E-4 to O-1 WITH 16 MONTHS ENLISTED!

[JessVess84]

My name is Jessica and I have posted questions on here and on the Naval Academy Forum section. My main question is to see what the different views on which way to turn, Naval Academy or Sta-21. I am 20 years old and I have been in the Navy as an Aerographers mate for 16 months. I was active in high school and out of high school with extra-curricular activities. I participated in the Naval Sea Cadet Corps and Air Force JROTC for three years out of my four while I was in High school! I attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy as one of 350 students that were chosen. I also have received numerous awards while in those programs, and while I have been in the Navy for this short amount of time. I was qualified as an aviation surface weather observer in less than minimal time, manned the weather office during the approach and passing of Hurricane Isabel. From that I was named Junior Blue jacket of the Quarter for the first quarter I was at my first duty station. I also was awarded a Flag LOC from Naval District Washington, and received Regional Blue jacket of the quarter for the Atlantic Region.
That is the major achievements that I have enquired while in the Navy. I have been involved with the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Air Force JROTC, and the NYLF for the past four years. I am an alumni for the Forum (NYLF) and a delegate as well! I have letters from Admiral William J. Crowe Jr. for my selection to the forum.
However, I am currently waiting on my Results from the SAT and I am retaking the ACT on the 18th, and my high school grades do NOT show my knowledge or ability to learn. They do not portray my full potential that I came to realize after high school.
My main question is, does anyone have any advise to give suggestions or me for which way I should go? The reason I am worried about this is not because I don't think that I have what it takes, its the fact of Sta-21 is usually geared to more experienced enlisted personnel and the Naval Academy is geared to letters and Top of their Class students. If anyone has any encouragement or a better way that I should go about this, PLEASE let me know.
Thank you,
R/Jessica

 

[Crowbar]

This advice is free, which is about what it's worth...

If you aren't sure which way to go, apply for everything you are eligible for. You don't have to decide today what to do, and if you have a couple of different applications in, then you (in a perfect world) would have your choice of what to do once the selection results came out. I was told years ago that it doesn't hurt to show your interest by applying for more than one program, in that you can say, "I want to be an officer, look at me, I applied for every program I am eligible for."

It never hurts to have a backup plan (or 2) so apply for USNA and STA-21. If you get selected for one or the other, you should probably go with it. If you get selected for both, then you need to spend a weekend doing some serious thinking.

Forgive me if I missed some vital piece of information, I didn't read your entire resume, just the question at the bottom. But you're still young and you should have several years of eligibility remaining to apply for most commissioning programs. I'm not Navy but I am in a commissioning program right now (Marine Corps version of STA-21) and can maybe answer some basic questions. Ask away, or PM me, and good luck!

 

[webmaster]

Jessica,

Sounds like you are off to a great start in the Navy, along with the motivation to make a commissioning package happen. To echo the comments from Crowbar, apply for everything. It will take you more time to go through it all, but that way you are increasing your chances to get your commission.

I didn't notice NROTC Scholarship on your list, that is one route you might want to take a look at also. It wasn't an option for me as an E5, I was married with kids, and there was no way that I wanted to go to college on a stipend. But for you, that might be an option.

The USNA vs. STA/NROTC is a valid question, and is something you might have to do some thinking on as Crowbar mentioned. Hopefully we can get an Academy grad, or someone going through there to chime in. But generally speaking, you will endure a much more structured environment for those four years of college life, versus what you would encounter going through STA/NROTC. That environment was not for me, and I never applied for it. On the flip side, I completely enjoyed my 3 years at UF NROTC (through the FY96 ECP Program), the battalion was great, enjoyed college life, and best of all, it counted towards retirement.

One last question for you, it sounds like you are on shore duty. Are you pursuing any after hours educations through Tuition Assistance?

Best of luck in making your dream a reality.

 

[JessVess84]

Webmaster-I would apply to both, which is what I am going to do! I am going to submit my package for Sta-21 before the due date which is the 1st of July. The results for that come out in October. If I dont get accepted that way, I will already have my application ready to send to the Naval Academy for the Class of 2009. As far as the ROTC scholarship, that is contained in the Sta-21 option. Enlisted personel cannot apply directly for an ROTC scholarship. So I cant apply to that specific program. The bad thing about Sta-21 is you can only apply to one program at a time. That is why I can't go ahead and apply to both at the same time. As far as the Naval Academy, I would LOVE to be able to go to the Academy which is what I stated in the first post. My overall goal is to be a naval aviator one of these days, and I want to go the best way possible. I would like to go to a normal university, but it would be the greatest accomplishment for me to be able to look back and say,"I graduated from the Naval Academy!" That is my ultimate dream! I could not think of anything better than to just become an officer, but to be FROM the academy, that would probably be my greatest accomplishment in life. If that makes sense to anyone else besides me!

On another note, I am registered to start classes at Embry Riddle Aeronautical Distant learning Campus right outside the gate at my base. I am working towards an Associates in Professional Aeronautics. I have 33 credits that are applying to my degree from my smart transcript. So I look at it as being halfway there!

And my Dream is to become a Naval Aviator, and even to better that dream, to be able to say I graduated from the Academy! But most of all I WANT TO BECOME AN OFFICER IN THE WORLDS GREATEST NAVY! Just as long as I can do that, I will be happy

 

[LoneSailor]

Holy crap! Like I stated on another post, me and Jess are in the SAME exact shoes.

We're both:

Enlisted
Highly motivated
enslited in the same timeframe
have many awards in the short time we've been in
Have the same goals!
etc!!

[Someone from the Academy admission office needs to read this stuff!]

Yeah I know a lot of people ask me "Why the Academy?!? It's 4 years of bootcamp man!!" It's the pride that I get when I can say "I graduated from the Naval Academy!" Dont get me wrong, but there's nothing wrong with getting a commission by other means.

It'd be great if we see each other at the Academy next year.

I'm also looking into sta-21/ROTC.

Good luck shipmate!

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Jessica,

It looks like you have a lot of stuff going for you. You seem like a very good contender for selection this year. Just make sure you keep going in the same direction and make even further progress on your quals (basic and/or advanced). Take on a couple collateral duties if you can (if you haven’t yet). Here’s a few things I would like to add in if you don't mind.

First, try to make sure you are in the top 10% of the PRT standards for your age group. Check the PRT instruction for exact scores. If it ever comes down to pure numbers and the choice is between you and someone else similar to you, your PRT scores could quite possibly be the determining factor. I rarely see PRT scores addressed on this forum when discussing the selection process for commissioning programs (for active duty). I'm not sure why, but just know that your scores are important.

Second, your high school grades being what they are probably make you a good candidate for Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST). This used to be a commissioning program in its own right that lasted 10 months enroute to an NROTC scholarship or selection for MECEP (for Marines), but got sucked into the STA-21 vacuum. The program has been modified since I went through it 10 years ago. There is a good chance you could be selected for the STA-21 program, but have to go to BOOST to get a brush up on academics before starting college. This is likely to happen if the Navy sees that you have a lot of potential to be an officer, but may not be quite ready for college. Remember, you’ll have to take a year of both calculus and calculus based physics in college. The fact that you’re taking college courses now is awesome. But that will not disqualify you from being sent to BOOST if the Navy thinks it’s necessary. Just a side note on academics. If you haven’t done so already, get yourself into a community college that officers Calculus. If you’re not ready to take Calc, get into, and do well in the pre-requisite courses. It may make you life easier down the road. These may not be the aeronautical courses that you want to take, but they should apply to your AA.



Now to address things specifically for your STA-21 interview. I sat on about 7 interviews for STA-21 while we were on deployment last year and have a just a few things to say about that as well.

First, about your appearance. Make sure your uniform is ultra squared away! Find and get rid of the IP’s. Make sure your creases are so sharp, you can cut a steak with them. Know what the uniform regs are for your hair and make sure yours is within them. Wear shirt stays. Many sailors don’t know what these are, and if they do, they don’t wear them. They will set you apart from many, if not most, other applicants in regards to your military bearing and appearance. Unless you are on a ship, I would advise that you always wear these. Wear make-up (but not too much)-be professional. If your ears are pierced, wear ear rings (the correct ones). Get an anodized belt buckle and shine your shoes. Skip the corframs (anyone can wear those). You will be marked on your military bearing during the intverview. Not only does all this help you get a 10 for that category, but it will also help create the “benefit of the doubt” for other categories.

Second, sit up straight…don’t slouch. Be consciously aware of this. Make eye contact with each of the interviewers several times throughout the interview. When you answer one of the interviewer’s questions, make sure you look that person in the eye first when you begin to give your answer, but don’t forget about the other interviewers.

Third…smile. Try your best not to be nervous. If you are, that’s fine; just don’t appear to be nervous in front of the interviewers. You want to exude confidence. If possible, shake each interviewers hand when the interview is complete. Thank them for their time.

Finally, don’t try to guess what the questions will be. It isn’t going to happen. You’ll probably get a lot of the “what would you do if you were the divo” type of questions. Try to do research on your interviewers’ backgrounds if at all possible. Find out where they went to college; are they prior enlisted; what warfare community are they in, etc. Those are just examples….find out whatever you can. This will give you insight into what they ask you during the interview.

When I asked questions, I asked the kind that could easily lead into a conversation, but something the applicant had to think about for a second before answering. My goal was to see how the applicant (you) communicated their thoughts, especially on a topic I knew they wouldn’t be able to prepare for.

Good luck.

 

[USMCBebop]

Have you considered BOOST - Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training?

 

[cricechex]

Sorry to bust in with a question concerning myself, but...what the hay! I had a horrible GPA in H.S.--2.4! Now I am about to go to Navy Boot with my associate's degree finished next month with a 3.2 GPA. Would they still want to send me to boost when I apply to the STA program, or does my college performance fit the bill?

 

[cjettaf]

CRICECHEX,
What math and science courses have you taken for your degree? If the selection board finds that you have the ability to complete calculus and physics in college, then you will not attend BOOST. I did not do so well in high school math or physics, but did well in my college courses as well as on the SAT/ACT and I am going straight to NSI. Hope this helps.
-CJF

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Have you considered BOOST - Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training?

That is all under STA-21 now. Can't apply for BOOST directly anymore from what I understand.

I was in the first class that went to BOOST in Rhode Island back in '94. I was the first guy to check in. Ohhhh, what a mistake that was! Master Chief greeted me and said son, have I got a job for you. Man, things have definately changed since then.

 

[cricechex]

CRICECHEX,
What math and science courses have you taken for your degree? If the selection board finds that you have the ability to complete calculus and physics in college, then you will not attend BOOST. I did not do so well in high school math or physics, but did well in my college courses as well as on the SAT/ACT and I am going straight to NSI. Hope this helps.
-CJF

I've taken pre calc, physics, and chem. But, just one of each. I have taken a lot of english and history, with extremely high marks, around 3.8 in cum. GPA in 8 classes between the two.

 

[cjettaf]

Cricechex,
Well, it appears as though you have a good foundation for completing a technical degree. Best of luck!
-CJF