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Transfer Student looking into BDCP

R

Robend

New Member
Hello,
This is my first post on this forum. It has always been my goal to receive my bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. After talking with a few friends on leave, I have become very interested in serving my country. I have recently become very interested in NROTC and the requirements for being successful in this program. I have spent many hours researching everything I can find online, and came across this piece of literature. I am looking for someone on this forum, preferably an officer, to confirm or deny this statement about a competitive resume for BDCP.

"Applicants that have only completed coursework in a Community College prior to application, though they are accepted to a four-year institution, are eligible to apply for the program. However, these applicants are usually not considered competitive because they have not proven their ability to meet academic performance standards at a four-year school."

this quote was pulled from page 2 of the webpage listed below.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/officerjo2/a/bdcp.htm

All comments are welcome, and any further information or reading that may be helpful would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
 
MIDNJAC

MIDNJAC

is clara ship
pilot
Unless I am misreading your post, realize that BDCP and NROTC are two completely seperate programs. Are you a community college student right now?
 
R

Robend

New Member
MIDNJAC said:
Unless I am misreading your post, realize that BDCP and NROTC are two completely seperate programs. Are you a community college student right now?
Click to expand...

Yes, this fall semester I will be returning to community college, after a few years of being out of school.
I did not realize that BDCP and NROTC were separate programs. I feel very un-educated with the multiple processes for becoming a naval aviation officer. I plan on completing my general education credits at a community college, and then transferring to a 4 year university to complete my Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering. My main concern is my GPA at this point. I graduated high school in 2004 and went straight into community college with the intent to transfer. I, however, was not prepared at that time to take my endeavor seriously, and made a mess out of my GPA. I am currently working hard to get back into school and restore my GPA to where I know it can be.

I am still trying to make my way through all of the information on this forum. I believe my next step in the right direction is to contact an officer recruiter. Or would it be suggested that I fix my GPA, and show that I'm currently making a serious effort towards this before I make that move?

Thank you,
Rob
 
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navy09

Registered User
None
How bad is your GPA? There's no harm in talking to an officer recruiter and getting his/her take, but unless you've got a competitive GPA they won't take you seriously.
 
MIDNJAC

MIDNJAC

is clara ship
pilot
Well I'd say your biggest hurdle right now is boosting your community college grades enough so that you can transfer into a 4 year school. Once you get there, I would start worrying about your commissioning options. NROTC will take you on as a "college program" midshipman, meaning that they will not be paying for your school, but you will be participating in the program and will be eligible to pick up scholarship later on provided you do well enough. With a lower GPA I would say this is your best bet. Otherwise you can maybe wait a couple years and then apply for BDCP if you have done well. How many credits are you planning on transferring with?
 
m26

m26

Well-Known Member
Contributor
MIDNJAC said:
Well I'd say your biggest hurdle right now is boosting your community college grades enough so that you can transfer into a 4 year school. Once you get there, I would start worrying about your commissioning options. NROTC will take you on as a "college program" midshipman, meaning that they will not be paying for your school, but you will be participating in the program and will be eligible to pick up scholarship later on provided you do well enough. With a lower GPA I would say this is your best bet. Otherwise you can maybe wait a couple years and then apply for BDCP if you have done well. How many credits are you planning on transferring with?
Click to expand...

I don't know about that. I think to do college program he would need one year to fix the grades, then two years in NROTC (one of which would be unpaid?).

He's already 5 years out of HS, so I'm not sure sticking around in school for one or two years of Navy money would really be worth it. If he fixes his GPA, straight OCS sounds like the natural path to a commission.

Robend, 2 questions:
1) How far along are you towards your degree?
2) Is getting paid for your degree a major component of your decision?
 
R

Robend

New Member
m26 said:
I don't know about that. I think to do college program he would need one year to fix the grades, then two years in NROTC (one of which would be unpaid?).

He's already 5 years out of HS, so I'm not sure sticking around in school for one or two years of Navy money would really be worth it. If he fixes his GPA, straight OCS sounds like the natural path to a commission.

Robend, 2 questions:
1) How far along are you towards your degree?
2) Is getting paid for your degree a major component of your decision?
Click to expand...

I currently have 36 credit hours. So, realistically I still have 3 years of school left. Getting paid for my degree is not a major concern, however, having school paid for is a concern. (I'm not sure if that's where you were going with that, or if you were talking about the money I would receive doing BDCP)

My fear with going straight into OCS is that right now I have the oppertunity to fix my GPA and at the very least join NROTC. I feel I would be a better candidate for an aviation officer with ROTC under my belt, rather than trying to walk into OCS straight out of college. Is this method of thinking incorrect? Do I have just as good of a chance, or were you suggesting OCS because it may be unlikely that I will be accepted for ROTC?

Thank you again for all of your help
 
N

navy09

Registered User
None
Robend said:
Is this method of thinking incorrect? Do I have just as good of a chance, or were you suggesting OCS because it may be unlikely that I will be accepted for ROTC?
Click to expand...

Yes and yes. You couldn't be more wrong. The days of "Naval Academy is better than ROTC and ROTC is better than OCS" are over. If you go to OCS you can guarantee that you'll fly. Granted, if you're not willing to do anything besides fly you're probably getting into this for the wrong reasons.

Plus, from what I know about ROTC admission (I came through ROTC) you pretty much have no shot of getting into that program at this point. Shoot for BDCP and OCS as more realistic options.
 
R

Robend

New Member
midn09 said:
Yes and yes. You couldn't be more wrong. The days of "Naval Academy is better than ROTC and ROTC is better than OCS" are over. If you go to OCS you can guarantee that you'll fly. Granted, if you're not willing to do anything besides fly you're probably getting into this for the wrong reasons.

Plus, from what I know about ROTC admission (I came through ROTC) you pretty much have no shot of getting into that program at this point. Shoot for BDCP and OCS as more realistic options.
Click to expand...

Thank you. This is the type of advice I was looking for. I'm still open to other suggestions. Flying is a goal of mine, but it's not my only goal. I look at flying as more of a reward.

As it stands now, I plan to go back and fix my GPA and let that show how serious I am. Once I have that, then I will talk to and officer recruiter and check out my options. Thank you for all of your help, and I will continue to post on this forum.
-Rob
 
Lobster

Lobster

Well-Known Member
Don't believe everything you read on that site...there are a couple of things that are incorrect on that page...talking to an OR will give you a better idea what needs to get done.
 
MIDNJAC

MIDNJAC

is clara ship
pilot
m26 said:
I don't know about that. I think to do college program he would need one year to fix the grades, then two years in NROTC (one of which would be unpaid?).

He's already 5 years out of HS, so I'm not sure sticking around in school for one or two years of Navy money would really be worth it. If he fixes his GPA, straight OCS sounds like the natural path to a commission.

Robend, 2 questions:
1) How far along are you towards your degree?
2) Is getting paid for your degree a major component of your decision?
Click to expand...

While I understand what you are saying, credit-wise he is still very eligible for the program, even with a couple terms of "doing better". If he can get into the school, it is pretty likely he will also be able to start NROTC as a college program stud. Timeline wise, yeah he may be SOL for pilot/SNA. I did 2 years in a comm college flight program before I transferred, and then proceeded to do 4.5 years in NROTC, and it all worked out for me. My HS grades were attrocious, so obviously the transfer thing was what saved me. Of course OCS is a good fallback if he can't get paid through NROTC, but I'm just going to guess here that BDCP is more or less out. Most guys I know who did BDCP had rockstar college grades from the start (I'm sure there are some exceptions, but it is an especially competitive program). Just my .02
 
R

Robend

New Member
I see now that one needs to enter flight training by the age of 26. I suppose I'm cutting this rather close. Seeing as I'm 23 and still have schooling to correct and 2 to possibly 3 years more
 
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