fattestfoot
In it for the naked volleyball
Even though I've been selected already, I'm glad you could shed some light onto how the board makes its selections. Thanks again, millsra!
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August 2011 Board
- Thread starter Bobola2005
- Start date
JMonte85
Pro-rec SNA
They are usually at 40% I think.. The board I was at last back in October of 2010, had something like 150 apps.. and 60 or so were selected.. According to my recruiter that is.
JMonte85
Pro-rec SNA
Well now you better go and get that prk.. don't shoot yourself in the other foot.
cmcalvert
Sep-11 SNA Pro Rec
This is kind of a random comment, but it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall during an OCS selection board. One board member might be really impressed with flight hours, another may be more impressed by extracurriculars. The "whole person" concept can mean different things to different people for sure. For instance, would you be more impressed by an aeronautical engineer that made 7/7/7 or a history major that made the same score? I'd almost say the history major is more impressive b/c I'd wonder why an aeronautical engineer didn't make 8's and 9's. Then again, someone else may be impressed just by the fact that candidate #1 is an aeronautical engineer. There's obviously no way to know... and that's why "what are my chances" posts usually aren't well received I guess.
JMonte85
Pro-rec SNA
Don't forget about the rest of the package.. Like how well you sell yourself in your motivational statement.. Lor's and interviews.. And criminal history..
fattestfoot
In it for the naked volleyball
I bet motivational statements are very important. Based on papers written by some of my classmates in college, I'd say a good portion of the population can't write worth a damn. If I were on the board, I would probably throw away any essay where correct grammar, punctuation, or spelling wasn't used. That's the least I could expect from a naval officer candidate.
JMonte85
Pro-rec SNA
It's "Naval Officer," Lol jk.. but I think it is.. Yea it's all about taking the time and taking it serious. If you have a grammatical error in your motivational statement enough that is for them to catch then yea, it comes down to if this guy can't even take the time to proof, how can we trust him to take the time to learn what he needs as an officer. Everyone makes mistakes but when you're going up against a competitive board, there is really no margin for error.
fattestfoot
In it for the naked volleyball
I thought so too, but I just read "Fly Navy" and anytime it was naval, it was never uppercase. Normally I would though, I promise! I just looked at my motivational statement, however, and I did capitalize both words.
The only reason I mention grammar/punctuation is because I know the hard on the military has for attention to detail. I don't know how many times I had to rewrite an NCOER or award write up and have it kicked back because someone didn't like how something was written.
The only reason I mention grammar/punctuation is because I know the hard on the military has for attention to detail. I don't know how many times I had to rewrite an NCOER or award write up and have it kicked back because someone didn't like how something was written.
Stalin
Well-Known Member
Oh yeah, I second this. I stress to my friends who are going to apply to have their motivational statement PERFECT. Your motivational statement, in my opinion, can add the most to your packet with the least amount of work. You don't have to study for 3 months like the ASTB, join a bunch of clubs, raise your GPA over the course of 4 semesters, etc. In the course of a few hours, you can either craft a POS motivational statement that shows how ignorant, cocky, or downright delusional you are, or you can write a statement that shows your intelligence, your strengths, your determination, etc.
The stakes are high, so take the extra 6 hours (or more!) to write it! Make an outline before you start, craft out EVERY sentence to make it sound optimal. Don't be afraid to get 3/4 done and START OVER. I did, it sucked, but it is your FUTURE CAREER on the line. And for the love of all that is holy, get it professionally proofread! I was lucky to have a sister who is an editor, but really, you and your 5 proofreader friends may not have a clue what subject-verb disagreement is, but Mr. OCS Board Man may...
boostadikt
VFA-106
Haha, I'm an Aerospace engineer that got 7/7/7.... so yeah thanks for that. To justify, I looked at one practice test, thought it was easy, and took the test. I thought nothing of the ASTB but it was much harder than I expected, my OR thought it was fine so I never re-took. I would hope that no matter what background someone has if they studied the right stuff they should get a better score. If they put more effort into the ASTB does that mean they want it more than me? I know a lot about aircraft, types of things they could never ask, does that mean I am better off? Absolutely not! So you're right I would love to be that fly on the wall, "whole person" is complicated. If they had an exact formula then every applicant would be a clone.
I have seen a lot of mental gymnastics here and other places: "My _____ isn't great, but my _____ is really great!" but I get it, it's normal, we are all here because we want this more than anything, but a mental full gianer wont seal the deal. I know nobody asked for it but my advice is to keep your heads up, try and be the best person you can be and we will have results soon. If it doesn't work out this time get ready to try again and remember that life goes on. I know that's my plan because most of you have much more impressive packets than me.
I am excited for the results and I wish you all the best of luck!
obligatory1
NFO
Being that NFO was my first choice, does this mean that my chances of being selected for aviator are slim (as it was my second choice)?
not necessarily, but then again I wasn't on the board. It really depends how they feel about it.
Is the term actually "Naval Officer" or is it "Navy Officer?" For instance, OCS in Newport is called "United States Navy Officer Training Command." So isn't the grammatically correct term Navy Officer?
Not my OR but a pretty authoritative and credible source in the recruiting world I've corresponded with tells me that, notwithstanding the "whole person" stuff you hear, in his opinion it comes down to grades and scores...that's it. Bad grades - better have good scores. Not so good scores - better have good grades. He doesn't think they pay attention to much of anything else - recs, interviews, extra-curriculars, motivational statements...
Its just one man's opinion, but I was surprised to hear it.
That's almost the beauty of the whole board selection process, it can change every single board. The board members are just regular officers, they aren't specially elected super-heroes, so if that particular group of board members feel that scores are the only thing that is important... then by-golly that is who they are going to pick! My DIVO (Pilot LT.) has sat on a few SNA, SWO, NFO boards and I have picked his brains a few times to determine what he looks for in an applicant, but he is only one vote. He looks for the usually grades and scores, but also seems to pay close attention to applicants that were able to overcome some kind of adversity. I'm sure every board member has there own unique factor they look for in an applicant whether it be community involvement, team sports, LORs etc. So I guess the moral of the story is, make your package as good as you possibly can because there is no way to know what the board (much less any particular board member) is looking for until it's all over with.