Just HOW difficult is the A&M Corps of Cadets? (I'm needing some advice)

[Flash]

I really don't have a dog in this fight, so don't take this the wrong way. If you are the type that wants to get abused for 1-4 years, why not go to one of the academies and get a fairly big-name degree out of it? Outside of TX no one cares about Aggies except other Aggies. Same for VMI outside of VA and Citadel outside of SC. Everyone in the country, and the military, knows about Annapolis, West Point, and USAFA.

Because I didn't have the grades to get into an academy and I figured I needed a good, swift kick in the ass to fix the grade problem and help me get through school. Frankly, I knew I did not have the self-discipline to go to a regular college at the time and having done well after a summer at a military high school I figured I might do well at a military college too. I was right and it worked, best grades I ever got were in college.

And with the exception some enlisted almost everyone I have served with knew about the Citadel, I think Shannon Faulkner helped with that one.

 

[AllAmerican75]

I really don't have a dog in this fight, so don't take this the wrong way. If you are the type that wants to get abused for 1-4 years, why not go to one of the academies and get a fairly big-name degree out of it? Outside of TX no one cares about Aggies except other Aggies. Same for VMI outside of VA and Citadel outside of SC. Everyone in the country, and the military, knows about Annapolis, West Point, and USAFA.

Not intended to be a threadjack, but perhaps it might make the OP think as well.

I'm a live-and-let-live kind of guy....you want to do crack, I don't care, just pick up your damn vials when you leave. If your journey of self-discovery or whatever leads you to a military institution, then so be it--just make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

I'll echo Flash's sentiments as I, too, would not have survived freshman year at a normal college. I applied to USNA three times but couldn't get in and went to VMI where I learned a whole lot about myself, leadership, and the rest of the world. I also made some of the best friends I've ever had. Furthermore, I've always been surprised by just how many people I've met know about VMI. My advice: If you want a military school education, do it because for yourself, not because you believe it will help give you an inside edge to military service.

Just my $0.02 and YMMV.

 

[aggiecadet]

Squadron 18

I'm currently a frog in Squadron 18 at TAMU. To be honest, I wouldn't go anywhere else for my fish year. I've been here for three weeks and I see all the other fish out on the quad looking all cagged up with dirty brass, shoes that haven't been polished since last semester, and in general just bad performance. While the other fish may have been looking good last semester, it's obvious to see that they have lost the motivation to stay that looking good, and their upperclassmen have lost the motivation to keep them in line. Currently Sq. 18 ranks number 2 out of all the outfits here in physical training, so if you're out of shape, this outfit will get you in shape. I'm not exactly sure where we rank on academics (it's not our privilege to look at anything in the hallway), but it's probably up there among the top 10 because this outfit puts academics before everything else. And just so you know, you can join 18 in fall or spring, it doesn't matter. And not only do you only have one semester of fish year, but since you'll have 88 hours, you could jump up to a whitebelt (junior or senior), and not have a pisshead (sophomore) year. But I won't lie, that's pretty difficult to do because the thing about 18 is that at the end of fish semester, only a few get to stay and the rest have to find another outfit to join, and most don't require a whitebelt, mainly pissheads.

All this being said, if you want or need more information about Squadron 18, a.k.a. Frog Company and Phantom 18, just let me know.

 

[texags]

And not only do you only have one semester of fish year, but since you'll have 88 hours, you could jump up to a whitebelt (junior or senior), and not have a pisshead (sophomore) year.

This attitude is so stereotypical of nearly everyone I knew from 18... You want to be in the corps but you don't want to have to work for it. Suck it up and go through all of fish year, or stay out of the corps and go PLC or BDCP. Nothing wrong with that. Oh... and don't use terms like "pisshead", or "cagged", or "not our privilege" on airwarriors. Aggies get made fun of enough on here as it is...hehe

 

[HueyHornet75]

As always, there is a lot of great advice. I'm fron NorCal and live in Texas now...definitely a whole different planet here. I spent 6 years at a fun beach school and wouldn't trade it in for the world. You'll get plenty of opportunities being a bitch the first few years of your military service, so enjoy college for the experience it offers you.

Here are the real questions you need to concern yourself with, AirAggie:
1) Is being in the Corps going to help you pay for college? If yes, then explore. If no, refer to question 2.
2) Is being in the Corps going to help you pick up chicks? If yes, then disregard 1. If no, inquire about 3.
3) Join a fraternity, have fun, and give sorority chicks an Angry Pirate. Arrrgg.

 

[desertoasis]

...chest thumping...

Oh... and don't use terms like "pisshead", or "cagged", or "not our privilege" on airwarriors. Aggies get made fun of enough on here as it is...hehe

Two things.

One, take this argument to texags.com where it belongs. Sq. 18 is exactly as applicable to the real military as the rest of the Corps...as in, it ain't very much at all. Take what leadership skills you can, as well as an ability to work under pressure, leave the rest in College Station. Somebody made a great post earlier in this thread about what is helpful from the Corps and what isn't, I'd read that.

Second, concur with what texags said. It's not your privilege to use Corps terms on this site. Seriously though, you just sound like a tool using that stuff outside the Corps, even your non-reg friends think so, they just don't say anything. If people are undisciplined, say that. If they're sloppy, say that. If they are sophomores, call em sophomores.

Have fun in the Corps.

 

[SynixMan]

I'm currently a frog in Squadron 18 at TAMU. To be honest, I wouldn't go anywhere else for my fish year. I've been here for three weeks and I see all the other fish out on the quad looking all cagged up with dirty brass, shoes that haven't been polished since last semester, and in general just bad performance. While the other fish may have been looking good last semester, it's obvious to see that they have lost the motivation to stay that looking good, and their upperclassmen have lost the motivation to keep them in line. Currently Sq. 18 ranks number 2 out of all the outfits here in physical training, so if you're out of shape, this outfit will get you in shape. I'm not exactly sure where we rank on academics (it's not our privilege to look at anything in the hallway), but it's probably up there among the top 10 because this outfit puts academics before everything else. And just so you know, you can join 18 in fall or spring, it doesn't matter. And not only do you only have one semester of fish year, but since you'll have 88 hours, you could jump up to a whitebelt (junior or senior), and not have a pisshead (sophomore) year. But I won't lie, that's pretty difficult to do because the thing about 18 is that at the end of fish semester, only a few get to stay and the rest have to find another outfit to join, and most don't require a whitebelt, mainly pissheads.

All this being said, if you want or need more information about Squadron 18, a.k.a. Frog Company and Phantom 18, just let me know.

If anyone reading this either threw up in their mouth or wanted to club a baby seal in anger, congrats. You're a normal, functional human.

 

[HH-60H]

^ Thank goodness, because it did make me sick.

 

[scoolbubba]

I'm currently a frog in Squadron 18 at TAMU. To be honest, I wouldn't go anywhere else for my fish year. I've been here for three weeks and I see all the other fish out on the quad looking all cagged up with dirty brass, shoes that haven't been polished since last semester, and in general just bad performance. While the other fish may have been looking good last semester, it's obvious to see that they have lost the motivation to stay that looking good, and their upperclassmen have lost the motivation to keep them in line. Currently Sq. 18 ranks number 2 out of all the outfits here in physical training, so if you're out of shape, this outfit will get you in shape. I'm not exactly sure where we rank on academics (it's not our privilege to look at anything in the hallway), but it's probably up there among the top 10 because this outfit puts academics before everything else. And just so you know, you can join 18 in fall or spring, it doesn't matter. And not only do you only have one semester of fish year, but since you'll have 88 hours, you could jump up to a whitebelt (junior or senior), and not have a pisshead (sophomore) year. But I won't lie, that's pretty difficult to do because the thing about 18 is that at the end of fish semester, only a few get to stay and the rest have to find another outfit to join, and most don't require a whitebelt, mainly pissheads.

All this being said, if you want or need more information about Squadron 18, a.k.a. Frog Company and Phantom 18, just let me know.

I knew people like you at Virginia Tech. They were douches.

I still got laid AND got a commission, and eventually a set of kickass wings. They are still reliving their glory days as company first sergeants who made life hell for their peers.

 

[desertoasis]

I knew people like you at Virginia Tech. They were douches.

I still got laid AND got a commission, and eventually a set of kickass wings. They are still reliving their glory days as company first sergeants who made life hell for their peers.

That's why we old Ags still dog on Sq. 18. They produce high-quality tools.

Meanwhile those of us who didn't buy into the BS and shot for bigger, better things are out here...and people like them are still piss-drunk at the Chicken playing grabass with freshmen.

 

[Ric]

I'm one of those 5th years mentioned earlier, so I don't have any gauge on how the Corps helps you in the Navy, but I can tell you that the Corps at CS is much harder in the first two years then at Galveston. Your freedoms are hampered much more and you don't get to have many comforts until second semester of your sophomore year. There is also quite a bit more PT. After the last big Hurricane, we had cadets from Galveston living with us and while I'm sure they didn't represent the entire Battalion, most of them weren't in as good shape. When on a Corps run, which is a lovely slinky-like crawl usually, Galveston's "elite" platoon fell out around mile 1 of 2.5.

With regards to Sq. 18: As you can tell being a frog will be hard to get respect from the rest of the Corps. My outfit was brand new when I joined so we had a lot of frogs come in over the years, and for the most part their performance was...lacking. However, our CO my junior year was a frog and he was a good man. As with anything in the Corps, your experience is what you make of it. I personally was looking at joining Sq 18 at first, but my Navy advisor advised me against it and I'm glad I took that advise. Even having gone through a year of college already, I'm still around for a 5th year. Sometimes grades and changing majors works against your graduation plans.

The biggest lessons that I learned from the Corps of Cadets that I expect to serve me in the future was time management, stress management, and (like Harrier Dude mentioned) dealing with ineffective superiors.

Oh, and to answer the question about having time to chase girls, you will.

 

[Ventilee]

One of my rackmates at PLC-Juniors this summer was from the Corps of Cadets at A&M. By week 3 there were two main differences between me and him:

1. He could make a rack and do other minor remedial things faster then I could.

2. His rope climbing/O-course times were about 10-20 seconds faster then mine because he had access to an O-course.

I still graduated and am heading back this summer. I would follow HueyHornet75's advice, even though I am not quite sure what an 'Angry Pirate' is.

 

[HueyHornet75]

word. good luck this summer.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=angry pirate