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interested in both Navy and Marines
- Thread starter mike172
- Start date
mike172 said:
I'm in the same boat as you. I pissed away my freshman and sophomore years and dreamed of attending the USNA. That hasn't worked out quite as I planned, but when I was rejected the first(and hopefully only) time(knocking on wood and rubbing my lucky rabbit's foot), I applied for an NROTC scholarship. I don't know what your scores on the SAT/ACT are or your GPA, but I have a 3.1 GPA and a 1220 on my SAT(only verbal and math), and my OSO and OSA both think I'm a good candidate and that I stand a good chance of getting a scholarship(Again, I'm crossing my fingers while knocking on wood). And I'll echo once again the advice to apply, the worst thing that can happen is they tell you no.
mike172
GO NAVY
my GPA is like a 2.4 soo at the end of this year most likely a 2.6 my PSAT ( i have not taken the real 1 yet) was 1130, i havent taken my prep class yet though. Is the Navy Marine Corps using the new test or the old test or both? Also Do they take your best scores from any test or your best individual test. I have alot of other good stuff extra curriculars, track, im working on my eagle project. I just think i might be lower than they are looking for, but i guess its worth a shot!
Mike, good on ya for wanting to join the military and actually doing research on it. Even better on you for having the motivation to go to college right out of high school.
I'll kind of paralell what Ex Rigger said with my experiences. I had no intentions of going to college EVER when I graduated high school but I knew I wanted to serve. (not to mention my grades were piss poor and my parents had no way of helping me through college) Went to boot camp right after graduating high school as an infantryman and had a great 4 years on active duty. Went on 2 deployments, visiting countries from Thailand, Australia, Kuwait and everything in between. When my 4 years was up I saw the light and wanted to go to college and had the funds to do so (MGI Bill). I had full intentions of going to an aviation school and persuing a civilian flying career. My Soph year in college I ran into an AOSO that mentioned the Marine Corps need for aviators......I said "what the heck" and went with it. (PLC program) I'm now in the fleet flying CH-53Es and loving the fast paced life style and intense flying.
My point is: if NROTC or college, for that matter, doesn't work out for whatever reason and you want to persue a flying career in the military, the doors aren't closed. You can't put a price on the experience I had as an enlisted Marine! There are mulitible "enlisted to officer" programs out there, Crowbar can expand on that.
That being said, do some soul searching on the USMC and USN missions and aircraft and MAKE SURE that is what you want. There are plenty of threads on here that cover both USMC and Navy missions AND both fixed wing and rotary wing missions. Not to mention the experience you have here on the forum.
Keep asking questions.
Good luck, keep us posted.
I'll kind of paralell what Ex Rigger said with my experiences. I had no intentions of going to college EVER when I graduated high school but I knew I wanted to serve. (not to mention my grades were piss poor and my parents had no way of helping me through college) Went to boot camp right after graduating high school as an infantryman and had a great 4 years on active duty. Went on 2 deployments, visiting countries from Thailand, Australia, Kuwait and everything in between. When my 4 years was up I saw the light and wanted to go to college and had the funds to do so (MGI Bill). I had full intentions of going to an aviation school and persuing a civilian flying career. My Soph year in college I ran into an AOSO that mentioned the Marine Corps need for aviators......I said "what the heck" and went with it. (PLC program) I'm now in the fleet flying CH-53Es and loving the fast paced life style and intense flying.
My point is: if NROTC or college, for that matter, doesn't work out for whatever reason and you want to persue a flying career in the military, the doors aren't closed. You can't put a price on the experience I had as an enlisted Marine! There are mulitible "enlisted to officer" programs out there, Crowbar can expand on that.
That being said, do some soul searching on the USMC and USN missions and aircraft and MAKE SURE that is what you want. There are plenty of threads on here that cover both USMC and Navy missions AND both fixed wing and rotary wing missions. Not to mention the experience you have here on the forum.
Keep asking questions.
Good luck, keep us posted.
mike172 said:
For one, I found the PSAT to be a lot harder than the SAT. I scored about 200 or so points lower on the PSAT. Second, they will only take the scores from an individual test. it is stated Navy policy that they will not allow to "Mix N' Match" test results. For the 2006 applicants, they are using the new test but are only counting the math and reading/verbal sections, so it is still counted out of 1600, instead of 2400. I am not sure when they plan to make the switch. As for extra-curriculars, I think they were my saving grace. I am involved in Civil Air Patrol(going to get my Mitchell soon), and was also on my high school's Varsity Football team. Honestly, they are looking for someone who is well-rounded, not just good in one area. If they wanted nothing but eggheads, they could get them easily. You won't have to put your application for NROTC until the fall of your Senior year so you still have some time to raise your grades. BTW, being an Eagle Scout looks great on yur application. Best of luck to you.
Mike, I mistaked you for a college junior as well. You seem concerned about your competetiveness for a scholarship but all you can do is try like you said, worst case you join the NROTC unit freshman year without a scholarship and apply for one starting your sophmore year with your hopefully improved college grades. Besides, if it is only your junior year you still have time to pull your grades up right? I am just applying for Marine OCS, so I can't tell you specifics about NROTC, but I can write that when I was accepted to Villanova back in the day with a B average and an 1150 on the SAT (yeah, not to impressive right, but wait, it gets less impressive) I had no extracurriculars and there was no kind of diversity involved in letting me in. At the time, the guys I spoke with at the NROTC unit there were basically all getting their 3 year scholarships after their freshman year if they had a 3.0 or better. What's more, they all were helped with studying through the program so they basically all got the grades and secured a scholarship. From what I remember, the Marine option guys would join as Navy selects, get the scholarship, and then switch over because allegedly the Marine one was a lot more competetive to get. Bear in mind Villanova is the second ranked NROTC program in the country (I think Notre Dame is numero uno). I realize NROTC units differ from school to school so do your research. I could be wrong but I think at Villanova they got full tuition, books and a uniform allowance as well as room and board (not sure on that one) which today is probably the equivalent of $40K a year. There is probably a few Villanova guys around here I imagine who could elaborate and or correct.
I ended up enlisting in the Marines, but when I did I remember there was a kid at my office who was applying for the USNA and doing paperwork for NROTC and/or enlisting as a fallback plan (I vividly remember the kid bringing his daddy everywhere to make sure he was not getting hosed). So, it is not entirely unfeasable that the recruiters deal with that kind of thing. I even knew a guy in the Navy who was enlisted and in training and finally got a NROTC scholarship he had applied for before enlisting and left active duty to become a midshipman. My point to this ramble is that you don't necessarily have to be an Ivy League caliber student, so don't discourage yourself just do your best to improve.
If the OSO or someone else does the same kind of thing with NROTC apps though, why bother messing with a recruiter anyway? Why don't you just call some schools you are interested in and get in touch with the NROTC department? I am sure they will give you the skinny on what you need to do to get where you want to go.
Good luck to you and Semper Fi (hint hint
)
I ended up enlisting in the Marines, but when I did I remember there was a kid at my office who was applying for the USNA and doing paperwork for NROTC and/or enlisting as a fallback plan (I vividly remember the kid bringing his daddy everywhere to make sure he was not getting hosed). So, it is not entirely unfeasable that the recruiters deal with that kind of thing. I even knew a guy in the Navy who was enlisted and in training and finally got a NROTC scholarship he had applied for before enlisting and left active duty to become a midshipman. My point to this ramble is that you don't necessarily have to be an Ivy League caliber student, so don't discourage yourself just do your best to improve.
If the OSO or someone else does the same kind of thing with NROTC apps though, why bother messing with a recruiter anyway? Why don't you just call some schools you are interested in and get in touch with the NROTC department? I am sure they will give you the skinny on what you need to do to get where you want to go.
Good luck to you and Semper Fi (hint hint
)