I think it is good thing you seek out the help of prior selectees, but honestly I don't think one can help much. We were going through the same anxiety as all of you during the countdown to selection. Nobody will tell you they new they had a STA spot in the bag in August. In fact, I think a few of us could get a lot of laughs if we went back to the FY 08 thread and lived the wait over again. No one really knows what set them apart enough to be selected. Look at the stats page I am sure was started for this FY group. You will see a lot of the same thing. EP's with the occasional MP, excellent or outstanding prt's, a few nams, random college credits, average GPAs, and a few LORs. You don't need us to tell you to get your PRT score up if it is a good, continue completing coursework, or work harder to get an EP. It is the little things you can't control (have limited control) that probably make the difference. Sincere recommendations from your CO, which will only came after an honest and impressive interview with him are worth their weight in gold. Good interviews with the boards set up for you will come from sincere confidence and an actual belief you should be an officer. Don't tell them what you want to hear. Tell them how you actually feel. Finally, I honestly believe there is a little luck involved. I have a friend who was selected for STA a few years before me. He had a SP on an eval, failed PRTs, and had no awards. He was a nuke, but wasn't selected for the nuke community. My screen name is Lucky 3 because I was selected the third time applying. The year he was selected I put a package in for the same community and wasn't selected. I was junior sailor of the year, earned my first nam, had 80 college credits not from military schools, and was ranked much higher by the CO.