My path to BDCP acceptence
I am currently in the BDCP program for Intel and will begin OCS in February 2006. For those interested I will briefly summarize how I got accepted and offer some advice based upon my experience for what it is worth.
So-called ‘stats’
OAR = 43
GPA = 3.0
Degree in ‘Philosophy’ from University of Missouri—Kansas City
PT = average score (at least for a 28 year old
)
My OAR was low because I didn’t know about the ASTB.gouge files available here on Airwarriors. So I took the test pretty much with no studying. My recruiter told me that I would have to get higher than that so I studied and re-took the test and got another 43. Like any average, my GPA hides the fact that if you look at my transcript there are several semesters when I began college where I failed a bunch of classes. Recent semesters are all A’s. I made a point in my motivation statement to explain that. It is difficult to know whether my degree in ‘Philosophy’ helped or hurt me since most people (including most of you reading this) have no idea what the field consists of.
On this web-site it seems that people often assess the probability of themselves and others getting accepted into BDCP using these three ‘stats’. This is a big mistake. Look at my stats…they aren’t outstanding. So how did I get in?
1. I got VERY STRONG education related letters of recommendation from 4 of my professors.
2. I got VERY STRONG professional letters of recommendation from my previous boss at my previous employer.
3. I got VERY STRONG letters of recommendation relating to my overall character from some fellow employees and friends of the family (one of whom was ex-Navy).
4. My recruiter contacted a Naval Intelligence Officer stationed at an Army War College close to where I live and set up a face to face interview between him and me. I met with LCDR ________ for about 1 ½ hours. It was exactly like a job interview. I was in a tie, resume in hand, list of questions in hand, etc. He gave me an OUTSTANDING recommendation to supplement my package.
5. My recruiter contacted another Naval Intelligence Officer who conducted a 20 minute telephone interview with me. He gave me HIGH recommendations and that further enhanced my package.
6. I included in my motivation statement some examples of some research that I have been doing with some data that was given to me by one of my Political Science professors on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Using this data I constructed a statistical model (regression model for those 'in the know') linking the number of suicide bombings by Palestinians with the number of Israeli deaths by all attack types. I provided a nice little chart and summary illustrating the model in my motivation statement. I’m sure that having this in my motivation statement made me stand out.
7. I included with my packet a 13 page paper I wrote for a political science class I took on ‘Terrorism and Political Violence’ covering the major theories of repression/rebellion and how to deal with terrorists. I don’t know if they read it but that must have shown them that I am aware of what is going on in the world and have taken courses dealing with social theory.
8. Perhaps most importantly, I worked at an aircraft manufacturer (Learjet) for 4 ½ years as a Quality Analyst. During that time I acquired significant leadership experience, training (e.g. statistical analysis, problem-solving, root-cause analysis, team organization, projects, etc.), as well as practical know-how (e.g. experience using Word, Excel, Access, SQL-based queries, databases in general, web-sites, MINITAB). I am also a member of the American Society for Quality and have attended several training conventions and seminars.
9. I included in my resume any extra curricular activities that I could think of. For instance, I participate in the martial arts and help teach at a school. This shows some leadership as well as the ability to train and progress. Also, I included any of my professional events like when I attended a week long conference put together by the American Society for Quality. I even listed the titles of the one-hour seminars I attended during that conference.
In all, I would say that I spent a significant amount of time on EACH and EVERY part of my packet so that weak sections (like my OAR) would be off-set by strong sections. I don’t have time to go into this but I actually was rejected the first time and fixed what they had a problem with (GPA related) and then re-submitted again. The entire process took me 13 months! You have to be VERY patient and VERY persistent to get into Intel BDCP.
Turnaround Times
1st Submission on September 22, 2003
Got rejected by Intel board December 11, 2003
2nd Submission on May 14, 2004
Received Final Acceptance June 25, 2004
Advice (if it helps anyone): Take EVERY piece of your packet seriously. Make EACH piece as valuable as you can. They are really going to look at your “whole person” not just your OAR, GPA, and degree. Try to get an interview with an Intel Officer (in person if possible). This is particularly true if you are like me and you interview well in person.
I hope this post helps someone.
Thanks.
