I'm not sure where the bulk of you get your information, but about 99% of the posts in this thread are false and/or deliberately misleading. Here are the facts from someone who went through the A&M Army ROTC program almost 20 years ago.

Cadet Corps: As stated earlier, the only way to get an ROTC commission at A&M is as a member of the Cadet Corps. As an Army ROTC cadet, your options for minor units (company-sized elements) are limited to the 1st and 2nd Brigades (major units composed primarily of Army ROTC cadets) or the Combined Band. All cadets are required to declare an ROTC affiliation until their junior year, where they either take a contract or become "Drill and Ceremonies". (The way you can tell is by the patch on the left shoulder. If they have two TAMU patches, it's a D&C cadet) Historically, commissioning rates in relation to the size of the cadet corps have varied between 33% (when I went through) and 46% (height of OIF/OEF). Those numbers don't include those who enlist, take a direct commission or go through OCS after the fact. In a typical ROTC class, at any school, at least 10-15% will not be able to fulfill their contract due to medical, academic or other reasons. (My classmate who became Student Body President was a MacArthur Award winner that was declared medically unfit to serve 2 months before he was supposed to commission due to a respiratory condition that wasn't discovered until he went through MEPS)

Actual ROTC program: I can only speak for the Army side. The training areas are fairly robust. The fireman's training site at Easterwood Field has grown exponentially in the last 20 years, from an area with 4 FLRC, 9 STX, and 2 Platoon LFX lanes to a complex MOUT site and several other areas. Weapons qualification takes place in the basement of the Military Science Building, with a range utilizing weapons modified to fire .22 rounds (due to the compressed space). I think they might have a "Weaponeer" now. I always considered ROTC a class when I went through. You meet two days a week, plus "lab" events and two quarterly weekend Field Exercises. The culminating FTX at the end of the academic year includes all of the ROTC programs in the area (Texas, Houston, Sam Houston, SFA, etc.). The APFT run route is just over two full iterations around Spence Park.

DA Training Opportunities: As a SMC, A&M Cadets do not attend the "Basic Camp" that other ROTC programs send their cadets to between their MS2 and MS3 year. That summer is primarily when cadets attend Basic Airborne Training and the Air Assault School. When I went through, A&M was allocated 18 Airborne and 4 Air Assault slots, and it was a very competitive process to get those slots. I had to abdicate mine so I could take summer school to graduate on time (Electrical Engineering degree). A&M is typically allocated between 2-5 CTLT slots as well during the Advanced Camp year.

Commissioning: All medical and clearance procedures go through MEPS in San Antonio. You have to purchase your own uniforms through the PX at Ft. Hood or JBSA (you get an authorization memo to do so) using the clothing allocation you get. A lot of cadets use that clothing allocation to purchase their senior boots...to each his own. There are two commissioning ceremonies, the official one in front of friends and family and the public one in front of everyone in attendance at Reed Arena. The first is limited to those in your commissioning group and branch while the other one is with EVERYONE getting commissioned at that time. There were 34 in my Army Commissioning Group and 74 in the May 2000 ceremony.

Let me know if you want other actual details instead of trolling bullshite. (very telling that we have downvotes, but no attempts to respond or rebut by the usual suspects)

This post was edited on 4/2/19 at 1:17 pm