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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have absolutely no shot at getting into an academy from this area, don't even bother unless you know a Senator.

Lots of great ROTC programs. VirginianTech has the Core Cadet program that is like an academy.

What is wrong with you people?? Seriously. Are you so bitter and jealous? I’m op and my dc is being recruited. Sorry if that upsets you. FO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid received both the nomination to West Point and a four year ROTC scholarship. Ultimately, he chose the ROTC scholarship. For him, he wanted both worlds - the college experience and the military so it worked for him. The four year scholarship is also a pretty good hook for the more selective schools. MIT, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Notre Dame all have very active ROTC cadres and they need smart students to fill those spaces. My kid attends one of the schools above and I'm pretty sure the ROTC scholarship helped. Something to consider.

Does the ROTC scholarship come with a 5-year active duty service requirement? Is it possible to do a college sport and fulfill the ROTC scholarship requirements?

Army is 4 if you go Active. I think Navy and AF are 5. Honestly, I think it would be impossible to do D1 varsity and ROTC. But perhaps accommodations are made with recruited athletes.

The question is whether you "have" to go active duty if you had a ROTC scholarship, or whether you can just be in the reserves. USNA, USMA, and USAFA all require full-time active duty, so if a ROTC scholarship only requires that you serve in the reserves, that's a lot more flexible.

From the ROTC scholarship, you can choose active or reserve.

I think there is some confusion about what ‘active duty’ means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom of current USAFA Firstie and a Sophomore on a full 5-yr Army Reserve scholarship at Texas A&M; both engineering majors.

With one at an academy and one at a traditional university; I would say the ROTC route offers more opportunities as a student and perhaps the service academy route offers a bit more of a network career wise, though that may not be the case for graduates of VMI, Va Tech, Citadel, Texas A&M etc as they also produce many officers every year.

DH spent 20 years as a Naval Pilot and he did not graduate from Annapolis and has had a great military career and retirement career. It worked out for us.

Congrats! You must be proud! This is great info. I know it’s early, but do your dc know their desired career paths yet? Are they happy with their choices so far?

Did you and your family move around a lot with your dhs career? My niece and her newish dh are Navy pilots. They’re very happy so far. They were in Japan together for a few years but are now back in the US.

My Firstie is graduating and commissioning into the Space Force at the end of May. We are so thrilled and proud! She will go into training for a year before getting her job. Job drops for cadets that picked up Air Force were announced this fall; Space Force does it differently as they will receive their jobs after about a year of training.

Our Army cadet has monthly drill as a part of his contract and is drilling at a helicopter unit and naturally wants to fly helicopters now. We’ll see.

It’s not for everyone, though I am so proud that our kids have chosen to serve and are part of a shrinking number of young people who are physically, mentally, and academically qualified to do so.

This is amazing! What is dd doing in the space force?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your student has had an IEP / 504, inhaler, EpiPen or any other condition you have to mark on a school form they will be medically ineligible.

Not for ROTC.

Family friend’s kid had 504 and is currently in demanding aeronautical university full ride (Air Force).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not do it with the current commander in chief. But if you want to, sure. It's a lifestyle. If one is okay with a command and control approach, go for it.

My parent wanted me to attend one of these. It was not for me but it's great for those who are okay with the approach.

When we visited USNA, they tried to persuade my kid to apply by saying there was no longer "hand to hand combat." That, honestly, was a turn off.

So you basically don’t know anything about it? Got it.

NP.

Are you OP? If you are, you’ve been consistently nasty.

Hopefully your kid isn’t the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have absolutely no shot at getting into an academy from this area, don't even bother unless you know a Senator.

Lots of great ROTC programs. VirginianTech has the Core Cadet program that is like an academy.

Not true. The Senators evaluate the entire package and nominate that way. Close friend’s child got in without knowing any Senators. Just went through the regular process. It’s a bit cumbersome but he’s athletic and has high stats.

USMA requires 5 year military commitment and is intense. Structured but great opp for the right student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not do it with the current commander in chief. But if you want to, sure. It's a lifestyle. If one is okay with a command and control approach, go for it.

My parent wanted me to attend one of these. It was not for me but it's great for those who are okay with the approach.

When we visited USNA, they tried to persuade my kid to apply by saying there was no longer "hand to hand combat." That, honestly, was a turn off.

So you basically don’t know anything about it? Got it.

NP.

Are you OP? If you are, you’ve been consistently nasty.

Hopefully your kid isn’t the same.

I’m not OP but there have been some very stupid posters on here. It’s like people just want to lurk on the college board to chime in with negativity about matters they know little about

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the Coast Guard Academy. You don’t need a nomination and to me it seems the safest branch of the military to be in .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid received both the nomination to West Point and a four year ROTC scholarship. Ultimately, he chose the ROTC scholarship. For him, he wanted both worlds - the college experience and the military so it worked for him. The four year scholarship is also a pretty good hook for the more selective schools. MIT, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Notre Dame all have very active ROTC cadres and they need smart students to fill those spaces. My kid attends one of the schools above and I'm pretty sure the ROTC scholarship helped. Something to consider.

Does the ROTC scholarship come with a 5-year active duty service requirement? Is it possible to do a college sport and fulfill the ROTC scholarship requirements?

Army is 4 if you go Active. I think Navy and AF are 5. Honestly, I think it would be impossible to do D1 varsity and ROTC. But perhaps accommodations are made with recruited athletes.

The question is whether you "have" to go active duty if you had a ROTC scholarship, or whether you can just be in the reserves. USNA, USMA, and USAFA all require full-time active duty, so if a ROTC scholarship only requires that you serve in the reserves, that's a lot more flexible.

From the ROTC scholarship, you can choose active or reserve.

I think there is some confusion about what ‘active duty’ means.

There seem to be so many differing answers on here, even among people who have had the ROTC scholarship or whose kids currently have the ROTC scholarship.

I would like to know if there is a ROTC path for a reserves-only requirement after graduation? It sounds like this may be possible with the National Guard? Is there a specific National Guard ROTC scholarship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have absolutely no shot at getting into an academy from this area, don't even bother unless you know a Senator.

Lots of great ROTC programs. VirginianTech has the Core Cadet program that is like an academy.

Not true. The Senators evaluate the entire package and nominate that way. Close friend’s child got in without knowing any Senators. Just went through the regular process. It’s a bit cumbersome but he’s athletic and has high stats.

USMA requires 5 year military commitment and is intense. Structured but great opp for the right student.

+1 I’m genuinely curious why people on here insist on answering about matters they clearly have little knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Yes, look at the Minuteman Scholarship. I think you can only use it at state schools.

[Anonymous]

OP, I've toured USMA/West Point a couple times, and the tours were led by graduates who had also done a sport. One quit the sport after freshman year; the other stuck it out all 4 years but considered quitting. It's a big time/travel commitment on top of other cadet requirements. If your kid doesn't have the academic stats, they'll frequently admit to a prep school first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I've toured USMA/West Point a couple times, and the tours were led by graduates who had also done a sport. One quit the sport after freshman year; the other stuck it out all 4 years but considered quitting. It's a big time/travel commitment on top of other cadet requirements. If your kid doesn't have the academic stats, they'll frequently admit to a prep school first.

Is that so different than athletes at all schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:D1 sports and ROTC would be difficult in my experience, but it depends on the ROTC leadership at the school. The upside to ROTC is a more normal college experience, and seems like nowadays different service requirements? Mine was 4 years active duty, but we were in a war at the time. I was on a full scholarship and majored in a non-technical discipline. I really appreciate and value the experiences I had because a college education would not have been possible otherwise, and having the extra stipend money and guaranteed employment was a relief.

I have tons of family and friends that went to the service academies, a few regretted not doing ROTC for the flexibility, holidays and full summers off, etc. but definitely didn’t regret being in the military. Most all became pilots, and if that had been my interest, I probably would have pursued an academy. I think sports would possibly provide more flexibility at an academy vs. a typical cadet, but that’s a question for the student-athletes.

Why would it only be d1 sports and ROTC? There are D3 and ROTC options too, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid received both the nomination to West Point and a four year ROTC scholarship. Ultimately, he chose the ROTC scholarship. For him, he wanted both worlds - the college experience and the military so it worked for him. The four year scholarship is also a pretty good hook for the more selective schools. MIT, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Notre Dame all have very active ROTC cadres and they need smart students to fill those spaces. My kid attends one of the schools above and I'm pretty sure the ROTC scholarship helped. Something to consider.

Does the ROTC scholarship come with a 5-year active duty service requirement? Is it possible to do a college sport and fulfill the ROTC scholarship requirements?

Army is 4 if you go Active. I think Navy and AF are 5. Honestly, I think it would be impossible to do D1 varsity and ROTC. But perhaps accommodations are made with recruited athletes.

The question is whether you "have" to go active duty if you had a ROTC scholarship, or whether you can just be in the reserves. USNA, USMA, and USAFA all require full-time active duty, so if a ROTC scholarship only requires that you serve in the reserves, that's a lot more flexible.

From the ROTC scholarship, you can choose active or reserve.

I think there is some confusion about what ‘active duty’ means.

There seem to be so many differing answers on here, even among people who have had the ROTC scholarship or whose kids currently have the ROTC scholarship.

I would like to know if there is a ROTC path for a reserves-only requirement after graduation? It sounds like this may be possible with the National Guard? Is there a specific National Guard ROTC scholarship?

Yes, the commitment for the Army ROTC scholarship is 4 years active duty and 4 years IRR, or 8 years Reserves or National Guard.