<p>S is an honors student with a chance to live in Lechner. He has determined that he is a good fit for the Corps after spending a couple of nights with them. The Leadership certificate appears to be something our whole family values. The honors dept for Engineering appears to be top notch also. My questions are this…</p>
<p>What would he be giving up if he joined the Corps for 4 years? Internships? Study abroad opportunities? </p>
<p>Does the Leadership Certificate carry a lot of clout with the major employers? If he does not do the Corps, he will likely take more honors courses.</p>
<p>Your son has done a Spend the Night, so he has an idea what he’s in for. There is no question college life will be harder if he is in the Corps as opposed to being a civilian student. However, the leadership and discipline experience he will gain and the friendships he will develop will last a lifetime. He’ll give up a lot of personal free time, get harassed a lot by upperclassmen (especially his “Fish” year), and live a very regimented schedule. If he thinks that would be an intriguing challenge, by all means he should try it. I have read that the Corps GPA tends to be higher than the overall campus average because of mandatory study time, and your superiors having a stake in your doing well academically, too. Since he is not planning to contract and go for the Leadership certificate, his summers should be fairly free to participate in internships/study abroad if he chose to. Employers look very favorably on graduates of the Corps because they have proven they can multi-task and lead others.</p>