<p>The USMMA is the only U.S. Service Academy whose grads are routinely commissioned into all branches of the military. Most USMMA grads elect to fulfill their 5 year service obligation by working as well paid civilians in the U.S. maritime industry. Which is a very nice option to have. But caution: the 4 year program offers only a few maritime related majors and the school is hell-bent on making them ridiculously difficult.</p>
<p>I know the OP says she’s looking for a full-time military environment but if that should change …check out the NROTC unit at NC State University. It’s a good unit. My S did NROTC there and loved it.</p>
<p>USMCMom, S1 is a 2009 graduate who was part of Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets. He was Air Force, though. He will laugh hysterically when I tell him that someone asked if ROTC was only on Tuesdays. It’s possible that is when the military science academic class meets each week. </p>
<p>The cadets live and breathe the Corps. As is the case in the service academies and the other schools with a uniformed cadet corps (VMI, The Citadel, etc.), the freshman year is a very challenging experience. S1 would not have used the words “challenging experience”. As others have said, they live in Corps dorms with their units and stay with the same unit all 4 years. They wear a uniform any time they enter an academic building. There are room inspections, uniform inspections, and all the usual stuff.</p>
<p>S1 felt that he had the best of both worlds. He had the military environment that he wanted, yet some of the advantages of a “normal” university, too. The opportunities he had at A&M were amazing. The commandant of cadets at the time was a retired 3-star general, and he poured extra time and attention into the cadets who were in key leadership positions. S1 was constantly telling us “General Van Alstyne says…”.</p>
<p>Youtube links aren’t allowed on cc, but if you go to youtube and type the following in the search box, then select the first video that comes up, you can learn more. Type in: aggiecorps corps of cadets .</p>
<p>Did your son take the SAT? If he scores 1300 or above on the critical reading + math portions of the SAT, he would qualify for automatic admission as an “academic admit”. I am not positive this is available for out of state students, but I think it is.</p>
<p>He should also call the Navy/Marine ROTC office at A&M if he is interested in potentially attending there. They want good cadets, of course, and they may be able to advise him on his chances for admission and for how that works on getting an ROTC scholarship to the school he most wants to attend.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all of your responses. They’ve been most helpful. My son earned at 1260 in SAT; got a 32 on the science portion of ACT. Sounds like he’ll be taking SAT again to get that coveted 1300 +.<br>
A&M is one we will definitely be visting and strongly considering. Keep the comments coming and thanks again!!</p>
<p>Texas A & M is different in that the Corps is a relatively small part of the student body. My children have a lot of friends at A &M, some are in the Corps but most are not. My son is at West Point and his view from talking to his friends eho are in the Corps at A & M is that a student would get much more of a “military academy” experience from VMI or the Citadel than at A & M. (OTOH, there are some real advantages to being at a place like A & M and having the possibility of enjoying a more “normal” college experience while also doing ROTC.)</p>
<p>I would also second the advice that you look into [United</a> States of America Service Academy Forums - Powered by vBulletin](<a href=“http://www.serviceacademyforums.com%5DUnited”>http://www.serviceacademyforums.com) There are grads there from all the senior military colleges and a ROTC-specific forum. You can probably get a lot of questions answered there.</p>
<p>I asked my DH about going to one academy but choosing another branch. He said that he thought his class was the last one that allowed that at West Point (1974), and it was usually used for young men (no women then either) whose fathers had served in another branch. So sorry for the misinformation!</p>
It’s possible that is when the military science academic class meets each week. </p>