Hey everyone! I am currently a SNA hopeful and have recently had some concerns regarding my GPA. The GPA on my transcript is a 2.57 majoring in Mathematics. However, I recently found out that the Navy calculates your GPA including your repeated courses, which means my GPA comes out to around 2.46, which is even lower than before. I started off college extremely rough, as I was in a major I had no passion for (Electrical Engineering). After I switched out of engineering, my grades slowly began to improve to the point where I finished my last semester with a 4.0 and deans list. Unfortunately the damage had already been done and my gpa was still low. I have already taken the ASTB and scored 56 7/7/7, which are alright scores, but not amazing. I have tons of volunteer hours and a lot of leadership experience, but I'm not sure if these will help make up for my lackluster GPA. Would it be worth retaking the ASTB to try to shoot for all 8's? I know they don't care much about masters degree's but if I were to pursue one and finish with a high GPA would that help overshadow my undergrad GPA by a little bit? If possible, I would love some insight/opinions into my situation! Thank you in advance!
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Is my GPA the end of the road for me?
- Thread starter schen0222
- Start date
I can empathize. I think you're on the right track with being able to show leadership and volunteer hours so it's not the end of the road but it is an obstacle. If you can address it and show you're capable (primarily with the ASTB) that's going to help.
A Master's won't overshadow a Bachelor's since they calculate a cumulative GPA across all coursework. They're going to care more about the ASTB than your GPA so the higher you score on the ASTB the better. Some will say apply now and if you're not selected retake the ASTB. I personally think you should try and max out the ASTB before applying, but again that's IMHO.
Thanks for the insight! My recruiter is advising against a retake, but i may push for it now!
Yeah you're score is respectable and the OR's concern about a retake is probably because you can score lower on the ASTB and you're stuck with whatever new score you get. 7's are good, 8's or 9's are obviously better, but if you drop down somewhere you're stuck with that too. Since you did well on the OAR portion, I'd focus a little more on the PBM hands-on sections and really do well on them. If your OAR drops a couple points it really doesn't matter to the board. Review a little to maintain your OAR knowledge since that does play into the AQR/PFAR/FOFAR score but save some brain power for the end with the hands-on stuff. Since you've done it once already, most people score higher the second time because they're more familiar.
Sounds good! As prepared as I thought I was for the joystick portion, It still completely threw me off guard. I think I can definitely do better the 2nd time knowing what to expect!
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
It is going to hurt for sure, however I would give it a shot since it is aviation and your ASTB will be the major factor, I would only retake if you get a N, then use that as way to get back to board quick, this means keep studying. The odds of them looking at volunteer experience is slim to none, apply and study.
Sounds good thank you for the response! I'm going to hit the books so if I have to take it another time, Ill make sure to ace it.
As someone with mediocre college grades myself who is now a career test pilot, I say go for it.
GPA is important, but it isn’t everything. Be prepared to answer questions on what happened and how you got things straightened out with academics.
GPA is important, but it isn’t everything. Be prepared to answer questions on what happened and how you got things straightened out with academics.