<p>peskemom: if she ends up at UCSD, will she have any contact with the Nrotc people at USD?</p>
<p>When we went in Feb. of this year to the Academy/ROTC information night down in San Diego - it was held adjacent to USD...and present were young people from all the N/MCRotc units. In fact, it was the Marine ROTC kids who stood out for their spit and polished uniforms. OK OK for you Navy ROTC folk - the Naval young people were a VERY close second to the Marines. They indicated that some of their training was togethter, some separate. Captain Redden - who runs the Marine side - told our daughter on the phone call that he hoped she would come to his unit because she would be such an asset to the entire group in San Diego. He knows USNA is her first choice - but until she gets her Appointment and 'signs on the bottom line' to USNA...all her options remain open. It really will be tough....USNA does NOT offer Arabic Studies and International Studies - which is really what she wants to study. USNA has a mental culture that at least everyone there is going through what you are at the same time - as opposed to ROTC kids in civilian college. So the issue, as I understand my daughter's musings as she continues to share her thoughts with me - for her center on the 'mental frame of mind' she wants for the next 4 years. She really wants to be a Marine and she has an absolute guarantee of that if she goes Marine ROTC. If she goes USNA - it really isn't a promise until Senior year selection...and that's a long time to find out if you really can fulfil your dream. Hmmmmmm, I'm glad I don't have to decide these life-important decisions for her.</p>
<p>Its just great that she has the opportunity to have decisions to make. I can't tell you how glad I am that my daughter's decisions are all hers now!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If your daughter truly wants to become an officer, the leadership training and overall officer-preparation that she will receive at USNA is far superior anything she could receive at an ROTC unit. </p></li>
<li><p>With respect to academics in general--while GW and UCLA are both fine schools, I don't believe that a degree in an international studies field from either will pack heft that a degree from USNA will provide. When kids have a choice between USNA and an Ivy-level school, I can understand why there would be some debate about academic quality. In your daughter's spot, though, I think she'd be better off getting a political science degree (tailoring her elective classes to focus on the middle east) from USNA that a nominally more focused degree from an inferior school. Alternatively, I'd tell your daughter that she might possibly (probably!?) change her mind about her major anyway, so selecting a school based solely on the fact that they offer a program that she may be interested in now may be a little premature. I also think suggesting that a more generalized BA before focusing in on a specific area of interest is pretty sound advice. </p></li>
<li><p>I don't think that the opportunity to bind herself to joining the Marines after she graduates is necessary a good thing. Honestly--does she really have a good idea of what Marine officers really do? Does she have rational reasons for wanting to join the Marines rather than the Navy, other than the fact the the uniforms are cooler? By attending USNA, I think your daughter will have an opportunity to gather information about all of her potential service options and be better prepared to make an intelligent decision about what she wants to do for a living. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>DeepThroat</p>
<p>Hey DT - thanks for the advice. I'll make sure she reads your comments.</p>
<p>Actually the reason my daughter wants to be a Marine goes back 4 years...in terms of years of contact with all branches of the service. Something about their esprit de corps/ the uniform standards / the concept of semper fi/ and the opportunity to get mean,down and dirty as part of a team and a concept larger than yourself....are all things that appeal to this beautiful young woman. She loves to run at Camp Pendleton and MCRD in their Mud runs, Bood Camp Challenges...the pier swims...Something about being in contact with muck, cold, goo and physical endurance is a part of her nature. She also has talked with - oh, let's say, a dozen women Marine Officers, along with at least that many Naval Officers over these years. Some we have brought over to our home for dinner - so she could have lenghty conversations. Teamwork, leadership, humility....these are all factors that drive my daughter's idealism towards military service, especially in the Marine Corps. </p>
<p>She has always been more comfortable around guys than her girlfriends. She seems to intuitively understand their views of the world - even the stupid aggression/sex drive/humor/games much more than the "Valley Girl" mentality that pervades our Southern California female population, which drives her absolutely CRAZY. Somehow she maintains her femininity, her beauty, her intelligence, her morality quite well in this context. Beats me, but she can deal pretty successfully with a male culture. </p>
<p>The reason she loves the Navy is that the opportunity is there for her to do all her dreams. She can do aviation. She can do infantry. She can do navy. She is a Cadet Squadron Commander in Civil Air Patrol and has worked with Air Force stuff for 4 years...and they all have wanted her to go Air Force. She went to AF Summer Seminar last year along with NASS....but the Navy is for her.</p>
<p>Want to know my intuitive mom's guess? She'll go USNA and never look back. But if something changes and she chooses MCROTC- she will still achieve her goals of serving her country as a Military Officer - which is what she wants more than anything else.</p>
<p>hhaha Peskemom I would like to meet your daughter- I think we'd be friends lol.</p>
<p>-Alli</p>
<p>well i've only met Janell once, but even from that i could tell that everything you just said about her is true. she's an awesome girl! and i agree entirely with all of her views on service and on the Marine Corps!</p>
<p>shawna</p>
<p>Janell just got back from her MOC interview. It turned out her BGO was one of the 4 people, one was an Air Force Colonel, the other 2 were Marines ( in civilian clothes, which she didn't know until the end). The questions they asked mostly centered on why she wants to be a Marine. By the end the Marines were smiling pretty wide - along with her BGO.</p>
<p>So now we wait. :-)</p>
<p>So APan5- I recall you have your Appointment (mucho congrats!!)...are you thinking Marine, too? And where do you hail from?</p>
<p>Peskemom-</p>
<p>I am indeed thinking Marines. I participate in my high schools Marines JROTC so I've been lucky enough to meet many Marines. We even get to spend a week every year at the MC base in Quantico, VA- good time! I want to go USMC for besically the same reasons as Janell (and Shawna!) :) I am from Hampton, NH. I applied for Marines Option ROTC as well. Still waiting for a reply.</p>
<p>-Alli</p>
<p>I sure hope Janell can meet you too, Alli, like she has Shawna. And by the way, SHE has long curly, thick hair - At the moment it goes into about a 16 inch ponytail. In the next couple of months she'll cut it and ( for the second time) donate her hair to a cancer patient center to use for wigs.</p>
<p>So it would be fun to see you both with your short flying-away -curly thick, hair under Plebe hats on I-Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Ha, I'll be there too!! (with short super curly hair) My hair is pretty unruly and I'm thinking I won't have that much time to do french braids during plebe summer (or if my hair will even be long enough to do them...) I was going to get it cut short about a week before going to I-Day so that it's not in the hands of time-strained "beauticians" the day we get there. Can we start growing it out immediately afterward? :(</p>
<p>Even if you had the time you won't be able to put your hair in french braids during the summer -- unlike West Point, its not an option at USNA. Female hair has to be cut above the collar on or before I-Day. You can begin to grow it out immediately but you might have to have it recut during the summer if your hair grows really fast and your cadre determines it to be "too long". If growing it out right away is your plan, get a blunt cut, not layers. It might not be as "cute" when short, but you won't really care during Plebe Summer, and the blunt cut will be SOOOO much easier to pin up in the fall as it grows out.</p>
<p>is it too late if i just submitted my nrotc online application today? does anybody know if thats too late?</p>
<p>Um...well...I'm not sure. But is the deadline around Dec. 31?</p>
<p>bestwestin, is the initial application? I think that deadline was a couple weeks ago.</p>
<p>yea its the online initial application. I heard the air force rotc deadline is Jan. 14th. I hope the deadline wasn't a couple weeks ago. Thanks I guess I'll call my recruiter. damn i probably would have gotten the scholarship too...</p>
<p>I just checked the NROTC website because I myself haven't applied yet since it was just my finals week. The deadline is January 25th. Hopefully, I'll get it started today and finish by end of week.</p>
<p>I know the initial AFROTC online ap was due Dec 3rd, or around abouts. The rest of paperwork (physical fitness test, essays, resume, etc) are due Jan 14th.</p>
<p>green09 did you submit the online initial application yet or are you starting from scratch? I hope the deadline wasn't Dec. 3rd... because i guess i wouldnt have made it. </p>
<p>and o yea i heard i can use my results from the naval academy fitness test for the nrotc fitness test. Is this true? Theyre not the same test, right?</p>