Parent's Weekend. For Parent's weekend in 2019, we chose to stay in a hotel in Raphine over Lexington because it was much cheaper, and only 20 minutes away.

Hope this helps.
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TXCHAS This is very helpful. I have not been quite sure how the national ROTC scholarship works. He does have his information turned in for the second board. Not sure his new ACT score ( hopefully improved ) will be in by the 28th it may happen, but he has a pretty good score currently. He didn’t get everything in by the first board as the standardized testing got pushed back a little due to the mono occurring over the late spring dates, then he was in Costa Rica with school doing a Spanish immersion trip during the June dates. The whole thing sort of set him back. He has passed the fitness test, taken his physical ( awaiting that to get uploaded by the physician)as well as the eye exam. I was wondering if a congressional appointment helps With the ROTC scholarship? We still have not heard back about his, the interview was several weeks ago but I think he will get an appointment. He was able to get some feedback from his interview and it was very positive and he was an intern for this MOC. He did not go after the Senate as the offices coordinate and I do not think they nominate the same kid.
I do think there is a sense of relief that he has gotten into all the schools he has applied to with the exception of USMA and USAFA. We know those are long shots for any kid. If we are being totally honest while your stats have to be up to à certain standard, there are other factors like if the student is a desirable demographic for the school and I sort of get that. They need to admit a variety of students and unfortunately my DS is in the dime a dozen demographic. I am not clued in at all to who else is applying in our district and I have made it a point not to get into the weeds about that, it is what it is and the cards will fall where they fall.
Are MOC ever given additional spots or are there ever left over spots that given to appointed students? It seems that I have read that something like that is possible but not sure.
I am glad he wants to serve, I am slowly warming up to the idea of him going to a military college. This path would not be my first choice for him at all if I am being honest. He has spoken of doing this for a while but I kept hoping he would grow out of it LOL. While I am very proud, it does concern me to hand my son over to the military. I am sure that is a normal emotion for many. I am also having to wrap my head around paying for him to be for lack of a better word hazed. I know it is not true hazing but its not going to be a fun first year. I understand it is part of the process but it just doesn’t look like a normal college experience.
I will say this, watching my DD go to her college and witnessing what many of the kids were doing there to some extent is was not impressive at all. The academics at her college were wonderful and got her into the graduate program she wanted. DD took advanuage of many of the cool things her college offered and she did not go off the rails. Many , Many kids did Go off the rails. I was a little shocked. I mean exams are so stressful one needs to do baby goat yoga? Please I get wanting to play with the baby goats on the farm because it is fun, but one should not HAVE to have this to deal with exams. Fortunately, DD didn’t need any of that but aloof of her friends did. When I look at it that way maybe a military college isn’t so bad.
 
Sargon said:
I posted this a while ago but I believe it's still applicable.

My DS had that same choice. He was offered a 4 year AROTC scholarship to VMI, VT or El Cid. He chose VMI because all students are in the corps, closer to home, much cooler temperature for doing PT (which you'll be doing often) and he prefers the mountains to the beach. If you love the idea of a small, charming town in the mountains while attending a top-notch, difficult military school, go to VMI, if you want to live in an awesome city (Charleston is one of my favorites, and I've been to a lot of places) go to the beach on your rare day off while attending a difficult military school go to the Citadel. Both schools are rated highly and both will serve you well if you want to be a military officer.

This is a neat website in terms of career earnings divided by state or otherwise.
https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-state/bachelors/new-york
VMI is number two in Virginia, behind Washington and Lee, which borders VMI and the Citadel is number one in South Carolina. It's relevant to divide them by state due to cost of living adjustments geographically speaking. Good luck in your search, that senior year is probably more stressful than it needs to be. Things will work out and everything happens for a reason.

My son is now halfway through his second year and it's been an incredible experience. Difficult but rewarding.
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While I love Charleston. DS is more of a mountian guy. Honestly if I had to endure what they endure the cooler environment would be a huge factor in a decision. I would like to visit him in Charleston over Lexington but that really should not be a factor. Finances will be a consideration so we will have to see how it all plays out. It is all very exciting though
 
Pololive5 said:
I'm currently a rat at VMI can answer at least a few questions. VMI has a fantastic ROTC program for each branch and has a lot of unique training opportunities due to its SMC status and the number of cadets enrolled in an ROTC. One secret bonus of VMI is that ALL ARMY CADETS receive a uniform allowance of 600 a semester, regardless if contracted or not. I scored 1220 on my SAT and was awarded a scholarship for both VMI and citadel. I will say the CItadel scholarship was bigger, but not enough to offset out of state costs. You can look up the ROTC board times with the link below,I didn't get mine until the 3rd board.

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my daughter got an admission offer to VMI, sadly she's out of state and a non-US citizen ( green card). We are considering the great cost of attendance she will incur once she accept the admission offer. She can't qualify for HS ROTC Scholarship not until she's 18 for US naturalization.. Anything you can share to help lower the cost of attendance? much appreciate ...
 
Lakan96 said:
my daughter got an admission offer to VMI, sadly she's out of state and a non-US citizen ( green card). We are considering the great cost of attendance she will incur once she accept the admission offer. She can't qualify for HS ROTC Scholarship not until she's 18 for US naturalization.. Anything you can share to help lower the cost of attendance? much appreciate ...
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Get into contact with the financial aid office, they'll have far more info about the subject.

Financial Aid - Financial Aid - Virginia Military Institute

Get the best available aid package for each applicant and each student (cadet) at Virginia Military Institute. Learn about tuition, fees, and financial aid options.
www.vmi.edu www.vmi.edu
 
Sargon said:
He chose VMI because all students are in the corps. My son is now halfway through his second year and it's been an incredible experience. Difficult but rewarding.
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Great way to sum it up, “difficult but rewarding!”
 
Pololive5 said:
Also, local ROTC scholarships are a dime a dozen at VMI. Multiple BRs of mine have talked to our branch chief about scholarships and are likely to pick up 3-year scholarships. Local 4-year scholarships do exist, the army will reimburse you the money, but you gotta HIGH speed for that.

The big reason for this is that ROTC is required for your first 2 years, and army is the default for people who don't want to commission from the start now, so you're competing with a fair amount of people who aren't interested in a commission.
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How does someone find out about Local ROTC Scholarship at VMI?
 
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