NROTC service selection question

[Gatordev]

Bad gouge above..major has ZERO bearing on service assignment from an NROTC standpoint.

The only thing major does have a bearing on is selection for an NROTC scholarship.

Is this relatively new? Admittedly it was another decade, but when I did the paperwork for service selections, major was a factor. Not a substantial one, but as was mentioned before, there were three Tiers and you got some points added based off your Tier. Again, grades and CO recommendation were the things to worry about, but major was factored in.

They may have done away with this now, but I'd kind of doubt it, as it's another way to force-shape.

 

[mid1510]

Is this relatively new? Admittedly it was another decade, but when I did the paperwork for service selections, major was a factor. Not a substantial one, but as was mentioned before, there were three Tiers and you got some points added based off your Tier. Again, grades and CO recommendation were the things to worry about, but major was factored in.

They may have done away with this now, but I'd kind of doubt it, as it's another way to force-shape.

Yes, they've done away with it as a factor for at least 3 years (since I've been in the program). Your major is still included in official paperwork but it has no bearing.

Caveat to this is selection for submarines. You need to meet a minimum GPA for an interview, and those are different (lower) for if you are engineering/ science vs (higher) for every other major.

From an aviation standpoint, there is no difference if you are an Aero dude or a Poly Sci dude. If you are an Aero guy you will probably do better on the ASTB though...

 

[Wudgles]

Yes, they've done away with it as a factor for at least 3 years (since I've been in the program). Your major is still included in official paperwork but it has no bearing.

Hmmm... When I selected (YG10 guy here), you got points for your major. My understanding was that it was a multiplier for total points. Something like Tier 1 got 1.0, Tier 2 got 0.9, and Tier 3 got 0.85 (most likely this is off, but for the sake of argument, we'll keep it). So, you got a little help with a harder major, but GPA and everything else were more important.

TL;DR - Major has a small iota of bearing on selection, but everything else is much more important (GPA/extracurriculars/leadership/etc.).

 

[Yardstick]

Hmmm... When I selected (YG10 guy here), you got points for your major. My understanding was that it was a multiplier for total points. Something like Tier 1 got 1.0, Tier 2 got 0.9, and Tier 3 got 0.85 (most likely this is off, but for the sake of argument, we'll keep it). So, you got a little help with a harder major, but GPA and everything else were more important.

TL;DR - Major has a small iota of bearing on selection, but everything else is much more important (GPA/extracurriculars/leadership/etc.).

Yeah I was pretty certain thats about how it worked, from what I understand

 

[Gatordev]

Hmmm... When I selected (YG10 guy here), you got points for your major. My understanding was that it was a multiplier for total points. Something like Tier 1 got 1.0, Tier 2 got 0.9, and Tier 3 got 0.85 (most likely this is off, but for the sake of argument, we'll keep it). So, you got a little help with a harder major, but GPA and everything else were more important.

TL;DR - Major has a small iota of bearing on selection, but everything else is much more important (GPA/extracurriculars/leadership/etc.).

And this is what I've been hearing on the forums here for a while. Again, maybe they changed it, but I do have my doubts. Either way, I'm obviously out of the loop, but as of 2008 when I was flying with new studs, that's what I was still hearing.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Hmmm... When I selected (YG10 guy here), you got points for your major. My understanding was that it was a multiplier for total points. Something like Tier 1 got 1.0, Tier 2 got 0.9, and Tier 3 got 0.85 (most likely this is off, but for the sake of argument, we'll keep it). So, you got a little help with a harder major, but GPA and everything else were more important.

TL;DR - Major has a small iota of bearing on selection, but everything else is much more important (GPA/extracurriculars/leadership/etc.).

Yeah this was the way it was when I commissioned as well. No idea about now

 

[helolumpy]

I always heard that to apply for flight school you needed a 2.5 in a Tier 1 and a 2.8 in Tiers 2 & 3.
I've never seen it written, but that was what I was told 20 years ago when I was applying.

 

[SynixMan]

I'm going to try to tread lightly here, but the topic of college majors comes up here every once and a while and there's no real good answer. Picking a bullshit easy major with the intent of rocking a high GPA to pickup SNA is the logical equivalent of marrying your homey looking high school girlfriend before going to college because it guarantees you'll get laid. Tons of shit changes from the day you walk across your high school stage to the day you might put on butter bars on.

The aviation community is filled with a shitload of different majors and backgrounds, and most of them mean jack shit come day one of API. But avoiding a technical major because you're worried about your GPA? How about you don't suck in class instead. Its not going to get any easier as you go forward. Flight school has been way harder than engineering school.

 

[gparks1989]

I'm going to try to tread lightly here, but the topic of college majors comes up here every once and a while and there's no real good answer. Picking a bullshit easy major with the intent of rocking a high GPA to pickup SNA is the logical equivalent of marrying your homey looking high school girlfriend before going to college because it guarantees you'll get laid. Tons of shit changes from the day you walk across your high school stage to the day you might put on butter bars on.

The aviation community is filled with a shitload of different majors and backgrounds, and most of them mean jack shit come day one of API. But avoiding a technical major because you're worried about your GPA? How about you don't suck in class instead. Its not going to get any easier as you go forward. Flight school has been way harder than engineering school.

Agreed. But it's equally foolish to slave away at a major you don't enjoy just because you think it'll give you a leg up in getting SNA. It would seem the most logical thing to do is major in something you enjoy. That's my philosophy anyways.

 

[Deere1450]

Hmmm... When I selected (YG10 guy here), you got points for your major. My understanding was that it was a multiplier for total points. Something like Tier 1 got 1.0, Tier 2 got 0.9, and Tier 3 got 0.85 (most likely this is off, but for the sake of argument, we'll keep it). So, you got a little help with a harder major, but GPA and everything else were more important.

I'll echo this. The multipliers may not be exact, but there were multipliers nonetheless. Im a NROTC mid that just got selected, so it didn't change for 12' May commissionees. The answer to the original question is, Yes. Your major affects your total points, but not a whole lot. I'm not sure how much its weighted. My advice, and many others on here will agree, is to pick a major you would like to be involved in if you don't end up commissioning or get out of the Navy. Picking a major based on having a better chance of getting SNA is a bad decision. Major in something that is challenging, you can get a job in, and you enjoy. Hope this helps, and best of luck.

 

[Wudgles]

Agreed. But it's equally foolish to slave away at a major you don't enjoy just because you think it'll give you a leg up in getting SNA. It would seem the most logical thing to do is major in something you enjoy. That's my philosophy anyways.

+1. Pick what you enjoy. If you hate what you study, you'll most likely do poorly, which hurts your chances of getting what you want when selection rolls around. And, if it doesn't work out, you've got a degree in a field you actually like. The whole thing about studying more just to get an engineering degree you hate is bad gouge IMO.

The aviation community is filled with a shitload of different majors and backgrounds, and most of them mean jack shit come day one of API. But avoiding a technical major because you're worried about your GPA? How about you don't suck in class instead. Its not going to get any easier as you go forward. Flight school has been way harder than engineering school.

I agree that flight school is harder than anything I did in college. Does it mean that if you don't do X-super-hard-major, you won't do well? Nope. Chuck Testa. And, like you said, it means bullshit day one of API, so why haze yourself in a tech major if you hate it/wouldn't want to do it in the real world? Full disclosure: the latter reason is why I dropped it sophomore year. Best thing I did in college.

 

[Yardstick]

+1. Pick what you enjoy. If you hate what you study, you'll most likely do poorly, which hurts your chances of getting what you want when selection rolls around. And, if it doesn't work out, you've got a degree in a field you actually like. The whole thing about studying more just to get an engineering degree you hate is bad gouge IMO.

I agree that flight school is harder than anything I did in college. Does it mean that if you don't do X-super-hard-major, you won't do well? Nope. Chuck Testa. And, like you said, it means bullshit day one of API, so why haze yourself in a tech major if you hate it/wouldn't want to do it in the real world? Full disclosure: the latter reason is why I dropped it sophomore year. Best thing I did in college.

ps you missed an interesting time in san antonio if you havent heard

 

[Gatordev]

I'm going to try to tread lightly here, but the topic of college majors comes up here every once and a while and there's no real good answer. Picking a bullshit easy major with the intent of rocking a high GPA to pickup SNA is the logical equivalent of marrying your homey looking high school girlfriend before going to college because it guarantees you'll get laid. Tons of shit changes from the day you walk across your high school stage to the day you might put on butter bars on.

The aviation community is filled with a shitload of different majors and backgrounds, and most of them mean jack shit come day one of API. But avoiding a technical major because you're worried about your GPA? How about you don't suck in class instead. Its not going to get any easier as you go forward. Flight school has been way harder than engineering school.

Eh. I had a technical major but not an engineering major. An engineering major, for me, would have been about 100 times harder than flight school. It's very possible I wouldn't be where I am if I had gone with an engineering major. Go with what interests you and plan from there.

 

[mid1510]

Well I guess I may have spread bad gouge..I was just relaying what I was told by my LT this year.

 

[CommodoreMid]

If it comes down to you needing that multiplier for being an engineering major to get what you want out of service selection, chances are you suck as a student/mid.

Or you got nuke drafted.