<p>I have a question: Which is better, ROTC or the Academies? I know that most people will say "well, if you want to experience something special, go to USMA or something, but if you want a regular college experience, do ROTC". I don't want to hear that. I want to know which will get you a better job, get you more respect, get a better education for life and for the military (say the ROTC is at some academically = university, like Ivy league), and which will help you more after life in the military. What are the pros and cons of each? Which would be harder to get into? Please tell me your opinion</p>
<p>to answer one part of your question, one ROTC instructor I talked to said that "A West Pointer comes out of USMA more "polished" than an ROTC officer, but once you get out in the real army, your merits in your position are what determines what happens to your career."</p>
<p>Mr Pumpkin1. I would say academies are def. harder to get into. somewhere around 1300 report in each year. Whereas anyone can join a ROTC unit at their college. </p>
<p>My opinion is that the academies are better. (this is all my opinion) My uncle (enlisted & retired AF) talked to me about ring knockers (alumni) and basically how being alumni gets you advantages over others. i know that they will choose the better officer once in the real army, but when two people are tied i would think the WP grad gets it. their are so few grads (like 1000 each year) that they would most likely get the job first. My sis is a cadet at WP 2007, i'll never forget what she told me about WP. she said that once she graduates she will be able to do whatever she wants bc of how west point will look on her resume. Also my admissions officer said that when he signed his papers to get out of the army he went back to his office and had 3 job offers waiting. So in my opinion the academies are def. better.</p>
<p>Consider what your looking for. My personal opinion is a person looking at absolutes may not be prepared to be a leader. Take no offence, just my opinion. Neither are better, they are different life choices.</p>
<p>Don't worry about which one is going to get you a better job. Assuming you go to a good college, i.e. Rutgers, Duke, even Ivy League, or West Point - your success in life will be based upon your achievements - not which school you went to. Don't be deceived by salary/CEO statistics about Yale or Harvard or Princeton - many of the people who attend these schools come from very, very wealthy families and their success reflects the size of their family's wealth, not the education.</p>
<p>As for West Point - if you truly want to be an Army officer - go to West Point. It is the premier school for teaching LEADERSHIP. Why go to the minor leagues? And if you end up on a battlefield, which is likely given the number of Islamofascists we have to weed out and destroy, do you want the best military education or the second-best? A split second delay in decisionmaking could lead to life or death consequences. I can already see in my son - who's a plebe - the trained ability to prioritize.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if ROTC will guarantee you a job upon graduation, but USMA sure as hell will!</p>
<p>im not sure if this'll help you, but I recieved a 4 year army rotc scholarship to the citadel and i declined it to go a path i kinda regret. I'm a nmmi civil prep candidate and if i do well this semester, i should be hearing from usma in 2-3 months. This was my decision. i WANTED to go to usma that bad...don't let soldiers mislead you into thinking that officers from usma don't earn respect. rotc or academy-you're an officer and you have to earn that respect. i say if you want to learn what real leadership is, go to usma...if you have anymore questions pm me...i went through this same ordeal my senior year</p>
<p>"I want to know which will get you a better job," </p>
<p>2nd LT</p>
<p>"get you more respect,"</p>
<p>don't be a prestige whore. do it cause you want to, not because other people wish they could. </p>
<p>"get a better education for life and for the military"</p>
<p>depends on the college, i guess. you probably won't get the social experiences of a civilian college.</p>
<p>"which will help you more after life in the military."</p>
<p>wouldn't know.</p>
<p>"What are the pros and cons of each?"</p>
<p>USMA: good education, good athletics, corps of cadets, extracurriculars, bad social life, not much sleep for some people, buncha conservatives.</p>
<p>Harvard: good education, decent athletics, good extracurriculars, better social life, not much sleep if you are that kind of harvard student, buncha liberals that probably won't like your ROTC involvement but ROTC won't be a big enough part of your life there to matter.</p>
<p>Thats really a question you have to weigh yourself..</p>
<p>"Which would be harder to get into"</p>
<p>Anybody can get into ROTC. Its more about getting into the civilian college you want to be at, be it san diego state or virginia tech. ROTC scholarships are a different story.</p>
<p>"I want to know which will get you a better job,"</p>
<p>wp cadets get first dibs on branching and stations, rotc next, then ocs.
...</p>
<p>I don't think harvard actually has a rotc program.</p>
<p>Harvard has some sort of ROTC program via a nearby college, I believe. A nice young lady posted here last year who had an appointment to Annapolis and chose NROTC at Harvard instead.</p>
<p>i was using it as an example cause he said ivy league.</p>
<p>in terms of getting a "Better job", rotc might be an option. if you sign up for 3 extra years you are guaranteed your branch. dunno about west point as they want to spread them out. but west point has the network and the just plain fact you went to west point.</p>
<p>Good post taffy. It shows clearly how different they are (rotc and academy). </p>
<p>My viewpoint is that if someone want to be in the service and can get into an academy then they should go!! I personally don't think its advisable to go to an ivy and do rotc. Why would anyone do this if they could get into an academy? If you want to be in the military, be prepared to make a commitment out of it. The only reason why someone would go to harvard and do rotc is to get a cushy job after their "five and fly". </p>
<p>This post is certainly not meant to offend people who do rotc. Many fine young people get rejected from the academies who would make fine officers. ROTC gives them a chance to do this. My gripe is people who are trying to decide between service academy and ivy rotc civilian. Thats why I didn't apply for rotc at civilian colleges. If I am going to do military, I want to be the best trained, best prepared, and most intelligent officer I can be...thus I would go to military academy. If I decide to go civilian, there are many other ways in which I can better my country. Trying to do both military and civilian doesn't work too well.</p>
<p>Forgive my rant...kinda got on a soapbox there.</p>
<p>I think it completly depends on ones goals and aspirations, and desires. I dont think the issue of respect should play a huge role in the decision, from what i have heard respect in the army is earned not just given by name of school (even if its West Point). I heard that there is an assumption amongst all 2LT's until proven otherwise. Actually in terms of most respected i heard that it was the ex-enlisted OCS grads who were most respected because they know how the other half lives so to speak. And with Harvard ROTC it does not exist Harvard Cadets go through MIT. The only 2 Ivy league schools with ROTC are Cornell and Princeton ( Cornell primarily because of its history as a land grant institution). By the way i am an ROTC cadet (WP reject) so if any applicant wants thoughts on ROTC or just reasuring words after that rejection letter feel free to email me @ <a href="mailto:ravikam98@yahoo.com">ravikam98@yahoo.com</a></p>
<p>USMA trains officers for America's Army. It is the school designed specifically for this purpose. If you want to discharge after five and make money, go to an Ivy. If you want to get the best possible training to be an army officer, go to WP. It is pretty simple.</p>
<p>ROTC cadets do not need to serve 5 years, theres is 4 active. Actually not even that if youre primary goal is gaining Civilian work advancement while serving youre country as an officer ( nothing wrong with this) ROTC is a great option. Because you could become comisioned as a reserve or National Guard officer, and simply pursue a civilian carrear. In fact there is a program with Natl Guard whre you are guarenteed youre Branch if you just find a Guard unit to be a officer for (also the guard pays for youre tuition at State schools).</p>
<p>Also i dont think the issue should be based on what school will get you more money. If you go active you will make the same amout as 2LTs. As you might find out name of school means little after youre first job in terms of employment</p>
<p>I'm in the same exact position as that girl from last year: I have an Appointment to USNA and got accepted to Harvard early with a NROTC/Marine option scholarship. Harvard does ROTC at MIT with both MIT and Tufts. If you've seen the ROTC thread on the Parent's Forum you know my dilemna...but anyway, it IS a really tough decision, for me anyway. Harvard has the curriculum I want (I've always wanted to major in the Classics, <latin and="" greek="">), but USNA stands for everything I believe in. I don't think I'm necessarily going to do five and dive, but I'm not going to go career active, although I'll stay reserve as long as I can. jq722, I wouldn't do it to "get a cushy job", but it would help me when I go to law school later in life. Someone on another thread, however, mentioned that if I DID go to Harvard, I'd at least be broadening the military influence there, maybe opening up their minds a little....haha, don't know how that likely that is with those liberals....but yeah, it's a harder decision than one might think. Or, maybe I could benefit the Marine Corps with the 'uniqueness' of a Harvard degree in the military, bring in something different. My top choice has changed so many times that I have no idea what to do now. I even have nightmares about deciding! Guess I'll have to pick out of a hat!</latin></p>
<p>-shawna :-)</p>
<p>Boston usmc- remember that you can go to the academy and after graduation go to harvard for extra study. (if it is you goal to go to harvard, not just major in greek and latin). if you decide to go to harvard over usna, you will never be able to go to usna as a student after graduating from harvard. just my opinion...</p>