SMCs At A Glance

Very interesting thread. DS only applied to 3 schools for class of 2025–The Citadel, VMI and West Point. He received a 3 year AROTC scholarship that was bumped to a 4 year after the final board. The Citadel was actively engaged with side scholarships and reduced out of state tuition for his freshman year when he had the 3 year. We visited with the ROO for at least an hour discussing The Citadel and left very impressed. We really heard nothing from VMI after he was accepted there. DS had made the decision to attend The Citadel and then ultimately received an appointment. As stated by previous posters I am sure the smaller SMCs lose a number of admits to the Service academies. I still have a soft spot in my heart for The Citadel and how they treated my DS. A lot of respect for the school and its Cadets.
 
Allectus said:
Very interesting thread. DS only applied to 3 schools for class of 2025–The Citadel, VMI and West Point. He received a 3 year AROTC scholarship that was bumped to a 4 year after the final board. The Citadel was actively engaged with side scholarships and reduced out of state tuition for his freshman year when he had the 3 year. We visited with the ROO for at least an hour discussing The Citadel and left very impressed. We really heard nothing from VMI after he was accepted there. DS had made the decision to attend The Citadel and then ultimately received an appointment. As stated by previous posters I am sure the smaller SMCs lose a number of admits to the Service academies. I still have a soft spot in my heart for The Citadel and how they treated my DS. A lot of respect for the school and its Cadets.
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Welcome to The Citadel community and congratulations on your son’s scholarship. The most important part of finding the right college is for your son or daughter to decide on the experience that will allow them to do their best. And many young folks change their minds about career plans once they enter college. I have found most students that choose to enroll at The Citadel are well focused on their goals. This board is full of advice and information, some good and some bad. Trust your son’s judgment. Best of luck.
 
Allectus said:
Very interesting thread. DS only applied to 3 schools for class of 2025–The Citadel, VMI and West Point. He received a 3 year AROTC scholarship that was bumped to a 4 year after the final board. The Citadel was actively engaged with side scholarships and reduced out of state tuition for his freshman year when he had the 3 year. We visited with the ROO for at least an hour discussing The Citadel and left very impressed. We really heard nothing from VMI after he was accepted there. DS had made the decision to attend The Citadel and then ultimately received an appointment. As stated by previous posters I am sure the smaller SMCs lose a number of admits to the Service academies. I still have a soft spot in my heart for The Citadel and how they treated my DS. A lot of respect for the school and its Cadets.
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Understandable—we felt VMI took the approach that they did not need to compete with the other schools. Now, looking at the numbers, I see why…
Additionally, when we visited, it almost seemed that VMI was steering people away from the school that did not have the commitment to attend. Maybe that was just us, but we felt like VMI was saying, “you better be sure this is where you want to go to school if you come here.”
For my son it came down to VMI and the Service Academies because (in his words) he wanted a 100% military school experience. The notion of students who were not cadets wearing the school ring did not appeal to him at all.
In the end, he received an appointment and chose a service Academy but I also have a soft spot in my heart for VMI because of my ties to the school and the way they treated both he and my daughter. In the end, there are really no bad choices here.
But VMI is a different place for sure!
 
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Tac-p21 said:
Agree—found that interesting as well. Apparently VMI has the highest public per student endowment in the United States. Unique place. Also impressed by Texas A&M’s numbers.
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pa-outdoorsman said:
The Citadel just put out a press release on this last week. 2024 commissioning numbers as follows:

Army - 102

Air Force/Space Force - 9

Navy - 18

Marines - 21

Total: 150

Interestingly, the press release just says "more than 140" and then goes on to list all the exact numbers.

The Citadel 2024 Commissioning Details
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Typically there are another 20-25 commissioned later in the summer, I believe there are a couple Coast Guard direct commissionings as well. And tagging on to Glens comments - around 12% of seniors go on to graduate programs; the first time acceptance rate for those applying to medical school is 86%, the national average is 27%.
 
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VMI graduated almost 350 on the 16th and commissioned just over 170 on the 15th.

35 graduated and 9 commissioned back in December.

VMI still states on it's website that it's the largest Army ROTC program in the country.
 
conrack said:
Typically there are another 20-25 commissioned later in the summer, I believe there are a couple Coast Guard direct commissionings as well. And tagging on to Glens comments - around 12% of seniors go on to graduate programs; the first time acceptance rate for those applying to medical school is 86%, the national average is 27%.
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I have the program from this years Commissioning - I was bored and counted and your numbers are correct. My DS was one of the 21 Marines. How lucky we are to have institutions like The Citadel, VMI and Norwich - which are purpose driven to develop the next generation of leaders - Civilian or Military.
 
banjoppd said:
TAMU might have the largest Corps in the country but the commissioning numbers are not as high as you would think. Many Corps cadets are D&C cadets who don't contract and pursue commissions. TAMU offers many Corps only scholarships. Every kid in Texas is trying to get into TAMU but not every kid wants to be in Corps so they entice them with money.
Kids go to TAMU for the Aggie network leveraged with the TAMU Corps network. It's hard to classify TAMU in the same lane with any of the other SMCs due to the size of the whole student body. There may be 3000 in the Corps but the "non-regs" run around 70k. Fish are now allowed to go home on weekends and travel for football way before cadet recognition. TAMU is just a different SMC experience.
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TAMU has a history of inflating or fudging on all their numbers; they have claimed a corps size ranging from 1800 to 2700 and also continue to advertise that they 'traditionally commission the most military officers of any college'.
 
Tac-p21 said:
Understandable—we felt VMI took the approach that they did not need to compete with the other schools. Now, looking at the numbers, I see why…
Additionally, when we visited, it almost seemed that VMI was steering people away from the school that did not have the commitment to attend. Maybe that was just us, but we felt like VMI was saying, “you better be sure this is where you want to go to school if you come here.”
For my son it came down to VMI and the Service Academies because (in his words) he wanted a 100% military school experience. The notion of students who were not cadets wearing the school ring did not appeal to him at all.
In the end, he received an appointment and chose a service Academy but I also have a soft spot in my heart for VMI because of my ties to the school and the way they treated both he and my daughter. In the end, there are really no bad choices here.
But VMI is a different place for sure!
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students who are not cadets wearing the ring, the usual jab at your hometown school; and just what ties do you have to VMI, as I understand it attended but did not graduate. Your claim that VMI has had the largest Army ROTC detachment for "some time" is incorrect, as recently as 2018 The Citadel had over 1450, almost the size of the entire VMI corps.
 
conrack said:
students who are not cadets wearing the ring, the usual jab at your hometown school; and just what ties do you have to VMI, as I understand it attended but did not graduate. Your claim that VMI has had the largest Army ROTC detachment for "some time" is incorrect, as recently as 2018 The Citadel had over 1450, almost the size of the entire VMI corps.
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You definitely don’t have your facts straight, friend. But I suppose if I hadn’t graduated and served in the military for 24 years, I could’ve come home and gone to your school at night… always thought it’d be nice to have a pinky ring!🤣

All subterfuge and nonsense aside, I’m putting together commissioning and graduation numbers (still waiting on UNG and Virginia Tech) and will be posting all SMC numbers for 2024 next week.

To all the recent SMC grads and those who are newly commissioned, CONGRATS and Happy Memorial Day weekend!
 
Tac-p21 said:
You definitely don’t have your facts straight, friend. But I suppose if I hadn’t graduated and served in the military for 24 years, I could’ve come home and gone to your school at night… always thought it’d be nice to have a pinky ring!🤣

All subterfuge and nonsense aside, I’m putting together commissioning and graduation numbers (still waiting on UNG and Virginia Tech) and will be posting all SMC numbers for 2024 next week.

To all the recent SMC grads and those who are newly commissioned, CONGRATS and Happy Memorial Day weekend!
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Deny and lie, same tired NAS act after 15 years
 
conrack said:
students who are not cadets wearing the ring, the usual jab at your hometown school; and just what ties do you have to VMI, as I understand it attended but did not graduate. Your claim that VMI has had the largest Army ROTC detachment for "some time" is incorrect, as recently as 2018 The Citadel had over 1450, almost the size of the entire VMI corps.
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:popcorn1:
 
Stealth_81 said:
It’s the same old characters in this section of the forum arguing like children over whose school is better for “whatever” reasons. It’s tiring and not a good look for their respective schools.
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As previously posted:
All subterfuge and nonsense aside, I’m putting together commissioning and graduation numbers (still waiting on UNG and Virginia Tech) and will be posting all SMC numbers for 2024.
 
2024 Commissioning numbers:
(highest % first)

Virginia Tech
Total students: 36,383
Cadets: 1,285
Cadet Graduates: 265
Commissioned: 224
Commissioning rate: 85%
Army: 102
Navy: 65 (includes Marines)
Air Force: 57
www.vt.edu
www.vtcc.vt.edu

Virginia Military Institute
Students (100% Cadets): 1,512
Graduates: 342
Commissioned: 173
Commissioning rate: 51%
Army: 106
Navy: 32
Marine: 23
Air Force: 12
www.vmi.edu

Norwich University
Total students: 1,955
Cadets: 1,025
Cadet Graduates: 223
Commissioned: 110
Corps Commissioning rate: 49%
Army: 85
Navy: 8
Marine: 5
Air Force: 12
www.Norwich.edu

Texas A&M
Total Students: 72,982
Cadets: 2,519
Cadet Graduates: 416 (approx)
Commissioned: 165
Corps Commissioning Rate: 40%
Army: 69
Navy: 21
Marine: 18
Air Force: 57
www.tamu.edu
corps.tamu.edu

The Citadel
Total students: 3,721
Cadets: 2,238
Cadet Graduates: 487
Commissioned: 150
Corps Commissioning rate: 31%
Army: 102
Navy: 18
Marine: 21
Air Force: 9
www.citadel.edu
www.citadel.edu/corps/

University of North Georgia
Total students: 7,721
Cadets: 773
Awaiting Graduation and Commissioning data
www.ung.edu
www.ung.edu/military-college-admissions/index.php
 
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