Competitive GPA

[p8MIDN]

What is considered a "competitive gpa?"

I'm a Tier-1 major with a 2.7, shooting for a 3.1-ish cum. in the spring

"Good" PRT, and my unit doesn't hate me.

One of the guys in my unit got picked up with a 3.14 in Tier 3, most of the engineers seem to live around 3.0 (both scholarship/advanced standing)

Anyone care to weigh in on what the selection board will be happy about come July?

 

[sevenhelmet]

Posts like this rarely stand alone well. I've personally never heard the term "tier" used to describe a major, but maybe it would help if you told us what service and community you were applying for. I could assume based on this board's focus and your screen name, but I don't want to make an ass out of you and me. In addition, providing anecdotal evidence that someone could get picked up with the GPA you plan to attain really doesn't say anything about a process where myriad other factors (ASTB, medical, extra-curriculars, timing, etc.) play a role.

Don't let any lingering doubts discourage you. As someone who has fought for the long-odds prize of a flight slot, it's absolutely worth trying for even if you have uncertainty about your chances. Do your level-headed best to get those grades up, and apply for whatever you're trying for when the time comes.

 

[haimehhh]

I've personally never heard the term "tier"

http://www.nrotc.navy.mil/scholarship_criteria.aspx

Just do the best you can with the time you have left and apply– in the meanwhile work on the stuff you can augment the low GPA with, unless you bring it up to what you think is appropriate based on your experience with others in your unit. I'm not, nor was I, NROTC or any ROTC but I imagine you have opportunities to build your case in other ways besides academics. Good luck!

 

[p8MIDN]

Sorry if there was any confusion.

I'm 2 years into a 5-year degree program for Ocean Engineering, and trying to commission into the Navy (and really hoping for a SNA/SNFO slot, but of course, officer first-> aviator second). I'm at a Senior Military College (VT), and active on the Intercollegiate Sailing Team and in Community Service. (Waiting to finish 2000-level physics before thinking about frats, etc.)

The Navy likes certain majors (Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical/Marine/Naval/Ocean/Nuclear Engineering) more than others (History, English, Underwater Basket Weaving) and uses a tier system to delineate them as such-i.e. Aerospace Engineering is Tier 1, Chemistry is Tier 2, Poli Sci is Tier 3.

The old CNO said he wanted 85% of matriculating NROTC ensigns to hold a technical degree, and the other 15% to hold LREC (languages/international studies)

I cannot take a NAMI or the ASTB in NROTC until I am contracted, which will be either when I pick up a 3-year scholarship (August 2016), a 2-year scholarship (August 2017) or "advanced standing college program", May-September 2017.

I was trying to see if there was anyone who was/is in a similar situation, and who knows what the selection board in Pensacola is looking for when they give out scholarships and advanced standing, so that I may THEN take the ASTB and the flight physical and apply for 1370/1390.

The reason I ask is because my classmate, the Tier-3 Russian Major got picked up for a 3-year scholarship with a 3.14, and I'm tracking for somewhere between a 3.1 and a 3.3 in a Tier-1, technical engineering program, and even with downsizing/sequestration will the selection board for NROTC take into account technical coursework when deciding on who contracts.

 

[zippy]

Start talking to a Marine OSO outside of the NROTC unit as well. You're about old enough for it and they can get you a garunteed flight contract, and you can get NAMI/ASTB done for them and they'll count if you get picked up for NROTC.

 

[ea6bflyr]

My best advice is to improve your GPA. Even though you are a tech major, GPA holds a lot of weight at the NROTC scholarship selection board. Have to talked with the NROTC Advisor about your chances and how you can improve your scholarship application?

 

[p8MIDN]

I talked to my advisor and he said that there's no way to predict that, based on the eval forms a 3.0 will put me in a 3.0 fitrep, whereas a 3.5 non-tech will give you a 3.0 fitrep. I think the scale for Tier 1 only goes up to 3.6? I'll have to check again. I'm doing the best I can, but I'm trying to overcome a bad (2.7 cum) gpa from last year.

Zippy, thanks for the advice. Definitely going to be hitting the books and looking at PPL before I do my official ASTB, because of those lifetime test limits. My understanding is that the minimums are 5/5/5 but the people who get picked up for 1390/1370 are usually between 6/6/6 and 9/8/9; I want to have a convincing case to an OSO, NROTC board or OCS recruiter that I should be in the cockpit!

 

[ea6bflyr]

My understanding is that the minimums are 5/5/5 but the people who get picked up for 1390/1370 are usually between 6/6/6 and 9/8/9

I guess your understanding is skewed.