West Point or Air Force or Navy academies? Anyone with experiences to share?

[Anonymous]

Ds is being recruited for a sport. Academically he’s a math and science kid with some interest in medical school.

Alternatively does anyone have experience with ROTC?

Btw if you know little or nothing about this world, other than military = bad, please do not bother responding.

[Anonymous]

ROTC has wildly less silly stuff (like Freshmen learning ti keep arms square while eating) but still leaves the student well prepared for uniformed service.

Historically, it was easier to get in to flight training from an academy than from ROTC, but that might have shifted. Academy education if ine gets an admissions offer is no cost. ROTC scholarships are not available for every applicant.

Among the services, Marine option NROTC will be the strictest if the ROTC paths. AFROTC, which includes USSF, usually is the least strict.

[Anonymous]

AFROTC targets most of their 4-yr scholarships at students in Nursing and Engineering (especially AeroE, ECE, CS).

Other services are less picky about the degree when deciding who gets a 4-yr scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Only if you want your library censored.

[Anonymous]

USNA consistently produces the highest earners, if that matters. It's a top notch education, and the alumni connections are insane. (DH is an academy grad). They hire each other like nothing I've ever seen, not even w/the Ivies.

He graduated in the late 90s, served as a Marine Officer, got out, went to a FAANG and is now a CEO at another tech company.


It's a good path to med school, they'll pay for everything. Have several friends that did that, and did their residencies and time in service at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

I would take a lot of what you're going to get on here with a grain of salt. DCUM really skews weirdly that way.

[Anonymous]

I chose an Army ROTC scholarship at an Ivy over my admission to West Point. I did not enjoy my shadow visit to USMA and decided I wanted a more "normal" college life. I was also not convinced that a 20-year military career was for me and thought the Ivy degree would give me more options plus at least a chance to avoid an active duty commitment if that was the direction I wanted to go (which it ultimately did as I spent my 15-year Army career entirely in the reserves with the exception of necessary active duty training and a single 6-month active duty mobilization). Two of my ROTC contemporaries at the Ivy ultimately made 4 star general -- so there is no limit on potential military advancement as a ROTC grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USNA consistently produces the highest earners, if that matters. It's a top notch education, and the alumni connections are insane. (DH is an academy grad). They hire each other like nothing I've ever seen, not even w/the Ivies.

He graduated in the late 90s, served as a Marine Officer, got out, went to a FAANG and is now a CEO at another tech company.


It's a good path to med school, they'll pay for everything. Have several friends that did that, and did their residencies and time in service at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

I would take a lot of what you're going to get on here with a grain of salt. DCUM really skews weirdly that way.

This is interesting, thank you for responding with real world experience (unlike others who clearly don’t). As a very focused athlete and strong student from a strict high school environment, my dc is not worried about the discipline and the lifestyle, but he IS worried about being called for active combat, as I’m sure many are when entering this field. I don’t have an answer to that really. None of my relatives who were in the military (officers, not enlisted) came particularly near active combat, but maybe they just got lucky, idk. And I appreciate that’s part of the deal.

[Anonymous]

USNA is a wonderful path! It was my DS's dream but unfortunately he failed the physical with a very slight eye misalignment he was not even aware he had. Confirm that there will be no medical disqualification by geting the exam as early as possible as there are so many steps we wasted time on before realizing he could not compete for admission despite smooth sailing on all the other tests (summer academy, senator recommendation, GPA, SAT, etc.).

[Anonymous]

I think the basic answer is that outcomes are as good as they get, but you need to be sold on what it entails. It’s a very tough college experience and they’ll need to fulfill their service obligation. For the right person it’s an amazing opportunity, but for most it will be a tough sell over a more normal experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USNA is a wonderful path! It was my DS's dream but unfortunately he failed the physical with a very slight eye misalignment he was not even aware he had. Confirm that there will be no medical disqualification by geting the exam as early as possible as there are so many steps we wasted time on before realizing he could not compete for admission despite smooth sailing on all the other tests (summer academy, senator recommendation, GPA, SAT, etc.).

Oh I’m sorry to hear that. But thanks, this is a good tip. Was your ds being recruited as an athlete? I wonder if the path is a little easier for athletes, but I’m not sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the basic answer is that outcomes are as good as they get, but you need to be sold on what it entails. It’s a very tough college experience and they’ll need to fulfill their service obligation. For the right person it’s an amazing opportunity, but for most it will be a tough sell over a more normal experience.

I don’t need a basic answer. I need to hear from people who have done it, their dc have done it or close family members have. Not ‘general impressions’.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I chose an Army ROTC scholarship at an Ivy over my admission to West Point. I did not enjoy my shadow visit to USMA and decided I wanted a more "normal" college life. I was also not convinced that a 20-year military career was for me and thought the Ivy degree would give me more options plus at least a chance to avoid an active duty commitment if that was the direction I wanted to go (which it ultimately did as I spent my 15-year Army career entirely in the reserves with the exception of necessary active duty training and a single 6-month active duty mobilization). Two of my ROTC contemporaries at the Ivy ultimately made 4 star general -- so there is no limit on potential military advancement as a ROTC grad.

Thanks for responding. ROTC is definitely on the table too as ds is also worried about having a more normal college experience. Which I appreciate of course. He’s a very naturally disciplined kid but he’s still a kid. So you have no regrets from doing ROTC versus academy?

What was the reserves like? What did you do outside of it?

[Anonymous]

You really have to look at them. Even the difference between Navy and WP are pretty vast. My DD is still trying to figure out what she is doing between WP, Senior Military College and just a regular ROTC (she has a 4 yr scholarship).

One thing with ROTC is that the funding is caught in the whole fed freeze at the moment. Lots of programs have no idea what is going on or clue about their levels for next year. I would assume that will be figured out by the time your DS is ready but for those of us in the mix right now it is perilous.

I wish mine had love Navy but sadly she didn't. She did love West Point though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You really have to look at them. Even the difference between Navy and WP are pretty vast. My DD is still trying to figure out what she is doing between WP, Senior Military College and just a regular ROTC (she has a 4 yr scholarship).

One thing with ROTC is that the funding is caught in the whole fed freeze at the moment. Lots of programs have no idea what is going on or clue about their levels for next year. I would assume that will be figured out by the time your DS is ready but for those of us in the mix right now it is perilous.

I wish mine had love Navy but sadly she didn't. She did love West Point though.

Congratulations to your dd! You must be proud. That’s a good point about fed funding issues.

Do you think a short visit would really help that much? In what way? Did it help your dd? My DS has been to West Point a few times already (sports related) and is scheduled to go out to USAF this summer. He hasn’t been to USNA and for some reason is sort of counting it for reasons that are probably not based on anything specific. A lot of his communications have been on the coaching side though, so I’m trying to get him to talk to other people as well.

[Anonymous]

^ counting USNA out, I mean