college drop out...debt...

[navyballa3]

Hello everyone i originally signed up for the navy to get the hell out of school because I hated college life...i knew it wasnt for me but it felt like i was trying to satisfy everyone elses expectations for me. My grades slipped and i did not feel like i fully appreciated college and not mature enough to handle it just yet because of my apathy and poor work ethic. I felt like i needed some guidance in my life and had always secretly had a fondness for the navy...I went to meps and got a 78 on the asvab and decided to sign up to be a non-nuke MM. Well my recruiter suggested taking the nuke qualifying test where i got a 67/80.My ideal job is sonar tech which i think i would enjoy more and i know this is a well respected rate but it offered a smaller signing bonus and i know if the civilian potential is as great as nukes and i know that the nuke route is challenging and hopefully that it will help my work ethic. Needless to say after dropping out of college and joining the navy i have amassed a significant amout of student loan debt around 50k not eligible for the loan repayment program and is being deferred until after i graduate or six months after i drop out of school. I know this requires a waiver do you if it is possible to defer while being in the military or will i have to start paying it off immediately and have credit card debt around a couple thousand dollars. does this affect my nuke eligibility as i have been told i need a waiver...Also i have played basketball all the way up to my soph year of college....is there any way i can play all-navy or is that off limit to nukes? any insight will be greatly appreciated.

[JustinHEMI05]

50K in college debt and no degree? That kinda sucks.... wait... not kinda... that REALLY sucks. Anyway, it depends on who the loans are through. You should simply call them and ask. Some can defer different lengths based on military service, some don't give a shit that you are in the military. Also, you don't need waivers for debt as long as you pay your freakin bills. If your debt is bad, IE you don't pay your CCs or loans, then likely you will need waivers but then you will probably be on security hold for a very long time, and then likely not get your clearance if you don't pay your bills. BUT, if you are making an effort than you should be ok... be aware that the navy WILL watch your credit and track your progress. The worst... and I mean ABSOLUTE WORST thing you could do is lie about your debt on your security clearance screening forms. Also note that the navy can and will garnish your pay if you get in trouble with debt while in. No one, including the navy, likes credit criminals. I am not saying that describes you, but if it does, you will best serve yourself and your country if you clean up your act as far as credit is concerned. Things will be much easier for you in the Navy and out. And don't be stupid with any enlistment/reenlistment bonus you get. Pay off your debt and put some away. It is going to be tempting to buy that 40K dollar car you can't afford as an E4 but you must resist. I see it all the time here at prototype... that being E4 students driving brand new BMWs and Mercedes all the while not paying their bills (and not realizing they lost half their paycheck when the leave here when the lose BAH). Just be smart about it and don't blow the bonus on stupid shit you don't need right now. Goodluck.

Justin

[JustinHEMI05]

Oh and pretty much NUKES NEED NOT APPLY to anything else once you are a nuke. There are exceptions to the rule, but I would bet you could forget about playing BB.

Justin

[hamsamich]

Right now, you have alot of thinking to do.  Seperate your prioritys: do I really want to play basketball or do I want to be a nuke?  If you want to play ball, then you may not be able to do the nuke thing.  And, there is another question: do I want to be a non-nuke or a nuke irrespective of basketball.  It is harder to be a nuke and not as fun for many, but more rewarding in some ways and will give you a great job opportunity when you get out. Write these questions down so you don't get confused and make the wrong choice.  Write down all the reasons why you want to play ball, then do the same for being a nuke.  Take it from me, if you want to play ball, give it your all while you are young because it will be much harder to tackle that dream when you are late 20s early 30s (I tried it with football at age 31). Forget about the debt for a minute, that is a seperate issue. Figure out what you want to do, THEN tackle the debt (make your payments while you are figuring this out). On a side note, if your apathy has been hampering your achievements, you may need to figure out why you are underperforming first before you make major life decisions. This was my problem, but getting into the Navy was the answer for me because it got me out of a bad environment.

When you are ready to get your debt back on track. try Dave Ramsey (no affiliation).

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Money-Makeover-Financial-Fitness/dp/0785289089/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-4688969-8550014?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181481933&sr=8-1

In Summary (write these down and assign importance grades for all the reasons you come up with):

Do I want to be a nuke or not:
Do I want to play ball (go back to college eventually or other):
Will I still have peformance issues in the Navy (do I need to do some work on myself right now before I go and screw something else up).

When your life is back on track, get a plan together to pay off your debt some how, but don't make that a priority until you have figured out what you want to do. If paying off your debt is hanging over your head like a storm cloud and you can't get rid of it, then find a way to pay off your debt first, then tackle the other issues.  My point is: don't let the stress of all these decisions you have to make cause you to make the wrong one. Try to find out your underlying desires and demons so you can make a better decision; do some real thinking an BE TOTALLY HONEST with yourself or you will be sorry.

[Fermi2]

My student loans were not deferred while I was in the Navy.

Also, Sonar Tech does not offer much in the civilian world. While they have Electronics Training they mostly just swap out circuit cards.

So far as playing B Ball in the Navy. Won't happen while you are a nuke.

By the way, when I was stationed at Mare Island the Navy Traveling team stopped there to practice for a week while they played some Bay area colleges. I got to meet, and eat lunch with David Robinson. He was a HECK of a nice guy!!

Mike

[navyballa3]

thanks for everyone's help. also i was wondering it was harder paying off my credit card and other bill while i was in school and my mom had been taking care of them has been in and out of the hospital with cancer so i was a little delinquent on some bills but now that i have a job I get to make more  payments with bigger amounts. if i continue to do this by the time i ship for boot camp i will have taken a significant chunk out of the amout of debt i have...will the security clearance look at my current willingness to pay off  the debts or my prior history of struggling to pay them off?

[Fermi2]

Yes they will. In fact it looks good that you've been making a solid effort as that shows you learn and take your responsibilities seriously.

By the way, many bases have Intramural leagues for B Ball so you can still play somewhat competitively. When I was at Mare Island they had two very nicely equipped gyms both with nice B Ball Courts. I played about everyday, usually there were enough people to always get a 5 on 5 game going.

Mike

[navyballa3]

u can play intramural...thas good enough because i figured being a nuke will take me much farther (further?) in life than basketball ever will but i still love it and i feel like im up for the challenge...i really like this website because looking through the posts you guys seem to give people the "real" answers to questions instead of what they want to hear...this is kinda impossible with my recruiter(s)...even though they come across as generally nice people i know i have been lied to though i do not take it out  on the navy, or really them either seeing as how that is their job...but telling me i can get 144 college nuclear engineering hours going through nuke training and coming on hear and seeing the complete opposite makes this an exellent resource for my rate...i know other rates dont have this luxury and also i feel comfort knowing that their are successful nukes that are college dropouts that had cold feet about going into the nuke field. its nice to know they can relate to any problems we may be goin through...thank you...

[JsonD13]

144 may be a bit excessive, but 60-80, yeah thats a good ballpark figure if you dont mind distance learning, non engineering, not ABET acreditted degree....

The Navy will give you everything you need to get through your life while you are in.  You'll be able to pay alot of it down, and maybe even pay it off (depending how much you pay over 6 years, or you could even pay a big chunk if you reenlist).  The big thing is, the Navy WILL extract every dollar from you. Don't kid yourself, there's a reason why a sailor will tell you he makes on average 26 cents an hour.