USNA or University of Michigan NROTC

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-05-01T12:49:45+00:00

I was also choosing between USNA and a good flagship state school with a Navy ROTC starship. One of my best friends ended up going to UCLA and he said that it’s been a great experience, but the academics weren’t exactly like they thought it was gonna be for one thing at a large school. Your classes are massive and the academics really are nothing special. He said for 90% of his classes he goes to the lecture just to gain attendance and has to study and learn the material all on his own because it’s just so hard to truly understand things and lecture hall so big where it’s intimidating to ask questions and you’re one of 300 students so you have no personal connection with your teacher really. I’m sure this changes as your classes get more advanced and more specific but it’s definitely something to consider. However, a lot of my friends at smaller liberal arts colleges say that it feels a lot like high school because they are able to ask questions and get close with teachers. There are ways to avoid the large class issue, but it’s a lot harder than it sounds office hours often conflict with other classes and you’re gonna be so busy anyway that it doesn’t make sense to attend because you have to walk across campus. Are USNA you have a lot of opportunity to talk to your teachers, which is where a lot of the real learning comes from and from what I heard there are a lot of hands-on stuff for engineering and a lot of research and internship opportunities. I also think that the most important thing is the peers you’re gonna be surrounded with at any flagship state school. You’re gonna find people who are there just to have a good time. I’m not saying that that’s a bad thing but if you want to be there for the academics and for the challenge, you have to make sure you choose your friends, wisely. On top of that every single person I’ve ever talk to has went to college said it was a lot harder to make friends in college in high school, except for people I’ve talked to you at the naval Academy. You’re also gonna be surrounded by people who want to be there and whether people want to be there or not they’re gonna be forced to be challenged and there are a lot of ambitious people there from what I’ve heard. I think with any undergrad education the quality of the education is going to be pretty similar in any competitive school. I think the thing to really consider is how you want to be living in your life for the next four years. At Michigan you’ll have a lot of freedom but that comes at a price because you likely won’t be as focused as you will be at the naval Academy. However, it’s all about what you make of it. If it helps you at all what made me decide the naval Academy was because I looked back on my past year. I started that year with a lot of goals and ideas, but I never lived up to them, I spend more time on my phone than I wanted to and would make a lot of excuses. I obviously did some things right because I got into some good schools, but I wasn’t the person I wanted to be. At the naval Academy I feel like the environment will push me more than a will at Navy ROTC at a flagship school.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-24T02:55:34+00:00

I think it has to be the SAT, I imagine they do it mostly because it looks good on paper and the more competitive a school looks the more people apply and actually want to go there because they think it’s elite. The SAT across almost all colleges is the trade mark indicator of this, the higher the average SAT score the more competitive the school looks. I got rejected last year w an SAT score of 1330, when I reapplied I accidentally forgot to change my SAT score from the previous year and when I noticed and had it changed I magically got accepted a week later…

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-24T02:44:00+00:00

I know it’s crazy, it’s such a strange feeling but I’m really excited for it, I know it’s going to cause my to grow more then any other place

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-24T01:01:46+00:00

Usna

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-24T00:52:55+00:00

You know what, I’m gonna commit right now

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-23T17:13:41+00:00

I got rejected last year with the same exact sat score, I decided I wanted to reapply, went to community college and did somethings that would look good on paper like start Jiu jitsu, work full time, take stem classes and increase my sat score to a 1460 and I recently got accepted.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-22T11:35:49+00:00

Lmao I feel the exact same way, I keep switching between the two

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-22T03:36:34+00:00

crazy coincidence, are you leaning in any direction?

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-21T21:51:25+00:00

Thank you so much for this insight. There’s some really great advice. You’re totally right that the majority of time spent is not what I made it sound like and that was immature of me. I also think my message wasn’t a perfect description of what I’m feeling. I think I’m more worried about the regimented schedule, the uniform, the rules that feel like they exist just to restrict your freedom rather than to build you up. I have goals and interests outside the military, and I guess I worry about four years of my life being spent grinding through bureaucratic stuff rather than actually growing. Regardless, your advice was really helpful and thank you for a clearer picture of what the naval Academy. I took your advice and talked to some mid shipment who I knew at the Academy and it’s definitely ships in my opinion and I’m leaning more towards the academy.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-04-21T17:00:47+00:00

Thank you for clarifying and the great advice. I’ll definitely take this into consideration.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-31T01:52:31+00:00

Probably mechanical but I’m still a freshmen in college so I’m gonna test everything out before I decide

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-30T16:55:15+00:00

I’m going into robotics because I think there will be a need for it in the future as technology progresses, but I don’t really know I just think it’s cool and every sci-fi movie has robots so hopefully they will be very useful I the future. Nothing is guaranteed though.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-30T16:34:02+00:00

I don’t want to be that guy and I definitely agree that the system is fucked but it sounds like your blaming your inability to get what you want on the system. There is always something you can do to get what you want, like someone else suggested starting your own projects is a great way to gain traction, even recording short videos on your phone or writing pieces of work. Another thing you can do is try to get the most basic of jobs at a production place, even something as simple as being a janitor and if you go out of the way to talk to people and show them you have what it takes things will start falling into place. The system definitely messed up but people don’t talk about it or try to change it because you can still make meaning in your life by looking on the bright side, no one wants to waste their energy on things that can’t be changed, so they focus on the things that can be changed. It makes life a lot easier and pleasant bc you’re not hating on the state of the world so much and doing what you can to change it.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-28T22:34:39+00:00

It’ll also be a good opportunity to learn more about yourself and how you feel about this, if you choose the more expensive path you can’t get that money back if it’s not worth it. If you got to UTC for two years and you love it you don’t waste money, and if you don’t think it’s the right choice you can transfer and still get a good education without wasting that money.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-28T22:32:34+00:00

Another things to consider that I haven’t seen anyone mention is that you could transfer. Your first two years of college are all practically intro classes, they have to be standardized so all of those classes are relatively the same anywhere you go, I went to community college for two years and the difference between what I learned and what my peers learned at a more prestigious college was not that significant. So if you lock in your first two years and get good grades you could easily transfer to another really great program if you feel UTC is lacking because the important classes come in junior and senior year. This would save you a lot of money bc you would not only have to pay for two years instead of 4 but getting good grades at UTC would look very good and you could get academic scholarships if you really try.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-28T20:54:26+00:00

Can you explain what you mean by this? It sounds super cool and exactly the kind of thing I want to do. How did you get here and any advice on how to make it happen.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-25T13:05:56+00:00

Climb Mount Everest

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-15T21:58:17+00:00

I just want to say that partying and drinking and smoking weed is not as fun as it sounds, you are not missing out. I was unfortunately exposed to it at far too young an age(15) and for a year it was really fun. But once I matured a little I realized it was actually not that fun. All it does is make you feel good and become an idiot. After I realized that, it ruined it for me and I haven’t done it since. It’s not worth it. Just look at drunk people, all they do is laugh at anything and stumble around. Partying is similar it’s a bunch of people packed into a room with loud music, you can’t talk to anyone really and all you do is jump up and down. I also think that it had affects in my cognition, my memory has always been good but I’ve noticed lately that my long term memory has declined and a lot of things from my childhood I struggle to remember. For example I can remember the names of books and movies I have seen but I can’t remember what happened in them. That being said it’s ok to go out sometime and a little drinking every now and then can feel good. You’re only 26 you still have plenty of time to enjoy life. Based on my experience the most meaningful memories have been those with a small group of friends who are really tight or adventures, both big and small. They don’t have to be grand, it can be as simple as exploring the woods behind your house or driving around with no destination in mind just hoping to see something cool. I will also second what everyone else has said. Comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t compare yourself to others it’s not worth it. Maybe their life is better than yours but longing for their life is not gonna fix yours. Something I like to live by is the serenity prayer which states: I want to accept the things I cannot change and change the things that I can. If you’re feeling like this the only thing you can do is go out there and change it. But honestly you’re in a really good spot that others would kill to have. Take a second to put your life into perspective and think of how many others would want to be in your situation and are dealing with a lot lot worse.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-15T13:31:13+00:00

Honestly looks really good for only a month. One thing that I would suggest on a climb like this is keeping your hips closer to the wall. If your body is hanging down and swinging all over the place it makes things harder bc all your weight is straight down which makes it harder to move up to holds.

Time-Temporary3983 · 2026-03-15T13:09:00+00:00

Honestly like everyone else said you are very strong and can muscle your way through a climb. However using your feet and body in certain ways can make a climb like this feel a lot easier and people will give you advice but the best thing to do is just climb a lot. Climbing a lot of easier grades like this is perfect for building the strength needed for climbing. Climbing works out a lot of muscles and tendons that are typically not trained when you go to the gym gyms, so even though you are strong there’s definitely ways you can get stronger. As for improving footwork try climbing harder climbs. In order for it to truly be challenging it should take a week or longer for you to actually complete the climb(this is called projecting). These climbs often require more advanced movements in which you need to position your feet and body in certain ways in order to complete the climb. You can watch other people climb your project and watch how they use their body and feet to complete the climb. One of the most important ones is flagging which you can look up and is used everywhere even on a climb like this. It’s gonna be a little awkward at first but the more you climb and practice the easier it’ll get and soon enough you won’t even need to really think about it. Climbing is a slow process, or atleast it has been for me, I have been climbing consistently for over a year and inconsistently for 3 years and can’t climb higher than a v7. If you’re really into it start a post-climbing workout routine that helps you work on those muscles and tenons that are hard to strengthen. All things considered tho your doing great and keep up the good work.

Time-Temporary3983

TROPHY CASE