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NROTC/USNA Questions

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NROTC all the way. I remember being 17 in high school and having a similar choice. Bottom line is I had a great college experience.

Penn State has always had an outstanding Midshipman Battalion!
 
It is a tough decision, like these guys have said you have to look at what you want to gain from your college experience. I was in AFROTC at Baylor my freshman and sophomore year and ended up getting out 1) because it the Air Force was never what I really wanted to do, I have always wanted to serve in the Navy and 2) because our unit wasn't that great, sometimes I felt more like a cheerleader than a cadet preparing to serve in the military. I didn't join ROTC to make up cheers and skits. Anyways I guess that just something you have to deal with in the Air Force. My recomendation if you haven't visited the academy go, also try to go to the NROTC units and sit in on one of their classes. Then make your decision.
 
Gee, those Academy guys are getting no love from this thread. While I did not go to an academy I did go to a military college and had a similar experience. Why did I choose to go there instead of a regular college? I needed the discipline and the structure of the military system. This BS about how you learn to live in the 'real world' is nothing but that, BS. I have known guys from regular colleges who didn't know how to live in the 'real world' from normal colleges as well as some guys from military colleges. A loack of common sense is not something you get taught or learn in college, some people are just stupid.

When you go to the Academies you get a world class education for free and are immersed in the culture of the military. It does limit your freedom a bit but you can definitely live it up if you want to, you just have to do most of it on the weekend. One of the biggest things that sets military colleges apart though is the fierce pride you get in your school (and not just because your and the close bonds that you form with your fellow cadets/midshipmen. My best friends are from school, the only experience that equalled the friends I made at school was the bonds I made in my fleet squadrons. You don't get that from USC or BU.
 
Flash said:
This BS about how you learn to live in the 'real world' is nothing but that, BS. I have known guys from regular colleges who didn't know how to live in the 'real world' from normal colleges as well as some guys from military colleges. A loack of common sense is not something you get taught or learn in college, some people are just stupid.
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This is very true when it comes to "dorm rats". If you live in the dorms your entire 4 years of college, you learn nothing about living in the "real world". I lived in an off-campus apartment for the last 2 years of college, on a fixed income. That will teach ANYBODY about budgetting your money, etc.
 
Well, Penn State only guarantees housing freshman year, and most students (and mids, I'm told) after that usually get a nearby apartment. I have to admit that budgeting would be something I'd learn there and making my dollar stretch, being that my only income would be that of the midshipman stipend haha and I don't really have money now. But the lure of the academy is always calling me, and I'm not sure what to pick. It's a rough decision, but I'm glad that I get to make it at some point.
 
Well if you REALLY want to play the "learn about real life" game, you can get a part time job, do NROTC, and go to school...that'll cover your apartment...

I can give you the name and number of a wedding DJ service in Happy Valley that is always looking for college students willing to humiliate themselves every weekend for 10 bucks an hour...

(not that I know from experience or anything...ahem...)

eh, just work at the bookstore
 
Also, experiences aside, do you want to use an extra year of your life at prep school to end up in the same place (a Navy commission)? Avg life expectancy being 72 or so, you've committed 1/72 of a suicide. Just a little philosophy, borrowed liberally from alt-icon Henry Rollins.

There are pros and cons of each. I tend to think that a civilian school gives back what you put into it, i.e. half-ass it and give 0.25, you get .25 out. On the flip-side, give $1.50, it has a lot more diverse opportunites to give more back. The academies give almost everyone the same dollar up their keister a nickel at a time.
 
Unless you really really want to go to the Academy, go for the ROTC. If your goal is a commission, go to NROTC. If your goal is to go to the Academy, go to the prep school. You have to be 100% sure you want to go to the academy. If you're waffling, that's probably a good sign you should go with the NROTC.
 
etnuclearsailor said:
Unless you really really want to go to the Academy, go for the ROTC. If your goal is a commission, go to NROTC. If your goal is to go to the Academy, go to the prep school. You have to be 100% sure you want to go to the academy. If you're waffling, that's probably a good sign you should go with the NROTC.
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Yeah I fear that my lack of decision (I feel like I've always been able to make quick choices in hard situations, but not this time) makes me not the academy "type." I really don't know what my goal is to be honest. I know I want to be a Naval Officer, and more specifically a Naval Aviator, but I don't know how I want to get there. I used to always been gung-ho Academy, but I'm having second thoughts, namely, is it worth an extra year? I wish this were easier for me, because it sure as hell seems like some people are having a grand-ol' time making this decision because it's easy for them. At the same time, I wonder if I'm in NROTC, say in my 3/c year, would I be mad at myself for not doing Foundation, being that I could have (most likely) been at the Academy that year?

I'm sorry if I sound like a little ***** to all you guys, it's just a really rough choice I never planned on having to make. :ashamed_1
 
Hey man, heres an idea for you. Call up the school/NROTC unit you got the scholarship to and see if they can have someone volunteer to let you stay with them for a few days during the week (and weekend if at all possible). That way you can see what the college classes are like, what the NS classes and the unit is like and meet some of the people you may be dealing with. We used to do that periodically, and some of the people said that that is what made them chose my school and unit.
 
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