VMI, The Citadel, or VTCC?

[lowflier03]

I cant help you on the VTCC thing. I have and have known people who snuck out of VMI for a few hours at certain times to keep our sanity. That can be a difficult task though. VMI values honor above anything, unfortunately sometimes the administration try to use that against you. If there is a mandatory status check, (such as taps), and you are not in your room for that, then you are required to report yourself. There is a nightly check where the duty officer will "check rooms" to make sure cadets are there. It happens between midnight and 3am normally, and usually only 1/3 of the rooms in barracks are checked. They post the sheets every morning of the rooms checked. If yours was checked and you were not in there, you are again required to report yourself.

An honor offense at VMI will end your cadetship. That is the most serious thing we hold dear. If you lie, cheat, steal or tolerate someone who does, then you will stand before the honor court and if found guilty, you will be drummed out and never allowed back, your name will never be spoken in barracks again, etc.

As for having to do OCS still, only the Marine Corps requires VMI grads to go to OCS. All other services consider your time at VMI to be 4 years of OCS. As much as VMI sucks while you are there, in the end I think it is worth it. Life is definately one big vacation after that place. I got accepted to many schools (MIT, RPI, Academy, etc) but none of them impressed me the way that VMI did.

 

[SgtUSMC]

As for having to do OCS still, only the Marine Corps requires VMI grads to go to OCS. All other services consider your time at VMI to be 4 years of OCS. As much as VMI sucks while you are there, in the end I think it is worth it. Life is definately one big vacation after that place. I got accepted to many schools (MIT, RPI, Academy, etc) but none of them impressed me the way that VMI did.

Doh...my little Marine brain forgot there for a minute there are actually four other fine branches of military service in this country.

 

[skidkid]

Disclaimer: I am not an officer nor have I attended any military academy.

I already graduated college and am trying for OCC, so it is moot for me, but I was just curious: don't only like 40% of Citadel grads decide to go on to actually join the military? What are the rates like at VMI or Norwich? - I hope I did not hallucinate that statistic - it has been known to happen before.

Personally, in retrospect, it seems that if I had not enlisted and I could not do USNA, that NROTC at a place like Notre Dame or Villanova or whatever the best reputable school I could get in would be a great idea to me: get the same scholarship money with "less hassle." I don't think I would want to be a "knob" or a "rat" or whatever if I still had to end up doing OCS anyway, unless they now have soriety girls running around there. At least the "plebes" at Annapolis sometimes can do an insert school between semesters and get to do Leatherneck in place of OCS.

When I think about having already done boot camp and the FMF and starting anew again anyway it seems to me that getting your ass busted at a military college for four years and having to start just like everyone else at Bulldog, or whatever, could be frustrating. Not that it is not an exceptional experience for all I know and anything more than speculation. I just could not help but draw up an analogy to my own situation and if I could set back time I would have done NROTC after high school instead of enlisting and if I wanted to get some hazing in before my time - I would have just pledged at a frat.

Just could not help but put my $.02 in, even if I am talking out my ass.

Good luck with whatever you do.

S/F

My year at Norwich it was probably around 45% commisioning with the Lions share being Army. This doesnt take into account (which there were more than a few) who commisioned as a result of OCC or similar programs.

 

[Navyfan06]

At The Citadel, yes, people do try and sneak out, but it is not as often as you would think. If you are caught then you get "pulled" and its a serious write up. Also I think it was asked about what a typical day is..here is a good breakdown:

0530 - On monday and thursdy there is Corps wide PT
0700 - Breakfast formation for Cadet Corps followed by breakfast
0800-1150 - Morning Classes (on tuesday and thursday there is drill from 11-1150) -
1200 Lunch formation followed by afternoon meal
1300-1500 - Afternoon classes
After 1500 - Intramurals/Club Sports, ROTC labs, Varsity Sports Pratice
1950 - Begining of Evening Study Period (ESP)
1100- Taps

This is a very rough outline of a typical day. SOme cadets have associated ROTC pt on days and other duties. I am super busy all the time with my Cadet position, ROTC stuff and the academic load. Most Cadets take anywhere from 16-21 hours, because no one wants to be a 5th year, there is a huge incentive to graduate on time. If you have any specific questions regarding the day just ask. Hope this helps.

 

[Flash]

Disclaimer: I am not an officer nor have I attended any military academy.

I already graduated college and am trying for OCC, so it is moot for me, but I was just curious: don't only like 40% of Citadel grads decide to go on to actually join the military? What are the rates like at VMI or Norwich? - I hope I did not hallucinate that statistic - it has been known to happen before..........When I think about having already done boot camp and the FMF and starting anew again anyway it seems to me that getting your ass busted at a military college for four years and having to start just like everyone else at Bulldog, or whatever, could be frustrating.

Just could not help but put my $.02 in, even if I am talking out my ass.

Good luck with whatever you do.

S/F

There are variety of reasons that the majority of guys who go to VMI and the Citadel do not go in the military. Among the different reasons; they went there to make their parents happy-especially fathers who are grads, they thought they might want to go in the military but the school experience turns them off (the school military systems are less professional than the military, but many people think that is how the military is run), they wanted to be a part of the good ol' boy network, they thought it would be a cool place to go, and believe or not there are always a few who went because they thought the uniforms looked cool .

Another factor that I thought was interesting was the interaction the cadets had with the military officers, current and former, who worked at the school. The current ones, who were attached to the ROTC units, were very big influencers on many guys' decisions to join the service. We had some really good officers who were great examples to the cadets and were the best recruiting tools the ROTC units ever had. However, we had or share of officers who made me wonder how they ever got commisioned. And unfortunately those people had a big impact at a school that had few professional military officers. For some it seemed to be a bit of a power trip that all of these cadets were annswerable to them and others were graduates who still thought they were cadets.

As for thinking that you would not want to go through all of the mickey mouse stuff of a fourth-class system after being a Marine a few years, not many others would want to either. We did not hav etoo many prior service types, less than 5% of my class had served in the military or were in the reserves/NG. I would not want to do that BS twice.

If any of you are looking for good info on the Citadel or VMI, Wikipedia seems to have some pretty good accurate info about the schools along with decent explanations of the fourth-class systems.

Citadel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Citadel_(Military_College)

VMI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Military_Institute

 

[SgtUSMC]

Interesting. I figured a lot of them just got a distaste for military life after 4 years, but I forgot to take into account people who just wanted to be legacies and might not ever have had any intention of joining. On a related note, I even knew a guy who went who had apparently no direction in high school and was getting into some trouble and his father basically said that if he wanted him to pay for college, he was going to the Citadel.

And I definately agree with the above posts that Charleston is a neat place with plenty of cute southern girls around and I have lived all over.

S/F

 

[AllAmerican75]

False Alarm. The email I received was made in error. Will let y'all know when I get the official letter of acceptance.

 

[AllAmerican75]

I just got Academically accepted to The Citadel! Woohoo! Still waiting to hear from VA Tech and VMI and the USNA. I should know if I got into VMI by mid-February.

 

[Navyfan06]

Good Job... Hopefully you can come down and visit the school. You'll really enjoy Charleston, SC. It is a great town. If you have any questions at all please post them or PM me. Goood Luck.

 

[AllAmerican75]

NAvyfan,

About Charleston. I've visited before, but it was many moons ago when I was just a young lad. All I remember is seeing the USS Yorktown and having some really great seafood and hush puppies. Any places you would reccomend visiting if I should attend The Citadel?

 

[KBayDog]

Any places you would reccomend visiting if I should attend The Citadel?

Big Johns.

 

[Navyfan06]

AllAmerican -- Yes there are some GREAT places... first of all if you like BBQ then Melvin’s or Sticky Fingers are great places to hit up. As far as sea food (and hush puppies for that matter) go downtown to the East Bay Crab Shack. Pretty cool little spot. Then if you’re over 21 there is an endless amount of great bars to hit up. Good luck in your search, I'm being bias but I think you will quickly find that Lexington, Virginia has NOTHING as witnessed when I watch El Cid Beat VMI in November and Charleston as EVERYTHING! Good Luck.

 

[katiegirl]

You'll love Charleston, it's my favorite city...there's downtown Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, Folly beach (on James Island), and a bunch of other barrier islands that end up getting lumped into the Charleston area. You'll never be bored and you'll definitely never go hungry.

Free stuff to do:
-Walk around Market Street, the Battery and Waterfront Park...there are a bunch of restaurants on the Market plus street vendors and a bunch of little shops (and the Charleston Candy Kitchen...tasty stuff). Waterfront Park is just a gorgeous view of the river and a nice place to walk, you can walk onto the Battery from there. The Battery has all the mansions (even the founder of Piggly Wiggly's house is there...you'll know it's his because of the pigs guarding the door) and where the yacht club is...serious money and serious old Charleston.
-Go to the beach: Folly beach is beautiful, but Sullivan's Island is my personal favorite (I grew up there though, so I'm a tad biased). There's a restaurant just to the right after you get on the island called Poe's Tavern that is a must visit...they have fantastic burgers. There's also Dunleavy's and Atlanticville there that have great food. Folly is always a popular place in the summer too...lots of girls and lots of restaurants.

Historical stuff:
-Marion Square: the old Citadel/parade grounds
-Patriot's Point: USS Yorktown and other military related stuff, you can catch a ferry from here to Ft Sumter (first shots of the civil war were fired from here by Citadel Cadets)
-Ft Moultrie: On Sullivans Island, another cool place to see
-Ghost Walk: always happen downtown, you'll see ads for them everywhere; they're something nice to do at night and it's a good tour of the city
-Magnolia Gardens and Plantation: Across the Ashley River, beautiful place to visit
-There are several mansions on the Battery that are open for tours as well

Where to eat: NavyFan is right with Sticky Fingers, Melvins and East Bay Crab shack...delicious stuff...basically go downtown to East Bay street and walk till you see something you like, there are about 30 restaurants all in a row
-Fleet Landing: On the old Navy Pier past the Market; fantastic seafood, great view
-Poe's: Sullivan's Island, great pub fare
-South End Brewery: East Bay street, wood oven pizza and great beer
-Blossom: on East Bay; a little bit of everything southern
-SNOB (Slightly North Of Broad): on East Bay; a little upscale but with a real southern feel...you name it, they fry it
-82 Queen: upscale, but AMAZING food
-Poogan's Porch: on Queen Street next to 82 Queen; best she-crab soup in Charleston
-Kicken Chicken or Mellow Mushroom are must visits for lunch

When you go visit, I'd stay in the downtown Embassy Suites. It's actually the Old Citadel, so it's right in the heart of downtown on Marion Square (a 12 minute run from the Citadel if you're speedy, probably 15 minutes to drive with all the lights) and walking distance from most of the downtown attractions. If you need any more info, feel free to PM me, you'll love it there...also check out www.charlestoncvb.com for more visitors info.

 

[Navyfan06]

Katiegirl is right on! Charleston is the best, you really can't go wrong! All those places she mentioned are great. Shoot, just walking downtown is fun too.

 

[AllAmerican75]

When I visited a while back I stayed in that Embassy Suites. It's a really interesting place. Also, for those in the know, what is there to do in Lexington, VA, Blacksburg, VA, and Annapolis, MD?