College student seeking Navy Aviation/OCS advice.

[Tuff21]

Hello, I am a history major and am very interested in becoming a naval aviator and have some questions. I am looking for a minor course of study to take in college that will help me achieve this.

How important is math and what math classes are required to become a Navy fighter pilot. Would I need to take calculus in college to do this? I not terrible at math or anything I got a B in my college algebra II class.

I would just like to minor in something that would not take up a large amount of my time as I am in the beginning stages of earning my private pilots license. I have heard it is extremely favorable if you have already obtained your private pilots license when you apply for OCS, is this true, and is this better than having taken calculus classes in college?

Can anyone recommend a course of study I should minor in to achieve this goal of becoming a Navy fighter pilot? Also, when should I apply for Navy OCS, I have one year of college remaining.

Thank you, anyone that can answer or offer advice to these questions would be very appreciated.

 

[Boomhower]

Welcome Tuff,

I will let the more recent OCS attendees answer your questions about what classes to take specifically. I will say that you should take something that you will do well in. That's not to say that you should minor in Basket Weaving, but a solid GPA is much better than a 1.8 in Advanced Physics or Aerodynamic Engineering. Again, I may be a bit outdated with my gouge. I haven't gone through the process since 2000.

I will say that you probably need to go talk to a recruiter right away if you are starting your senior year in college. It takes a good bit of time to get through all of the paperwork, background checks, approvals, physicals, etc. before you start actually getting paid by Uncle Sam. And, if your parents are anything like mine, you will want to get paid as soon as possible after finishing school.

Good luck in your pursuit to become a Naval Officer, because that is what you are pursuing, not to be a fighter pilot. Remember that.

 

[jt71582]

Go see your Officer Recruiter and he/she will get you started on everything. College major- something you will do well in. I was a music industry major at Appalachian State and had hardly any math. 7 8 8 53 on the ASTB got me accepted. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Afterburner209]

First ill say this: Use the search button at the top of the page, you can find all kinds of information that has been given thousands of times, the mods save the threads so that we have this valuable resource, but you have to use it.

A year left? Well you should look into BDCP, it varies from person to person but for me it took six months to prepare my package and get it sent off. BDCP gets you accepted to OCS and paid until you go. If you get it, at least you will get paid for a few months, if not, then you already have all your paperwork ready to apply as soon as you get closer to graduation for direct acceptance to OCS.

As far as flight experience goes, I have heard from most people it is good to have some experience but more doesn't necessarily mean better. Civilian flying and military flying are different and you could very well developed bad habits from your civilian instructor.

AS far as you minor goes, i would tell you that it wont have too much pull. Your GPA, and ASTB scores hold ALOT of weight in the application but everything is looked at. While minoring in math will look good, its not something that is necessary.

I am majoring in Human Communication, the easiest major I could find, just for the sole purpose of making my life easy, my GPA, and my dream of Naval aviation my goal. I knew I wanted to join from early on, so any major would get me commissioned. I figured I would rather keep a high GPA on a easy major then a mediocre GPA in a hard major that I will most likely not use much of. YMMV however, the more competitive you are the better.

So I hope you can use some of this information, take note that I am a BDCP select and not a officer in any sense yet. Just sharing my experience and my research, trying to help out people like I was helped.

Good Luck

 

[armada1651]

Calculus has MANY applications to EVERYTHING and come in handy when trying to answer your own questions about trends, energy, rotation, and much more.

...Which you won't ever have to do as a pilot. At least, not to the level of calculus.

I don't know how much having a PPL helps in getting picked up for OCS - I was NROTC - but in my very limited experience so far, it won't help much once you actually get to flight school. It MIGHT give you a very slight edge early on, but not much more than that. I came in with a Commercial Instrument Multi-Engine, and the Instrument is the only part I've felt was beneficial so far.

As for calc, I don't think it's too critical for day-to-day life as a pilot, but if you want to do something like TPS or NASA someday, an engineering background will be important.

And as others have said, keep in mind that you'll be an officer first, and also that there's no guarantee of getting Tailhook - so be aware you could well end up flying something else.

 

[Tuff21]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and advice, I appreciate it.