My son who is in Grade 11, wants to join the Navy and be a diver in Special Ops. He is an avid scuba diver and holds many certificates including his Rescue Diving. He is also an E2 cadet in the USNaval Sea Cadet Program. His grades are not so stellar. He basically had a tough time adjusting to Public school since we moved continents and a new country. We are not so hopeful about him getting into USNA due to their elite expectations. Hence a College NROTC seems reasonable where he can also get a degree. Then get in as an Officer. He is willing to apply nation wide, but are there any colleges with better NROTC programs than the others or are they all the same ? Secondly, what tuition waivers can we expect from out-of-state colleges for NROTC students? We don’t prefer him to go enlisted soon after high school since he will be only 18. Not sure if he knows what to expect. Please advise !!!
I am a mom who’s had 3 accepted to USNA. I don’t know what your sons scores are but I can say that 2 of my 3 did not have stellar scores either but was still accepted to NAPS which is the preparatory school for Navy. Your pretty much a shoe in as long as you do well at Navy Prep. I would also apply to NROTC and also pick another service academy. They like to compete with other academies. Summer seminar applications open in January make sure he applies to that and call up and see if you can request a candidate visitation weekend. The more you attend the better it is. We actually found it harder to get the NROTC scholarship than to get into USNA. Good luck!!
I have no experience with (N)ROTC but do have a kid at a service academy and would second the advice above. It can’t hurt to apply to the academy if living a military life 24x7 while attending school is attractive to your son, but all commissioning routes end with the same rank, no extra points for attending an academy.
I have posted before that, by mission and design, the service academies value brains and brawn somewhat equally, so their incoming classes comprise a broad range of scholastic aptitude. Like civilian colleges, the SAs maintain an academic bar that all incoming appointees must hurdle, no exceptions even for athletes, but only about one-third of any incoming class is selected for outstanding academic chops. The remaining 2/3 are chosen for equally shiny traits but fall further down on the academic scale so, obviously, some do enter at the bottom of that scale. If your son is deemed “shiny” by the academy, and his academics are not far out of range, he could be admitted outright or sent to the prep school for a year of academic boost and then given a seat in next incoming class.
It’s not so much “elite expectations” that are the issue with receiving an academy appointment as it is the vagaries of the nomination process. Applicants who receive a nomination and pass the academic, physical and medical qualifications (3Q) have about a 50% chance of receiving an appointment. How competitive your district is in the year your son applies is what no one can guess, but that’s another discussion.
You might want to do some reading on the U.S. Service Academies forum here and, better, on serviceacademyforums.com which is the official website for kids trying to navigate this route. It has an entire subforum dedicated to ROTC questions and issues. The experienced military posters there can answer any questions you have.
@MaineLonghorn: Perhaps this thread might get more CC traction if moved to the U.S. Service Academies forum.
All ROTC programs are the same, as everyone commissions with the same rank. For a military career, there is a slight edge to graduating from an academy.
What do you think he will want to study as an academic major? If you think he would prefer something more hands-on and marine-oriented, then maybe look at the Maritime Academies that offer NROTC programs: Maine Maritime and SUNY Maritime? Both are relatively affordable for OOS even without a funded ROTC scholarship… and Maine Maritime has an intermediate New England Regional tuition level if you happen to be from one of those states.
The Coast Guard also has elite divers - have you looked at this possibility at all? (Either the Academy or possibly the coast guard as a possible enlistment that you might feel more open to for an 18 y/o, which would then open up options for a funded college education after a few years of service?)
thank you all for your suggestions. yes, we will start the process of looking into USNA and 4-year college programs .
My son wants to be a diver for the Navy, and get trained in other areas while there. Will look into the coast guard route.