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Usna Or Nrotc?

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NozeMan

Are you threatening me?
pilot
Super Moderator
In NROTC, you can get PRK as well. The only catch is that you have to pay for it yourself.
 
NozeMan said:
I chose NROTC over the academy because I didn't want to live a 24-7 lifestyle. I remember when I wanted to go to the academy when i was in high school...I put the blinders on to all other sources of commissions and only focused on the academy. It was definitely a mistake to do that. When I found out about NROTC and their scholarships, I decided that the program was the right fit for me. Many in my unit originally wanted to go to the academy, but after a year or so of NROTC just about everyone says they'd never give up NROTC. Again, we chose NROTC because thats how we want to live and start our careers in the Naval Service. It's not about being second best in any regard, I think we've addressed that issue enough. So when you ask WHY someone would got to NROTC over the Academy, its because we WANT to, perhaps you dont understand that.

That was the point ;) . I'm trying to pull away from that mentality, but it's hard.
 

rjack14

F/A-18F WSO (FRS)
None
still don't see how you can get a 4.5 GPA when 4.0 is the max.... Anyways I am a senior here at old Canoe U. And we go to football games (cause we have to), get to tailgate (2 beer limit, yeah right), and we got one of the best football coach's in the country for college. I have gone to Montreal, California, Philidelphia, Australia, and countless other places with the rugby team and party my arse off. I only had a 3.6 GPA and 1280 SATs, course I was a prior-enlisted. You can have fun here too, just don't get caught. This is my last semester, thank the good lord, and you only remember the good stuff. Plebes have cell phones and room phones now. And there is cable tv in the ward room and everyone always has plenty of DVDs. Stay away from the girls though, they can get you in trouble or you can get yourself in trouble. Any specific questions send them my way.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Heh. Hopefully that football program'll get turned around soon, rjack. My granddad was USNA '41 and I root for the Mids when I'm not rooting for Penn State. Hope you guys beat Notre Dame soon.
 

HerrLURP

Registered User
NozeMan said:
I chose NROTC over the academy because I didn't want to live a 24-7 lifestyle.

You're full of crap. You got into USNA but the best college you could get into is Purdue??? Hardly an institution noted for its high quality education...

Why don't you scan a picture of your Letter of Acceptance and put it up on the internet to verify that you were actually accepted. I bet you weren't.

Choosing ROTC over an Academy is like passing up a full-ride to Harvard so you can go to State U.
 

NozeMan

Are you threatening me?
pilot
Super Moderator
HerrLURP,

I never said I actually got into the academy!! My point was that I made the decision to go to Purdue for NROTC over the academy very early in my senior year. I actually singed all the paperwork for the NROTC Scholarship in September of my senior year. I was offered and instant decision scholarship (its called something like that) by the Naval Recruiting District at Chicago. So I reserved my NROTC slot without even going to the selection boards and all that comes with that. At the time, however, I had also gotten everything together for applying to the academy (the application, and senator stuff). I recieved 2 different nominations, but was denied an appointment. And if you read all my other posts, you will find that I never said that I got in. But like I mentioned before, it didn't matter to me if I got in or not, because I decided I was going to do NROTC. I couldn't have made a better decision

And as for Purdue not being noted for education...where the heck have you been? It's one of the top engineering schools in the country! Supposedly we also have a lot of good business things too (management, executive MBA etc). But I'm actually in the school of liberal arts.

When I was talking about people choosing NROTC over the Academy, they do it (for the most part) because the want the NROTC lifestyle/experience. Its a mix of the civillian world and military, but definitely more of the Civillian world. As I said (and you quoted..) we want to experience college and the military. And we get a pretty decent exposure to the military during our summer cruises. I know I spent a month at Naval Station San Diego this summer (and some time at Camp Pendleton as well). If you want to look at passing up that academy to going to a regular school as a step down or whatever, then go ahead. I'm still putting in the work to get my degree and my commission.

Hope that clarifies things.

Nozeman
 

NozeMan

Are you threatening me?
pilot
Super Moderator
Out of curiosity, HerrLURP, are you applying to the academy or are you already in? Just wondering about your particular situation.

-Noze
 

HerrLURP

Registered User
NozeMan said:
Out of curiosity, HerrLURP, are you applying to the academy or are you already in? Just wondering about your particular situation.

-Noze

If you never got into USNA, then you can't say you "chose NROTC over USNA." You never even had the choice.

I'm currently an Academy puke, with former ROTC experience.
 

rjack14

F/A-18F WSO (FRS)
None
If I could chose again I would probably still go to the Academy. The only reason being that I would drink myself out of civilian school.
 

NozeMan

Are you threatening me?
pilot
Super Moderator
HerrLURP,

What year are you at the academy? A guy I graduated HS with goes there, and is a 3rd class now. To clarify for a THIRD time, when I said I chose NROTC over the Academy, it's not whether or not I got into the school. I made up my mind what path I wanted to take over 6 months before I actually found out whether or not I got into the school. I'm more than comfortable with my decision. I could have reapplied to the academy like you did, but I didn't care to attend the academy. We all have our own reasons for taking our own paths, the point is to choose the path thats best for you. I know I did.

Noze
 

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
The ROTC v. Academy thing has been beaten to death. If one thinks that one or the other is a slam-dunk decision, that person is a fool.

For starters, one has to think about his interests and long term goals in life. For example, USNA has a very strong engineering program. But, let's be honest here, its liberal arts program is not as good as many schools, and it doesn't even have a business program (for obvious reasons, yes, but that's not my point). There are a lot of schools with either NROTC or crosstown NROTC with academics equal to or better than USNA. Penn, Cornell, MIT, just off the top of my head. Granted, they aren't "all military, all the time," but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Now, if your choice is USNA v. Generic State U, I'd side with USNA, but that's not the question.

Speaking purely from a military perspective, the academy at least weeds out the guys who can't tie their shoes, but the quality of officer overall is not demonstrably better. For me, then, it comes down to the particular school, it's environment, and the degree one gets out of it. That's what's important, not "USNA v. ROTC."

Don't forget the civilian side as well. Even after 20 years in, you still have 20 years left of working life. If you don't want to be an aero engineer, why get a degree in it. And that's assuming you don't get out sooner.

Back 50 years ago, the ring-knocker thing would make or break your military career. That's no longer the case, so just choose the SCHOOL YOU WANT TO GO TO.
 

Thisguy

Pain-in-the-dick
HerrLURP said:
You got into USNA but the best college you could get into is Purdue??? Hardly an institution noted for its high quality education.

It's comments like this that really piss me off. You got into the academy, bravo. Don't step on other people until you have all the information. I had one of our academy pilots tell me that a general engineering degree from USNA is worth more than any specific-engineering degree from Penn State (my alma matter). Well, anyone that knows anything would know that a general engineering degree from the academy isn't accredited, and the reason you're in general engineering is because you screwed up and USNA is pushing you through in four years.

Also, people seem to think that your school needs the word "Tech" to be a good engineering school. Well, US news ranks 'em every year and after MIT, Stanford and Cal-Berkley are tied for second, with Illinois and Michigan rounding out the top 5. Schools like Princeton, Harvard and Yale, aren't in the top 10. Penn State ranks in at a humble 16. Purdue is up there as well. Also, did you know that of all schools, MIT has the 2nd best business program (UPENN being the best)?

It's a handful of academy guys that think they're superior human beings that give the rest of them a black eye.
 
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