Which school to pick?

[cmb1230]

My DD has been awarded a NROTC. She will be a mechanical engineer major. She has been accepted to University of Texas Austin and Texas A&M. She is trying to decide between both schools. She realizes her ROTC experience will be very different at both schools. Has anybody had any experience with the NROTC program at UT Austin? She also applied to the USNA and did not receive an appointment. She is planning on reapplying next year. Thanks!!!

 

[Humey]

It has been said many times, choose the school based on the school and not the Rotc program. If she is happy with the school, she will probably be happy with the program. If she isnt happy with school, it will affect her time with Rotc. Dont know anything about Texas A&M, but she will definitely have a good time at Austin

 

[Freedom1776]

I believe around 1/3 of the Corps at A&M are engineering majors so she will have a lot of support and tutoring available to her within the Corps. Beyond the difference between the schools themselves, A&M is one of the SMCs, so instead of a traditional ROTC experience it will be more similar to a Service Academy wherein she will live in the Corps dorms and always wear a uniform to class. I think TAMU is the better option, but I'm class of '23 so I'm biased. @Humey makes a good point about picking the school for the school not for the ROTC, but the fact that A&M is an SMC makes the ROTC program a much bigger factor in the decision. I advise doing a spend the night with A&M, it's a great way to see the campus and live in the Corps dorms while talking to current cadets.

 

[williamsdr3]

I am an Aggie who is from Austin and who studied (master's at UT) and worked at UT-Austin. Very familiar with both. I agree that really the main decision should be between wanting a full-time Corps of Cadets experience at TAMU or regular ROTC at UT. Both are great academically. I attended a joint West Point/UT AROTC briefing last week at UT with my son and learned that they have 300-400 total ROTC (all services) cadets at UT versus 2000-plus at A&M.

TAMU has been ranked as "friendliest students in America" and also "happiest students in America." Who wouldn't want that for their kid? I loved it there. Gig 'em!

 

[peewee73]

Good morning, congragulations and you have great options. I was commissioned through the NROTC program at UT back in 1986 and toured the program last year with my son who was considering applying. He ended up opting for Army ROTC. We met with the unit and it has changed considerably from when I attended. The unit is very small compared to its size when I attended, the LT giving us the tour stated they actually were unable to assign their allocation of scholarships because the incoming freshman class was so small. I believe the entire NROTC unit is approximately 40-50 but you might want to check on that. The facilities are very impressive, the former chairman of chevron donated funds for a new liberal arts building with the stipulation that ROTC retained the entire top floor. All three services share the top floor of the liberal arts building and they are state of the art. Incoming scholarship freshmen are required to log weekly study hours in the computer study rooms in the facility. Living in TX when most kids come out of high school and are considering ROTC, Texas A&M is the first that comes to mind because of the corp. It seems the students who have always wanted to be in the military graviate towards A&M. Campuses have a very different feel, A&M revolves to a large part around the corp and at UT ROTC is a very small part, I would almost say unseen. A&M has always had the reputation as the more conservative and UT definitely does not have that feel. Keep Austin weird is one of their sayings around there. ROTC was a very small part of my weekly activities at UT and I am sure members of the corp at A&M would say that is definitely not the case there. Academically the engineering department at UT is higher ranked than A&M. That drives the aggies crazy but according to US News those are the numbers, although both are excellent programs. Some admits to A&M engineering do get admitted but sent to Galveston for a year, and that is not so great. A&M has grown to almost 62,000 students and the campus has become an expanse of building surrounded by apartments for students who can't get on campus housing, UT has the same issues so having on campus housing can be an issue as some of the areas around campus in Austin are not great, that was a concern I had for my daughter years ago when she was looking. Best of luck and you have two excellent options.

 

[longhornmom]

My DD has been awarded a NROTC. She will be a mechanical engineer major. She has been accepted to University of Texas Austin and Texas A&M. She is trying to decide between both schools. She realizes her ROTC experience will be very different at both schools. Has anybody had any experience with the NROTC program at UT Austin? She also applied to the USNA and did not receive an appointment. She is planning on reapplying next year. Thanks!!!

Yep! Private message me. I've got personal experience with both places. NROTC at UT Austin and Corp of Cadets at A&M.

 

[cmb1230]

My DD has been awarded a NROTC. She will be a mechanical engineer major. She has been accepted to University of Texas Austin and Texas A&M. She is trying to decide between both schools. She realizes her ROTC experience will be very different at both schools. Has anybody had any experience with the NROTC program at UT Austin? She also applied to the USNA and did not receive an appointment. She is planning on reapplying next year. Thanks!!!

Yep! Private message me. I've got personal experience with both places. NROTC at UT Austin and Corp of Cadets at A&M.

I do not have enough posts yet to private message.