OCS application

[Rooster_]

Hi everyone,

I’m a college student, going into the second semester of my sophomore year, that’s aspiring to become a naval aviator. What GPA should I aim to get in order to get accepted to OCS?

Also, my school only has army rotc. If I join this program, is it possible for me to be commissioned as a navy officer instead of an army officer?

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Hi everyone,

I’m a college student, going into the second semester of my sophomore year, that’s aspiring to become a naval aviator. What GPA should I aim to get in order to get accepted to OCS?

Also, my school only has army rotc. If I join this program, is it possible for me to be commissioned as a navy officer instead of an army officer?

Welcome to the page. Suggest you start researching and searching around this page to learn more about naval aviation including selection board criteria.

Concerning army rotc, no, don’t join army rotc unless you want to be an army officer.

 

[Stalion]

And don’t get PRK or LASIK until the military says it’s time and they will do it. I understand that can get you DQ’d. Stay fit, healthy, and do well academically wherever you are. If you really want to do NROTC for scholarship and training while in college, you may want to consider transferring to a college that has one. But OCS usually guarantees a spot in Aviation pipeline either as Pilot or NFO in the Navy and Pilot via UPT in AF. Don’t do Army ROTC unless you want to fly for the Army.

 

[Rooster_]

Thank you for your response. I was under the impression that small number of aviation slots are allocated to OCS. How is it possible to guarantee a spot for myself upon graduation?

 

[FinkUFreaky]

There’s no way to guarantee aviation. Navy ROTC will guarantee you an officer slot, not necessarily an aviation one. OCS is where any slots needed that aren’t taken by academy and ROTC. Easiest spigot to turn on and off is OCS, as needed. The nice thing about applying for OCS is you can be more discriminate. In other words, you can apply for NFO only, pilot only, both, both and nuke, etc. completely up to you if you want to include more than one. But there also may not be any pilot slots in OCS for 6 months or longer after you graduate.

Neither is necessarily better. In other words, depending on your circumstances, one or the other might be better for you. If having school paid for would help, and/or you aren’t only interested in aviation, ROTC is a good deal. If you have more specific wants, and have other means to pay for the schooling (scholarship, loans 🤮, etc), and have another plan to execute until getting accepted, then OCS may be better for you.

The best answer might be to take the ROTC scholarship, and max out student loans. Seems it’s just a matter of time before the student loan forgiveness push gets traction (I’m not in any way suggesting that would be a good thing).

 

[sakrazo]

If you're interested in becoming a navy officer, look into the Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program. Since your school doesn't offer ROTC for the navy, you should be eligible. Reach out to a navy officer recruiter to find out more and your eligibility.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Thank you for your response. I was under the impression that small number of aviation slots are allocated to OCS. How is it possible to guarantee a spot for myself upon graduation?

That’s not true, at least for the navy side.

 

[FinkUFreaky]

If you're interested in becoming a navy officer, look into the Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program. Since your school doesn't offer ROTC for the navy, you should be eligible. Reach out to a navy officer recruiter to find out more and your eligibility.

I’ll second this. I was in the old BDCP (2008) so I don’t know if anything’s changed, but it’s the best deal around. Competitive though