I graduated from COT on June 26th...I didn't think it was too bad. You get very little sleep during the week. We had nice rooms, one roommate, each with a twin bed. We each had our own closet, dresser, desk, and underbed storage drawers. We usually got up around 4:30 and had to be at the PT pad or in our flight classrooms by 5am. The first few days are mostly inprocessing, where you are shuffled from room to room and line to line. We ate in the dining facility 3x/day unless we were given MREs. The food is okay. It could be better, but could be worse. After 4wks of eating the same thing, nothing tastes all that great.
We did PT about 3 times a week, but many people exercised at the gym on the OTS complex during the evenings and on weekends. We wore regular running shoes and never had to run during PT in formation. We usually stretched, ran 25-35 minutes, the did pushup/situps and cool down stretch.
Each COT class is given the opportunity to earn privileges that include how far you can travel off the OTS complex. We didn't leave the OTS complex for the first 2 wks, then we had permission on the weekend to travel around the base (basically eat and shop at the Base Exchange). The last weekend or two we were allowed off base, with curfews at night.
Most relaxing occurred during the weekends. The weeknights were too busy. We didn't get back to our rooms until 7-7:30pm and usually had to make a trip to the shoppette down the street for supplies and uniform alterations. We were required to be back in the dorm buildings by 10pm. It was frustrating trying to get schoolwork done because we were always running our books back to the classroom at 9:30pm (you aren't allowed to take books into the dining facility in the morning and aren't allowed back in the dorms after leaving for breakfast).
On to the schoolwork question...it wasn't bad, just very little time to get it done. The testable lessons are listed in the syllabus and each lesson will have Samples of Behavior (SOBs) which are the questions you want to answer from the lesson. All test questions come from the SOBs. There is an exam over the OTS manual, then two other multiple choice exams (over specific SOBs). Use your weekends to study and you will do fine.
Bring school/office supplies! I ended up buying index cards, notepads, highlighters, post-its, tape, etc. There is a shoppette about two blocks from the dorm that has about anything you might need. Remember laundry detergent unless you just want to buy it there. I felt like I was constantly forking out more money. Make sure to bring more cash than they suggest. We had to pay cash for all meals. There is an ATM at the shoppette, but come with more than $30 and bring small bills. They don't like anything larger than a 20.
Overall, I had a great time. They say it is all about attitude, and it is very true. The first few days were stressful. You will be shuffled around in large groups and feel kind of lost and confused in it all. After we split off into flights (groups of 15) it was easier to make connections with people. Your roommate will be from your flight, and so will the people living in the rooms next to you. You pretty much spend 24/7 with your flight, so you get to know them very well. Try to take care of as much personal/finance issues before you come. It was challenging finding the time and resources to make calls and get internet access that wasn't blocked by the gov't security system.
I hope this response helps! Enjoy the experience!
