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Please Help... Maybe I'm Not Smart Enough?
- Thread starter njk1
- Start date
My advice was to evaluate the bigger picture. You seem to be letting this setback get under your skin too easy. Whether you choose to apply it to being an Officer or not is up to you.
Just to try and get you back on course: Hey, you're plenty smart enough. You've proven that by getting a degree and the fact that you were capable of tutoring others. You can do well enough on any of these "entry level" tests to enter. No need to "crush" any of them (I don't think....)...that achievement won't follow you as part of your permanent record anyway. Relax...read the question...decompose a problem to the basics, and reassemble the basics to find than answer. Skip the one or two that boggle you at first look...come back to them later if there's time.
You clearly want to do this...so go do it. Like tiz84 said: It's up to you.
Let me stop you right there for a second and call a timeout. You came on here looking for advice from members of this forum correct? Yes. Members of this forum have graciously given you several pieces of advice (whether you agree with them or not) to your situation, right? Ok, so the first sentence seems slightly condescending in the fact that it sounds like "Your advice is great, but its not exactly what i'm looking to hear, so your advice is baseless and meaningless to me."
That's how your reply came across to me...I could very well be alone in that boat and if so that's cool. Calm down and don't simply discount a person's advice just because its not coming across how you want it or you feel it doesn't directly apply to you. That's not the right attitude to have. All I'm saying is take the advice of everyone here, pull the bits and pieces you like and put it together. Take some time, go relax, and as people have said, recage yourself. Whether you're applying aviation or SWO or Intel or whatever....it doesn't matter. All of them have at least some basic analytical skills that are necessary. You aren't going to get sympathy by beating yourself up or being upset. You chose a less than useful major (unless your aim is education or teaching or something) and don't have the analytical/math skills that other technical majors have....big deal.
You said you used to be a tutor, so if that's the case, you shouldn't have an issue with those problems. My advice as far as math skills go is to go check out an algebra or other book from a library (those still exist right?) and brush on certain skills. You could also go and grab a GRE/SAT prep book (I would highly recommend Princeton Review) and check out the different techniques used to solve math problems quickly and the tips and tricks. No the ASTB is not the GRE, GMAT, or SAT however the same skills/tricks I used on the GRE from the Princeton Review when I took that exam prior to the Navy, I also used on the math section in the ASTB.
If you REALLY have some time on your hands, check out coursera.org, it is a website that has partnered with tons of universities to offer all types of free classes online from their respective schools. I can vouch for this as I recently finished an "Intro to Finance" class through Univ. of Michigan. The class is free, it covers the same topics as before and oh yes, its free. They offer all types of math classes too.
Check it out if you want. But seriously, chill out and take some time off. Good luck in your path and hope it turns out the way you want it.
In the same vein, if you haven't already, you might wanna check out http://www.khanacademy.org/, they have tons of free videos for people wanting to learn just about anything you can think of. As a matter of fact, right on the homepage, there's a link to "Practice your math skills" which leads you to a list of all kinds of math topics for which you can work on practice exercises and hone those skills. Hope this helps.
In addition to the advice you have received and your previous responses you provided to the advice passed to you, I would recommend you be aware of the audience to whom you are requesting this advice. That audience is current flight students, current and former fleet aviators and NFO's from all of our nation's services. If nobody has told you this yet, sometimes it's simply best to keep you mouth shut and LISTEN. We've all been in your position and obviously know what it takes to make it in the fleet. In addition, if you ever do make it to the fleet, you will be expected to have thick skin and take criticism.
In all seriousness, the problem you presented is really easy. If you can't figure it out within a few minutes, maybe your future holds another career path. Whatever you end up doing, problems like that will be commonplace and you will be solving them while simultaneously flying a plane for example. Not being a dick, it's just how it is.
Futureaviator90
New Member
I just took the ASTB for the second time today and received a 4/5/4 46. I also have a 3.01 GPA in International Business. I have a 2 star admiral as a recommendation too. My recruiter said I have about a 25% chance of getting picked up for SWO because of that recommendation. How do you feel?
There also was a dramatic increase in my gpa my senior year. I got a 3.6 taking 6 classes and then a 4.0 taking 8 classes in the last two semesters. My recruiter also said highlighting this in my motivational statement with help too.
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
Did you work for the 2 star or did he just meet you and do a recommendation? I never had a person with a flag recommendation from a person they did not work for get picked up, your motivation in college and increasing your GPA will be more of an eye catcher.
Futureaviator90
New Member
I did not work for him. He was good friends with my father who was a 1 star, so I've known him all my life. How do you feel about my chancing on the next board, which is in march if I Feb or March?
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
I would say 50/50, you never know with GPA's that skirt about 3.0 especially because you have shown much improvement, the other thing is who else is applying, I think for you that your motivational statement needs to be very good.
Futureaviator90
New Member
Thank you very much for the information!
LFCFan
*Insert nerd wings here*
I'm pro rec and had an LOR from a USAF O9 I've known my whole life, never worked for him. Just thought I'd add that in case people started thinking these letters were a death sentence.
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
That is a good point and to the OP the LOR from the 2 star should be written from the point of a character reference as he has known you your whole life, that and LFCFan LOR put them in different catagories than a person that meets you for 30 minutes.
Some flag LOR's I have seen were decent, but here are some parts or entire parts of LOR's I read from flag officers that provided my office with entertainment, this wasn't good for the candidates.
"xxxx did not understand how a battalion was organized" - civilian applicant applying for CEC
"I interviewed XXXX and found him to be of fine character, he will be a fine addition to the wardroom" - that was the entire narrative.
"many illegible words" - narrative was written in sharpie, this amazed me.
"xxxx impressed me etc..... then something about being a Naval Aviator" - problem, guy was applying for Supply, no idea how that happened.
I was able to read one from a Congressman, all of about 3 lines said he reviewed XXXX application and recommend him for commissioning, but flowered it up for 3 lines.
The best one I ever read was from a SEAL Captain, you could tell that he took notes during the interview and paid attention to what the candidate was saying.
The second best one was from a congressman's aide who worked for a Senator and watched my candidate grow up, was able to talk about watching my candidate be involved in clubs, volunteer, sports, etc....