<p>I am trying to determine what I should do with my life (kind of a big decision lol), and although I am 100% sure I want to be an Army officer, I really dont know what path to take. I have received an LOA to West Point, and basically been offered an ROTC scholarship to a pretty prestigious university. I have noticed that people have seemed to treat ROTC as a plan B to an academy, but there are a few reasons why I think ROTC could be a good fit. Here is a short list of the pros I see in each option:</p>
<p>West Point
Amazing, unique experience, would test me to my limits and ensure best military training
Get me ready for military life
Superior leadership and physical training</p>
<p>ROTC
Could pursue academic interests (specialty at school I was accepted to)
Could have a life outside of military training
Could complete education more on my own terms</p>
<p>Is anyone else having this dilemma, or through the other side? Any insights or information that could help with this decision? I feel blessed to have these oppurtunities to serve my country, but terribly torn as to how I should go about it. Thank you!</p>
<p>You've hit some key aspects of one versus the other. Our youngest son had the same choices and chose the Academy route. But you might want more of a "life" while in college. Nothing wrong with that. Both end up at the same destination. This is a personal decision. Who are you and what makes you tick? The best person to answer this question is the one in the mirror. Best of luck to you, whichever route you choose!</p>
<p>Both USMA and ROTC are great programs to pursue.
However, if you prefer to commit yourself on military life, go to USMA.
If you want to have a normal college student's life, go to ROTC.
Becoming a good officer is totally upto you. Doesn't USMA or ROTC make you a superior officer. There are pretty bad USMA graduate officers, whereas there are good ROTC officers, vice versa.</p>
<p>Think as you are brought up by rich family, but that doesn't mean that you are rich.</p>
<p>vballgirl10, go back and look at your reasons for each. The reasons for WP were to make you a better officer. The reasons for ROTC were personal. You never said you wanted to be a CAREER Army Officer; however, if you do, there is no way that a ROTC education can compare with that from WP. Sure, there are people who rise above a ROTC education and there are WP grads who do not take advantage of the education they received, but, guaranteed, the longer you stay in the military, the greater the odds of the person that you are saluting is a SA grad. Not sure about AF since they don't salute.</p>
<p>If you truly want to give an Army career a chance, work through all the WP detractors and, if at all possible, position yourself to take advantage of a SA experience.</p>
<p>I wonder if you could elaborate on the statement you made, "Could pursue academic interests (specialty at school I was accepted to)". If there is a major which you believe you are passionate about that is not available at West Point, ROTC is a great opportunity to have your cake and eat it, too. You get to study just what you want and you get to pursue the military career. However, the academics at West Point are very strong as is the core curriculum which so many civilian colleges have abandoned. </p>
<p>My daughter went through the same decision process just 3 years ago. It was difficult, but she analyzed her options and decided that WP was the best choice for what she wanted to do long-term. Even if there are moments when she may wonder why she came to this decision, she knows it's the right place for her.</p>
<p>It's hard to ask a high school senior to make a life commitment. It's possible you will want to change your major after a semester or two. It happens. A couple things worth noting: if you choose ROTC and then after a year decide that you want to attend West Point, you'll start as a freshman. If you attend West Point and then decide that you want a "normal" life with the ROTC path, then you can transfer with your WP credits. I'm not recommending that you take either route expecting to change your mind. But after making the best possible decision, you can realize that the other choice would have been better for you, the choice is again yours to make.</p>
<p>Many current cadets will tell you that no matter how much research you do, you won't understand life at West Point until you're there. (Personally, I think that's expected. How could anyone really, really understand?)</p>
<p>Good luck to you as you make your decision and let us know what it is.</p>
<p>My interest lies in languages and social studies. West Point is my first choice among service academies because I think these skills are more applicable in the Army, rather than the other branches. However, engineering is still USMA's "flagship" program...</p>
<p>Then there is the question of whether one really wants to address their humor to a group that requires an 'announcement' that it is meant to be humorous. For me, that takes half the fun out of it. "Was that an attempt at humor, or was he being serious?"</p>
<p>Yes, all those new candidates and applicants who come for here advice, not familiar with your sense of humor, will immediately know that you were "just kidding" when you once again take a shot at other services that are not riding around in gray ships.</p>
<p>I love all the smilies, too. But let's get back to vballgirl.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the foreign language depts. are very strong. However, you really should do the overnight visit and be sure you let Admissions know that you'd be interested in visiting language classes. Otherwise you'll likely be assigned to a plebe and follow her classes for the day. It's a huge decision and you need to gather as much data as possible in order to make the most informed decision.</p>
<p>It is an old document - 2006, but it does give you some idea of the language program at USMA and will give you a starting point for questions you may want to ask USMA admissions. I believe that all non engineering majors are now required to take 3 or 4 semesters of a foreign language. The semester abroad program has also been expanded substantially. I know a Foreign Relations major who has just spent a semester in China, and also a Civil Engineering major who spent a semester in France (yes he is overloading now!). Semesters abroad can be at a civilian college or a military academy.
Good luck!</p>
<p>As to ROTC vs. SA, excellent points all around about looking for what is the best fit for you personally. Does attending an SA get you better prepared for your immediate entry into the military as a junior officer? With out a doubt. But you'll find that by the time you make O-3 (Captain in the Army / AF / Marines, Lieutenant in the Navy / CG), your commisioning source has little impact on your success. It's the kind of officer you've become and your performance on active duty (as measured by your performance rating), that determines how successful your career will be. </p>
<p>Not sure of the exact percentages, but from my experience it seems that a greater percent of SA grads tend to stay in longer (to retirement) than ROTC / OTS. This gets you to the point where more of the higher ranking officers (O-7 and above) have SA experience. I've meet many from all sources of commissioning. But if you're setting your sights on CSA (Chief of Staff of the Army), WP is your best starting point (I'll leave the rest of your career and all the great things you'll need to do to get to that point up to you).</p>
<p>My humble advise: go where you feel you fit the best. If you feel you're ready for the level of commitment and sacrifice that you'll experience in a SA, it probably will help you out for the first couple of years of your military career. If you're not sure, and don't feel that you're ready to sign up to the miltary 24/7 for your college years, try ROTC. Why be miserable for 4 years that should be a highlight of your life?</p>
<p>part of the issue is that I don't know what language I want to study... I have taken 5 years of Spanish and had a month of full immersion in Nicaragua, so I am kind of committed to that path. I am taking a year of Chinese at school, and find it fascinating. I am extremely interested in the Middle East, and got a taste of Arabic at SLS, but I also love learning about Africa, so French would be useful to know. I wish I could learn them all by playing tapes while I sleep or something, but something tells me that I will have to choose sooner or later.</p>
<p>I am going to do a candidate visit, and I think it is an excellent idea to ask to take some language classes while I'm there.</p>
<p>One of my volleyball coaches is in NROTC here, and I was thinking I would ask him if I could shadow him. Will this be helpful? Is NROTC basically the same as AROTC? Thanks!</p>