OCS Path to TPS question

[Nathaniel Ventura]

I'm an eager college student majoring in math with a conflict, and it's a question my mentors at the university can't really answer. But anyway I'm a rising junior majoring in mathematics and a future goal is to be a naval aviator. I can graduate a year early, start preparing an application for OCS now. But I love math and also want to maximize my chances for TPS, so the alternative is to stay for the full 4 years and I would graduate with about 23 math classes and be a very competitive applicant for getting a PhD in Mathematics & Atmosphere-Ocean Science or in Applied Mathematics. I would try extremely hard to finish in 4-4.5 years so I have at least 9 months before I turn 27 for OCS.

The reasons I'm split between these 2 things is if you get in to OCS and don't take it you probably won't get in again, so if I apply to OCS after undergrad and get it, I don't think I will ever have the time nor the same preparation to get a PhD in my intended field, but I would probably get a masters in engineering years down the line(& I don't think I'd be as competitive right?) . At the same time applying to OCS near the age of 25-26 is pretty risky. So what I'm attempting to gain from this thread are what option is the safest and is the path of graduate school ->OCS a viable option.



I didn't see threads exactly on this topic and felt this was rather a very specific case. Thanks so much for any perspectives and answers. Yes, this is sort of a path to astronaut question too.

 

[Flash]

...I would try extremely hard to finish in 4-4.5 years so I have at least 9 months before I turn 27 for OCS....

Nine months is cutting it awfully close, I would graduate as early as you can so you have the time to apply, be accepted, get to OCS and commissioned well before the cutoff. A lot of things have to go right to have that little time work out and many unforeseen things could happen to screw things up in that time including your best case scenario to graduate with that'better' degree only 9 months left before the age cutoff. If you graduate earlier you can always continue studying if the time is available before OCS. If TPS is in your goal you can always work towards a degree on your first shore tour.

 

[IKE]

+1 to what Flash said.

As I understand it, the first discriminator for the TPS board is first sea tour performance. Advanced degrees look good, but I don't think they shoot you to the top.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

you need to be commissioned by age 27, and OCS is 3 months, you are cutting it so very close.

 

[xj220]

You can get to TPS without going to grad school, but you can't go without getting a commission (not 100% true but there's more to it). The point is, start OCS now and get your career going. You'll be able to get grad degrees later on in your career. I don't have one and I was able to get to TPS. In fact, I think most of my class doesn't have one. Focus on your naval career now and first tour performance is key to opening up what you want to do down the road.

 

[Nathaniel Ventura]

Nine months is cutting it awfully close, I would graduate as early as you can so you have the time to apply, be accepted, get to OCS and commissioned well before the cutoff. A lot of things have to go right to have that little time work out and many unforeseen things could happen to screw things up in that time including your best case scenario to graduate with that'better' degree only 9 months left before the age cutoff. If you graduate earlier you can always continue studying if the time is available before OCS. If TPS is in your goal you can always work towards a degree on your first shore tour.

To be more precise;
If I finish in exactly 4 years I have 17 months.
If I finish in the summer after 4 years I have 15 months.
If I finish in the fall after 4 years I have 10 months.
But I understand the points made. It's risky and recommended to start after college.


Also, Josh Cassada, an astronaut candidate, from his biography it states he got his PhD in 2000, but he was born in 1973. How was that possible and he still became a naval aviator?

EDIT: He received commission in June, a month before his birthday. So he probably finished his degree in Spring of 2000(4.5 years), and started OCS in May. I can see how this is extremely risky, but I guess here is an example of it being possible. Whereas my birthday is in October.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

To be more precise;
If I finish in exactly 4 years I have 17 months.
If I finish in the summer after 4 years I have 15 months.
If I finish in the fall after 4 years I have 10 months.
But I understand the points made. It's risky and recommended to start after college.


Also, Josh Cassada, an astronaut candidate, from his biography it states he got his PhD in 2000, but he was born in 1973. How was that possible and he still became a naval aviator?

EDIT: He received commission in June, a month before his birthday. So he probably finished his degree in Spring of 2000(4.5 years), and started OCS in May. I can see how this is extremely risky, but I guess here is an example of it being possible. Whereas my birthday is in October.

back then boards for Pilot/NFO/SWO were every month, now they are rolling so it could be many months in between, and there have been times when they have stopped accepting applications for months at a time, I have had 2 people age out in that scenario, one for Pilot and one for SWO.

 

[bert]

To the OP, I haven't paid any attention since the TPS board I worked in '08, but the board doesn't care past what your academic profile code is (see here). The board first weeds people out whose timing isn't right, those who don't meet the minimum requirements, or whose communities don't have an open requirement, and from there choose based on their fleet performance.

A doctorate in math will do little to nothing for you to get into TPS. And from both my Navy and civilian experience around testing in aerospace, the ability to write good test plans and test reports is way more valuable than math or even engineering skills.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

You should be focusing on becoming a pilot first and then TPS. You're skating on very thin ice with the max age. Focus on step one bedore step fifty.