How is the NROTC program at these schools?

[KWilcox949]

Thanks for all the advice so far everyone. Just to reassure some people of my motives for choosing Aerospace engineering, I'm definitely not choosing it because I think it will help me get a pilot slot- I've done my studying and know that I could major in journalism and be a pilot. My love for physics and math, not to mention the mechanics of flight, is what influenced me to choose this major, so I am choosing it solely based on my own interests and also in hopes of it helping me better understand the aircraft I will hopefully one day be flying
Uncle Fester- My application to USNA is complete, and all my applications to my nomination sources are also complete and mailed in, so no worries there!
I'm still hoping some more people from the schools I listed will chime in! But until then, I really do appreciate all your guys' inputs! Thanks!

 

[KCOTT]

People who know me in real life know me as the annoying Ohio State guy. I've sat in class, during briefs, etc. and have been called as such. OSU is a great school, awesome campus, and the NROTC unit is really top notch. I commissioned from there in December 2008. The great thing about the unit is they have a lot of money to work with. You'll pay for it on Sunday mornings by cleaning up the Shoe after football games, but the school pays the unit a little more than $60,000 a year to do so. You can do a lot of activities with $60,000 among 100-125 Midshipmen, OC's, and MECEPs. We've done trips to Pensacola, Norfolk, Quantico, Pax River, other campuses, etc. On top of the 60k, some rich dude named "Mershon" left a scholarship fund for the unit. That money has been used as financial aid for Midshipmen. In college you're poor, so if you need $100 to buy a new pair of PT shoes and food for the week, simply fill out a request and hand it up the chain and each case is reviewed by a needs basis. That same money has also been used for other trips, battalion functions, and also as a reward for good grades and PT scores. People would get 4.0's and get $400, $350 for 3.50 and above, etc. We broke up our unit into Aviation, Surface, Submarine departments, and had a Mike Company for Marines. The SWO bubbas built a $20,000 ship simulator for training and not to be left out, I was the Aviation guy at the time so I requested $7,000 to build a flight simulator using 3 flat screen LCD's and a decked out computer. All of this was 3 years ago when I left, and I can only assume the unit has improved even more since then.

And to top it off, it's Ohio State. Huge campus. Lots of women. Party school. Great engineering school as well. I originally did Aeronautical Engineering but didn't nearly study enough to keep up with it so I did what 80% of engineering majors end up doing, switch to Political Science/International Studies.

And Michigan sucks. We play them every year in flag football and we beat them 4 out of the 5 years I was there. And when it comes to real football and essentially every other sport, we beat them in that as well. Go to Ohio State. Don't be stupid. If you have any other questions, PM me.

 

[NavAir42]

. The SWO bubbas built a $20,000 ship simulator for training and ..

Sweet Jesus! It costs $20,000 to stand around and say, "Make your heading 220, all ahead 1/3"?

 

[KCOTT]

Sweet Jesus! It costs $20,000 to stand around and say, "Make your heading 220, all ahead 1/3"?

I know, right? And that's exactly what they did. Huge 50" screens, a set up that looks nicer than an actual older ship, and 20 grand just to practice saying a few lines here and there. We had a SWO LT there who firmly believed Ensigns were showing up to the fleet unprepared. I guess this was his one chance to reshape the surface Navy with $20,000 and 8-12 new SWO Ensigns a year from Ohio State. Guess that's typical SWO attitude, eat 'em up before they even get to the fleet now.

 

[helolumpy]

Sweet Jesus! It costs $20,000 to stand around and say, "Make your heading 220, all ahead 1/3"?

Don't forget the coffee.... they need a top-end coffee pot so they can have their SWO-juice hot and fresh when the need it.

Also, sharpening knives costs a lot of money these days!!!

 

[MIDNJAC2]

Pretty soon they will be "downloading" API to NROTC units at this rate. Maybe some units can buy old T-34C's and get their aviation LT's back on flying status w/ NATOPS quals too Seriously though, I did hear that T-45's were going to or are teaching a CAS syllabus now. What's the story on that? Seems a little far-fetched to me given the assets and the aircraft itself.....maybe a decent intro to copying 9-lines and flying at the same time, but I don't see it being too useful given the way the Hornet is employed in said role (with a full up 21X system at least).....on the other hand, it could be fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the Hornet CAS/urban CAS syllabus so it could at least be good for some fun X's towards the end of strike....

 

[KCOTT]

Pretty soon they will be "downloading" API to NROTC units at this rate. Maybe some units can buy old T-34C's and get their aviation LT's back on flying status w/ NATOPS quals too Seriously though, I did hear that T-45's were going to or are teaching a CAS syllabus now. What's the story on that? Seems a little far-fetched to me given the assets and the aircraft itself.....maybe a decent intro to copying 9-lines and flying at the same time, but I don't see it being too useful given the way the Hornet is employed in said role (with a full up 21X system at least).....on the other hand, it could be fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the Hornet CAS/urban CAS syllabus so it could at least be good for some fun X's towards the end of strike....

Well, when you're a Midshipman for 4-5 years, you run out of stuff to do. Of course as a 1/C with a vested interest in aviation and $7,000 from the unit to spend, I'm going to build a flight simulator.

 

[MIDNJAC2]

Well, when you're a Midshipman for 4-5 years, you run out of stuff to do. Of course as a 1/C with a vested interest in aviation and $7,000 from the unit to spend, I'm going to build a flight simulator.

I was mostly just kidding......I'm sure I would have enjoyed such a sim when I was a middie as well, though my OSU didn't have that kind of chedda. Of course to further give you shit, all THE OSU guys I knew from summer cruises and flight school ended up in P-3's, helos, and E-6's, while I went jets so maybe the sim was negative training......

jk I keed I keed you guys were all good dudes

 

[AUtiger]

Talking to some former IPs at Hook they are looking to get CAS into advanced. I share your thoughts exactly, I would be lost without the CAS page for the most part but CAS flights are a lot of fun and would totally be a great way to end Strike in the -45.

 

[Vidofnir]

I've seen more than my fair share of JU patches. Maybe that's a P-3 in Jacksonville thing, but it was more than I could count on one hand.

There's one in VT-2. Plus its not exactly like we can go to the mall in Corpus Christi and purchase a JU license plate.

 

[NavyNFO]

Interesting reasons for an aero engineering degree. I had the same interests when I started my aero degree at RPI. I already had my PPL, loved aviation, and couldn't imagine what would be more satisfying that "learning everything I could about airplanes" via an aero engineering degree. It was great for my first two years but sucked for the remainder. I stuck with it anyway. I'm confident your experience will be similar to mine and I recommend you do an aerospace management or something similar at Embry Riddle or Purdue. If you're hellbent on engineering, go mechanical engineering. It's essentially the same as aero with a little less emphasis on fluids and it's more marketable on the civilian side.

Having an Aero Eng degree from RPI is great when applying for an engineering job, a graduate engineering program, or TPS. However, the only thing my degree has been useful for was correcting powerplant instructors at API and occasionally putting a rowdy pilot in his place when I'm told that I'm "just a NFO" (i.e. Tell me again how that engine works....).

An aero degree won't just teach you more about airplanes - you'll look at flight in an entirely new light. Do you really want to know what the stress is in every component of the wing and fuselage or can you be satisfied with the basic aerodynamics you'll learn in API?

 

[alphawhale]

Hi everyone,
I'm a senior in high school, and with that comes the grand time of choosing what college I want to attend. I know for sure that I want to fly for the Navy, and I really want to major in Aerospace Engineering, but I'm still in between the Naval Academy and NROTC. If I don't get accepted into or choose not to attend the Academy, I was hoping that I could get some insight into what the NROTC programs are like at my top four college choices- 1. University of Michigan, 2. Purdue University, 3. Ohio State University, and 4. Georgia Institute of Technology. If anyone has gone through a program here or knows anything about it, that would be great. I have searched through this forum a lot about the programs at these schools, but unless I was doing something wrong, I didn't come across too much information about them. Also, if anyone has any advice for another good college for Aerospace Engineering and NROTC that I didn't mention, I'd happily accept it!
Thanks a lot!

You want to be an Aero major and Michigan is your #1? I'm shocked more people aren't telling you how easy of a choice this is. UM's engineering is the best in the Big Ten, and their aero department especially has some HUGE names on staff. I'm a senior in the unit currently (just picked up 1390), and sure, maybe we have lost to OSU a time or two in flag football...but our drill meet competition teams (platoon drill, squad drill, color guard, rifle pistol, sailing, endurance teams) have gotten us #1 overall at most of the drill contests we go to. Our unit has high standards, but we put out consistently great officers on the Navy and Marine Corps side. I know some people from Purdue and Ga Tech, and you couldn't go wrong with either of those units (or OSU too, I guess). But all biases aside, if you're looking to be an aero engineer, NROTC at Michigan will set you for life, and on the Navy's dime.

PM me if you have any more questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them!

 

[Twicebellesedman]

University of Michigan has a very good engineering program in particular there aerospace engineering program. Also, if you are interested in any colleges in the Philadelphia area then i would suggest you look at Drexel University or the University of Pennsylvania.