• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

RMC Culture, etc

bridgestrat

Guest
Reaction score
0
Points
10
I am going into grade 12 this year and have been looking at going to RMC as a part of the ROTP program, I'm thinking of applying for pilot and studying Math, Chemistry, or maybe Physics.

  1. Is it typically easy to fit in at RMC? Is there a stereotype I need to fit into?
  2. Obviously it's a military school, but are there any similarities to a "normal" university life (parties, dorm life, etc)?
  3. Were most RMC students in cadets? Is it harder to get in if you weren't in cadets?
  4. A kind of related question - How many RMC students come from military families? Is there a disadvantage to not being in one but still studying at RMC?
  5. Is it easy to access mental health support?
  6. If I go to RMC then leave after my 5 years of service, is it easy to find a job after? I am interested in doing a master's and a PhD in the very far future, how do civilian universities view RMC?

If I'm being honest it sounds too good to be true - free tuition plus a guaranteed job after. What's the caveat?
 
If I'm being honest it sounds too good to be true - free tuition plus a guaranteed job after. What's the caveat?
You have to do the job or pay back tuition. You don't get to definitively choose where the job is. If you suck at the job you chose, you will get assigned another one that may, or may not be one you like. You maybe be put in life threatening situations without an option to say no.
 
I am going into grade 12 this year and have been looking at going to RMC as a part of the ROTP program, I'm thinking of applying for pilot and studying Math, Chemistry, or maybe Physics.

  1. Is it typically easy to fit in at RMC? Is there a stereotype I need to fit into?
  2. Obviously it's a military school, but are there any similarities to a "normal" university life (parties, dorm life, etc)?
  3. Were most RMC students in cadets? Is it harder to get in if you weren't in cadets?
  4. A kind of related question - How many RMC students come from military families? Is there a disadvantage to not being in one but still studying at RMC?
  5. Is it easy to access mental health support?
  6. If I go to RMC then leave after my 5 years of service, is it easy to find a job after? I am interested in doing a master's and a PhD in the very far future, how do civilian universities view RMC?

If I'm being honest it sounds too good to be true - free tuition plus a guaranteed job after. What's the caveat?

If you're just interested in free tuition and a guaranteed job, you might be wanting to go for the wrong reasons.
 
I am going into grade 12 this year and have been looking at going to RMC as a part of the ROTP program, I'm thinking of applying for pilot and studying Math, Chemistry, or maybe Physics.

  1. Is it typically easy to fit in at RMC? Is there a stereotype I need to fit into?
  2. Obviously it's a military school, but are there any similarities to a "normal" university life (parties, dorm life, etc)?
  3. Were most RMC students in cadets? Is it harder to get in if you weren't in cadets?
  4. A kind of related question - How many RMC students come from military families? Is there a disadvantage to not being in one but still studying at RMC?
  5. Is it easy to access mental health support?
  6. If I go to RMC then leave after my 5 years of service, is it easy to find a job after? I am interested in doing a master's and a PhD in the very far future, how do civilian universities view RMC?

If I'm being honest it sounds too good to be true - free tuition plus a guaranteed job after. What's the caveat?
Since you desire to be a Pilot specifically, you should probably know that there is currently a 10-year period of Restricted Release (ie. you will be unable to request release) for all Pilots once they "get their wings". This means, on average, if you go to RMC as a Pilot it'll likely take around 3 years post graduation for you to get your wings, then a minimum of 10 years as a military pilot. That's 17 years service.

If you want to be a different officer trade, then there likely won't be such a commitment.
 
Since you desire to be a Pilot specifically, you should probably know that there is currently a 10-year period of Restricted Release (ie. you will be unable to request release) for all Pilots once they "get their wings". This means, on average, if you go to RMC as a Pilot it'll likely take around 3 years post graduation for you to get your wings, then a minimum of 10 years as a military pilot. That's 17 years service.
10 years of flying starting at $92,000 for a Captain and without being promoted to Major, finishing those 10 years flying at $132,000 in current dollars. There could be worse jobs out there. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
10 years of flying starting at $92,000 for a Captain

That's also very generous, current wait times for fleet specific training are measured in years. There isn't much flying waiting for a seat. You do get paid to essentially sit around and wait....that doesn't happen anywhere else.

If you want to apply for pilot, I would get my degree before joining. The 10 year restricted release isn't worth it for time value sakes IMO.
 
You do get paid to essentially sit around and wait....that doesn't happen anywhere else.

PAT section has entered the chat

Seriously, though... My mantra has always been "Hope for the best, but plan for the worst." I would make sure you look into EVERYTHING first, before you jump. Better to know what you're gonna land on.
 
10 years of flying starting at $92,000 for a Captain and without being promoted to Major, finishing those 10 years flying at $132,000 in current dollars. There could be worse jobs out there. 🤷🏻‍♂️

So, just about a year 2 salary for a new Management Consultant with an MBA then?
 
I am going into grade 12 this year and have been looking at going to RMC as a part of the ROTP program, I'm thinking of applying for pilot and studying Math, Chemistry, or maybe Physics.

  1. Is it typically easy to fit in at RMC? Is there a stereotype I need to fit into?
Yes. Everyone shares in the suck and creates very strong bonds. Eventually you start to form closer relationships with those who more neatly fit with your individual personalities and hobbies, but I never found that there were any loners or ostracized groups.
  1. Obviously it's a military school, but are there any similarities to a "normal" university life (parties, dorm life, etc)?
While nowhere near like civiU, you still manage to have a good time. You can go into town and party as much as you want (somewhat limited in first year). While officially no drinking is allowed in the dorms, it happens all the time. Heck, in my third year, we had a Christmas party and an off-campus house. We didn't finish the Keg we ordered, so me and some friends snuck in into my room and covered it with a blanket and acted like it was an end-table. We drank beer from a keg in my room for 3 days until it was empty, than snuck it out. #TDV-DGC
  1. Were most RMC students in cadets? Is it harder to get in if you weren't in cadets?
Lots were, but definitely not the majority. Anything that demonstrates that you are hard working, smart, disciplined, etc. helps with your application. Being in cadets is just one thing that speaks to those qualities. I would say that the reason there were a lot of cadets at RMC is not because it helps you get into RMC, but rather its just that those who are in cadets had a proclivity toward applying to RMC.
  1. A kind of related question - How many RMC students come from military families? Is there a disadvantage to not being in one but still studying at RMC?
LOTS. And No. No one gives a f*** and usually the base brats hide that fact until someone asks "where you from?" and they answer "from all over".
  1. Is it easy to access mental health support?
Can't answer this one.
  1. If I go to RMC then leave after my 5 years of service, is it easy to find a job after? I am interested in doing a master's and a PhD in the very far future, how do civilian universities view RMC?
This is really a non-issue. If you do your 5 years, you will either like being in the military, and stay in, or you won't like it, and will start looking for a new job. You will stay in until you find a new job, and then get out. (usually it works this way... also, this isn't quite the same if you go pilot, as others have explained).
If I'm being honest it sounds too good to be true - free tuition plus a guaranteed job after. What's the caveat?
You have to join an organization that likes to espouse being about its people, but in reality doesn't give a shit about you. You will give it your all, with passion, and the organization will demand more and more of you without ever really saying thank you or demonstrating that they value your sacrifice, and then will completely forget about you 2 seconds after you walk out the door (or even before).
 
You have to look at it not so much as whether you want to go to RMC (heck, they might send you to CMRSJ for first year, or longer) but whether you want to join the military. Being an Officer Cadet is not just school, the four pillars you have to work on as you move forward are academics, military training, physical fitness, and bilingualism. You get support towards accomplishing all of these but it is a hell of a lot of work. And lots of suck to share. You need to want to do it rather than just be okay with doing it. Keep looking at it with an eye to what life looks like after school (including when you don’t get to choose what city you want to live in)
 
Keep looking at it with an eye to what life looks like after school (including when you don’t get to choose what city you want to live in)
or are sent to war or peacekeeping operation or some other situation in support of the Government of Canada's decision to (or possibly to) unleash violence.

If you choose to go to RMC, you cannot discount that upon graduation you will become a military officer and be obliged to go where sent including potentially very dangerous situations. Thoughts like 'oh, they won't send me' or 'I am studying computer science so I am safe' are not valid for avoiding danger.

I will not dissuade anyone from applying to RMC but best to go in with your eyes fully open.

I was deployed to Gulf War 1990-91. Not something I expected when I signed up to go to RMC. It was difficult, stressful and awful in just about every way but an experience I will always cherish and speak of with pride.
 
or are sent to war or peacekeeping operation or some other situation in support of the Government of Canada's decision to (or possibly to) unleash violence.

If you choose to go to RMC, you cannot discount that upon graduation you will become a military officer and be obliged to go where sent including potentially very dangerous situations. Thoughts like 'oh, they won't send me' or 'I am studying computer science so I am safe' are not valid for avoiding danger GLORY.

There, FTFY ;)
 
More than 90 per cent of students surveyed at the college in Kingston said it was slightly to entirely true that "at military college, not getting caught is more important than following the rules."

Just preparing them for the real world.

Not getting caught vs following the rules is basically modus operandi everywhere. Which is unfortunate and bothers me ethically.

I think the Corporate World and Government are even worse. It's kind of depressing how much lying is institutionalized in to our culture.
 
Just preparing them for the real world.

Not getting caught vs following the rules is basically modus operandi everywhere. Which is unfortunate and bothers me ethically.

I think the Corporate World and Government are even worse. It's kind of depressing how much lying is institutionalized in to our culture.

Unlike our military colleges, however, most organizations haven't got a pack of baying hounds snapping at their heels looking for reasons to dissolve them for like, you know, institutionalized abuse and sexual assault and an associated culture of quashing/ trivializing complaints.
 
Unlike our military colleges, however, most organizations haven't got a pack of baying hounds snapping at their heels looking for reasons to dissolve them for like, you know, institutionalized abuse and sexual assault and an associated culture of quashing/ trivializing complaints.
No they just find more creative ways to mask the issues.

If anything, the CAF is just a reflection of our politicam system and its politicians... which is hopelessly corrupt 😄

As bad as some of this stuff is, I think it's worse in the private sector in some cases. I certainly think there is as much misogyny and abuse in the private sector, depending on the industry.
 
Considering one study showed 23% of women experienced sexual misconduct in the last 12 months at an unnamed Canadian university, RMC is doing alright statistically. This not acceptable for anyone to do this but I think it will be next to impossible to never have an incident again especially with the prevelance of this kind of conduct in the same demographic across the country. https://pacsw.ca/site/uploads/2023/...e-Canadian-Post-Secondary-Context-Website.pdf

This is the first survey of its kind, I'd like to see the data on whether we're trending in a positive direction annually to fix this over the next few years, or stagnating.
 
Back
Top