Am I smart enough to be a Nuke?

[rkfl2004]

I recently enlisted in the Navy and signed my contract to become a Nuke but I'm starting to doubt whether or not I'm really competitive for the nuke field for a number of reasons. Im not naturally gifted in math and its pretty difficult for me but when I study I tend to get As or Bs. Also, A few recruiters told me that calculus wont be necessary, but after reading some more on my own I'm beginning to wonder if that was correct. Ive read the program is really hard and cant understand why it would be so difficult if no calculus was involved?

So I have a few questions-
What level math would I have to master to be competitive in the program. I have only done up to pre cal.

Im in DEP so I wont be leaving until next june. Ill be going back to school later this month, and Im wondering what classes I should sign up for to prepare myself. I don't want to get there and be far behind everyone else.

Also do the instructors really work with you a lot to help you. Ive heard they're really good.

have any of you been not so into math but made it through te program? maybe you started to like math?

Id appreciate any advice/info, thanks so much

BTW
I got a 95 on the asvab and a 304 on the nuke test.
I'm also a poli sci major, and ill be leaving after I finish my my sophomore year.

[Fermi2]

No you're not smart enough.

[soonerfan]

While I won't be so blunt as Broadzilla (see above), I will tell you that the pipeline IS difficult. If you can't hack it, we'll figure it out before you get to the fleet.

The attrition rate isn't as high as it was back in the 90's (way before I joined the Navy after 9/11), but it definitely isn't easygoing nowadays.

I joined during my third semester in college (majoring in English), and had also only taken precal. I picked up a book called "Basic Physics" by Karl Kuhn and studied it for a week prior to my nuke test. I passed just fine and shipped out a few weeks later to Great Lakes.

The program is hard because information is taught to you at a pace like none other you've experienced before. Each individual topic isn't extremely difficult per se, but add all those topics up into a big comprehensive final exam, and it can be blistering.

Some classes you should look into for the next school year would be physics, chemistry, anything to do with basic electricity/electronics, precal/college algebra/trigonometry (if you didn't learn it well back in HS), and even English. If you think you DO have precal done, take calculus. It will be useful if you want to get a degree in engineering and use it after the navy in six years.

I'm currently instructing at prototype in NY (actually, I'm something called a "Training Coordinator," which involves not so much instructing but more administrative duties and ensuring military rules are being followed by the students), but I'd say (for the most part) instructors work hard to get you trained. That IS their job, after all. You'll get the necessary amount of "motivation" to help you through.

Send me a PM with any questions or email me directly.

Jim
EM1(SS)

[IPREGEN]

you already joined, wrong time to ask questions. Anyway, give it a shot with some honest effort. The Navy like a lot of things is how well a person can stick with something through completion. Some people have have the ability but not the drive, some have it the other way. If you are leaving college you should ask yourself why, is it too hard, too challenging. That should give you an indication of how well you do in the Navy.

[Fermi2]

He might be intelligent enough, who knows, however he probably could have used search and answered the question so in my mind he's at zero credits after the first exam.

Mike

[soonerfan]

Good point, Mike!

[JustinHEMI05]

You will not need calculus. Also, they start from the very basics (1+1=2), but show you how to do it the Navy way. Which by the way, turns out to be a pretty good way that I use to this day. The program is designed such that people from all sorts of backgrounds can get through it with some effort. So if you say you do fine when you study, then I say if you put forth the same sort of effort that you have for anything else you have done thus far, you will be fine.

Also, just as with anywhere else you go in this world, there will be those that are more than willing to help you and there will be those who are douche bags about it. Rest assured though, you will be able to find instructors who understand that their job is more than a power trip and will help you. It will be pretty easy to know who is there just to "give them the same thing I got" and you can steer clear of them as much as possible. Just don't forget to fill out the instructor feed back forms!

Contrary to what someone said above, it is never a wrong time to ask questions.

Good luck and thanks for your future service!

Justin

[rkfl2004]

Thanks so much everyone for the info, it was just a little difficult for me to find out exactly what level of math I would need and I want to be as ready as possible.


And Mike-
If me asking that question annoyed you that much you really didn't have to answer. Are you aware that's an option?
And If you found a forum that already specifically and completely addressed my question, then I would have appreciated a link much more than your mean spirited response.
Thanks though. I hope they're all so helpful in the navy.

[JustinHEMI05]

I would edit out that last part if I were you. Just some friendly advice. 

Justin

[M1Ark]

rkfl2004,

Mike is just trying to toughen you up for the Navy. 95 on the ASVAB should equate to you making it as long as you have decent study habits and a true commitment to the program.

[HydroDave63]

And Mike-
If me asking that question annoyed you that much you really didn't have to answer. Are you aware that's an option?
And If you found a forum that already specifically and completely addressed my question, then I would have appreciated a link much more than your mean spirited response.
Thanks though. I hope they're all so helpful in the navy.

One way to handle Mike's advice is in the context of the Hegelian Dialectic. Since you are a poli sci major, I shan't elaborate.

Another way to view Mike's advice: If it is the harshest thing you have come up against in life so far.... there is a 100 quatloo chance that you will cry in front of grown men during your trip through the Navy Nuke pipeline.

Your mileage may vary...

[Preciousblue1965]

One way to handle Mike's advice is in the context of the Hegelian Dialectic. Since you are a poli sci major, I shan't elaborate.

Another way to view Mike's advice: If it is the harshest thing you have come up against in life so far.... there is a 100 quatloo chance that you will cry in front of grown men during your trip through the Navy Nuke pipeline.

Your mileage may vary...

Wow, quatloo wagers already.  Ok I will see your bet and raise you 200 quatloos that he breaks down in boot camp, long before the nuke pipeline.

[co60slr]

What level math would I have to master to be competitive in the program. I have only done up to pre cal.

Pre-Calc is fine.  Although, I'd separately question your apparent fear of the calculus.   I think what others may be telling you directly/indirectly is to "know no fear"...and if you do, tackle it.  That is the "way of the Nuke".

Now that you're in the enlisted Navy (essentially):  Ask your recruiter "what's next?"   Your first test is likely to be the 10 general orders of a military sentry.  Your journey begins...you need not reinvent it entirely as many have gone 20+ years down that road before you.  If you needed to know calculus with the concern you're carrying, you'd read about it somewhere in this forum.

Use your resources...here, your recruiting office peers, your recruiter, etc and find out what others are doing.  All too frequently I find/found people doing/studying what "they" wanted to study vice what they really needed to study.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

[JustinHEMI05]

Told you, shoulda edited out that last part. 

Justin

[Fermi2]

Thanks so much everyone for the info, it was just a little difficult for me to find out exactly what level of math I would need and I want to be as ready as possible.


And Mike-
If me asking that question annoyed you that much you really didn't have to answer. Are you aware that's an option?
And If you found a forum that already specifically and completely addressed my question, then I would have appreciated a link much more than your mean spirited response.
Thanks though. I hope they're all so helpful in the navy.

Within 5 minutes I found multiple forums that answered your question but I doubt you ever bothered to look. You do realize the Nuke program and the Navy isn't going to spoon feed you like you were spoon fed in college? A NICE suggestion who has done at least halfway well in the Nuke Industry, LEARN TO RESEARCH, if not, yes as M1Ark a person who has known me for about 16 years has already told you, you'll cry in front of grown men.

Mike

[soonerfan]

One guy just bombed his board a couple days ago and spent the entire time before staff came in for swings crying in the head. I'm talking wailing/sobbing crying. I'm glad he didn't pass, now that I look back on his crying fiasco.

[IPREGEN]

Wrong time to ask questions? duh, Justin. Let's think about this, making a decision that locks you in for 6 years, in no way would I ever want to ask what I'm signing up for. If you were saying that to make him feel better maybe you should send him a gift from Vermont Teddy Bears. But seriously there was a smarter time to ask. He may make it, he may not, so be it like anything else, civilian or otherwise. When I went only about 35% did not make it. I never saw anyone cry, I did see a lot of people drinking at lunch (Mare Island). If he gives it honest effort and is of even average brains he should make it. If he has a habit of shortcuts, excuses, blaming others for his lack of success, then he'll be in the fleet before he knows it. It's up to him, don't coddle the boy.

[JustinHEMI05]

Wrong time to ask questions? duh, Justin. Let's think about this, making a decision that locks you in for 6 years, in no way would I ever want to ask what I'm signing up for. If you were saying that to make him feel better maybe you should send him a gift from Vermont Teddy Bears. But seriously there was a smarter time to ask. He may make it, he may not, so be it like anything else, civilian or otherwise. When I went only about 35% did not make it. I never saw anyone cry, I did see a lot of people drinking at lunch (Mare Island). If he gives it honest effort and is of even average brains he should make it. If he has a habit of shortcuts, excuses, blaming others for his lack of success, then he'll be in the fleet before he knows it. It's up to him, don't coddle the boy.

Whatever you say, friend-o.

Justin

[Fermi2]

Whoa,

It was pointed out to me I may have "broken the wire on Torpedo 3" LOL.
It was HydroDave who suggested the young man might cry in front of grown men. It wasn't my old friend and fellow SRO troublemaker M1Ark!

Mike

[imthehoopa]

Ive read the program is really hard and cant understand why it would be so difficult if no calculus was involved?

You're making an assumption about the program based solely on whether or not calculus is involved? I can tell you that it is difficult and it's not because of the math.

What level math would I have to master to be competitive in the program. I have only done up to pre cal.

Im in DEP so I wont be leaving until next june. Ill be going back to school later this month, and Im wondering what classes I should sign up for to prepare myself. I don't want to get there and be far behind everyone else.

You will have to master the level of math that you are taught. I was told in these forums when I was in DEP and I'm now telling you, the Navy will teach you everything you need to know. I'm not saying that you shouldn't still take calculus, but that's only cause you'll need it when you want to finish your degree later. You should prepare yourself by finding some memorization techniques that work for you and developing good study habits. If you can get those two things down, you'll be more prepared than someone who just took calculus to prepare for the program.

Also do the instructors really work with you a lot to help you. Ive heard they're really good.

The instructors here are extremely well trained to do their job. They cater to every type of learning(auditory, visual, kinesthetic) during lectures and will answer any questions you have. You will be given assignments that cover the day's instruction and reading assignments to prepare for the next days instruction. If you have questions while you're doing your homework, there are instructors available in the evenings to help you out after you've made attempts to figure it out for yourself. If you still need help with a particular subject, you can schedule a one on one help session with an instructor. If you're doing poorly and you are not seeking out this extra help, you will be forced to seek this extra help.

Id appreciate any advice/info, thanks so much

I suggest that you take your time remaining to develop some confidence. Instead of asking if you're good enough for the program, you should be saying that you're going to work as hard as you have to succeed. If you need help, get it. If you do well enough to get less mandatory study hours, do more to avoid complacency. Don't do anything stupid to get in trouble. That's all you really need to do.

[Gavrilova]

I would tell u the answer to 2+2 but it's classified. If ur seriously asking that then you probably won't have the discipline to go through it. Anything that's worth doing is hard. If u can get accepted into the program you've already proved that ur smart enough. It's the motivation and time management and A LOT of common sense that will get u through the rest. If it was easy everyone would do it, and we wouldn't be getting our nice bonuses(well some not so nice).