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IS GPA Everything at the Board/Your Opinion?

GhostlySeas

SWO Hopeful
Hello!
I have been poking through the forum's recent posts and I have come across something that is a little bit concerning in regards to my application, so I thought that I would ask your opinion on the matter. I feel like I am puffing my chest out here, but I am genuinely interested in the opinion of knowledgeable peoples with nothing to gain or lose. Being a naval officer is extremely important to me, and I am constantly looking for ways to improve my chances and standing out. My recruiter says I am an "excellent" candidate, but I don't trust his words due to the fact he needs quotas.

TLDR; My GPA is 2.97 but I have a long and well flushed out leadership, volunteer, and work history, do I still have a chance of getting selected at the board?

I am a 22-year-old female that graduated in May of 2020. My college GPA isn't amazing at 2.97. (However, I am waiting on my highschool college transcript back, as I had taken all college courses in high school and I believe my GPA was at least a 3.0 so it may bump it up a smidge.) However, I have an explanation for the lower GPA besides laziness.

  • I graduated in 3 years, meaning I took an overloaded course load every single semester. While my peers were taking 4 classes, I was taking 7.
  • I was maintaining at least one job, often working two jobs at once. (From anywhere from 10 hours a week to 30 hours a week)
  • I took summer courses and worked 40 hours a week during this time.
  • For 2 years I was attempting to double major, but my last year I decided to come back for the second degree in order to complete my first degree in 3 years so I have nearly a full degree in Psychology (my major was Business Management.)
  • For all three years, I was also involved in leadership positions in extracurriculars such as President of the Entrepreneurship Club, Chief Justice for Student Government, and Secretary for the Student Veteran Organization as well as participating in other extracurriculars as a member (such as Forensic Speech and Debate and Business Student Executive Council and more).
  • I also independently raised over $40,000 in investment funding for student businesses and worked with the University President to create a Women in Leadership Seminar on campus (sadly, COVID shut it down after a year of work.)
  • I held multiple Internships, such as Event Coordinator for Campus Events and Development, and helped run the largest art fair outside of the city.
  • I have a few leadership awards and certifications from taking additional courses in things such as Cultural and Global Leadership and Small Business Development Consultant.
  • I have numerous volunteer hours through the Veteran Resource Center.
Essentially, I chose to get hands-on and real-life experience over studying relentlessly for tests. I ended my career with two job offers and being used to 16+ hour days, so I don't regret my choices but I am concerned that it will now become an issue for the Board. All of this will be reflected in my application as well as my Motivational Statement. I also have a letter of recommendation from a professor that is an Army Colonel, the University President, and a Venture Capitalist that I worked with for 3 years.

If you are so inclined, I would love to hear your thoughts as well as any possible critiques or advice to make myself stand out further.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Short answer is if there are lots of applicants they may not even get to the point of reading all that stuff you did, if there are many spots it may not be needed, and if you are in a situation where they are needing to read that info you probably have a leg up.

I would also say you should look at Supply, they will look harder at the entire application, your GPA is going to be a small ding but you have done many good things.
 

GhostlySeas

SWO Hopeful
Short answer is if there are lots of applicants they may not even get to the point of reading all that stuff you did, if there are many spots it may not be needed, and if you are in a situation where they are needing to read that info you probably have a leg up.

I would also say you should look at Supply, they will look harder at the entire application, your GPA is going to be a small ding but you have done many good things.

So essentially, it all depends but it is not hopeless?

I plan on applying to Supply as one of the options, however I'm not sure I would enjoy the job.

Thank you for your knowledge!
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
So essentially, it all depends but it is not hopeless?

I plan on applying to Supply as one of the options, however I'm not sure I would enjoy the job.

Thank you for your knowledge!
Have you thought about aviation? they care much less about GPA and much more about ASTB.
 

notacoverband

Active Member
I haven't, I honestly assumed it would be even more competitive. I will now to see if I can qualify.
What exOfficer recruiter said. You go back and look at spreadsheets, and yes higher gpas normally seem to get selected however with aviation that really doesn't seem to be the case and it's pretty obvious going through the applicants stats. Can't speak to supply because I don't really watch that community though. Currently have a package in with a lower GPA for bachelor's, but high GPA for masters so should be interesting. Best of luck and remember to thoroughly look through all your options. Some designators sound really cool, then you find out the truth, others sound awful and you hear how happy people in those communities are.
 

Hair Warrior

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Life lessons:
  • you're young and motivated... go after what you want, and you'll get it; if you don't get it immediately, keep going anyway
  • nobody cares how long you took to graduate, so next time, take as long as you need (this applies to other things, too)
  • starting day one of OCS, nobody cares what your GPA was (unless/until they do care, e.g. for grad school, or some misguided employer)
  • volunteerism and internships are for you, not for telling someone else (i.e. if the juice isn't worth the squeeze, don't squeeze)
  • no matter how much you love your job, your job will never love you back
  • nobody here can tell you your chances... but your chances are zero if you don't apply
This may come off as harsh. It's not. It's meant to help you focus on what's important and what isn't.
 

Spekkio

He bowls overhand.
  • I graduated in 3 years, meaning I took an overloaded course load every single semester. While my peers were taking 4 classes, I was taking 7.
  • I was maintaining at least one job, often working two jobs at once. (From anywhere from 10 hours a week to 30 hours a week)
  • I took summer courses and worked 40 hours a week during this time.
  • For 2 years I was attempting to double major, but my last year I decided to come back for the second degree in order to complete my first degree in 3 years so I have nearly a full degree in Psychology (my major was Business Management.)
  • For all three years, I was also involved in leadership positions in extracurriculars such as President of the Entrepreneurship Club, Chief Justice for Student Government, and Secretary for the Student Veteran Organization as well as participating in other extracurriculars as a member (such as Forensic Speech and Debate and Business Student Executive Council and more).
  • I also independently raised over $40,000 in investment funding for student businesses and worked with the University President to create a Women in Leadership Seminar on campus (sadly, COVID shut it down after a year of work.)
  • I held multiple Internships, such as Event Coordinator for Campus Events and Development, and helped run the largest art fair outside of the city.
  • I have a few leadership awards and certifications from taking additional courses in things such as Cultural and Global Leadership and Small Business Development Consultant.
  • I have numerous volunteer hours through the Veteran Resource Center.
Clearly you're a very hard worker, but to play devil's advocate: if the primary goal of college is to learn the material, which is measured by grades, why didn't you ever stop to prioritize and take some things off of your plate when it became clear that you were overloaded? How would this approach to your education impact your approach to professional responsibilities? How does your employer know that you aren't someone who's prone to let your primary job responsibilities slip because you take on too many side projects? How will this impact your ability as a DIVO when you're going to have to prioritize about a dozen different taskers at any one time?

Taking 7 classes with a > 3.50 GPA is impressive. Taking 7 classes with a 3.0 GPA indicates you probably shouldn't have been taking 7 classes. I think that you're better off trying to spin this into what you learned about prioritization and work loading in retrospect instead of wearing it as a badge of honor.
 
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taxi1

Well-Known Member
pilot
So is your record all Bs but for a couple of Cs? Or a 50/50 split of As and Cs? If so, which classes are the As in?
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Clearly you're a very hard worker, but to play devil's advocate: if the primary goal of college is to learn the material, which is measured by grades, why didn't you ever stop to prioritize and take some things off of your plate when it became clear that you were overloaded? How would this approach to your education impact your approach to professional responsibilities? How does your employer know that you aren't someone who's prone to let your primary job responsibilities slip because you take on too many side projects? How will this impact your ability as a DIVO when you're going to have to prioritize about a dozen different taskers at any one time?

Taking 7 classes with a > 3.50 GPA is impressive. Taking 7 classes with a 3.0 GPA indicates you probably shouldn't have been taking 7 classes. I think that you're better off trying to spin this into what you learned about prioritization and work loading in retrospect instead of wearing it as a badge of honor.
What you said it almost exactly what a board member told me years ago, how you look at it is exactly how other people will look at it.

reminds me of a saying from years ago "do you want it done fast or do you want it done well", I know there are several versions of this saying.
 

Ghost SWO

Well-Known Member
Contributor
I haven't, I honestly assumed it would be even more competitive. I will now to see if I can qualify.
Others are pointing out an efficiency versus effectiveness argument for your GPA, which by the way is already done and over with so it is what it is. Did you complete college efficiently, yes. Was it as effective? Perhaps not as much as you'd like, hence the question. It depends what the board values. Leadership roles I think pay dividends at the board and you can demonstrate that to them.

The difference between maintaining a 4.0 and a 2.3 is 14%. Some would look at that and argue someone should've tried harder or moved class loads, but not all collegiate courses are made the same. Not everyone has the same college experience. Someone with a 2.97 could have worked harder for that 2.97 with a BS in Theoretical Physics and Applied Mathematics, than someone with a 4.0 GPA BS in Costume Technology...

To compare GPA's and say that a 2.97 indicates you should have done college differently? Nah. I don't buy that mentality, and it seems apparent to me, neither does an aviation board. The thing that really matters if you choose the aviation route is the ASTB. It's the only objective metric on your application that provides insight to the board of your ability to complete the appropriate training compared to everyone else. I would second looking into the aviation community, Naval Aviator or NFO. I think you would find you would be much more competitive there.

Oh BTW, according to the aviation Excel sheets on this forum for the last year of aviation boards, females are selected at a near 100% rate.
 
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