what is a good score on OAR for SWO?

[carlitoburrito]

I just took the OAR today for the second time and scored a 50. I was wondering what my chances of getting picked up are in Late 2020. Submission for the board is 02Oct
GPA 3.3 in Computer Science and 50 on OAR.
Tons of volunteer work, 3 letters of Recommendation from Previous employer, professor and current employer.

 

[sasebobeast]

My first score was 44 and my recruiter told me to retake, so I did. I retook it and my second score was a 49. Don't retake it because an OAR score of 50 and above is good for Surface Warfare Officer. I would hold off on using your third and last attempt just in case you don't get picked up for boards. Should this scenario come, go retake it a 3rd and last time with the option of reapplying to the very next SWO board only if there is "significant change to your package and application." Designators don't want you reapplying to the same designator boards as there is a, "6 month wait in place from the date the results are signed until a person can reapply for the same designator, unless the person has shown significant change in the application (OAR or GPA)," got this quote from a well known airwarriors member.


But yeah a 50 and above OAR is the magic number for Surface Warfare Officer. If anything I'd say if you can increase your GPA, but your 3.3 GPA is still solid as it is close to averages of 3.4 where people selected are at for SWO.

What NRC considers competitive

SWO (1160):

3.4 GPA, 50 OAR score
Positive factors: Leadership/management experience, extracurricular/sports involvement, Strong EVALs if prior service
Negative factors: Drug use within last year, debt in collection, criminal record.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I just took the OAR today for the second time and scored a 50. I was wondering what my chances of getting picked up are in Late 2020. Submission for the board is 02Oct
GPA 3.3 in Computer Science and 50 on OAR.
Tons of volunteer work, 3 letters of Recommendation from Previous employer, professor and current employer.

Don't count on the OAR to help get you selected, think of the OAR as the ticket to the board, your degree and GPA is what will be the big factors in getting you selected, OAR tends to correlate with GPA for recent grads, that is why the competitive profile looks the way it does for SWO.

 

[carlitoburrito]

My first score was 44 and my recruiter told me to retake, so I did. I retook it and my second score was a 49. Don't retake it because an OAR score of 50 and above is good for Surface Warfare Officer. I would hold off on using your third and last attempt just in case you don't get picked up for boards. Should this scenario come, go retake it a 3rd and last time with the option of reapplying to the very next SWO board only if there is "significant change to your package and application." Designators don't want you reapplying to the same designator boards as there is a, "6 month wait in place from the date the results are signed until a person can reapply for the same designator, unless the person has shown significant change in the application (OAR or GPA)," got this quote from a well known airwarriors member.


But yeah a 50 and above OAR is the magic number for Surface Warfare Officer. If anything I'd say if you can increase your GPA, but your 3.3 GPA is still solid as it is close to averages of 3.4 where people selected are at for SWO.

What NRC considers competitive

SWO (1160):

3.4 GPA, 50 OAR score
Positive factors: Leadership/management experience, extracurricular/sports involvement, Strong EVALs if prior service
Negative factors: Drug use within last year, debt in collection, criminal record.

Thank you for this comment. Clears some thoughts up on my end. Computer Science Degree seems to be popular when it comes to the Navy so I'm glad this is my first choice of Branch.

 

[carlitoburrito]

Don't count on the OAR to help get you selected, think of the OAR as the ticket to the board, your degree and GPA is what will be the big factors in getting you selected, OAR tends to correlate with GPA for recent grads, that is why the competitive profile looks the way it does for SWO.

Makes sense. I know some say leadership and volunteer work seem to also play a factor. Just wanted to know what the board looks for as an opening "ticket" which you mentioned. Makes sense. thank you for the insight.

 

[Swearaz2]

Hi all,
Going for SWO. Active duty currently. I have a 3.37 GPA and scored 42 on my OAR. I have multiple Associates and a Bachelors in Business Admin. I also have classes done for my masters which I will receive in July next year. I already feel my chances are slim to none, so give me news if you can.

 

[sasebobeast]

If you have taken it only once, then I would advise you to retake it your second time; aim for a score OAR of 45. But, 50 is the golden threshold that everyone going for SWO aims for. Minimum score updated as of most recent Program Authorization SWO 2019 is a 40 OAR.

https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/officer/communitymanagers/Documents/PA-100_SWO_Training_Jun-2019.pdf

One person from the spreadsheet from last board August 2020 had your OAR score and got picked up, but with a lower GPA. Your graduate degree is definitely going to help if it is going to be higher than your undergrad GPA. I saw people who were prior service/active duty who met minimum or lower OARs, but got above average to higher GPA's tend to get in over a civilian with same OAR and GPA stats. (from my observation only)

Also before the OAR minimum requirement were a 45 for civilians & 40 for active/priors; with only prior/active duty being able could get a waiver for OAR scores of 40-44, but yeah this was prior to the updated Program Authorization for SWO in 2019.

Here are is screen shot of some the stats from last board results from August 2020 from like OAR 40 to 46. The full list can be found:

SWO AUG 2020 BOARD to be shared with Airwarriors

Sheet1 FinSel,ProRec Y,ProRec N Total Applicants,Averages,Averages ProRec Y,# of SWO Accepted Designator,Actual Board Result Applicants: 525 77,OAR,GPA,OAR,GPA,Age,47,Actual Board Result: Pro Rec Y: 248 52,3.40,51.73,3.48,26,Actual Board Result: Pro Rec N: 274,Pro Rec N: Applicants DNR: 11 Total...

docs.google.com

 

[exNavyOffRec]

If you have taken it only once, then I would advise you to retake it your second time; aim for a score OAR of 45. But, 50 is the golden threshold that everyone going for SWO aims for. Minimum score updated as of most recent Program Authorization SWO 2019 is a 40 OAR.

https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/officer/communitymanagers/Documents/PA-100_SWO_Training_Jun-2019.pdf

One person from the spreadsheet from last board August 2020 had your OAR score and got picked up, but with a lower GPA. Your graduate degree is definitely going to help if it is going to be higher than your undergrad GPA. I saw people who were prior service/active duty who met minimum or lower OARs, but got above average to higher GPA's tend to get in over a civilian with same OAR and GPA stats. (from my observation only)

Also before the OAR minimum requirement were a 45 for civilians & 40 for active/priors; with only prior/active duty being able could get a waiver for OAR scores of 40-44, but yeah this was prior to the updated Program Authorization for SWO in 2019.

Here are is screen shot of some the stats from last board results from August 2020 from like OAR 40 to 46. The full list can be found:

SWO AUG 2020 BOARD to be shared with Airwarriors

Sheet1 FinSel,ProRec Y,ProRec N Total Applicants,Averages,Averages ProRec Y,# of SWO Accepted Designator,Actual Board Result Applicants: 525 77,OAR,GPA,OAR,GPA,Age,47,Actual Board Result: Pro Rec Y: 248 52,3.40,51.73,3.48,26,Actual Board Result: Pro Rec N: 274,Pro Rec N: Applicants DNR: 11 Total...

docs.google.com

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I wouldn't have him retake, OAR just gets you to the board, other than that not much else. In most cases OAR follows GPA, not the longer you have been out of college can affect that. If he retakes now then is a N if he retakes again to get to the next board he has lost the chance to retake again.

 

[sasebobeast]

I wouldn't have him retake, OAR just gets you to the board, other than that not much else. In most cases OAR follows GPA, not the longer you have been out of college can affect that. If he retakes now then is a N if he retakes again to get to the next board he has lost the chance to retake again.

You should of been my recruiter. It could of saved me two months and a lot of money because I got a tutor haha! At the time I asked my recruiter if I can start my SWO package back in February 21, 2020 when I scored a 44 my first time, but he told me to retake it because it wasn’t a passing score and a score of 45 was. Later, I find out the passing minimum was only 40. I retook it a second time and got a 49 in May 1st, 2020. He then still tried to have me retake it a 3rd time, and his response was that he wants me competitive and a competitive score was at least a 50.
But I persuaded him to start my package when I told him I was only applying for SWO and my GPA was a 3.79!

Only bright side to this is that since they cancelled/moved April 2020 SWO boards earlier this spring, I didn’t really miss any boards after the February SWO 2020 board. As they combined it with the August 2020 SWO, the one I sent my package in, and I got a ProRec/FINSEL.