<p>My daughter will be going to Wellesley in the fall. I also had reservations about the political climate because she is an evangelical Christian and I wasn’t sure she knew what she was in for. (I went to a women’s college that was very left-leaning, which didn’t bother me at the time, but certainly would today.) </p>
<p>D connected immediately with a student in the Christian fellowship, who made her feel right at home, and I spoke with the president of Gordon College (a Christian college here in MA), who assured me that Wellesley is “more classic liberal arts than liberal.” This assured me that there will be room for honest discourse, instead of idiotic political correctness.</p>
<p>So yes, I think it will be worth the money for our daughter, but whether this will help your daughter, I can’t say.</p>
<p>“As a veteran I would like to re-emphasize what many have said the, USAF is part of the armed forces and she may be directed to commit or contribute to great violence in service to her country.”</p>
<p>Some seem surprised when I repeat the quote that the job of the military is to “kill people and break things”. But you have to face reality, that may be what you are called upon to do. Particularly someone who is considering going into the Army, which the D is, not the Air Force. I suspect that she realizes that, as she is from a military family.</p>
<p>Per my D, there appears to be a small but super-vocal super-liberal crowd at Wellesley (of the “let’s change the spelling of women to womyn” and that type of nonsense). But you can pretty much ignore them. You’ll always find a few people who push the envelope wherever you go.</p>
<p>Yep, Pizzagirl, the drama teacher at her HS, also a very recent Wellesley grad, told her about this, but DD is a pretty tough girl and an open-minded intellectual, so I hope she’ll find a way to make peace or at least tolerate different factions. She knows what she believes, but also gets that others have different views.</p>
<p>D heard back from ROTC guy today and yes, she does have to take ROTC classes for 4 years, but she would receive a 3 year scholarship and have a 4 year commitment.</p>
<p>She ended up backing away from the Air Force Academy. How does SHE feel about ROTC and this 4 year commitment now to the Army if she does ROTC at Wellesley?</p>
<p>She is excited to do it. I think that what happened is that when she came off of the wait list at Wellesley, she wanted the opportunity to receive that type of education. In her mind, a ROTC scholarship and going to Wellesley is the best of both worlds. Her life will be tied up for 4 years, but that is one less than in the academy. Also, she can have a regular college experience with ROTC, which she could not have done with AFA.</p>
<p>That crowd made up the vast majority of students at my LAC when I attended. While it is a shock to anyone not left of the Green Party, it can be an interesting and valuable educational experience in itself…especially if one has a decent sense of humor and doesn’t take it all personally. </p>
<p>Then again, I try not to let politics get in a way of good friendships if potential friends agree to do likewise.</p>
<p>Just a couple points about the AROTC scholarship that I don’t think have been mentioned. First of all, the commitment is nearly always for 8 years total - 4 (ROTC) or 5 (Academy) on Active Duty and the remainder in the reserves. From their website ([Service</a> Commitment | goarmy.com](<a href=“http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/service-commitment.html]Service”>Become an Enlisted Soldier | goarmy.com)) “All scholarship students will be required to serve in the military for a period of eight years. This obligation may be fulfilled by serving four years on Active Duty, followed by four years service in the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR).” Just keep in mind that this means that she could be called up during those final 4 years - hopefully with the war dying down that wouldn’t be the case, but you have no idea of what will happen over the next 12 years (4 in college, 8 after). Just keep in mind you’re possibly talking the next 8 years after college to some extent.</p>
<p>However, I also wanted to point out that AROTC is the only branch that allows you to possibly serve those first years not on an active status (In Navy & AF everyone goes active duty). Again from the same link “Selected Cadets may choose to serve part time in the U.S. Army Reserve or Army National Guard while pursuing a civilian career.” My experience has been that in general cadets who want active duty get it and those who don’t do not get forced into it - ie. the numbers work out with most people getting what they prefer. Obviously your order of merit (rank within the unit and country as a whole) will have a bearing on that - if you’re in the top 10% you’re pretty much guaranteed it, while if you’re in the bottom 10% you may not have any choice. So it is possible with AROTC that she could actually graduate and only serve in the guard or reserves and never even have to be on active duty. </p>
<p>Of course always remember that it is the military and “Needs of the Army” will always come first so you can’t count on anything but I did want to throw this out there.</p>
<p>" Also, she can have a regular college experience with ROTC, which she could not have done with AFA." </p>
<p>Yes and no. ROTC would always add an extra element of work and complexity to college experience, but due to location logistics it sounds more of a burden at Wellesly. Think through all of the scenarios… will parents be OK with Wellesly if she finds ROTC overwhelming? If not, then set the ground rules now.</p>
<p>And do insist that the D do a trial run of getting herself from W to Cambridge so she understands the distances involved. There’s the experience of getting on the van which will deposit her directly on the MIT campus- which will operate some of the time she needs to get there. Otherwise, she’s either taking public transportation (cheap but time consuming), cabs (convenient but expensive) or borrowing someone’s car (if/when possible, and she will need to figure out parking at MIT. W is not urban- so there’s always somewhere to park.)</p>
<p>I just hope the D doesn’t think the two campuses are adjacent to each other. Or that her ROTC commitments will take into account her transportation issues.</p>
<p>I believe the trip from Wellesley to MIT involves the commuter train which is a bit more expensive than the T. I would hope there is a monthly or semester student pass she could buy. She should also check the schedules…and make sure that she will be able to get where she needs to get on time.</p>
<p>A recent relative who graduated from Wellesley said her ONLY complaint was that it was not all that easy to get into Boston from Wellesley…not as easy as they made it sound when she visited. BUT she loved the school nonetheless, graduated, and has a great job.</p>
<p>Folks with Boston and/or ROTC expertise could comment further on this, but to me it looks like early morning exercises at MIT would not be possible by public transit. Routes start around 6am and take about an hour.
[MBTA</a> Trip Planner > Find the Best Way to Get to Your Destination](<a href=“Trip Planner | MBTA”>Trip Planner | MBTA)</p>
<p>Early morning PT always began at 6a.m. the entire four years that S1 was in NROTC.
It has to be early to ensure it doesn’t interfere with the academic schedule (classes starting at 8a.m.).</p>
<p>So wouldn’t there likely to be a few other Wellesley students making the same run over for ROTC training, and likely 1 or 2 of the older ones would have cars (probably for this very purpose)? Maybe the OP’s daughter can link up with another ROTC participant at Wellesley and discuss the logistics side of this.</p>
<p>OK. I spoke with the MIT ROTC Army person today and she told me that yes, there is an upperclassman who will drive the girls to stuff at MIT. The good news is that they DO NOT REQUIRE the Wellesley ROTC students to do PT. No joke. They said the shuttle doesn’t run that early and that Wellesley is 40 minutes away, so they just let them work out at Wellesley. Can you believe it? What a deal!!!</p>