OCS, chances and decisions

[Fire17]

Hello, i am new to this forum and decided to post my questions here because of the great feed back i have seen from my research into Navy OCS.

first of all i would like to know what my chances are to get into OCS. i am recieving mixed signals coming from navy recruiters on the navy chat with a recruiter site. they are saying that my chances are slim because i dont have above a 3.0 gpa. i know my gpa isnt stellar, but it will defiantly improve when i enter my bachelors degree program.

about me, i graduated high school in 2010, i work full time for the government and attend school part time at night. i am in my last semester at community college where ill be earning my associates degree in Intelligence Analysis along with my CCENT certification, Network+ certification, and Security+ certification. ill be starting my BS program next year majoring in Digital Media and Web technology. i am also a volunteer firefighter, with my EMT-B, HAZMAT, and Firefighter 1 certifications.

i want nothing more then to be a officer in the Navy. i am currently deciding between Intelligence Officer, Surface Warfare Officer, and Naval Flight Officer. i understand that i can be a Intelligence officer that is also a SWO, but according to the recruiter i talked to, this is only offered to those in ROTC programs and graduates of the USNA.

another question i have is, how much do the OCS recruiters care about work experience, letters of recommendation, and volunteer experience? or is it strictly GPA related? i can pull stellar LOR's from navy and army officers, local government officials, as well as federal government officials, i have a clearance and will have my certifications, a AAS degree, and a BS degree when i apply to OCS. does this matter at all?

sorry for the TLDR but i have allot on my mind with the OCS process. all i want to be is a Naval Officer, i have wanted it since i was a kid.

 

[revan1013]

First thing, capitalize your "I"s and the first letters of your sentences.

It doesn't sound like you're that much of a long shot. You sound very motivated, and that will go a long way. You need to really show your strengths in your application to make up for the lower GPA. How low are we talking ? 2.6 is not the same as a 1.5. You shouldn't give up on taking a shot, just because you might be short on grades. There are plenty of people who had lower grades, weak PRTs, below average ASTB scores, etc etc.

You never know unless you try.

 

[Fire17]

Thank you, My GPA is around a 2.5 right now because I messed up on one class at the beginning of my college career. I have been a solid B/C student because the time to devote to my studies is limited from working full time to support myself. I am retaking the class which will bring up that GPA and when I enter my Bachelors program I'll be hitting the books harder then I did in the Associates program.

The recruiters answers were not giving me very much hope for my commission.

Are there practice tests that I can take? As far as I know officers dont take the ASVAB.

 

[BackOrdered]

Out of curiosity, where did you go to college and which university are you applying for? I'm concerned that an AAS isn't the way to go if you are transferring to 4 year. Be sure to read the student guide of your potential university closely. I speak from experience having done exactly what you are doing only add the song and dance of trying to transfer to a private college. Much harder.

The general attitude is that you recruit yourself for OCS, the Officer Recuiters assists you with assembling the package. That said, they will jump hoops only for serious applicants as many court their attention. So having alot of successful involvment in other things sends a positive message and makes you well rounded for multiple communities.

I will offer another piece of advice. You are going to have to push that GPA and make the "C" an enemy. I worked too in your same situtation, even messed up a first term, but from then on I only accepted an "A", moaned at a "B", and had zero tolerance for a "C." I too was a tech major, so I know you can do it.

 

[Brett327]

Yeah, my private university accepted none of my credits from another 4 year state school. Caveat Emptor.

 

[Fire17]

Out of curiosity, where did you go to college and which university are you applying for? I'm concerned that an AAS isn't the way to go if you are transferring to 4 year. Be sure to read the student guide of your potential university closely. I speak from experience having done exactly what you are doing only add the song and dance of trying to transfer to a private college. Much harder.

I attend the local community college and am meeting with my advisor next week about transfering. the college im going to be going to (UMUC) is public and should take most of my credits

The general attitude is that you recruit yourself for OCS, the Officer Recuiters assists you with assembling the package. That said, they will jump hoops only for serious applicants as many court their attention. So having alot of successful involvment in other things sends a positive message and makes you well rounded for multiple communities.

Thanks for the advice, ill keep up my extracurricular activities and preforming well in school, I want to make my OCS dream a reality

I will offer another piece of advice. You are going to have to push that GPA and make the "C" an enemy. I worked too in your same situtation, even messed up a first term, but from then on I only accepted an "A", moaned at a "B", and had zero tolerance for a "C." I too was a tech major, so I know you can do it.

Right, I will be bringing my grades up, UMUC has a program where you do two classes every 6 weeks and it counts as full time. I am still looking into that program. I understand the thought process of a C is the enemy.

thanks!

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Your out of school activities are a plus, but your degree concerns me for a few reasons, I have seen similar degrees but they were from small colleges and the colleges were very low priority, in addition even though the degree appeared technical, calc and physics were not required.

What the recruiter may have been talking about is that on small ships a SWO has many collateral duties and he/she may have been implying that intel could have been a collateral.

Your AA doesn't matter, they look at the Bachelors, no longer is the AA degree listed on the application, the transcripts are included and the GPA is factored in.

Each designator is a different animal when it comes to selection for NFO a so so GPA but stellar FOFAR will get you picked up, but for SWO GPA is more important. In dealing with LOR's they want them from people that have seen you perform, employers, professers, the fire chief where you volunteer, etc... Intel is a tiny community and the PA is being re-written so they look mainly for CS, EE, Math, and Physics, you best shot is either NFO or SWO.

To be real competitive you need to be an A/B student or you are going to be one of those people that is a shot in the dark.

 

[CUPike11]

If you have other things that outshine your GPA, the boards will take that into consideration. I had a 2.6 gpa in undergrad, but also was working 4 jobs to help pay for school, and I was an engineer. In contrast to that, I was able to get into some grad school classes and worked my way into a 3.9 gpa. That obviously stood out to them and helped compensate for my undergrad gpa.

Being involved, work experience, leadership, etc are all things that get taken into consideration. Although recruiters are the best source of knowledge for what OCS is looking for however, if you want this bad enough (which it sounds like you do), keep fighting and going until the board says "Shut up and stop applying."

Sometimes, your perseverance will say more about you than other things on your application will....that even goes for your career as well. If you want a recent experience w/ that, private message me and I'll be happy to share it.

All of the stuff you have will matter, the recruiters arent the ones who decide whether you get a shot at OCS or not. I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but letters of rec, volunteer experience, all of that matters and the board WILL see that. I can't tell you that they will for sure, but you won't know if you don't try or go for it. You'll definitely never know or get the chance if you stop just because someone is saying you might not have a shot.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

If you have other things that outshine your GPA, the boards will take that into consideration. I had a 2.6 gpa in undergrad, but also was working 4 jobs to help pay for school, and I was an engineer. In contrast to that, I was able to get into some grad school classes and worked my way into a 3.9 gpa. That obviously stood out to them and helped compensate for my undergrad gpa.

Being involved, work experience, leadership, etc are all things that get taken into consideration. Although recruiters are the best source of knowledge for what OCS is looking for however, if you want this bad enough (which it sounds like you do), keep fighting and going until the board says "Shut up and stop applying."

Sometimes, your perseverance will say more about you than other things on your application will....that even goes for your career as well. If you want a recent experience w/ that, private message me and I'll be happy to share it.

All of the stuff you have will matter, the recruiters arent the ones who decide whether you get a shot at OCS or not. I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but letters of rec, volunteer experience, all of that matters and the board WILL see that. I can't tell you that they will for sure, but you won't know if you don't try or go for it. You'll definitely never know or get the chance if you stop just because someone is saying you might not have a shot.

Good advice here.

In the near future, or so they say, they are going to limit who goes to board, if the competitive profile was 3.5 at the last board they will limit the new application to that GPA or a certain number of application.

 

[Sonog]

There is no guarantee that you'll ever get selected, but you will never know unless you apply, apply again, and keep applying until you get selected or can't apply any more. While you're applying figure out what you would want to do as a civilian career as if you were never applying for OCS. Do everything you can to be the best at what you're doing. Many things that build a civilian resume (grad school, good jobs, gaining important references, volunteer work) also improve your OCS package. This approach helped me get selected with a sub par GPA.

 

[Pilotman87]

Good advice here.

In the near future, or so they say, they are going to limit who goes to board, if the competitive profile was 3.5 at the last board they will limit the new application to that GPA or a certain number of application.

Wow! That might throw a wrench in things. I graduated with a 3.76 and am happy about that; hopefully it will be above what is considered competitive in the future. I'm assuming that this would be the same with the ASTB scores, or any quantitative measure for that matter I guess. Any info there would be appreciated, as my ASTB wasn't bad, but I know I can do better prior to the next board.

 

[Fire17]

Thank you for all the help, I am bringing up my grades and will be meeting with advisers for the transfer process.

are there free practice exams for the ASTB? Is the ASTB like the ASVAB where I take the exam and after my results are calculated the OR tells me what officer jobs I qualify for?

 

[Renegade One]

In addition to all the sage advice above, let me offer you two enduring bits of advice:
1. You can't win if you don't play.
2. Your odds of being selected for this wonderful career are EXACTLY 50/50...you either will or you won't.

 

[Fire17]

Is there anything that I can do to move the OCS process along besides strive for a above 3.0 GPA and doing PT? Can I take my flight physical early? would getting my PPL or flight hours help in my OCS packet? Should I contact an officer recruiter for information and to let him know that I want OCS in a few years? or should I just wait until I have earned my BS. the wait for my degree is killing me! if there was a way I would apply to OCS tomorrow!

 

[BackOrdered]

Is there anything that I can do to move the OCS process along besides strive for a above 3.0 GPA and doing PT? Can I take my flight physical early? would getting my PPL or flight hours help in my OCS packet? Should I contact an officer recruiter for information and to let him know that I want OCS in a few years? or should I just wait until I have earned my BS. the wait for my degree is killing me! if there was a way I would apply to OCS tomorrow!

Most of this stuff you can find via the search feature. Feel free to view my old posts as, once upon a time, I too was a junior college tech student wondering if I had a prayer in hell.

As far as initiative, the best initiative you can show is by performing. If the recruiter sees you are not joking and are willing to do anything it takes and bring back results, the faster the process moves. Good luck.