Hello everyone and my apologies for resurrecting this thread (found it in a forum search), but this is still highly relevant to me. It's been 3 years since the last post in this thread; has the process changed much since then?
I'm a little confused from what I've been reading on the forums (elsewhere). What exactly is involved in the VIP trip? My initial impression was that we would tour ships/subs on the east coast and get to interact with officers of the surface warfare/nuke community to get a feel for what the job is like.
Now I'm reading that the VIP trip includes the technical interview and PRT? I'm a little worried now...
I've been studying/exercising semi-regularly, but more of my anxieties are related to the technical interview. I've seen the study guide and studied some of it but I don't have everything down cold (i.e. wake up in the middle of the night and spontaneously solve a study guide question).
What I'm basically asking is, what exactly does the VIP trip entail? Does this include the tech interview/PRT or are those separate events? Where does OCS fit in? (I'm assuming it occurs once all of the other mentioned stuff is cleared...)
I'm going to receive orders to fly out on October 18-20 so the narrow time period from now until then (for preparation) is what's getting me. I already know that I'm at a "technical disadvantage" because I was actually a biology major in college and not a math/engineering/physics/chem major. Honestly, I want to do this regardless because I want to serve and my recruiter said that I "qualify" (having finished the calc and physics sequence during my undergrad).
Besides, I haven't finalized/submitted all my NUPOC paperwork to the recruiter so I'm thinking I can't even get interviewed without those taken care of first.
Any help in clearing out my confusions is highly appreciated! Also, I found the info in this thread highly useful. Thank you.!
I was a former NUPOC applicant before I went aviation. I did get to go on the VIP trip though to Seattle. The trip itself is pretty sweet. You and some others from your district will all go w/ your recruiter and you'll get to meet others who are applying from other cities, as well as other Officers who are in the program (mostly O-3s if i remember correctly). You'll have dinner the first night and it'll kind of be an intro to everyone and the plan of the day for the next few days as well.
The next day, you'll tour whatever base you're at and then get a pretty thorough brief on what exactly is entailed in the program from the Officers who are there. They'll also have you guys do some of the practice problems that they give you to do for the interview and give you tips on getting through the problems if you get stuck or working them out. You'll see a bunch of the guys nerd out during this point and jizz in their pants when they get called up to do a problem in front of everyone. But anyways, after that, you'll get to tour some more and have lunch too in the galley. I think we got to see the damage control trainer, the submarine sim, and some other spaces as well too. We also got to tour one of the SSBN's that was docked. It took some time though as none of us (candidate wise) had clearances, so they had to "scrub" the sub of important docs. On the sub, we got to ask questions of officers and enlisted guys who were on there and what it was like and everything else.
That night, some of us went out to the bar on base and hung out for a bit.
The next day you'll get to tour one of the ships in port. For us it was a Cruiser that was there, so we got to see the surface side of the nuke program. Same thing, you ask questions and then get to spend more time talking to the Nuclear Trained Officers about their job prospects and what they're doing after their first sea tour and after their commitments. That night we got taken to the local casino and got to have some fun and drink w/ some of the officers and recruiters and other candidates. Honestly, its a good way to see what kind of people you might be serving with and who was there and getting to form a small bond during that short amount of time. You could definitely tell the last day who all had been hanging out and who chose to stay in their hotel rooms and play world of warcraft.
Anyways, it was a good trip and learned alot. Definitely ask many questions all the time and take in as much as you can. Make sure you think about your decision to go forward. Not many will do it, but dress the part while there....not saying wear a suit, but if you want to stand out. Look nice during the walking around and tours and such. Be comfortable but not overdressed. Trust me, the Officers that come there ARE judging you and evaluating you guys at all times and it will definitely make an impression. If you want specifics with what i learned and why I didnt go that route, PM me.
Otherwise, don't worry about being at a disadvantage because of your major. There were marine biology majors and biochemistry and other non-engineering majors there too. If you're being invited to go on that trip, that means, you've already cleared a few hurdles. They don't invite every potential NUPOC candidate on those trips. If you're going, it means they think you might have a chance with the Admiral and now want to see if you are worth the time.
Good luck.