<p>Need help deciding- I have been accepted to both the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the US Military Academy otherwise known as West Point. I'm looking for some advice and pros/cons for both.</p>
<p>At Illinois I have been accepted into the Civil Engineering program and also got into James Scholars. I am also planning on getting my Masters in 5 years, as well as possibly getting a minor in business.</p>
<p>West Point I would only graduate with a Bachelors in CE</p>
<p>I will also be enrolling in ROTC at Illinois, and I am still waiting to see if I've recieved the 4 year scholarship for that. So until I find out on that, assume money is not a factor. After the army my ultimate goal is business school. Recommendations please!
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Service academy life is very different from civilian college life…especially your first year at USMA, you won’t have a lot of free time and will be under a lot of stress and all…you have to have great time management skills to get everything done. That said, every service academy graduate I know wouldn’t have traded those 4 years for anything.</p>
<p>You have probably already made your decision. Young people who want to get into a service acadamy more than anything consider an acceptance to be the pinnacle achievement of their lives thus far. The cache’ of being a West Point grad. is with you for the rest of your life.
Most who apply would not dream of being admitted and turning it down.</p>
<p>Do you feel that you’ve lost the enthusiasm for WP that led you to apply in the first place? Do you feel differently about it now that it is a real option? </p>
<p>You must know that the Army won’t let you hang around a 5th year to get a Masters. You will be commissioned after four years and begin active duty immediately. </p>
<p>My S considered applying to USNA but after much contemplation decided against it. He felt that he wanted to a the regular “college experience” along with the military training.
He received a NROTC scholarship to big state u. and decided to go that route.
He graduated/commissioned in 2009. He loved college life and has no regrets.
He’s now an officer in an elite Navy group. </p>
<p>I will say that ROTC requires a good time manangement skills. At the Academy, the schedule is made out for you and you just have to follow it. At a university, it’s up to the ROTC student to juggle all his committments on his own. Taking the extra ROTC class in addition to regular classes,early morning PT’s and other ROTC responsibilities can make for a crowded schedule. S had to take 18+ every semester but two just to be able to graduate in 4 years and he went into college with 20+ hours of AP credit. It’s doable but you have to be a good time manager to keep your head above water. </p>
<p>If you aren’t absolutely sure and over the moon about the West Point appointment, then I’d say you should go w/ Illinois and give your WP slot to another young person who’s dying to be there.</p>
I was tracking up until this statement. Yes the academy gives the cadets their schedules, but what you do in your time is up to you. Having 21 semester hours of classes, mandatory intramurals, and mandatory military formations on the weekends brings up a different level of time management needs.</p>
<p>I agree that if you need to ask you’re probably not committed to WP any longer.</p>