ROTC at Rice

<p>Are almost all of the ROTC engineering students at Rice in Naval ROTC?</p>

<p>If Air Force (and Army) ROTC are at UH, I can't imagine anyone would want to do the commute (it would get expensive and slow), and the partner programs are not really engineering schools (UH is only 5% engineering students) so it seems like there would be a strong incentive for Navy ROTC (vs. Air Force) for Rice engineering students.</p>

<p>About how many Air Force vs. Navy ROTC students (or even better engineering ROTC students) are there?</p>

<p>Do they basically have to be mechanical engineering - what about majors like Materials Science where Rice has good programs but doesn't really match the typical navy job on a submarine or destroyer?</p>

<p>All the ROTC students I knew at Rice were Navy. It definitely is more convienient to have the ROTC center on campus, especially with the time commitment required for school and ROTC activities.</p>

<p>I knew a variety of engineers, from chemical, to mechanical to electrical who were NROTC. I do not believe there is a restriction.</p>

<p>I think any major can do Navy ROTC, not just engineering, I am a physics major and received something in the mail recently asking me to apply.</p>

<p>Navy ROTC wants its midshipmen to major in engineering, or in hard sciences (physics, chemistry, etc…) and it is very difficult to get a NROTC scholarsip without being a STEM major. Yes, they prefer mechanical engineering over materials science. However, material science would be fully acceptable and would be most valuable in the submarine branch for example. </p>

<p>The above is only relevant to the NROTC scholarship. A student can simply enroll in Navy ROTC and major in anything. Really, anything.</p>

<p>This situation happens in many college areas, not just in Houston. Sounds like not many at Rice actually do ‘other’ service ROTC, but it happens other places. AFROTC used to look for majors of various types. The military needs more than just engineers in its officer corps. At least that is what they told me when I was a cadet. Texas has a very large AF presence. Rather odd to me that they do not have a more physical presence at Rice. Congrats going to Rice. S1 really loved the campus, but we could not put together enough money for him to even bother applying.</p>