Naval Academy vs. Notre Dame NROTC

NROTCgrad
Thu, 18 Dec 2014 01:53:12 +0000

Basically, this is a matter of personal preference. My advise is to only go to the Naval Academy if you are totally sure that it is your preference. USNA is designed to challenge you at every level. Nothing in America can compare to the demands of attending one of the five service academies. If you want to be challenged every day – mentally, socially, and physically – then the Academy might be the right choice for you. NROTC is like going to college with some military training on the side. Notre Dame’s own Catholic identity will probably influence you more than will NROTC.

From a career perspective, it is no longer an advantage to be an Academy graduate. A few decades ago, Academy graduates did tend to get some preferential treatment during their careers. This has not been the case for quite a while now.

I can think of two advantages to attending the Academy. First, you are not required to declare your academic major until after you plebe year, and thus you still have the possibility of majoring in a non-STEM field (History, for example). With NROTC, if you have stated that you intend to major in mechanical engineering at ND, it will nearly impossible to change to a non-STEM major. Perhaps you could switch to physics, but changing to history would be a big problem. Second, similarly, you do not have to choose between a career in the Marines or one in the Navy until the end of your second class year (junior). If you have any interest in the Marines, this might be valuable.

The main advantage of NROTC, anywhere, is that you get a fairly normal college experience and in some ways might better understand what it is that you are defending. In other words, you probably will understand civilians a little better than an Academy graduate. A lot of Academy midshipmen and cadets (at USMA and USAFA) love to repeat the irony that “we are here to defend freedom, not have it.”

As far as the differences between the “college experience” of USNA versus ND, almost nobody can tell you because almost nobody has done both. However, the main differences are fairly obvious to most people who pay attention. The Academy is military 24/7, while NROTC is more like 2 or 3 hours per day, at most 6 days per week. Both USNA and ND have very strong alumni networks nationwide.