I went through about a year of applying for the NUPOC program. I was going into my junior year of school and had a girlfriend I figured might end up my wife (I was correct on that one) so I was looking for a way to provide money now, reduce my student loan debt and have a plan after college. Also, I had an engineering internship and I quickly learned I was not ready to sit behind a desk. I had received an email from a recruiter about the program and the bonus and E5 pay in college were too big to pass up.
I made it all the way to the interview with Admiral Donald. He unfortunately (at the time) did not select me to serve in the nuclear Navy. I was pretty bummed out, but I was able to spend the night "celebrating" with a guy and a gal who were also at the interview. The guy had been accepted, so he had $15,000 in his bank account and graciously took us all on a pretty epic bar crawl. While on this adventure we all spent a lot of time talking and I realized that I had fully committed myself to the idea of serving at this point, with or without the sign on bonus.
The next day I called my recruiter and asked what else I was medically qualified for (I asked because I figured my eyesight kept me out of everything cool) The first thing he listed was NFO. I knew NFO's were back-seaters in fighters and that was enough. Being in fighter jets would be a dream come true. I had him put my application in for it, and then I started asking real questions (not the order you should do it, but it worked out).
I got accepted to the BDCP program for SNFO and went to OCS after college. A lot of fears about the NAMI whammy while at OCS led me to consider other designators, and I came to the conclusion that I could do others, but I wanted to do NFO. Luckily for me the NAMI waivers came back and everything worked out.
Once in the NFO pipeline I have been fortunate to get everything I wanted with regards to platform and coast. Advice to you though, going in to SNFO training, don't have such a closed off view on platform selection. I knew all along I wanted Rhinos, but I tried to stay open minded. Some guys would get their heart set on a certain platform, and not get it. I don't think this is a common problem, but we had some guys seemingly sabotage themselves after they were selected for something they didn't want. Just remember, until you are in a specific platform you are a generic SNFO. Most guys seem to get what they want, but almost all eventually grow to love what they get.
With regards to the capitalization and punctuation, sometimes it doesn't get ironed out for the new guys so I'll give you my take on it: AW is a "virtual ready room" that means it is a somewhat professional environment. Also, and more importantly, it means people build an impression of you from here. Like a real ready room, everything you do is evaluated by your peers, at least a little. It might be the internet, but take the extra time to try to present yourself as best you can.