Hello all,
I’ve been recruited to play lacrosse at USNA, Cornell, and Dartmouth. I really want to spend some time in the military (preferably Navy) but afterwards would like to go into management consulting or IB. Would I be able to find success in this from USNA, or would I be better off going to Cornell or Dartmouth and go to OCS after? Thanks!
It would really depend on the type of college experience you want (the service academies present a unique environment) and how certain you are you want to serve in the military. I do think that USNA would be held in high regard by companies when it comes time to job hunt and to grad schools if you choose to go that route. Go with your heart on this one.
In addition to the Naval Academy, you may want to investigate ROTC at Cornell and Dartmouth and other schools.
^^Although time constraints may make it hard or even impossible to be in both ROTC and a varsity sport.
What matters to you most?
If you want a short stint in the military, either USNA or ROTC would work although they are light-years apart in your college experience. If you go to the USNA, you are literally in the military on a daily basis from Day 1, whereas if you are in ROTC you are technically in the military (if on scholarship) but your daily life is 95% that of a regular college student. Once out of the USNA or ROTC, your short stint in the Navy would be the same except for the fact that as an USNA alumnus, you have a large group of classmates starting/serving with you as well as a legion of alumni who will view you as a brother/sister because of your shared academy experience. If you decide to stay longer in the Navy, you will find being an Annapolis graduate carries many advantages. If you only serve your initial term, it won’t matter much which route you took.
If prestige of your alma mater is very important, it is arguably a draw among those three depending on the audience. People are usually impressed with an Ivy pedigree, but it will surprise you how many people don’t really know about schools other than HYPS, if even knowing the PS of that quartet. On the other hand, EVERYONE knows, understands, and has an opinion on the service academies. As a Wall Street banker at age 40, the differences may not matter and you are more likely to find fellow Ivy alums in your circle. As a business consultant in the Midwest at age 40, my bet is the USNA degree will mean more. Last, if you go into a crowd of random people outside of the executive business “class” anywhere in the country, however, people will shake your hand and nod approvingly when you say you went to the USNA, whereas half the crowd wouldn’t know Dartmouth from Denison from DePaul.
If getting an education preparing you for a specific area of business (like finance) is your highest priority, the USNA will give you a well-rounded education of top quality, but won’t even come close to the focused business training you could get at Dartmouth or Cornell. Your five-year stint in the Navy, however, may very well be a far better and demanding working experience than the job you otherwise would get in the business world at ages 22-27. What young military officers are asked to do dwarfs the responsibility of the average mid-twenty-something in the corporate world.
It sounds like I am advocating the USNA, but that choice has an asterisk the size of Texas–do you want, or even can you deal with, the daily rigor of an academy experience? Most people at age 18 do not want to spend 48 weeks a year (you only get a short summer break if you go to an academy, not a full summer off) going to a military boarding school rather than experience the freedoms of college life. I chose ROTC over an academy back in the day for that very reason, whereas for others the opposite choice would be a no-brainer. NO ONE can answer this question for you.
Any of those three will get you to management consulting.
My husband went to a service academy. The thing is, the USNA isn’t just a school. When you graduate, you will get a military assignment. You have to be prepared to give it all, and that’s definitely not something the other schools will ask you do. Just keep that in mind when you’re making your decision.
Agreed that this is about experience. You can go into the Navy and into management consulting or IB from any of these three universities (although of course at the USNA, you have a commitment; at Cornell or Dartmouth, unless you do ROTC, you don’t). They’re all considered excellent universities. But the experience you will have in college will be very different.
USNA is obviously the most different - it’s not a traditional college experience. You are a midshipman from the day you start and don’t have the freedoms a normal college student would have.
But Cornell and Dartmouth are also pretty different from each other. Cornell has more than 3 times as many undergraduates as Dartmouth. The ratio of grad students to undergrads at Cornell is also larger, and likely Dartmouth is going to feel more undergrad-focused than Cornell. Similarly, while both Dartmouth and Cornell are located in small, rural college towns, Ithaca is about three times the size of Hanover.
A degree from Annapolis is highly prestigious and will open many doors for you. As a previous poster said, just be sure giving the minimum of 5 years back to the NAVY is something you want to do. In terms of Dartmouth or Cornell, visit and see which school feels like a better fit for you. They at very different.
If you go to Annapolis, you can always get an MBA when your committment is over. And the service academies are as respected by grad schools as any Ivy. In fact, schools and employers tend to love the academies because their alums are taught discipline and teamwork. You’ll also find that all the Ivy grads who think they’re hot st will seem weak in comparison to you and your Annapolis classmates. All those Ivy frat bros will try to impress you with their own feats of manly strength and endurance, telling you how they did a two-week bootcamp in Aspen that really kicked their a so they’re “totally on your wavelength, bruh.” You’ll confirm for them their deepest insecurity: that they’re soft princelings who’ve never really proven themselves as men. I can’t overstate the psychological advantage you’ll have over them. That’s not necessarily the main reason to choose Annapolis, but it’s one that usually goes unconsidered.
Congrats on having such choices. These are 3 very different choices and should be so much contrast
that if you visited, you should have a preference as to where you feel most comfortable and excited to be.
I have a son at Cornell, and he loves it, but it is a very big school, which is not for everyone.
And the academics are very tough at Cornell, which is a great deal for an athlete to juggle.
I worked in IB and I can’t say I have come across any USNA grads in my travels.
That said, there are only a handful of jobs, for new recruits right out of college to top name firms,
where it matters that you went to Cornell or other Ivies. There are plenty of ways to get work experience
and make money other than at the top name firms that limit recruiting to a short list of colleges.
One way to look at this, you have 2 career paths if you go USNA, military and business.
As another said, you can always go for an MBA later if the military career is not for you,
though that would be after your service commitment.
Discussions like this help to point out subtle differences between choices that may seem similar.
But when they differ in such obvious ways, you really need to decide what you want. Great options
but different paths and satisfying different goals.
Can your parents afford Cornell or dartmouth? Ivies do not give athletic scholarsip.
I guess you can go ROTC. But can you be a varsity athlete and do ROTC at the same time? I have a Senior at Cornell and academics there is very tough.