I am just exploring all options. Trying know everything I can before I make a choice. My degree is non-technical, and I am told that calculus and advanced physics is required to be a nuke officer. Also, I know I will need a couple waivers. Maybe because of this I am under-selling myself.
Also, because I'm 26, I feel like i'm getting into the game a little late and want to jump now. From the sound of things, officer processing takes quite some time and often multiple applications. Plus I have little time to work on all of this, as i'm trying to do it on the sly.
I am interested in Nuke also because of the fact, that I would enjoy being a 'helluva learned dude', and such. The enlist bonus could pay my school, and I could start applying for officer while accruing service time.
I still want to becaome an officer, but I'm exploring any imediate options that will get me on my way. I even talked to the enlisted marine recruiter just to see whats up with that side of things.
A few things to address here:
1. A technical degree is not required for nuke officer, but 1 year of calculus and 1 year of calculus-based physics is. These are not "advanced" courses by any means, and you'll find that most Naval officer positions prefer that you have these courses (but they are not necessarily required). Since you're 90% done with college, you should take these courses as electives as you finish up if you are serious about nuke.
2. The officer application does take some time, but part of that depends on you. You could have all your paperwork completed and turned in in a week if you were motivated enough to do so. The biggest waits come from waiting for your application to go to the board and such. FYI, the age limit is 27 for pilot, but 29 for NFO and IIRC it's higher for SWO and Nuke officers.
3. Your post sounds like you can enlist and immediately start an application for OCS. This is false. Once you enlist, your service record will be the #1 determining factor on your selection for commissioning. That means that you have to stay in long enough to build up a good resume. If you think that the application process for OCS can be lengthy as a civilian, then you're going to really hate how long it will take if you enlist. Enlisting is the longest route to a commission, and enlisting with the intent to use it as a stepping stone to commissioning is usually not a good idea. Not only that, but you're probably going to be really pissed off as you clean the officer's bathrooms in the Rickover Center knowing that you could've applied directly for a commission.
4. Don't pick a job for the money. You'll be miserable, and your job performance will most likely suffer (which will be counter-productive to your plan to apply for OCS).
My suggestion: look into BDCP, finish college, research all your options, and pick what's best for you. Don't be lured by the money.
Nuke enlisted retention seems like it has been an increasing epidemic IMHO and I think that's because QoL is not a real concern.
This isn't directed at you specifically, but it always astounds me how sailors and officers in today's Navy have the gall to complain about QoL. Maybe it's just cuz I've spent too much time in the same room with a bunch of 22 year olds fresh out of college, some of whom actually complained about using their leave for a two week vacation over Xmas. But I digress; life on a sub isn't the most luxurious thing in the world, but you're not stuck in northern germany in the winter cut off from food and lacking cold weather gear, now are you? To make a more "apples to apples" comparison, I recommend you visit the USS Cassin Young in Boston; destroyers pre-dating 'Nam were smaller than our submarines, and some enlisted guys worked in spaces where they'd have no idea whether or not the ship was about to sink. Maybe small boys are still like this today, but not being a SWO I'll let someone else take that one.
There are things the Navy can do to make QoL "better" (there is rumor of 4 section watch rotation for officers on submarines floating around), but I can't in good conscience ever say I have it "bad" when I think about what conditions men before me have thrived.