RMC and French for an Anglo

[KPR]

On behalf of my son at age 16 I have this question , being in his 11th year of high school he did not take French this year and will not take it next year, reason being he is only average at best with french ( 68% ) and feels it will really pull down his 85 to 89 average . Wanting  to go to RMC and become an Infantry Officer,  is this a mistake and should he chance lowering his average by taking it to better his chances of getting in . His fitness level is very high and he excels on his football team , he is also a reservist.

Father looking for direction here to help out his Son.

Thank you

 

[Deleted member 9665]

On behalf of my son at age 16 I have this question , being in his 11th year of high school he did not take French this year and will not take it next year, reason being he is only average at best with french ( 68% ) and feels it will really pull down his 85 to 89 average . Wanting  to go to RMC and become an Infantry Officer,  is this a mistake and should he chance lowering his average by taking it to better his chances of getting in . His fitness level is very high and he excels on his football team , he is also a reservist.

Father looking for direction here to help out his Son.

Thank you

hummm... is this an error? aint reserve 17 minimum???

 

[KPR]

No . You can be 16 with a parent signature .

 

[medaid]

KPR,

    I will say the following because I admire parents who take a great interest in their children's education. So please take what I have to say with a grain of salt.


1) There is a search function on the forum, located top right, which will give you the results of pages and pages of all things regarding RMC enrollment and criteria. In fact we have a thread dedicated to RMC and other military university and education programs located here: http://forums.milnet.ca/forums/index.php/board,56.0.html

2) As stated above all things with regards to the Second Language (be that French or English) were hashed out countless of times, and could also be found using the SEARCH function. However, I will tell you this. Regardless of your French grades in HS or University, you will be sent to SLT, or to take a proficiency exam which will grade your fluency, competency, written and oral skills.

3) Now, grades are not the be all and end all anymore. We want well rounded applicants. Sure his PRes time MAY help, depending on how his leaders view him and the assessments passed forth. He needs to also demonstrate leadership in the community, have community involvement, academics and physical fitness. They are all important, and must all be thought about on how to achieve them in a balanced state in order to help him.

4) Lastly, he is now a soldier. Tell him to use his initiative and ask hi CoC. Better yet, tell him to go to the local CFRC and talk to the recruiters there, and if possible (during the summer some RMC students work at Recruiting Centres) talk to RMC students. INITIATIVE! It's important that he starts learning about that NOW. When he is deemed to be a successful officer candidate, he will have to demonstrate initiative and leadership potential everyday from that point forth. Mind as well start NOW.

I hope all the best to your son. I may have come across a little pointed, but this is the best way to answer your questions, and include you in our community. Next time, use the search function, and you will see what I mean by many things have been answered.


Best of luck. Maybe he won't want to RMC but other entry schemes.

MT.

 

[medaid]

hummm... is this an error? aint reserve 17 minimum???

No. 16 w/parental consent for PRes

17 w/parental consent for the RegF

no one is deployable until they reach the age of 18 which is the majority in Canada.

 

[KPR]

MedTech Thank you . Did do a search but could not find exactly our situation . Your post is valuable will print it out and hang it on the fridge . This kid is incredible has very strong leadership skills as remarked by all his teachers also well liked in school . Well , we will forge ahead . Thanks again.

 

[medaid]

Not a problem at all KPR, glad I could help.

As I said, all the best to your son.

 

[SupersonicMax]

Actually I got in at 16 in reg force (RMC)...

Max

 

[Lumber]

KPR,

Your son sounds like a very well rounded candidate, which is more than I can say for some. I sincerely hope he is accepted! We need hard working well rounded troops. To put your mind at ease, there are RMC cadets who begin first year with abosolutely no knowledge of the french language (save for maybe "poutine"), some with terrible levels of physical fitness, and for school grades,  I know a case where a cadet didn't get accepted to ANY other univeristy because his grades were so low.

TDV.

 

[KPR]

NCdt Lumber;  Thank you very much your words are extremely reassuring , I really needed to hear from someone like you on campus with their ear to the ground .

All the best in your career.

Ken

 

[MedCorps]

KPR,

I would avoid high school French in order to keep my graduating (and applying) academic average high as possible.  You don't want a pesky 70% mark in French to be on your graduating transcript, but rather them to look at the transcript and go... wow... 90% overall with consistently high marks in all subjects.  Yep... he is academically prepared for RMC undergraduate schooling. 

Make no doubt however that he will need to learn French at RMC.  If you are concerned about survivng RMC French when it is best to do a little prep work.  Thus, there are a few options: Wait until RMC and have them force-feed you.  Pick up a non-academically recorded French course in order to ”prep" for RMC French.  Purchase a home study kit, and start French as a second language that way.  All will help once you arrive at RMC, but none of them will matter if you don't get in the doors to the place.

When I went ROTP, I knew almost no French at all, and only had one "General" level grade 9 French course with a meager average of 67% (which was not noticed on my application.. thank God).  Now look at me, I am bi-lang care of the taxpayers of Canada and the Canadian Forces.  Whoopee!

I hope that is of some help.  I wish him the best of luck.

Cheers,

MC

 

[Shamrock]

I recommend he works on his French now while he's still in puberty; learning a second language post-puberty is considerably more difficult. *

If he's obsessed with his marks, there are several non-academic alternatives.  Join a French club, audit a French course at a nearby community college, pick up a DIY French Book.  Having even a weak profile in Canada's second language will be of benefit during his CF and post-CF career. 

If he's determined to get into the army with only English, RMC is not his only option.  ROTP will send officers to other Canadian universities to pursue a variety of baccalaureates, several of which may not require any second languages.  Second language training is no longer mandatory for infantry officers early during their careers.


* Yes, I'm well aware that someone out there has picked up a language or two post-pubescently with relative ease.  However, with the loss of the language acquisition device, obtaining and maintaining a level of fluency become considerably more difficult. 

 

[FredDaHead]

KPR,

I would avoid high school French in order to keep my graduating (and applying) academic average high as possible.  You don't want a pesky 70% mark in French to be on your graduating transcript, but rather them to look at the transcript and go... wow... 90% overall with consistently high marks in all subjects.  Yep... he is academically prepared for RMC undergraduate schooling. 

Now that's just silly. The recruiters aren't idiots; if they see someone with 90% across the board except in one course (say, French), they're not going to immediately reject him because of that one course. It will likely come up during the interview ("how come your French mark was so low?") but the impact will probably be low. The recruiters and RMC recognize that not everyone is bilingual, and if anything, actually making the effort to try and learn French in high school, even if it yields low marks, might improve a candidate's application; it shows that he wants to improve himself even if it's hard.

To use an example from my own application, I had a very low mark in Organic Chemistry (a mandatory course in my programme in CEGEP) but I was applying for Arts at RMC, so the recruiter just asked why I got a low mark, and if I worked hard or just let the class slip because of that mark, and that was the end of it. It didn't affect how good I was going to do in Arts, and because it was just one pock mark on a pretty much unblemished record, it didn't matter that much.

Also, the fact that he has 90% across the board does NOT mean he is prepared for RMC. The class average will be considered as well. If one student has 90% but the class average is 91%, he might not be quite as good as the student who has 75% while the class average is 60%. Likewise, 90% at a school where expectations are extremely low is different than 90% at a top-ranked private school, where expectations are high and so is the competition.

I'm not trying to be discouraging, but as was mentionned, marks are not the be-all, end-all when it comes to the application, and neither is fitness. It's all about being well-rounded, even if in some areas you could use some improvement.

 

[Strike]

I dropped my French in OAC because the homework took longer than Physics, Chem, and Calc combined!  It is not one of the core courses required to apply to RMC (at least it wasn't when I went there) so to have it is a plus, no matter what your marks.  If you don't, not the end of the world.

As in Freddy's example, even though a Chem course might be mandatory even for those applying for Arts, the recruiters will look at each course individually.  When I had first applied, my Calc mark was 75%. (I'd taken it in grade 12)  At the time of my application, I was taking it again and ranked consistantly well.  A note was put into the file about this.

Remember, marks are not the be-all-and-end-all to get in.  I had high 80s and a friend also applied who was high 90s.  She didn't get in.  Probably because she wasn't doing anything but studying.  I was in cadets, had a part-time job, and volunteered for various organizations.