OCS vs NROTC

[Charles Edward]

If one has a tough major and/or wants to get the best grades possible in college, is it better to go OCS after college and concentrate on academics for the four years of college, or is it manageable to both get good grads in a tough major while doing ROTC?

Does it really matter either way for the purposes of naval officer career prospects?

Thanks.

 

[Tycho_Brohe]

Considering the actual degree doesn't make a huge amount of impact (depending on what you want to do), I'd recommend looking at ROTC with a degree that interests you, but isn't too challenging. In most cases, the grades matter more than the degree. For pilots, for example, the ASTB and the GPA are two of the biggest factors. Choice of degree matters for certain applications, such as becoming a test pilot later, but for commissioning, you could get a degree in underwater basket weaving and be picked up no sweat.

I'm sure there are more examples than the two I can remember offhand, but two of the most successful pilots I've seen around my year group received a Naval Architecture degree and a Political Science degree. It makes me really glad I didn't go Aero Eng.

As far as ROTC vs. OCS, the only thing OCS really buys you is a guaranteed slot in the job you want (unless you medically DQ). ROTC gets you a free college degree. Make of that what you will. Might be worth discussing with some people currently at ROTC how often people get their top picks if that makes any difference to you.

 

[Python]

Not sure how much it’s changed (if at all), but so long as the midshipman had good grades and stayed out of trouble, they all got picked up for pilot if they wanted it. My observation over 4 years in ROTC, as well as what I’d heard anecdotally from other units.

 

[Skywalker]

One of my class officers at OCS had commissioned via ROTC. He had wanted to be a pilot, and claimed he had the grades for it, but he got SWO. By the time I met him, he was not content with his Navy experience and had spent his own money positioning himself for a career in aviation after the military.

I got SNA and it's all I applied for, but I also have at least 5 years of aggressively paying off student debt to go - and I'm blessed to be married to someone out-earning me who I can split everyday bills with.

Costs, benefits, risks, etc.

 

[Charles Edward]

Thanks, all. Good info.

 

[Charles Edward]

Considering the actual degree doesn't make a huge amount of impact (depending on what you want to do), I'd recommend looking at ROTC with a degree that interests you, but isn't too challenging. In most cases, the grades matter more than the degree. For pilots, for example, the ASTB and the GPA are two of the biggest factors. Choice of degree matters for certain applications, such as becoming a test pilot later, but for commissioning, you could get a degree in underwater basket weaving and be picked up no sweat.

I'm sure there are more examples than the two I can remember offhand, but two of the most successful pilots I've seen around my year group received a Naval Architecture degree and a Political Science degree. It makes me really glad I didn't go Aero Eng.

As far as ROTC vs. OCS, the only thing OCS really buys you is a guaranteed slot in the job you want (unless you medically DQ). ROTC gets you a free college degree. Make of that what you will. Might be worth discussing with some people currently at ROTC how often people get their top picks if that makes any difference to you.

But, doesn't the Navy prefer to give ROTC scholarships to STEM majors? Would it be even possible to get a scholarship as a Political Science major?

Thx.

 

[ea6bflyr]

But, doesn't the Navy prefer to give ROTC scholarships to STEM majors? Would it be even possible to get a scholarship as a Political Science major?

Thx.

Yes & Yes.

 

[Charles Edward]

Yes & Yes.

Thanks.

 

[willwash]

Political science is a tier 3 major. Tier 1 is engineering, tier 2 is the hard sciences (basically, biology, chemistry, physics) and tier 3 is everything else.

By policy 85% of scholarships have to go to tiers 1 and 2, so yes, by declaring yourself tier 3 you are competing for only 15% of scholarships to be awarded, and probably against a larger applicant pool.

What you can (but “shouldn’t”) do is declare an initial major of engineering then switch your freshman year. You’ll piss everyone off but in the end there’s nothing they can do about it.

Source: I was a NROTC instructor for my shore duty and dealt with a lot of these. I also initially commissioned through OCS...then after 9 years in I went to dental school under the HSCP, so I’ve had my hands in the pot of 3 different commissioning programs

 

[AllAmerican75]

Political science is a tier 3 major. Tier 1 is engineering, tier 2 is the hard sciences (basically, biology, chemistry, physics) and tier 3 is everything else.

By policy 85% of scholarships have to go to tiers 1 and 2, so yes, by declaring yourself tier 3 you are competing for only 15% of scholarships to be awarded, and probably against a larger applicant pool.

What you can (but “shouldn’t”) do is declare an initial major of engineering then switch your freshman year. You’ll piss everyone off but in the end there’s nothing they can do about it.

Source: I was a NROTC instructor for my shore duty and dealt with a lot of these. I also initially commissioned through OCS...then after 9 years in I went to dental school under the HSCP, so I’ve had my hands in the pot of 3 different commissioning programs

When I was going through NROTC (2006-2010) nearly every single scholarship at VMI was a humanities major. Most had washed out of the engineering programs after their first year. In fact, the star of the battalion was a native Spanish speaker who was majoring in Spanish after he couldn't hack it as a mechanical engineer. He was also a SWO Nuke and I believe washed out of Nuke School (Or maybe the interview) as well.

If one has a tough major and/or wants to get the best grades possible in college, is it better to go OCS after college and concentrate on academics for the four years of college, or is it manageable to both get good grads in a tough major while doing ROTC?

Does it really matter either way for the purposes of naval officer career prospects?

Thanks.

Having been through both NROTC and OCS, what you choose is dependent upon what you want out of life. I'm not sure what degree you're seeking but if you are gonna have a hard time getting through school and the ONLY thing you want to do in the Navy is fly, then OCS may be the best route for you. If you are open to other jobs in the Navy and want/need a free college education, the NROTC is the place for you. NROTC isn't that intrusive on your time (Unless you want it to be) but it does add to your class workload.

 

[Flash]

When I was going through NROTC (2006-2010) nearly every single scholarship at VMI was a humanities major. Most had washed out of the engineering programs after their first year.

We called freshmen Civil Engineering majors 'pre-Business majors', only about 30-40 folks graduated with engineering degrees a year after ~200 or so started out in those programs. I never even tried, History all the way (with a short detour through Political Science).

Having been through both NROTC and OCS, what you choose is dependent upon what you want out of life. I'm not sure what degree you're seeking but if you are gonna have a hard time getting through school and the ONLY thing you want to do in the Navy is fly, then OCS may be the best route for you.

Glutton!

Are Advanced Standing contracts still a thing? You didn't have a scholarship but signed a contract at the start of junior year to get a commission when you graduated. I think they stopped offering it a few years ago but not sure.

 

[AllAmerican75]

We called freshmen Civil Engineering majors 'pre-Business majors', only about 30-40 folks graduated with engineering degrees a year after ~200 or so started out in those programs. I never even tried, History all the way (with a short detour through Political Science).

We had a joke that ME stood for "Maybe English?" Tons of people washed out of the engineering departments, mostly during Third Class/Sophomore year. That's when the academics really turned it up a notch.

Glutton!
Are Advanced Standing contracts still a thing? You didn't have a scholarship but signed a contract at the start of junior year to get a commission when you graduated. I think they stopped offering it a few years ago but not sure.

Having gone to VMI, we HAD to participate in an ROTC course up until our Second Class/Junior year. At the end of my Third Class/Sophomore year they got a bunch of us who were trying to get a Navy commission together and told us they didn't have any money for Advanced Standing so if we didn't already have a scholarship then we weren't going to get a commission out of VMI. They handed us the business card of some recruiters (USN and USMC) and said "Good Luck," and that was that. I then started taking professional courses (Resume writing, interviewing, etc.) instead of the NROTC "Lab" courses. I also got to do other stuff instead of messing around with the NROTC unit on military duty Saturdays.

So no, it was not my original choice to do both but that's just how it ended up. In total, I applied to join the Navy 8 different times: Academy three times, NROTC three times, and twice for OCS across 4 separate recruiters.

 

[Griz882]

Both the College Program (non-scholarship frosh/sophs) and Advance Standing (non-scholarship junis/seniors but getting a stipend and commission) exist where I occasionally teach as an adjunct. I don’t know what the process is, but they exist.


Oh….and Agriculture is a Tier 2 degree but History is Tier 3! Just how many farmers does the Navy need?

 

[wallythenycat]

Of the engineering majors, how many can actually graduate in 4 years while taking ROTC?

And, why does the Navy have such a hard on for engineering majors anyway? I mean if you're a pilot, SEAL, shipdriver, or bubbleheard, are you really going to put an engineering degree to use in any of these jobs?

 

[villo0692]

why does the Navy have such a hard on for engineering majors anyway?

Go find the highest ranking Naval Officer you can find, and ask him/ her this…. Verbatim, exact same words