<p>As has been said before, the kids at the Citadel live a life very much like that at an academy in that they will be pushed to their limits. Calder, if your son wants tough, he will indeed get it there. Might be more than he can chew some days. Have no worries at all that he will be challenged in all ways. They are building leaders. Knob year is like a year of boot camp then put on top of that, the academics that will keep him stressed. I too, strongly suggest the Pre-Knob overnight visit as it is extemely important that your child understand what he/she is about to undertake.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. We are taking our son to a pre-knob in November. We are excited. Your help with The Citadel has been great. </p>
<p>Our only concern is that we have been told that the academics at The Citadel are not real good...but this doesn't line up with what we are learning from The Citadel and seeing from them. From what we can see...the academics look solid. </p>
<p>How do the academics compare to the service academies?</p>
<p>Any comment on this?</p>
<p>Calder, congrats on son getting the first part of the acceptance. Know he'll do fine on the physical one as well. Wish I could comment as to the academics and how they compare to a service academy but don't know enough about it to advise. I know that they have awesome majors/minors. My son was going to do Political Science/Criminal Justice minor at the time he was looking. Very good program if I recall. Your son will have the opportunity to attend a few classes & he will get a good idea of where he stands. Maybe someone with knowledge of the academic program there will add something here. I think you & son will be in love with the campus & some of the faculty you meet. </p>
<p>P.S. Leave your heavy coat at home when you come! Nov. stays around 50 - 60 degrees. Sweater weather to an IL girl! :D</p>
<p>I cannot answer the academic question either. I find that a good student will do well where ever they choose to go to college. I think that a Citadel degree is recognized as a tough program when you add in the "whole program". I was talking to the human resource manager at the fortune 500 company that I work at and he said "I would pick a Citadel grad over a regular college grad because I know that if they made it through there, they are a quality person." He said that a Citadel degree indicates a strong committment and that is important to him. I agree - your son will get a good education at The Citadel. Good luck - have a great weekend on your Preknob visit. We did and we continue to have a great time every time we visit. Citadelmom</p>
<p>Don't be fooled, hazing is rampant in some companies no matter what the president or administration says. Does that mean you shouldn't go or couldn't handle it? Of course not, anyone with a desire to survive it will. But on the other hand some companies in the corps are run like big fraternities with very little supervision. Hazing often involves PT until you puke in an upperclassman's room, or being beat up by a number of upplerclassmen until they feel you have learned your lesson. If it is reported, and people get in trouble for it, you can expect to be shunned by your classmates and finding your personal belongings randomly destroyed, and your life in general made miserable. One knob in our company already suffered this fate, and it is enough to keep the rest of us from reporting. If you want to come here, come, you can do it, but know what your getting into.</p>
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<p>I am currently a freshman at the citadel: here is my advice.
Don't be fooled, hazing is rampant in some companies no matter what the president or administration says. Does that mean you shouldn't go or couldn't handle it? Of course not, anyone with a desire to survive it will. But on the other hand some companies in the corps are run like big fraternities with very little supervision. Hazing often involves PT until you puke in an upperclassman's room, or being beat up by a number of upplerclassmen until they feel you have learned your lesson. If it is reported, and people get in trouble for it, you can expect to be shunned by your classmates and finding your personal belongings randomly destroyed, and your life in general made miserable. One knob in our company already suffered this fate, and it is enough to keep the rest of us from reporting. If you want to come here, come, you can do it, but know what your getting into.</p>
<p>How do Citadel and VMi compare and contrast?</p>
<p>Just wonderin'</p>
<p>im going to go to the citadel so i will try not to make vmi look bad, but vmi for lack of better word is for wimps......if ur tough go to the citadel where u will be a knob for the WHOLE YEAR, but vmi ur only a rat until like january(or whenever your class is deemed ready) so there was a class that was still rats in their sophomore year because they were bad, plus hell week(night) at vmi is only 15 min. long but at the citadel its until u puke ur guts out or until a tac. officer says something......... but if the upperclassman is pting ur ass and doing it with u then u just rock on lol............and i believe u will have better experiences in the citadel, plus its in a reallllly nice city charleston whereas vmi is like middle of nowhere Virginia and i live in va so trust me on that</p>
<p>Khipper,
To start off you should spend a little time looking at both colleges on a site like Princeton Review, as well as the web sites of the colleges themselves. We visited VMI with my son and were impressed with the teaching staff and the emphasis on small classes. Compared to many private schools, VMI looked like a bargin, especially if you are a VA resident. If you want a military education it's worth a look IMO. Good luck.</p>
<p>Calder, I am in the same situation you were in a year ago as my son is interested in The Citadel and has looked at VMI as well. May I ask what decision he made and how are you with it? Thanks. I was so happy to find this site. Also, really enjoyed the posts from the knobs who were living through it and not whining. Leaders of tomorrow.</p>
<p>My youngest son has applied early decision to the Citadel for Fall 2008. He is hoping to hear something later this month. He received a generic letter in early June that urged applicants to apply by the end of June 2007 so that they might receive notification in July.</p>
<p>He likes VMI also but prefered Charleston to Lexington. He wants a military college experience (His decision, not mine - I have no military experience) with eventual plans to receive a commission in the Marine Corps.</p>
<p>I looked for a Citadel "group" but did not see one here at CC - Did I miss it?</p>
<p>ObsessiveDad..
Is your son also applying to the Service Academies? Also, i just learned of another forum <a href="http://www.serviceademyforum.com%5B/url%5D">www.serviceademyforum.com</a> (that might be wrong but you could google it) that might be able to help you with a Citadel group.</p>
<p>2 Days after dropping my daughter at USNA for I-Day, we headed south down the coast from Annapolis the long way around to Atanta. We stopped for 2 days in Charleston and toured the "yard" of the Citadel as I had never been there. BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS and fascinating History! I had interesting conversations with some Cadets there. They said that for some it is a Family Tradition of attending rather than wanting to serve. A group actually told me they were there as it was expected of them and it was the best way to secure the right job with the right connections after graduation. I was surprised and would hate to hear that out of the mouth of any mid. They were intriqued to hear about USNA (What little I know so far). And when I told them it was my Daughter at USNA, they were quick to tell me the story of Shannon Faulkner. I found that very amusing, even if a bit chauvinistic. We have a family friend that is at Citadel now as a 2/c and plays football on scholarship and just loves it.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your son! It is quite a process! :)</p>
<p>Actually it's <a href="http://www.serviceacademyforums.com%5B/url%5D">www.serviceacademyforums.com</a> </p>
<p>It has an area for the state military schools such as The Citadel.</p>
<p>Thanks to MOM2LOLA2011 and Bossf51.</p>
<p>My son is applying to USNA but his grades and test scores are not strong enough. He will follow the process through.</p>
<p>Regarding females at the Citadel, my son has a friend who just finished up his knob year. He indicated that most knobs steered clear of most of their female classmates out of concern/fear over sexual harrassment accusations. If this one individual's assessment is correct, it would seem that more work needs to be done there regarding integration of the sexes. Is this issue handled better at the USNA?</p>
<p>At USNA, my sons experience in classes, EC's and in his company - some of his best friends are females. The pictures that he posts on his photo album for us to see usually has females in the pictures, they look like a real great bunch of friends! Granted when he was in high school most of his best friends were/are females so there is no departure on his norm here - nor would I think it would be where ever he had chosen to go to school.</p>
<p>Obsessive Dad .. what we have experienced so far sexism is a non-issue so far.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you guys!</p>
<p>We have a son interested in the class of 2008 at The Citadel. What can anyone tell us about this school? We have visited and seen but what really goes on after Mom hugs son and drives away?</p>
<p>Just read your Oct 06 entry about hazing at The Citadel. Do you plan to return for your Sophomore year? Why?</p>
<p>Same question from me.......Also this is a case where I hope the adminstration of the Citadel reads these posts and takes such statements VERY seriously. If they look the other way or condone such behavior then it looks rather hypocritical if they also talk about the whole honesty/loyalty/integrity thing normally associated with military type academies.</p>
<p>Time2 wrote a few days ago, "Excellent advice. Although probably speaking to both groups gives you a bit better balance!!! Then you can weigh all of the +/- for yourself. Probably not a bad idea to talk to as many cadets as you can.</p>
<p>If you only decide to go there because you saw an ad on TV and thought driving a tank would be 'cool', you probably haven't done enough research.</p>
<p>Just amazing when I read about some who are 'shocked' by the entire Military thing once they start going there.......like they had no idea what they were even signing up for??? Certainly need to do your homework before making that kind of commitment."</p>
<p>Very good advice & applicable in this instance as well. If you sum up The Citadel by two Cadets who have posted, I'm not sure one will get the entire view needed to make a judgement. If opinion alone holds weight, maybe more research should be put into finding the answers. Just sayin' is all..... :)</p>