I screwed up....am I screwed?

[NATHAN4748]

Hey everyone, any advice would be appreciated.

I've wanted to be a military pilot since I saw my firsts airshow when I was 4 or 5. Then I lived near NAS Meridian and knew lots of Naval Aviators and guys training in the jet pipeline. I decided I wanted to be a Navy pilot.

Well I got a girlfriend and my grades in college just plummeted. I went from a 3.8 my freshman year to under a 2 my sophomore year. Having a girlfriend made me lose my focus on school and kept me from transferring to a school that offered NROTC at the beginning of my sophomore year. Well, I realized that the reason I have been doing badly in college is because I have no direction, I had always wanted to be a Naval Aviator and that's what I worked toward. Having the girlfriend made me think maybe I can just be private pilot someday and not have to leave her....that was a mistake because my passion is still Naval Aviation. I don't care about flying Cessna 152's or Piper Cubs around my town, I want to fly jets and land on boats, meet new people, and serve my country.

I think another thing that hurt me was the fact that I wasn't working for anything in college. I figured I'd just be an entrepreneur and for the business I had in mind I really needed no degree. So with that in the back of my mind I really wasn't motivated to do good in my business degree. I like my business degree but just got lost there for a year.

Anyway, can I redeem myself if I transfer to a university that offers NROTC and in the meantime retake some of the classes that I did poorly on to try and get my GPA back up?

Thanks

 

[nuls2835]

Redemption would not be in the dictionary if it did not exist. Yes, you can overcome a bad year. I failed a calculus class my sophomore year, had to wait a year to move on in the program, and it turned out to be the best thing to happen to me. I got kicked in the nuts and had my pride /ego crushed, then I had to ask myself if a Meteorology degree was what I really wanted. Even more, I asked myself, 'am I man enough to learn?' I dominated my next three years, and I ended with a 3.39. If you bust your ass and can prove on paper that you lost your way for a year, then redeemed yourself over the next 2 years with great grades, then you will be fine. As a matter of fact, it may be to your benefit in the future to show that you can overcome adversity, so long as you show the subsequent commitment and improvement. A steady diet of humble pie over the next couple years will do you just fine....

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Hey everyone, any advice would be appreciated.

I've wanted to be a military pilot since I saw my firsts airshow when I was 4 or 5. Then I lived near NAS Meridian and knew lots of Naval Aviators and guys training in the jet pipeline. I decided I wanted to be a Navy pilot.

Well I got a girlfriend and my grades in college just plummeted. I went from a 3.8 my freshman year to under a 2 my sophomore year. Having a girlfriend made me lose my focus on school and kept me from transferring to a school that offered NROTC at the beginning of my sophomore year. Well, I realized that the reason I have been doing badly in college is because I have no direction, I had always wanted to be a Naval Aviator and that's what I worked toward. Having the girlfriend made me think maybe I can just be private pilot someday and not have to leave her....that was a mistake because my passion is still Naval Aviation. I don't care about flying Cessna 152's or Piper Cubs around my town, I want to fly jets and land on boats, meet new people, and serve my country.

I think another thing that hurt me was the fact that I wasn't working for anything in college. I figured I'd just be an entrepreneur and for the business I had in mind I really needed no degree. So with that in the back of my mind I really wasn't motivated to do good in my business degree. I like my business degree but just got lost there for a year.

Anyway, can I redeem myself if I transfer to a university that offers NROTC and in the meantime retake some of the classes that I did poorly on to try and get my GPA back up?

Thanks

Do you mean under a 2 cummulative? or ?? at this point your best and maybe only option is to focus on grades, not worrying about finding a NROTC school because at this point why would they take someone with poor grades?

 

[reFLYluwasch]

Redemption would not be in the dictionary if it did not exist. Yes, you can overcome a bad year. I failed a calculus class my sophomore year, had to wait a year to move on in the program, and it turned out to be the best thing to happen to me. I got kicked in the nuts and had my pride /ego crushed, then I had to ask myself if a Meteorology degree was what I really wanted. Even more, I asked myself, 'am I man enough to learn?' I dominated my next three years, and I ended with a 3.39. If you bust your ass and can prove on paper that you lost your way for a year, then redeemed yourself over the next 2 years with great grades, then you will be fine. As a matter of fact, it may be to your benefit in the future to show that you can overcome adversity, so long as you show the subsequent commitment and improvement. A steady diet of humble pie over the next couple years will do you just fine....

The same happened to me as well... Ended up with a 3.01 cumulative GPA after being in the sub 2.00 shadows. To the OP: Gather what motivates you and prioritize prioritize prioritize. After losing my way, I decided to take 18 or more credits from then on to show my future, prospective employer that I was able to recover and improve with a bigger work load. Good luck.

 

[croakerfish]

Anyway, can I redeem myself if I transfer to a university that offers NROTC and in the meantime retake some of the classes that I did poorly on to try and get my GPA back up?

Thanks

Focus on fixing your GPA at your current school. Transferring to a new school will just add more distractions. You don't have to do ROTC to be a pilot.

 

[jcj]

I'm a civilian (not military) pilot, but I'm also a surgeon & I teach in our med school and PA program so I know college & education stuff pretty well. I had to do the same thing a long time ago to get into med school. You can pull up out of this, but you'll have to hit it hard & don't give up. My freshman GPA (the first time I was a freshman) was 0.13 - that is not a typo. It sucked digging out of that hole but I made it out. Having a clearly defined goal to focus on is a big part of the battle. Managing your time and distractions is as well - including the GF if she's still around. Agree w/ croakerfish - changing colleges now is too much of a distraction if you want to get back on track.

One other thing - you're starting into upper division classes now, and those classes will be harder than what you've already done. It's a good idea to take advantage of any free resources your college has to be sure your study skills are smoothed up as much as they can be. Most colleges have programs for students to improve your study habits & time management skills available for free in a learning resource center. You should look into that if you haven't already. Since you're climbing out of a hole, you can use any advantage you can get.

good luck & don't give up

 

[NATHAN4748]

I didn't mean to say under a 2. It went from a 3.8 to about a 2.5 my sophomore year.

I think I decided to retake several classes that I have done really poorly on and then transfer to a school with NROTC. Or do you guys think it might be better to transfer to that school to work hard and redeem myself so the officers who run the unit can see that I'm dedicated and motivated? Also, in order to have 6 more semesters left until graduation like the college NROTC website says you must have to try to get college program, I would think I need to go this next semester to try to make it a 6 semester deal. So in August I get out there and work my butt off trying to improve some grades that I previously took and did terrible at while simultaneously being in the NROTC program.

Thank you all for the encouragement, too. It is appreciated, that's for sure.

 

[croakerfish]

I didn't mean to say under a 2. It went from a 3.8 to about a 2.5 my sophomore year.

I think I decided to retake several classes that I have done really poorly on and then transfer to a school with NROTC. Or do you guys think it might be better to transfer to that school to work hard and redeem myself so the officers who run the unit can see that I'm dedicated and motivated? Also, in order to have 6 more semesters left until graduation like the college NROTC website says you must have to try to get college program, I would think I need to go this next semester to try to make it a 6 semester deal. So in August I get out there and work my butt off trying to improve some grades that I previously took and did terrible at while simultaneously being in the NROTC program.

Thank you all for the encouragement, too. It is appreciated, that's for sure.

Look, if you're entering your junior year and still need to fix your GPA and transfer to a new school ROTC is probably not going to lead to a pilot slot for you. You have time to fix your GPA by graduation, but you probably don't have time to do that, transfer schools, rush a ROTC unit, gain a good reputation there and do everything else you'd need to do to graduate with a pilot slot.

You would be much better off applying for OCS in your senior year. Write about all the ass-busting you're about to do in your motivational statement.

 

[The_Pants]

I'm with jcj. My first year at college was a total loss. I ended up with less than a 1.0 GPA. Had a girlfriend who was a total distraction with her drama. Got in trouble a few times. Long story short...Sophomore year I straightened out. I only took 12 credits to ensure I got all A's and then took classes in the summer to make up for the loss time. Finally graduated with a 3.25. That's not like wow high but with my GPA being so low it was an accomplishment. Plus I worked, did community service, volunteered, and was in a fraternity. As long as you persevere, work hard, and are determined, you can do it. This quote always made me move forward in the face of adversity: "success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts"

 

[ryan1234]

Hey everyone, any advice would be appreciated.

I've wanted to be a military pilot since I saw my firsts airshow when I was 4 or 5. Then I lived near NAS Meridian and knew lots of Naval Aviators and guys training in the jet pipeline. I decided I wanted to be a Navy pilot.

Well I got a girlfriend and my grades in college just plummeted. I went from a 3.8 my freshman year to under a 2 my sophomore year. Having a girlfriend made me lose my focus on school and kept me from transferring to a school that offered NROTC at the beginning of my sophomore year. Well, I realized that the reason I have been doing badly in college is because I have no direction, I had always wanted to be a Naval Aviator and that's what I worked toward. Having the girlfriend made me think maybe I can just be private pilot someday and not have to leave her....that was a mistake because my passion is still Naval Aviation. I don't care about flying Cessna 152's or Piper Cubs around my town, I want to fly jets and land on boats, meet new people, and serve my country.

I think another thing that hurt me was the fact that I wasn't working for anything in college. I figured I'd just be an entrepreneur and for the business I had in mind I really needed no degree. So with that in the back of my mind I really wasn't motivated to do good in my business degree. I like my business degree but just got lost there for a year.

Anyway, can I redeem myself if I transfer to a university that offers NROTC and in the meantime retake some of the classes that I did poorly on to try and get my GPA back up?

Thanks

First off dude... Having a girlfriend didn't make you lose focus, you lost focus. Personal responsibility will be the key to your future success. Secondly, no one cares about what happened to you... they will care about what you did about it and the results you produced. Thirdly, now is a good time to get your personal crap in a sock. If you get into tactical aviation.. and I can only speak from the AF side of things... these three things are foundational to success.

Can you recover? Absolutely! I would start building your resume for OCS... in my humble opinion. And... oh by the way, the flying the Piper Cub is some of the most fun flying!

 

[NATHAN4748]

First off dude... Having a girlfriend didn't make you lose focus, you lost focus. Personal responsibility will be the key to your future success. Secondly, no one cares about what happened to you... they will care about what you did about it and the results you produced. Thirdly, now is a good time to get your personal crap in a sock. If you get into tactical aviation.. and I can only speak from the AF side of things... these three things are foundational to success.

Can you recover? Absolutely! I would start building your resume for OCS... in my humble opinion. And... oh by the way, the flying the Piper Cub is some of the most fun flying!

I wasn't trying to blame my girlfriend on my lack of motivation, I'm just saying having a girlfriend took my motivation for school away, it wasn't her fault. Yeah, it looks like OCS may be my only option really just because of how late it is, I already have 60 hours and need 120 for my degree.

 

[NATHAN4748]

I'm with jcj. My first year at college was a total loss. I ended up with less than a 1.0 GPA. Had a girlfriend who was a total distraction with her drama. Got in trouble a few times. Long story short...Sophomore year I straightened out. I only took 12 credits to ensure I got all A's and then took classes in the summer to make up for the loss time. Finally graduated with a 3.25. That's not like wow high but with my GPA being so low it was an accomplishment. Plus I worked, did community service, volunteered, and was in a fraternity. As long as you persevere, work hard, and are determined, you can do it. This quote always made me move forward in the face of adversity: "success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts"

I do like that quote. You did great at raising your gpa, now it's my turn. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I do like that quote. You did great at raising your gpa, now it's my turn. Thanks for the encouragement.

you might want to see what your schools policy is, I have dealt with some that a class retake complete changes out the GPA and the old class while listed is not factored in to the GPA at all, others show the class as a retake but the original is still counted toward GPA, so if your school is the first example you might luck out!

 

[NATHAN4748]

you might want to see what your schools policy is, I have dealt with some that a class retake complete changes out the GPA and the old class while listed is not factored in to the GPA at all, others show the class as a retake but the original is still counted toward GPA, so if your school is the first example you might luck out!

I've been told that is replaces your first grade, but I'm going to verify that asap

 

[ryan1234]

I wasn't trying to blame my girlfriend on my lack of motivation, I'm just saying having a girlfriend took my motivation for school away, it wasn't her fault. Yeah, it looks like OCS may be my only option really just because of how late it is, I already have 60 hours and need 120 for my degree.

Don't sweat it man. I forgot to add the fourth thing(s)... never give up, never count yourself out, and don't suck. There are some pretty crazy stories of dudes with unbelievable odds fulfilling a dream to serve by flying pointy nose jets. I'm sure you can press and do great things.