<p>If part of the attraction of West Point is the low dollar cost, I would encourage taking a second, third, and fourth look at Cornell. Every year people leave West Point because of a change of heart, bad grades, or an unexpected health issue. Most do successfully transfer elsewhere, however as transfer students their aid packages aren’t likely to be very good. Cornell looks like a more certain thing to me.</p>
<p>My husband was watching some TV debate about sexual harassment for women in the military the other day. I think this is a serious problem. Here is a link.
[Female</a> Soldiers and Rape: War Within for Military Women - TIME](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968110,00.html]Female”>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968110,00.html)</p>
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<p>That IMO is individual and not necessarily dependent on age. I’ve known folks who knew they wanted to join the military/go off to a service academy since they were young kids and did. One older neighbor’s son turned down a full ride to MIT to go to Annapolis and lived his lifelong dream to be a naval officer on a submarine. A few of my older cousins did ROTC in undergrad at places like RPI because they strongly wanted to serve as military officers for a period/possible career. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I’ve also known folks who changed their minds or were forced out for various reasons. One college classmate of a childhood neighbor decided to drop West Point in the middle of Beast Summer(Summer right before plebe year) after finding the reality of the military lifestyle wasn’t suited to him. A younger HS classmate gung-ho about joining the Marines right after high school ended up changing his mind right before going off to Parris Island and placed his family through a bureaucratic nightmare to get him out. </p>
<p>Then again, I’ve known far too many people of all ages who can’t seem to make up their minds about anything…even professionally much to the annoyance of myself and more importantly, their supervisors and family members. Being 18 doesn’t necessarily make one more susceptible to this than other ages…especially “mature adults”.</p>
<p>If she’s interested in a military career, have her do ROTC at Cornell. Since she has a full ride anyways (and won’t be dependent on an ROTC scholarship), she won’t need to make a commitment to the military until sometime in her sophomore year. She can easily decide then if ROTC isn’t a good fit for her. If she attends West Point and determines that she is not suited for a military career, she’ll have trouble transferring a lot of the credits (like Military Leadership, History of Military Art, etc), and probably won’t have that full ride to Cornell waiting for her.</p>
<p>Rather than talking with current cadets, see if she can find some females who have attended West Point and are 2-3 years out of school. Even better if they have some interest in Law School. These young women would be the best people to give her some advice about the pluses and minuses of their experience. If she doesn’t know anyone…it’s likely West Point could put her in touch with someone. Or possibly your congressperson or senators have contact with people they nominated 5 or 6 years ago…</p>
<p>Options is key.</p>
<p>Strong vote for Cornell with ROTC participation. It will give her the MOST options. An ROTC grad from a top notch school gets the same treatment and opportunity as academy grads. PLUS she will have options that no academy grad will enjoy. I.E., she can quit without any obligation prior to being “contracted”, which they will require before entering senior year. On top of her school scholarships she’ll receive $500/mo for her ROTC participation plus kick-ass summer camp experiences. All, with no obligation. Keeping ones options is key. </p>
<p>AND most importantly she will have the experience and enjoyment of a normal school. </p>
<p>Options is key.</p>