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Both commissioning sources (as well as the unmentioned OCS) produce their share of outstanding officers and oxygen thieves alike. There is a slight advantage to service academies over ROTC for those with no Army experience in that you leave with four years of experience in dealing with leadership, accountability, service ettiquette, responsibility and fitness as a lifestyle. This advantage is only temporary, however. Once you're commissioned and enter the "real" Army, personal ambition and drive to become a better leader will even the playing field between commissioning sources in short order, in many cases, less than a year.
I qualified for a 4 year ROTC scholarship and was appointed to USMA. I chose USMA because of their strong engineering program, the school's reputation, and the "full immersion" into a military lifestyle. I don't regret it at all, but I also realize that I missed out on a great deal of the more enjoyable aspects of going to college. Instead, I have lifelong friendships and bonds with many of my classmates that were created in an environment of demanding standards and pressure to perform, and those kinds of bonds tend to have longevity.
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