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College Decision Gouge

UVaMarine

UVaMarine

New Member
pilot
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navy wahoo said:
I graduated from UVA last year, so I can give you some perspective on how NROTC works in the school.

You obviously won't have the same level of military commitments that you would have at the Citadel. After your indoc week, you'll have commitments a few times a week at the Unit. You'll wear your uniform once a week, attend lectures and classes every Tuesday, take an ROTC class, and work out with the unit a few times a week. If you're a Marine Option, you'll do some extra stuff to get you prepared for OCS.

The school has a good attitude toward the ROTC units with a few exceptions. You'll find people that stop you walking down the street and thank you, or the awesome lady who checks you into the dining hall who hugs you and tells you how proud she is of what you're doing. You also might get stopped at drill one morning and screamed at by a guy who works in the library, but in the end that's just pretty entertaining.

To echo the advice earlier, make sure you can function on your own. The ROTC unit isn't going to babysit you, and you have to be able to keep your own schedule and motivate yourself. It can be much harder then you think. If you can, you can have a great military experience with the ROTC unit, and a great college experience at UVA.

If you want a more specific breakdown of what you'll do at UVA, PM me and I'll give you more details.
Click to expand...

I'm working on doing PLC-Air, which wouldn't put me in with the ROTC guys...I will just be doing the normal college stuff and doing OCS during the summer and then commissioning after graduation.

Did you know any PLC guys when you were there? Are PLC'ers allowed to do things with the NROTC unit?
 
phrogdriver

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
I think UVA's representation on Playboy's "Girls of the ACC" speaks for itself. I don't even find myself ever wanting to look at "Girls of the Citadel." The fact that I can't remotely tell you what conference they're in says something too.
 
N

navy wahoo

New Member
I knew a few guys there who did PLC, and I know some of them worked out with the Marine Option Platoon. They didn't usually do any of the briefs, lectures, etc, but they would work with the Marine staff occasionally to get ready for OCS.

I think that your level of involvement while doing PLC is entirely voluntary, but I'm pretty sure you have to be accepted into the program before you can start working out with the Marine Platoon. If you end up at UVA, the staff at the ROTC unit could answer the specifics about what you can and can't do much better then I can.

And not to say you won't at the Citadel, but you will get a first rate education and have a blast at UVA.
 
mike172

mike172

GO NAVY
I graduated high school in 2007 so I am not too far removed from this sort of question. I in the end decided to do non-military. I felt I was capable of motivating myself to work, so far so good. Also ROTC does provide some encouragement ie. if you are failing classes they will come down on you pretty hard. So there is some "motivation" from the unit if you really need it. If you are motivated to become an officer, hopefully you are motivated to do the work you need to do to get there.
 
adam28270

adam28270

New Member
Not saying they are the same as VMI or the Citadel, but I went to a military high school for 4 years. Lived there and basically grew up there. While it did a lot of positive things for me (ie. discipline, provided structure, etc...) I think going to a civilian school has provided me with a well rounded background that I would not have had I gone to another military school. Obviously the Citadel would be harder than my highschool was, but the structure, discipline, and lifestyle are very similar. My suggestion would be, if you already have the discipline to get things done, go to class, do the work, then go to UVA. If you think you need some structure to help you through touch classes, go to the Citadel. Of all my friends that went to VMI or the Citadel, NONE of them went there because of the experience they would have. They went there for the structure and discipline to get them through college. You'll have experiences anywhere you go.
I have more fond memories with the friends from highschool who are more like brothers now, than I do college because of all the crap we went through, but you'll have OCS and TBS for that and the rest of your career in the Marines.
 
UVaMarine

UVaMarine

New Member
pilot
Contributor
I know its been a while since I've posted about this...but I just thought that I would let you know that I appreciate all of the help with this, and that I have decided to go to the University of Virginia. I thought about it really hard for about 2-3 weeks back in April, and I've talked with the Marine staff at UVA and I feel that I have made the correct decision. Again, thanks for all of the help.
 
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