<p>sounds like you are in a good position to have a big leadership role all 4 years :)</p>
<p>Does anyone have any info on ROTC at RPI, VA Tech, Tulane, Penn St. or U Wisc-Madison?</p>
<p>Dd got the call last night---NROTC to Embry-Riddle!</p>
<p>Congrats heartcross!</p>
<p>plantree -- Of the schools you mentioned I would say Virginia Tech has the most well-known/experienced/large cadet corps. It is the only Senior Military College among these schools. Not to say that the other schools don't have good Corps. And I believe RPI's program is actually affiliated with Siena, meaning that you would have to commute to Siena's campus for training and classes.</p>
<p>hey -- i know this is a parents forum, but i found this thread and thought that some of you might know about the NROTC unit that includes Harvard/Tufts/MIT. i've mentioned this on the USNA forum, but right now i'm deciding between NROTC-Marine option at Harvard, and an Appointment to USNA. a lot of these posts mention the "feel" of ROTC on campus, and i know that Harvard doesn't have the best rep for "welcoming" ROTC. anyone have any experience with this unit, or know anything about it? i guess what i'm really concerned about is going to Harvard and being very isolated in my political/military views....maybe i'd fit in better at USNA anyway. (my thinking has come down to this: harvard has the academics i want, since i'm a humanities-type person and have always wanted to major in Classics, but USNA pretty much represents everything i believe in.) any thoughts, specifically about ROTC at Harvard?</p>
<p>-shawna</p>
<p>boston,</p>
<p>You may want to speak with some NROTC members at Harvard. I you will be well-served by hearing directly from them. If you talk to one of the officers, I'm sure they will be able to put you in touch with some students. And try to find navgirl (her cc screen name). There probably aren't too many female freshmen at Harvard in NROTC. She had a similar dilemma last year. I'm positive she'll be very honest with you.</p>
<p>Best of luck as you have 2 outstanding choices.</p>
<p>thank you, momoftwins. i've actually sat in on one of their labs, but that was just two hours...whereas i've spent a lot of time at USNA, through NASS, CWV, and other visits. so, i'm just trying to get as many perspective as possible. thank you for navgirl's CC name; you can be sure that i'll be PM-ing her tonight! </p>
<p>thanks again! </p>
<p>boston usmc,
your classics-based secondary coursework has clearly prepared you for Harvard. USNA has nothing comparable. All midshipmen receive a B.S., even English, History, and Poly Sci majors. This really is a no-brainer. Hook up with Harvard/MIT ROTC students; they will share your "political/military views."</p>
<p>usna09mom- haha, yes, that is a BIG reason for me to go to Harvard....it will give me a much broader sphere to explore academically, in the humanities at least. And Harvard is basically "Boston Latin College" (my high school, Boston Latin, predates Harvard by a year, and as legend goes, Harvard was founded to educate Boston Latin School grads; we usually have 20-30 go each year). The things that keep drawing me to USNA though, are the camaderie, discipline, and the culture of fitness. If I go to Harvard, can I deal with 'giving up' on plebe summer? Am I going to feel like I'm not 'accepting the challenge', and am taking an easy way out? Am I going to miss out on a great group of people that's I'd really get along with? (Those guys at USNA are soooooo good with their recruiting........oooooo, sooooo good!) Am I going to end up at Harvard and hate the environment, having to go to school with a lot of people who will despise everything I stand for? These are the types of thoughts, however stupid they might seem, that are going through my mind. My high school now though is very much like Harvard, and I've been fine here; it just gets emotionally draining sometimes. </p>
<p>Then again, however many female Marines come out of Harvard? That experience could be interesting in itself....</p>
<p>Wow sorry for my long rant....I really appreciate your input guys! And again, since this is a ROTC thread, any thoughts on ROTC helps me a lot! Thanks! </p>
<p>-shawna</p>
<p>Boston USMC....</p>
<p>I suggest that you spend an entire day with the ROTC students at Harvard to get a feel for what it is like. My son did a year of army ROTC at a Jesuit university & most of his classmates were very supportive. However, he did have a nasty encouter with a student who asked him how he "liked killing babies?" In addition, some of his professors were not very supportive of our military.
He is now a freshman at USMMA & is among like-minded individuals. Nonetheless, he does miss the so-called "normal" college experience. Plus, it is my understanding that the lion's share of officers do come out of ROTC programs.
Still, there is a lot that can be said about the camaraderie one experiences at the academies....count your blessings that you have the opportunity to decide between USNA and Harvard, both tremendous schools!</p>
<p>Show up at one or two of the MC workouts at MIT. Sweat, grunt and then chat some.</p>
<p>boston,</p>
<p>My daughter had an Army ROTC scholarship to her #1 civilian college. However, when we visited again, she was told that if she felt uncomfortable wearing her uniform on campus, she could bring it with her and change at the Armory as some of the students do. Although not the only reason for her ultimate decision, she knew she wanteded to be somewhere that was supportive of her choice. And she wanted to wear her uniform proudly. (Now she loves wearing her civilian clothes. ;))</p>
<p>thanks for the advice, everyone! i appreciate it!</p>
<p>shawna</p>
<p>Another thought I had is how much you could contribute to broadening the minds of those other Harvard students. Sometimes people get too insulated with others who think just like them. You could make a real contribution to broadening the minds of those who will likely be leaders in society someday.</p>
<p>For more info & a great video about how higher education institutions try to force certain political views on students. It's called Brainwashing 101 (soon to be a feature film). Visit the link below:</p>
<p><a href="http://onthefencefilms.com/video/bw101/%5B/url%5D">http://onthefencefilms.com/video/bw101/</a></p>
<p>The filmmaker, Evan Maloney makes great short political documentaries (funny if it weren't so pathetic!) and has an interesting & creative website called brain-terminal. The videos are especially good (watch "The Clinton Legacy" and "Gettin' a MoveOn". Check it out:</p>
<p><a href="http://brain-terminal.com/%5B/url%5D">http://brain-terminal.com/</a></p>
<p>Timely, that's a very good point, and I'll be considering that as I make my decision. Thank you for bringing that up. Bz, I'm going to have to watch those films; look very interesting!</p>
<p>shawna</p>
<p>boston usmc: I went to Exeter, Dartmouth, and Yale (MBA). I have no regrets in my life but if I had to do it again I would go to a Service Academy. A bunch of my friends went to Harvard - they have done nothing special with their lives - most of them inherited their daddy's companies or are living off of trust funds. If you do well at an Academy, they will put you through a Doctorate at a school of your choice. A classmate of mine at Yale was West Point and still active duty. Get over the "Harvard" bull - when you're older NO ONE will care where you went to school - what will matter is what you got out of it and what kind of friends you made.</p>
<p>At the risk of opening up a big can 'o worms... I have to agree with BigGreen here. As an executive with a Fortune 20 company, I've done a lot of hiring over the years, and as far as upper management goes, where one did undergraduate is practically irrelevant. What you have done professionally is what counts. The single most difficult thing to find in business today is true leadership skills. I have staff with advanced degrees from the most prestigious schools in the U.S. and Europe. While some show leadership potential, it is painfully obvious that their education had nothing to do with development in this area. Truth is, for a management position, I would hire an Academy graduate, with military experience (field or fleet) over an Ivy any day -- it wouldn't matter whether they had experience in my industry or not, because the skills of leadership are transferable.</p>
<p>Good points, but do you think it makes a difference if that Ivy graduate also served in the military? Because if I DO go to Harvard, I'd be going active in the Marines right after; would you consider equivalent leadership experience as an Academy grad, after active duty?</p>