What can a young aspiring aviator do to get ahead?

[Gatordev]

 

[undrgrad]

All good stuff here. One additional thought about NRTOC...

Don't just look into it. You're just about to become behind the power curve as a Senior if you're trying to apply for NROTC. I would get hot on that. Keep in mind you don't have to take the scholarship when the times comes, but it's good to have options.

Big picture, both ROTC and OCS each have their benefits. Given your comment about your grades and not having proper motivation to do better in HS, I would offer that NROTC might help not have that happen in college since you get to play Navy every week which can help keep focus.

I wanted nothing else but to be a Naval Aviator from when I was 12, but I'll admit I don't know if I could have kept the focus in college without constantly being reminded what I was working towards by being in NROTC. That was just me, but I offer it as perspective.

Thank you for weighing in, I will look into NROTC right away. I know the deadline for applying is Jan so I will most likely submit mine along with my college application in October.

 

[Pags]

Thank you for weighing in, I will look into NROTC right away. I know the deadline for applying is Jan so I will most likely submit mine along with my college application in October.

There's also college program and advanced standing options via NROTC if you don't get the scholarship first try.

 

[Sam I am]

All good stuff here. One additional thought about NRTOC...

Don't just look into it. You're just about to become behind the power curve as a Senior if you're trying to apply for NROTC. I would get hot on that. Keep in mind you don't have to take the scholarship when the times comes, but it's good to have options.

Big picture, both ROTC and OCS each have their benefits. Given your comment about your grades and not having proper motivation to do better in HS, I would offer that NROTC might help not have that happen in college since you get to play Navy every week which can help keep focus.

I wanted nothing else but to be a Naval Aviator from when I was 12, but I'll admit I don't know if I could have kept the focus in college without constantly being reminded what I was working towards by being in NROTC. That was just me, but I offer it as perspective.

Yeah you should get on that ASAP if you're considering NROTC. We made fun of NROTC guys because they took the "path of least resistance". But really we were just jealous.

 

[Griz882]

There's also college program and advanced standing options via NROTC if you don't get the scholarship first try.

THIS…even if you don’t make it to a scholarship you can still ride the ride and maybe get one later. Look at it this way, in an OCS application a handful of guys are looking at a few sheets of paper for about a minute to determine your future. In the ROTC you get a four interview and a chance to see other parts of the Navy as you mature and learn.

 

[undrgrad]

THIS…even if you don’t make it to a scholarship you can still ride the ride and maybe get one later. Look at it this way, in an OCS application a handful of guys are looking at a few sheets of paper for about a minute to determine your future. In the ROTC you get a four interview and a chance to see other parts of the Navy as you mature and learn.

I’ll probably end up doing NROTC scholarship or not, If it ends up being too much for my course load I can always stop it early if I’m not under the scholarship and pursue OCS after. Not sure if they would look negative on my application however.

 

[Gatordev]

I’ll probably end up doing NROTC scholarship or not, If it ends up being too much for my course load I can always stop it early if I’m not under the scholarship and pursue OCS after. Not sure if they would look negative on my application however.

It's been done before, but that was back when BDCP was a thing, when you could get picked up while still in college. Also, keep in mind that if you pick up your scholarship as an incoming freshman, at some point they'll expect you to accept the contract for 8 years (generally 4 active + 4 inactive Reserve). I think it's after your sophomore year, but others hear are more up-to-date on that stuff than I am.

If you pick up the scholarship after your freshman year as a College Program-type, then they'll expect you to sign the contract then.

You can just go and ask to be a CP student with the ROTC for your first two years with no initial commitment, but getting a scholarship from that point is much harder. Certainly possible, but just harder.

 

[Jim123]

I’ll probably end up doing NROTC scholarship or not, If it ends up being too much for my course load I can always stop it early if I’m not under the scholarship and pursue OCS after. Not sure if they would look negative on my application however.

About the course load thing, the ROTC "naval science" courses don't count towards your GPA at most colleges. On that same train of thought, the OCS academics compressed those courses into a few days of rapid fire review sessions and usually a 50 question multiple choice "exam" test. A few of the staff tried to tell us that those OCS courses were equivalent to semester-long college courses in ROTC units and this was part of the "pressure" of OCS. I think they were telling a half-truth in that our five day long courses were equivalent to a semester-long course, but I wouldn't consider either either version to be baccalaureate-level study.

Don't get me wrong- you can blow off studying and fail these "easy" courses (you could get yourself kicked out) and they do have a certain value in your professional development (it's cliché but leadership basics will apply throughout your entire career), so don't take them too lightly. But they don't have the academic rigor of calculus 101 nor the never-ending hundreds of pages of assigned reading you get in polysci/history classes.

 

[Pags]

About the course load thing, the ROTC "naval science" courses don't count towards your GPA at most colleges. On that same train of thought, the OCS academics compressed those courses into a few days of rapid fire review sessions and usually a 50 question multiple choice "exam" test. A few of the staff tried to tell us that those OCS courses were equivalent to semester-long college courses in ROTC units and this was part of the "pressure" of OCS. I think they were telling a half-truth in that our five day long courses were equivalent to a semester-long course, but I wouldn't consider either either version to be baccalaureate-level study.

Don't get me wrong- you can blow off studying and fail these "easy" courses (you could get yourself kicked out) and they do have a certain value in your professional development (it's cliché but leadership basics will apply throughout your entire career), so don't take them too lightly. But they don't have the academic rigor of calculus 101 nor the never-ending hundreds of pages of assigned reading you get in polysci/history classes.

Concur. The NS classes don't add much to a course load. At my school they did count towards your GPA so they were also usually some nice padding/easy A.

 

[BarryD]

Also, keep in mind that if you pick up your scholarship as an incoming freshman, at some point they'll expect you to accept the contract for 8 years (generally 4 active + 4 inactive Reserve).

Day 1 of sophomore year ("one and done").

Concur. The NS classes don't add much to a course load. At my school they did count towards your GPA so they were also usually some nice padding/easy A.

The more things change the more they stay the same . . .

Edit: This thread is the first time I've heard of NS classes not counting towards your GPA, was surprised to hear that given that most schools have a minor in Naval Science.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Day 1 of sophomore year ("one and done").


The more things change the more they stay the same . . .

Edit: This thread is the first time I've heard of NS classes not counting towards your GPA, was surprised to hear that given that most schools have a minor in Naval Science.

The transcripts I would review for those who had been in some type of ROTC before dropping or being dropped then trying for OCS did have them all count.

 

[Gatordev]

So we've proven @Jim123 doesn't know what he's talking about as it pertains to NROTC. But when he finished OCS, he was TOTALLY on point and way above any ROTC graduates when they showed up to API. Don't believe me? Show up to API. Then wait 2 months when the OCS guys start putting their weight back on. Some how, it all works out and we all deploy together and life continues just fine.

(Just joshing you, Jim).

 

[Jim123]

Yeah, I made a blanket statement and I was wrong. Probably better to phrase it is that it depends "who" is calculating your GPA, and there are a few different ways to do that.

(API and the differences in commissioning sources and some of the perceived difficulty and underdog complexes were a pretty funny thing, looking back. For that matter, what eventually unites the ensigns is our collective amusement over the TBS stories. )

 

[Gatordev]

For that matter, what eventually unites the ensigns is our collective amusement over the TBS stories.

I looked up the definition of "amusement" on the internet. It said "See: 'lament.'" But I'll admit, nothing was cooler than hearing TBS stories from studs as an IP. Wait, nope, that's the total opposite of what I wanted to say.

 

[Griz882]

Yeah, I made a blanket statement and I was wrong.

What @Jim123 meant to say is he was impressed by the guys who crammed 13 weeks of hard training into 4 years of walking to class.?