<p>Would anyone who has done AFROTC (or any ROTC program) at UVA talk about their experience? I hear back from USAF in a month concerning the board's decision on my scholarship, and I'm currently trying to decide whether I want to go to VT or UVA for engineering under AFROTC or not. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>maybe you can contact the schools eng dept or the rotc connection at the school to be set up with students and talk. I dont see many current students on College Confid. Also what are you studying in engineering cause that is also very different. </p>
<p>Hi Apalapa! My daughter is an AROTC scholarship applicant and already accepted to UVA. I was directed to <a href=“http://www.serviceacademyforums.com”>www.serviceacademyforums.com</a> by a CC poster here and it is a wonderful resource for ROTC. You may want to check over there as well. You may also want to check with Admissions at UVA. I attended the recent UVA financial aid chat and several of the Deans (moderators of the group) advised students to contact them directly to be linked with a current student about UVA life. I have no doubt they can find an eager AFROTC cadet who will want to talk about their experience. I don’t know if you have been admitted, but the Days on the Lawn event may also be a big help with this. Good luck with the scholarship!</p>
<p>You should look into what the Corps of Cadets entails at VT. You must be a member if you are ROTC of any kind, whereas you do not have to be ROTC to be a part of CoC. It’s definitely a game-changer in terms of what your student experience/life will be like, but I had a high school friend that did it and she said it will forever be a part of her that she holds dear and has lifetime friends.<br>
That said, I knew a couple of ROTC folks in the engineering school and they seemed to balance the life very well. I think you’ll gain a very interesting real-world engineering insight via your ROTC experience, especially the tours. </p>
<p>What type of engineering are you looking to do? Remember, you don’t have to know how to build the plane or why it flies to be a good pilot :)</p>
<p>PS- if you’re interested in getting your pilot license at either school, feel free to PM me. I got mine through the Cville Airport and it was one of those game-changing life experiences ;)</p>
<p>As “shoebox10” says, being in the Corps of Cadets at VT is mandatory for all ROTC students. Make sure that you really want to be part of a program which basically is like spending half your time at the Air Force Academy (or West Point, or VMI… take your pick). If you do not want that kind of environment then UVa is a better choice. UVa has the full complement of engineering majors. Hard to make a mistake on that.</p>
<p>The truth is that ROTC programs are all more or less the same (VT’s Corps notwithstanding). Class three times a week, drill once a week (wear your uniform that day only), plus probably physical fitness workouts maybe three or four times a week.</p>
<p>@shoebox10 @NROTCgrad My apologies for the late reply! I am aware of the Corps of Cadets at VT, and that is actually what drew me to consider UVA more than I previously have. I hear back from AFROTC in mid March, and from VT and UVA by April 1st! I applied and listed mechanical engineering as my major, but I want to explore other disciplines in an intro to engineering class. I am also interested in electrical, aerospace, and chemical engineering, and I’ve heard many good things about UVA’s biomed and their systems E programs. </p>
<p>I am not sure if I want to do AFROTC, or even engineering, but I want to try both for my freshman year, and switch if necessary. I don’t think I would enjoy Corps of Cadets, which leads me to AFROTC at UVA. UVA has an engineering open house on the 22nd that I am definitely going to attend to find out more about the school, which I know is behind VT in the rankings for engineering. I know both schools have great engineering programs and that rankings don’t mean everything, but I still take them into consideration. </p>
<p>Shoebox, I’ve read that you’ve gone through UVA engineering. Did you like it overall? Were the professors good? Did you learn a lot and do a lot? I realize these are fairly generic questions, but they’re important to me. I didn’t give UVA engineering a lot of thought before CoC led me away from VT and more towards UVA. I’ll make sure to keep you updated on if I get in to both of the schools! Thanks!</p>
<p>Apalapa,
Since you are not sure about either VT or engineering, then UVa is clearly the better choice. The Corps of Cadets at VT seals the deal for UVa. </p>
<p>Engineering might be a bit weaker at UVa, but is still excellent and almost every other UVa program is better than its equivalent at VT. So if engineering ends up not being your thing you will still have great options at Thomas Jefferson’s fine college.</p>
<p>Best of Luck!</p>