USNA Questions

[Denabloo]

Hey guys. I am here to get some information regarding the United States Naval Academy.

Anyways, i have just recently finished up my Sophmore year of High School, and am preparing to start my Junior year. Since the last two years of High School are falling upon me, i have decided to look at college options, and hopefully, get a head start.

After thinking about what i really want to do with my life, which is fly for the military (spec. the Navy or the Marines), i have come to the conclusion that The United States Naval Academy may be what i'm looking for. So with this in mind, i checked out their site, read their steps to gaining admission, and so on, i am left with some questions... so here they are (and i hope you don't mind, i have a few).

1.) First off, my Freshman and Sophmore years grades and such have hardly been at all what you would call, impressive. I really didn't take them serious, i was just concentrating more on having fun than i was on my school work. And now, i'm sort of worried. I know to be competitive for the Summer Seminar, as well as Admission to the USNA, you have to have a 3.5+ gpa. Do you think, that i would still be able to be competitive if i were able to get above a 3.5 my Junior and Senior year? Or are my chances already blown by not doing well my first two years?

2.) On the USNA site, i read that if you get accepted to the Summer Seminar, they accept that as your Preliminary Application. Will i still need to get an official Nomination of Appointment if i'm accepted to the Summer Seminar? Also, when i was reading

3.) At this point, i am almost 100% leaning towards Marine Aviation. At what time during your time at the USNA do you choose the Marine Option? And to go with this question, is there Service Specific curriculum, seperate for Navy and Marine hopefulls?

4.) And for my final question (for at least right now), if i were to go to the USNA for the Marine Corps, but later on decided to change to Navy (or vice versa), is that possible to do, or would i be stuck with what i originally chose?

Thanks for any information you guys may Give. I hope that in about two years, i'll be able to join the class of 2012 ( i think i got it right...) at the United States Naval Academy. I shall be working hard towards getting in, but if i don't, its not the end of the world, i shall still serve respectively in either the Navy or the Marines.

 

[Goober]

Posted a while back, but some things remain true regardless of time... Don't take it personally - everyone beats up on the academy. FYI - Jay Beasley is an undisputed legend in the Patrol Community.

Sir,

My name is DJ Baker and I would appreciate it if you could tell me
what It takes to be an F18 fighter pilot for the Navy. What classes
should I take in high school to help the career I want to pursue later in
my life? What could I do to get in the Naval Academy?

Sincerely,

DJ Baker


A worldly and jaded P-3 Pilot, LCDR Jay Beasley, rose to the task by
responding to DJ's letter...



Dear DJ,

Obviously, through no fault of your own, your young, impressionable
brain has been poisoned by the superfluous, hyped-up, "Top Gun" media
portrayal of fighter pilots. Unfortunately, this portrayal could not be
further from the truth. In my experience, I've found most fighter pilots
pompous, back-stabbing, momma's boys with inferiority complexes, as well
as being extremely overrated aeronautically.

However, rather than dash your budding dreams of becoming a USN pilot, I
offer the following alternative: What you REALLY want to aspire to is
the exciting, challenging, and rewarding world of Maritime Patrol. And
this, young DJ, means one thing....the venerable workhorse, THE P-3
Orion! I can guarantee no fighter pilot can brag that he has flown a
mining run at 300 ft above the water, at 300 knots, while trying to
calculate a means of justifying an emergency divert to Pattaya Beach,
Thailand, avoiding shipping, and yelling at the TACCO, all while eating
a box lunch, with the engineer in the back taking a piss and the
navigator puking in his trash can!

I tell you, DJ, Maritime Patrol is where it's at! Where else is it legal
to throw hazardous material out of the aircraft, and not even give a
crap what Greenpeace and the other tree huggers think! No where else can
you crawl in the back of the aircraft and take a nap because you are so
hung over that focusing your eyes takes to much effort! And talk about
exotic travel? When P-3's go somewhere, they GO somewhere (usually for 6
months, unfortunately). This gives you the opportunity to immerse
yourself in the local culture enough to give any natives a bad taste in
their mouths for the USN and Americans in general, not something those
jet jocks can do from their staterooms on a ship!

As far as recommendations for your course of study, I offer these: Take
a lot of math courses. You will need all the advanced math skills you
can muster to enable you to calculate per diem rates around the world,
and when trying to split up the crew's bar tab so that the copilot
really believes he owes 85% of the whole thing and the NAV believing he
owes the other 20%.

Health sciences are important, too. You will need a thorough knowledge
of biology to make those educated guesses of how much longer you can
drink beer before the tremendous case of the ****s catches up to you
from that meal you ate at that place that had the belly dancers in some
Godforsaken foreign country whose name you can't even pronounce!

Social studies are also beneficial. It is important for a good Patrol
Plane Commander (PPC) to have the cultural knowledge to be able to
ascertain the exact location of the nearest titty bar in any country in
the world. Then be able to persuade the local authorities to release the
RADAR operator, after he offends every sensibility of the local religion
and culture.

A foreign language is helpful, but not required. You will never be able
to pronounce the names of the NAVAIDs in Italy, and it's much easier to
ignore them and go where you want to anyway. As a rule of thumb: Waiters
and bellhops in France are always called "Pierre", in Spain it's "Hey,
Pedro", in Puerto Rico it's "Juan", and in Italy, of course, it's
"Mario." These terms of address also serve in other countries
interchangeably.

A study of geography is also paramount. You will need to know the basic
location of all the places you've been when you get back from your
deployment and are ready to stick those little pins in that huge world
map you've taped to your living room wall, right next to that gigantic
wooden giraffe statue and beer stein collection.

Well, DJ, I hope this little note inspires you. And by the way, forget
about that Naval Academy thing. All P-3 guy's know that there are waaay
too few women and too little alcohol there to provide a well-balanced
education. A nice, big state college would be a much better choice.

 

[gaijin6423]

I can't really speak to your admissions questions, because I entered the usna via a different route. I suggest that you contact your local Blue & Gold Officer, as he/she will most likely have all the information you're looking for, including information on service assignment, etc. The Admissions Department can give you the contact information for your B&G Officer.

The Marine selection process is something that I'm familiar with, though. If you'd like specific information on that, feel free to PM me.

 

[ZRX04]

First, get to the academy website and have them send you a catalog. It has ALL of the information you need to apply. They might tell you they wont until you're junior year. Still, your high school's counselor should have one, or can definately request one. Public library might (I stress might) be another option. Do not go to a recruiter, they are clueless about the academies.

Answers:

1) In my completely non-expert opinion, your grades make you a longshot. That being said, the academy does look at the "whole person". Extracurriculars are key: varsity sports, eagle scout, etc. Any activity where you hold a position of responsibility (team captain, chess club president, whatever). Anything you can do to pad your application helps, because that's what you are doing in any college apps process. You've got to make yourself look better on paper. There are plenty of people who looked great on paper and sucked as midshipmen.

2) Summer Scaminar means little to nothing. Referencing previous statement, its good padding. It seems logical that it would count as your "pre-candidate questionaire", which is what you fill out in your junior year to request an application. Yes, you must still acquire a nomination. There are 2 seperate processes to get into a service academy. You must get into the academy, just like any college, AND you must recieve a legal nomination. You can actually earn one and not the other, and be out of luck.

3 & 4) Unlike NROTC, you do not choose Navy vs. Marines on the front end. Service selection occurs in your senior year at the academy. There is plenty of opportunity to make an educated decision. Its fine to go in with a goal, but you may find that you, and therefore it, changes.

 

[phrogpilot73]

You're not that much of a long shot...

First I'd like to preface this with the fact that the route I took to the Naval Academy is not the "preferred" route. Second, if you want to attend the Naval Academy, let nothing stand in your way - it can be done!

I graduated from high school with a 1.96 GPA, and 1200 on my SAT scores. Needless to say, the laughter in reaction to my first application to the Naval Academy could probably be heard in Shanghai. I went to a community college for a year (didn't do so well, needed that military discipline) and again, my application was laughed at. I enlisted in the Marine Corps, and after several reporting periods of high pro/con marks, I was accepted (after 4 applications) to the Naval Academy. I ended up graduating from USNA in 1998 and I'm now a Marine Officer and a helicopter pilot.

If your grades aren't great, don't get discouraged - go to college and take a healthy courseload (Chemistry or Physics, Calculus, etc...) and apply again. If that doesn't work, don't rule out enlisting in the military. It will give you an insight into what the lives of your Marines/Sailors are like once you're comissioned. Also, there are 85 slots RESERVED for active duty Navy/Marines and 85 slots RESERVED for reservists. You don't even need a Senator/Representative nomination for those slots, you will automatically get a SecNav nomination.

Finally, don't focus on jets. There's a fairly good chance you'll get something else... Instead, start talking to people from all different communities and find out who you get along with personality wise. After all, you're only in the cockpit at most a couple of hours a day, but you have to hang out with these people for countless hours... Plus, helos are more fun!

Hope this helps.

 

[Denabloo]

Thanks for all the info guys! I applied for an information packet a week ago, how long do those usually take to arrive?

 

[DanMa1156]

You'll probably get that pretty soon, within a month. I went to summer seminar, so my preliminary application was in February of my Junior Year. I believe I got my application and information etc. in early July, after Summer Seminar (which was early June), and had most of my application in by August.

 

[Denabloo]

Alright, so i just got my info packet (lots of good information.) Anyways, i was wondering, Even though you can't submit your preliminary packet until spring (or am i assuming that?) How early can you apply for a Official Nomination?

 

[CommodoreMid]

Contact your congressmen, they all have different time frames and deadlines.

 

[DanMa1156]

Look on your Congresspeople's websites.

Also, your preliminary application would have been your summer seminar application if you applied to that.