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What should I do to maximize my chances of being selected to be a Naval Aviator from NROTC?

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Bob Tyler

New Member
Honestly my dream job is flying Growlers. I loved the Prowler and love the Growler even more. Main goal for now is SNA, I can worry about the different platforms after I hammer down the other details (get into NROTC, ASTB-E scores, GPA).

Medically I am in the clear with no major issues or disqualifiers besides vision, and I will be getting LASEK in the Summer of 2018.

I do have backup plans, studying AE right now and my other two choices are NFO then Nuclear SW (I'm not 100% sure what the URL number and title for that last one is).

On a side note, should I make it a priority to get my PPL? I hear it's useful but not totally necessary.
 
Python

Python

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Bob Tyler said:
Honestly my dream job is flying Growlers. I loved the Prowler and love the Growler even more. Main goal for now is SNA, I can worry about the different platforms after I hammer down the other details (get into NROTC, ASTB-E scores, GPA).

Medically I am in the clear with no major issues or disqualifiers besides vision, and I will be getting LASEK in the Summer of 2018.

I do have backup plans, studying AE right now and my other two choices are NFO then Nuclear SW (I'm not 100% sure what the URL number and title for that last one is).

On a side note, should I make it a priority to get my PPL? I hear it's useful but not totally necessary.
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Don't get it. It won't help as much proportional to the price. If you got the PPL with an instrument rating it would be tremendously valuable.....but again that's even more ridiculously expensive. If you want to get ahead, read some PPL textbooks and do some instrument work on Microsoft flight sim. But I wouldn't do that at the expense of beer with friends.
 
sevenhelmet

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
I would say if can afford and want to get a PPL for its own sake, then knock yourself out. But as Python said, don't do it simply because you think it'll help with flight school. I got mine in HS because I wanted to fly, but I also wanted to make sure flying was for me- and I found out I was immediately addicted to it.

I'd at least go for a ride with a flight instructor. If you've never been up in anything but an airliner, flying in a light civil aircraft can be an eye-opening experience.
 
Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Bob Tyler said:
On a side note, should I make it a priority to get my PPL? I hear it's useful but not totally necessary.
Click to expand...

Priority? No. If you have the money and time (i.e., it won't strain your finances or academics), then sure, go for it. But it's expensive, it's not a necessity, and it's arguable whether it really helps. I saw a lot of guys with private time, even one who was a RJ FO before joining the Navy, wash out of flight school because they couldn't or wouldn't unlearn their old habits.

So I'd say - if you can afford it - get enough time to be familiar and comfortable with basic airwork and instrument flying. If you can't, don't fret. Uncle Sugar will teach you for free.
 
Python

Python

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Uncle Fester said:
Priority? No. If you have the money and time (i.e., it won't strain your finances or academics), then sure, go for it. But it's expensive, it's not a necessity, and it's arguable whether it really helps. I saw a lot of guys with private time, even one who was a RJ FO before joining the Navy, wash out of flight school because they couldn't or wouldn't unlearn their old habits.

So I'd say - if you can afford it - get enough time to be familiar and comfortable with basic airwork and instrument flying. If you can't, don't fret. Uncle Sugar will teach you for free.
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I think it's important to emphasize how much of an exception that is. That does happen, but it is so rare it's worth mentioning with the caveat of how infrequent that is. The vast majority of those with PPL and higher ratings tend to crush the program. A PPL alone does not mean that much.
 
Hammer10k

Hammer10k

Well-Known Member
pilot
In Primary now, and the only two DORs I know had extensive prior flight time. Knowing both the dudes, it seems like military side of flight school - being pushed to your limit by superiors, always feeling like you're being exposed or are behind - was the catalyst for their decisions. Not so much that they couldn't fly well, but more that flying went from being low stress to high stress.

That being said, if they had finished, I bet they would have done well.
 
E

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Uncle Fester said:
Priority? No. If you have the money and time (i.e., it won't strain your finances or academics), then sure, go for it. But it's expensive, it's not a necessity, and it's arguable whether it really helps. I saw a lot of guys with private time, even one who was a RJ FO before joining the Navy, wash out of flight school because they couldn't or wouldn't unlearn their old habits.

So I'd say - if you can afford it - get enough time to be familiar and comfortable with basic airwork and instrument flying. If you can't, don't fret. Uncle Sugar will teach you for free.
Click to expand...

many of the guys I sent to OCS to be SNA that had various amounts of private time failed out of flight school, only a few that had none ended up failing out.
 
nittany03

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Renegade One said:
Lotta hate there...still. :(
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No hate; I'm glad to have logged 1.0 of special crew time in the Big Fighter before it went away. That flight sealed the deal that my little Midshipman/Ensign pea brain wanted jets.

Just ball-busting from someone who was in API when the last jet advanced studs got Toms . . . but later realized that his personality was a better fit in a different part of the Grumman Navy.
 
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B

Bob Tyler

New Member
Thanks again for the advice, GPA took a hit over the summer (renown GPA killing class where the majority failed, I passed it) so now that's out of the way, its buckle down time for this semester and get physically ready for NROTC apps (sooner the better, latest in November).
 
FormerRecruitingGuru

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
Bob Tyler said:
Thanks again for the advice, GPA took a hit over the summer (renown GPA killing class where the majority failed, I passed it) so now that's out of the way, its buckle down time for this semester and get physically ready for NROTC apps (sooner the better, latest in November).
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Why did you take it? Does Ratemyrprofessor.com still exist these days?
 
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exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
RUFiO181 said:
Why did you take it? Does Ratemyrprofessor.com still exist these days?
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In defense of the OP one of the colleges I covered had a professor like this, and it was a required class for Civil Engineers and he was one of two that taught it, one of my CEC applicants was thrilled to get a B- out of the class and he was maintaining a 3.5 GPA overall.
 
B

Bob Tyler

New Member
RUFiO181 said:
Why did you take it? Does Ratemyrprofessor.com still exist these days?
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The class is a very difficult class and only one prof was available. Average for the class is typically a 2.0 (C) during the spring and fall semesters. Summer semester averages tend to be a bit lower.
 
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