<p>Your questions are quite broad and you could easily use up many pages responding to them. I would suggest you start on the web with the USNA.edu site, the NROTC site as well as college review sites like Princeton review. </p>
<p>To you first question or concern, much of what you do will be applicable through the entire spectrum of choices you mention; the best advice I can give is start down that path now. </p>
<p>NROTC comes in many flavors, the main distinction being whether or not you obtain a scholarship and when that scholarship begins if at all. Assuming you are going for a 4-year scholarship that application will be concurrent with much of what you need to over the next 6-8 months. Scholarships aside, there is nothing to prevent you from enrolling in an ROTC program assuming it is offered at the college you attend. </p>
<p>If you seek a “military education”; that is an environment that differs from a typical college, you may want to consider schools such as VMI, The Citadel, Norwich, etc. There are also colleges that we referred to as the “in betweens” schools like Virginia Tech and Texas A&M that incorporate a Corps of Cadets program within a more traditional school. </p>
<p>A site like Princeton Review can help you determine the entrance requirements of each institution so that you can contrast your own situation with students already enrolled. </p>
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Having options or considering the potential that you may not reach your goal is not pessimistic in any way, if anything it demonstrates maturity and planning. There is much about the selection process that you have no control over, and as people have said on this board many times, lot’s of great kids don’t get in. If you search this site you will find a lot of advice on this subject, you will also find that not getting in the first time should not be the end of your dreams. Many successful applicants went through this more than once.</p>