Is with anything competitive in life, do better than others in areas that matter.
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ROTC or OCS?
- Thread starter Tomsonx
- Start date
Is with anything competitive in life, do better than others in areas that matter.
It has been almost 19 years to the month that I last was a part of NROTC at UCLA. I'm sure many aspects of ROTC life are the same still and I will say that it did give you a glimpse into military life, especially with midshipman cruises. I was a 2 year college programmer then picked up a 2 year scholarship. I got to fly in the T-34C, T-44A, TH-57C and the TA-7C Corsair II (6 hours) in addition to a midshipman cruise on a fast frigate. I got to see what wanted...Aviation...and what I really, really, really did not want...SWO. Might help you decide.
I'm a senior NROTC mid about to commission in April, so anything I say about OCS is what I've heard. Yes, I'll say grades in my 18.5 credit hours would be better if I wasn't waking up at 4:30am every morning and having classes until 9pm. And I wouldn't have to take 18.5 if I didn't have to squeeze a couple major changes into four years. But if you're going to come out of college being any competitive for OCS, you'll probably be doing clubs, societies or whatnot and be equally as exhausted after a week.
NROTC gave me four years of leadership development and learning the system rather than being thrown in and told to swim. The exposure I got from my MIDN cruises was really cool but the chance of being selected SWO in my junior year was terrifying.
If I could do it all over again, I'd still choose ROTC. What an AWESOME time that was!
I had the chance to do ROTC but went OCS. I enjoyed having the complete freedom it gave me to do college the way I wanted to. I could grow my hair out, not shave, do whatever extracurriculars I wanted, not have to answer to anyone, fun times. I didn't work too hard and partied just as much as I wanted to. That being said, OCS was a major pain in the ass to get into, get in shape for, etc.
If I wasn't burned out on my personal military-ish experience from high school, I would've probably tried to go to the academy or do ROTC. I did four years of military boarding school and was ready to be a total bum for a few years. My path worked for me.
If you want as close to a guarantee of an aviation slot as you can get, OCS is the only way to do that. Just be ready for the ups-and-downs of the whole OCS experience. There are no true guarantees in life.
If I wasn't burned out on my personal military-ish experience from high school, I would've probably tried to go to the academy or do ROTC. I did four years of military boarding school and was ready to be a total bum for a few years. My path worked for me.
If you want as close to a guarantee of an aviation slot as you can get, OCS is the only way to do that. Just be ready for the ups-and-downs of the whole OCS experience. There are no true guarantees in life.
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
I pulled the numbers the difference between the number of pilots taken from OCS and NROTC is less than 10, overall it appears equal distribution between Academy/NROTC/OCS
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
See my previous post, extra curricular activities don't really matter for those going for Pilot the key is GPA and ASTB, and this is when the competition has gone up.
Keep in mind that the primary commissioning sources are Academy and ROTC. OCS is the fill-in-the-gap mechanism and the amount of OCS slots ebbs and flows with the tides.
OCS Pluses: You get to go to school and basically fuck-off (read: do what you want) for 4 years. You will know exactly what your MOS (read: pilot, nav, swo, etc..) is before "signing on the dotted line". You'll get to commission after 12 weeks of crappiness in good-old Newport as opposed to dealing with 4+ years of ROTC crap like mando-PT or classes or whatever. It's pretty college the way everyone does it and then you get a real job (all be it in the military) like everyone esle does.
ROTC Pluses: You're guaranteed to commission as long as you dont do something stupid or let your grades get low, but you will have to "sign on the dotted line" before selecting an MOS. You get to do cool things like MIDN cruises and you will make great friends in ROTC. Keep in mind that each detachment/unit varies in quality/quantity. ROTC will teach the 'game' (so to speak) and you'll understand the Navy better than your OCS counterparts. I believe ROTC and the Academy get more (insert MOS here) slots than OCS does every year. Also, scholarships and stipends are a distinct possibility. Also, most ROTC guys/gals get some sort of minor when graduating for doing ROTC (at least they did in AFRotc).
It's basically a choice you have to make. ROTC is the 'safe bet' when it comes to getting your commission as a Naval Officer but won't guarantee a pilot slot or whatever. OCS will guarantee you an MOS before commitment but there's absolutely no guarantee you'll get picked up for it when the time comes or if they'll be taking anyone.
OCS Pluses: You get to go to school and basically fuck-off (read: do what you want) for 4 years. You will know exactly what your MOS (read: pilot, nav, swo, etc..) is before "signing on the dotted line". You'll get to commission after 12 weeks of crappiness in good-old Newport as opposed to dealing with 4+ years of ROTC crap like mando-PT or classes or whatever. It's pretty college the way everyone does it and then you get a real job (all be it in the military) like everyone esle does.
ROTC Pluses: You're guaranteed to commission as long as you dont do something stupid or let your grades get low, but you will have to "sign on the dotted line" before selecting an MOS. You get to do cool things like MIDN cruises and you will make great friends in ROTC. Keep in mind that each detachment/unit varies in quality/quantity. ROTC will teach the 'game' (so to speak) and you'll understand the Navy better than your OCS counterparts. I believe ROTC and the Academy get more (insert MOS here) slots than OCS does every year. Also, scholarships and stipends are a distinct possibility. Also, most ROTC guys/gals get some sort of minor when graduating for doing ROTC (at least they did in AFRotc).
It's basically a choice you have to make. ROTC is the 'safe bet' when it comes to getting your commission as a Naval Officer but won't guarantee a pilot slot or whatever. OCS will guarantee you an MOS before commitment but there's absolutely no guarantee you'll get picked up for it when the time comes or if they'll be taking anyone.
Here's the deal. If you TRY NROTC for the first semester, you have nothing to lose. You get a taste of the NROTC program, wearing the uniform, and you get to learn a little bit in the process...with no real obligation*.
If you decide it's too much you can move along smartly. But if you like it, you might be able to stay. Getting a pilot slot through NROTC is a heck of a lot easier than OCS.
*you will have to PT and play Navy with all the perks of a scholarship student but no money or commitment.
-ea6bflyr
If you decide it's too much you can move along smartly. But if you like it, you might be able to stay. Getting a pilot slot through NROTC is a heck of a lot easier than OCS.
*you will have to PT and play Navy with all the perks of a scholarship student but no money or commitment.
-ea6bflyr
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
If you decide it's too much you can move along smartly. But if you like it, you might be able to stay. Getting a pilot slot through NROTC is a heck of a lot easier than OCS.
-ea6bflyr
The selected numbers are essentially identical, what I don't have data on is the "out of number" so we don't know how many tried to be a pilot but weren't picked. Currently a person has an excellent shot through OCS, last selection rate was 77%
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
OCS numbers do vary but for the past several years the percentages have remained the same, FY12 has 826 from academy, 786 from ROTC, and 840 from OCS. In OR school they said the USN is trying to maintain 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 from each commisioning source.
Sure the percentages might be the same, but the fact that NROTC & USNA are the Primary commissioning sources means that they have larger numbers. It is HARDER to get a pilot slot through OCS because OCS recruiters can be more selective. When was the last time an OCS applicant with a 2.8 in business got a pilot slot?
-ea6bflyr
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
Sure the percentages might be the same, but the fact that NROTC & USNA are the Primary commissioning sources means that they have larger numbers. It is HARDER to get a pilot slot through OCS because OCS recruiters can be more selective. When was the last time an OCS applicant with a 2.8 in business got a pilot slot?
-ea6bflyr
but the numbers aren't larger OCS will commission more overall this year, and almost the same number of Pilots as NROTC and Academy, unless I am missunderstanding what you are saying.
last board, I even saw one that had a 2.6! that is not the norm though even though many were picked that had less than 3.0 GPA
more selective, they selected a guy with 2 alcohol convictions non moving violations, others with DUI's, another with admitted 30x MJ use, low GPA's, etc.....
Are you including Marine Corps grads in the numbers? Last I knew, the NROTC and USNA were graduating just shy of 1000 officers each. My data is dated, so your might be more up-to-date...
How many applicants apply to OCS every year versus selected?
-ea6bflyr
How many applicants apply to OCS every year versus selected?
-ea6bflyr