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Advice for MIDN

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BadBobJr.

Auburn Aviation Hopeful
Currently my unit is trying to get a program set up that will help to prep our aviation options in first being selected for the pipeline and then going to API. Could anybody out there recomend something to emphisize in our program?
 

bch

Helo Bubba
pilot
GRADES, GRADES, GRADES. As far as prepping for API. Worry about getting in first, then once you are in, study the books API will give you. There is no need to start studying for API while you are a mid.
 

ET-Mike

A-Pool Junkie
With all the talk about the top 20% and all that other jazz I can see why you would want to start studying before API.
 

VarmintShooter

Bottom of the barrel
pilot
Get the ARCO book and some people who have taken the ASTB. That'd be my first thing to do ... get people selected. Of course, grades are important as well.

For API ... anything you learn now will be long forgotten after senior year finals, months of stash time at the unit, IFS, months more stash time in A-Pool.

I'd say that after getting selected you guys should go ahead and enjoy what's left of college.

But that's just me ...
 

kray1395

Active Member
ET-Mike said:
With all the talk about the top 20% and all that other jazz I can see why you would want to start studying before API.

It's not the top 20% Mike. It's the bottom 20% if anything. People need to stop freaking. And don't start studying before API, unless it's going to help you graduate college and get commissioned.
 

litreofcola

Registered User
Just a thought, but
Have the Aviation LT at your Unit explain to prospective SNA's and SNFO's on how the NSS works. From reading the posts on the threads about the new API standards for SNA's, it seems that not too many people understand what a 42.5 relates to and how it is calculated. An understanding of NSS might relieve some anxiety and stress.

However, weekly meetings that talk about the finer points of the Navy Standard Score might get a little boring, so maybe have guest speakers like prior naval aviators or naval flight officers talk about their experiences and shed some light on the fact that even though times are rough right now, it is still the best job in the world.

Also, educate the underclassmen on the other communities besides JETS JETS JETS,
so that they have a good perspective of the big picture of naval aviation, so if they get hit with NEEDS OF THE NAVY they don't whine about how bad their life sucks.
 

UncleFester

Hummer NFO To Be Reckoned With
Amen to that. NSS has got to be the queerest attempt to slap a number on subjective measurements in history. Don't even bother trying to understand it. Do your best on every single flight and event and test and your NSS will take care of itself. It's such a wierd formula that there's no way to try and "game" it. You can't track it as you go, because it's only calculated at certain points in the syllabus (after checkrides, for example). If you look at it between those milestones it will be a skewed number and meaningless. You can't change it, or change the standards CNATRA will use it for. So STOP SWEATING NSS.
And if you're still a Mid, DO NOT worry about API. Worry about getting into API. Once you get there, study dilligently, keep the partying down but come up from the books regularly, don't let failures or bumps in the road destroy your self-confidence. That's the formula for success.
 

goplay234

Hummer NFO
None
My advice for learning to prep before API and flight school: Drink heavily, have as much fun as you can, and take as much time off from your school work as possible. You won't be able to do that once you get here. As for figuring out how NSS works. Good luck. I am at the RAG and I STILL don't know what it all means. Someone tried to explain how I got my score but his voice turned into the teacher from Charlie Brown. Look, relax while you can. Flight school is no joke. The hardest part is getting in. As long as you have a good attitude and work your six off, you'll be fine. I did not prepare for API/Primary at all and I did fine. Good luck. PM me if you have specific q's.
Later,
Goplay
 

USN99

USN99
None
Words of Wisdom

goplay234 said:
Flight school is no joke. The hardest part is getting in. As long as you have a good attitude and work your six off, you'll be fine. I did not prepare for API/Primary at all and I did fine.

Goplay has summed it all up pretty well. The hardest part is getting in. If selected, do not consider it a mistake. No one gets selected by mistake.

The solid majority succeed. Odds are in your favor.

Naval Aviation is full of regular people, always doing their best. Geniuses don't succeed; slackers also fall by the wayside.

I did not prepare for API either. After several aviation tours I can endorse Goplay's wise remarks.
 

TurnandBurn55

Drinking, flying, or looking busy!!
None
UncleFester said:
Amen to that. NSS has got to be the queerest attempt to slap a number on subjective measurements in history. Don't even bother trying to understand it. Do your best on every single flight and event and test and your NSS will take care of itself. It's such a wierd formula that there's no way to try and "game" it.

Yeah, and it got about 10 times weirder once they started the Chair Force MNTS/MPTS method. I remember when half my class was still on the Above/Below, and the other half was MNTS... and the squadron still thought they could come up with a meaningful number to rank-order all of us LOL...

To repeat what everyone said: Flight school is not quantum physics or organic chemistry. You don't need to study the whole summer to 'get ahead'. The Navy is there to train you. While it's challenging, it's not 'hard' in that you need to be brilliant to get through. If my dumb a$$ can, anyone else can too ;)

The two most valuable assets to get through will be attention to detail and time management.
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
USN99 said:
Naval Aviation is full of regular people, always doing their best. Geniuses don't succeed; slackers also fall by the wayside.
What a great quote. So true!

brett
 

beau

Registered User
"The two most valuable assets to get through will be attention to detail and time management."

just to add

Monkey skills (basic understanding and touch to flying) wont hurt. Studying the right way. Practice, and remaining composed in stressfull situations.
 
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