Are more rich kids doing ROTC at college?
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Anonymous
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Maybe they just want to serve their country as a military officer after college.
Also, not every kid in ROTC is on scholarship. |
Anonymous
| DH did it for two years at Georgetown. He's a trust fund kid and a great patriot and wanted to serve his country. After two years the early wake ups and long runs got to be too much and he quit. |
Anonymous
Depends which Ivy. Princeton had rotc on campus earlier than that, although not all branches. |
Anonymous
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Don't officers traditionally come from more affluent backgrounds?
Not necessarily rich, but not usually poor/working class. Historically, officers had to literally buy their commissions. This was specifically done to ensure that only candidates from "good" families were in charge. |
Anonymous
That was never the case in the American armed forces. You're thinking of the British. And that was a very long time ago. |
Anonymous
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if you want to jump into politics at a younger age (moulton, kander) for instance, it is easier with a military background.
that's another thing to consider. I would like to see what the retention rates are for ROTC from top 25 schools or if a huge # are 5 and done. |
Anonymous
Well, we thank him for his service. 
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Anonymous
Huh? Thank him for two years of ROTC? That is not service. |
Anonymous
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I grew up UMC and did ROTC at an Ivy. It paid for school and got me a great military job / experience coming out of school when the rest of my peers were scrambling for jobs. I also got a free masters degree during my service.
It involves real work, so many people here would look down on it, but I don't regret it a day. |
Anonymous
Same here, except I went to an Academy. I served six years after that. |
Anonymous
Quite a sacrafice giving up your whole college experience. At least mine was only a few hours a week. 
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Anonymous
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I went through Army ROTC at Princeton in the 80s when the program there was very large (over 100 cadets).
Most cadets at Princeton received 4 years of full tuition scholarship and $100 per month stipend. I chose Princeton/ROTC over West Point. ROTC scholarship or West Point were the only non-state school options available to me given my family's financial situation. Most of the ROTC cadets were (like me) from middle or UMC families. Very few were what I would call "rich". Many came from families with a tradition of military service, and/or from families that were trying to send several kids through college. ROTC enrollment at expensive/elite private colleges declined in the 90s when full tuition scholarships were replaced with capped dollar scholarships that would not cover full tuition costs at expensive private colleges. Full-tuition ROTC scholarships were revived several years ago, and ROTC enrollment has grown again on elite private college campuses. ROTC was/is not for everyone, but I am very fortunate that it was a route available to me. |
Anonymous
Cornell has always had it. |
Anonymous
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Notre Dame has had a long history of having all four military branches on campus. We have ROTC for Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. I believe I have heard it said that we also have one of the highest, if not the highest, percentages of students doing ROTC.
Why? I am not entirely sure, but I think it may have something to do with what Princeton Army ROTC grad said up above: many families from middle or UMC families high tuition from families with a tradition of military service from families trying to send a lot of children to college I think the Catholic angle, patriotism angle helped too. Above the doors to Sacred Heart, the basilica on campus, it says, "God, Country, and Notre Dame," the message being that we are here on Earth to serve all three, in this order. |
Anonymous
It was certainly a different experience, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. |