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BDCP closed for FY 2013, what about FY 2014? Other options?

AirGuy

Member
Hi guys. Hope everybody is well. I am currently a college student and I am interested in serving in the Navy when I graduate. I spoke with a recruiter and found out that BDCP was closed for the FY 2013 year. Does anyone know if it might be open for FY 2014 or later? I graduate in May 2015.

What other options are there for joining the Navy? My school has Army and Air Force but no NROTC. There are no cross town affiliation, and the closest NROTC detachment is 2 hours away. I spoke with a retired officer who I met on campus. He told me that the Marines have a program called Platoons Leaders Class (PLC). The PLC program will allow a college student to go to OCS over the summer and allot a commission. I honestly don't want to go Marines. Does the Navy have something like the PLC? Or could I perhaps commission into the Navy after attending PLC? I also looked into CEC and NUPOC but I am interested in being an SNA/NFO, so CEC and NUPOC won't work.

Thanks.
 

AllYourBass

I'm okay with the events unfolding currently
pilot
Hi guys. Hope everybody is well. I am currently a college student and I am interested in serving in the Navy when I graduate. I spoke with a recruiter and found out that BDCP was closed for the FY 2013 year. Does anyone know if it might be open for FY 2014 or later? I graduate in May 2015.

What other options are there for joining the Navy? My school has Army and Air Force but no NROTC. There are no cross town affiliation, and the closest NROTC detachment is 2 hours away. I spoke with a retired officer who I met on campus. He told me that the Marines have a program called Platoons Leaders Class (PLC). The PLC program will allow a college student to go to OCS over the summer and allot a commission. I honestly don't want to go Marines. Does the Navy have something like the PLC? Or could I perhaps commission into the Navy after attending PLC? I also looked into CEC and NUPOC but I am interested in being an SNA/NFO, so CEC and NUPOC won't work.

Thanks.

Have you looked into the route of simply applying for an OCS slot when you are nearing graduation? If you chose that route, you could spend the rest of your time in college gaining leadership experience, good recommendations and high grades. Or did you want to go with an alternate method for a particular reason?
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Hi guys. Hope everybody is well. I am currently a college student and I am interested in serving in the Navy when I graduate. I spoke with a recruiter and found out that BDCP was closed for the FY 2013 year. Does anyone know if it might be open for FY 2014 or later? I graduate in May 2015.

What other options are there for joining the Navy? My school has Army and Air Force but no NROTC. There are no cross town affiliation, and the closest NROTC detachment is 2 hours away. I spoke with a retired officer who I met on campus. He told me that the Marines have a program called Platoons Leaders Class (PLC). The PLC program will allow a college student to go to OCS over the summer and allot a commission. I honestly don't want to go Marines. Does the Navy have something like the PLC? Or could I perhaps commission into the Navy after attending PLC? I also looked into CEC and NUPOC but I am interested in being an SNA/NFO, so CEC and NUPOC won't work.

Thanks.

There are a few other threads on this, if you use the search function you will find the info you seek, not going to retype my other post here.
 

WEGL12

VT-28
Hi guys. Hope everybody is well. I am currently a college student and I am interested in serving in the Navy when I graduate. I spoke with a recruiter and found out that BDCP was closed for the FY 2013 year. Does anyone know if it might be open for FY 2014 or later? I graduate in May 2015.

What other options are there for joining the Navy? My school has Army and Air Force but no NROTC. There are no cross town affiliation, and the closest NROTC detachment is 2 hours away. I spoke with a retired officer who I met on campus. He told me that the Marines have a program called Platoons Leaders Class (PLC). The PLC program will allow a college student to go to OCS over the summer and allot a commission. I honestly don't want to go Marines. Does the Navy have something like the PLC? Or could I perhaps commission into the Navy after attending PLC? I also looked into CEC and NUPOC but I am interested in being an SNA/NFO, so CEC and NUPOC won't work.

Thanks.
My advice is get good grades, try to find some type of leadership activity, get in shape, and enjoy college while you are there. When you get a year and a half to a year out from graduation start applying for OCS. That way you have two or three chances to apply before you graduate. From what I have heard BDCP will not be an option in the near future. That came straight from my recruiter and if you look around other threads in this section you will see others have been told the same.

Also I would highly advise against PLC or Marines OCS if you consider it a back up plan and don't truly want to be a Marine. PLC is a great program but Marine OCS is no joke. I know several people that went to Marine OCS thinking they wanted to be Marines just to find out it's not for them. Point is don't go Marines because they have a college OCS program unless that's what you truly have you heart set on. If you want to fly Navy wait until you can apply to OCS then apply.
 

AirGuy

Member
Have you looked into the route of simply applying for an OCS slot when you are nearing graduation? If you chose that route, you could spend the rest of your time in college gaining leadership experience, good recommendations and high grades. Or did you want to go with an alternate method for a particular reason?

My college is about 100k total. I have a scholarship that I earned that pays for 50k of that. With PLC or the ROTC programs, I could have some more help paying for college. With OCS, I wouldn't. And either way, I plan to serve an equal number of years (until my body can no longer handle it). But I am not choosing to join the military for money, I'm joining to serve. So I'll take what I can get. But I'm just saying, it would be nice if I could have some help paying for college. Right now I'm a sophomore. Next semester I will be a junior. I do work, but it's only enough for things like gas, insurance, and other personal expenses. I very careful and don't spend on anything I don't need.

Do you think it's worth sacrificing 50k to join the Navy instead of the Marines?
 

AirGuy

Member
My advice is get good grades, try to find some type of leadership activity, get in shape, and enjoy college while you are there. When you get a year and a half to a year out from graduation start applying for OCS. That way you have two or three chances to apply before you graduate. From what I have heard BDCP will not be an option in the near future. That came straight from my recruiter and if you look around other threads in this section you will see others have been told the same.

Also I would highly advise against PLC or Marines OCS if you consider it a back up plan and don't truly want to be a Marine. PLC is a great program but Marine OCS is no joke. I know several people that went to Marine OCS thinking they wanted to be Marines just to find out it's not for them. Point is don't go Marines because they have a college OCS program unless that's what you truly have you heart set on. If you want to fly Navy wait until you can apply to OCS then apply.

Thanks man. The PLC route is much easier to get in, compared to OCS. But like you said, it's no joke and I'm not interested in being a Marine. I can do really well on the ASTB so hopefully that will give me a good chance at OCS for SNA/NFO. I think I can apply to OCS 1 year prior to graduation. Are you sure that it is possible to apply 1.5 years from graduation? Because if that is the case, I have 2 semester to take the ASTB and send in my application. I'm going to apply as soon as I get the chance.
 

WEGL12

VT-28
Thanks man. The PLC route is much easier to get in, compared to OCS. But like you said, it's no joke and I'm not interested in being a Marine. I can do really well on the ASTB so hopefully that will give me a good chance at OCS for SNA/NFO. I think I can apply to OCS 1 year prior to graduation. Are you sure that it is possible to apply 1.5 years from graduation? Because if that is the case, I have 2 semester to take the ASTB and send in my application. I'm going to apply as soon as I get the chance.

I believe you can apply for OCS up to 18 months before graduation, but its rare someone gets picked that far out from graduation. NavyOffRec will have a much better idea on this. But my point was to start applying as soon as you can. Don't worry about odds of getting selected, apply and see what happens.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
I believe you can apply for OCS up to 18 months before graduation, but its rare someone gets picked that far out from graduation. NavyOffRec will have a much better idea on this. But my point was to start applying as soon as you can. Don't worry about odds of getting selected, apply and see what happens.

There were indeed a few on one board that were picked up that early, but it was by accident, it was thought they were 6 months prior to graduation as they looked at the graduation year wrong, currently 12 months is the earliest.
 

AirGuy

Member
There were indeed a few on one board that were picked up that early, but it was by accident, it was thought they were 6 months prior to graduation as they looked at the graduation year wrong, currently 12 months is the earliest.

Thanks for clarifying that. What determines when you graduate? If I do a couple of summer classes, then I can graduate an entire semester ahead. That last semester of college I only have 11 hours or so planned anyway.

I spoke with a retired Army officer today and he told me to look at the Navy CLRP program. I looked it up and it seems that it is for enlisted only. Is this correct? On a different page, a National Guard one, it says both enlisted and officer are eligible. Which is correct? Are there any other programs like this?
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Thanks for clarifying that. What determines when you graduate? If I do a couple of summer classes, then I can graduate an entire semester ahead. That last semester of college I only have 11 hours or so planned anyway.

I spoke with a retired Army officer today and he told me to look at the Navy CLRP program. I looked it up and it seems that it is for enlisted only. Is this correct? On a different page, a National Guard one, it says both enlisted and officer are eligible. Which is correct? Are there any other programs like this?

Loan repayment is only for enlisted for the USN, the USN has no problem getting officers to apply, so basically if there is no problem getting people to apply there is no reason to have any incentives, this is also part of the reason why BDCP hasn't done selections for a few years.
 

AirGuy

Member
Alright, that's fine. I'm set on the OCS route then! Overall, because I get to start active duty sooner, it won't make a big difference in the paths to commission. But it is awesome that I will get to start serving sooner, I'm excited and looking forward to everything. Thanks so much for the help guys.
 

AirGuy

Member
There were indeed a few on one board that were picked up that early, but it was by accident, it was thought they were 6 months prior to graduation as they looked at the graduation year wrong, currently 12 months is the earliest.

One last question NavyOffRec. I found out that each OCS board has different requirements, so I got some advice to just do the best in everything. But overall, would a 2.8 GPA be competitive for OCS SNA? Do they take major into consideration? I'm currently doing a technical major (Electrical Engineering).

Thanks.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
One last question NavyOffRec. I found out that each OCS board has different requirements, so I got some advice to just do the best in everything. But overall, would a 2.8 GPA be competitive for OCS SNA? Do they take major into consideration? I'm currently doing a technical major (Electrical Engineering).

Thanks.

When it comes to SNA ASTB is weighed heavily, and while some have been accepted with GPA that is low you chances are much better the higher the GPA, because you never know what the quality of people is going to be at any one board.
 
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