I want a challenge

[Ranger]

Hello everyone, I've been lurking this site for awhile now, and it has been immeasurably helpful. I've tried searching the forums for an answer to my problem, but I haven't found anything specific enough.

The situation for me is, I skated through highschool with a 2.0 GPA up until my senior year, in which I recieved a 3.8. So, I'm not really university material. I scored a 92 on my ASVAB and a 58 on the NAPT. I'm thinking of pursuing the nuke program because I'm really looking for a challenge. I graduated highschool May of '09, and have been dealing with familial problems since then. I'm worried about the 6 year contract of the program and how big of a commitment it is.

I guess the real question I have is whether or not going through the Nuclear program will help with getting into a university after the 6 year contract. Say I finish my six years and start applying for colleges (I'm not really interested in going commercial nuke), will they disregard my horrible high school grades and I could possibly get into a top college, or will I be plagued forever with my high school grades?

Has anyone had any problems with getting into college after being a navy nuke?


Thanks in advance.

[cheme09]

From your senior year grades, it's apparent that you're fully capable of doing well in school.  If you do decide to enlist, work hard, do well, and you should have more than a few achievements to showcase for your hard work and be proud of - colleges will pick up on this.  You can even highlight these things in your entrance essay.

As for getting into a top college, I say as long as its not some podunk college that's only accredited by the city it's in, you'll be fine.  It's not where you go, it's what you learn.  In the real world, people (employers) rarely care where you got your education from; they only care if you're educated and that you can do your job well.

It's having an education and working hard will get you farther in life than more than just where you went to school.  It just so happens that the Navy can provide you with the resources to develop a good work ethic and free education.  I say you're looking in the right place.  Good luck.

[Samabby]

It sounds as if you have grow up a lot in the last year. Keep that up for six years in the USN and ANY school will be glad to have you!  Good luck, son. 

[Zog]

You sound like a typical NNPP candidate. Smart, but either was not challenged in HS or were more interested having fun and decided to get serious a little too late. At least that was how I was and I excelled in the program. Sounds like a good place for you to prove to colleges, and yourself, what you are really made of.

[93-383]

If your goal is a meaningfull college education DO NOT enlist in the nuclear navy. You will waste some of the best years of your live being miserable and wishing you had done it differently. Plus you will be adding to the general hatred and discontent that permeates the entire program thereby not helping anyone out.

If your goal is a college education and you don't think you can get into the university you want, enroll in community college or other small less selective institution (make sure the credits can transfer) and work on your lower division credits. Do well in these and you will probably find a proper institution of higher learning to accept you. Also you will have spent far less for classes you would have to take anyway, unless you CLEP them.

College admission requirements and usually based on making sure that perspective students can measure up academically and succeed.

[superbee]

If your goal is a college education and you don't think you can get into the university you want, enroll in community college or other small less selective institution (make sure the credits can transfer) and work on your lower division credits. Do well in these and you will probably find a proper institution of higher learning to accept you. Also you will have spent far less for classes you would have to take anyway, unless you CLEP them.

Quoted for truth.  A community college could be a great aid to you by allowing you to attend classes without accruing terrible debt.  There are other options, too.  Investigate universities and find out which take particular care of their freshmen.  For example, the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M forces its cadets to study or do homework for something like an hour or so each day, and they all live in the same dorms, so the military influence is there to help them do well and nurture, vice quash, the cadet's ambitions.

[shocker]

As for getting into a top college, I say as long as its not some podunk college that's only accredited by the city it's in, you'll be fine.  It's not where you go, it's what you learn.  In the real world, people (employers) rarely care where you got your education from; they only care if you're educated and that you can do your job well.

It's having an education and working hard will get you farther in life than more than just where you went to school.  It just so happens that the Navy can provide you with the resources to develop a good work ethic and free education.  I say you're looking in the right place.  Good luck.

As a soon-to-be nuke that partied too much in high school, and got bored in college (and saw a bleak job outlook) I can debate at least part of that.  The degree is just that, a sheet of paper saying you stuck to something for four years.  However most colleges that have a higher standing will also have programs for co-op and internship opportunities.  I would HIGHLY suggest finding a college that strongly supports those programs if you hope to find a good job quickly after getting a degree.  Otherwise you'll end up waiting tables like my countless friends with their degrees in finance from last year.

[co60slr]

As a soon-to-be nuke that partied too much in high school, and got bored in college (and saw a bleak job outlook) I can debate at least part of that.  The degree is just that, a sheet of paper saying you stuck to something for four years.  However most colleges that have a higher standing will also have programs for co-op and internship opportunities.  I would HIGHLY suggest finding a college that strongly supports those programs if you hope to find a good job quickly after getting a degree.  Otherwise you'll end up waiting tables like my countless friends with their degrees in finance from last year.

I degree is only a piece of paper if that's what you got out of it.  You're also about to find out that your Navy Enlistment contract is just a piece of paper too.  I look forward to reading what you get out of that experience in years to come.  Personally, I found it (and later an Officer commission) very rewarding, but many others in the Navy:Getting Out Forum have other experiences.  As with all things in life:  you get out exactly what you put in. 

I've never met an ex-Navy Nuke or BSNE graduate that was waiting tables for a living.  However, those non-nuclear college graduates that I have met waiting tables all have very personal reasons (some positive, some negative) for doing so (e.g., 2.0 college GPA).  Also, I've never heard of an ex-Navy E-6 "interning" at a nuclear power plant during college, unlike the civil engineering (nonmilitary) college students that I have worked with in commercial nuclear.

All people in their nuclear career know that formal training and nuclear education programs are also not "pieces of paper".  Nuclear power school, shipboard continuous training exams, NRC GFES, etc are all very important programs where once you complete the training you're expected to use/apply the material in your job (perhaps unlike college).  Successfully complete that process and add your own technical undergraduate degree and I can safely bet that you won't be waiting tables when you get out of the Navy in 6 years.  Go ahead and debate the kind of college, type of technical degree...there are many paths to choose that all lead to a successful career.  In the words of a famous shoe commercial:  "Just Do It!"

Hopefully, in a few years you'll look back on your high school drinking buddies, many of which will still be trying to find themselves and say "wow, did I come a long way".  Many of us were once in your shoes.  Personally, I left the Navy during the peak the recent recession and unemployment crisis with a solid 20+ year navy nuclear career and a technical undergraduate degree.  I had NO problem finding a job.

Co60

[LaFeet]

  As for the "dont try this as a Navy Nuke" approach. I disagree.  If you are truly motivated you can write your own ticket, even in the Nuclear Navy.  I would suggest the carrier platform as apposed to subs for the "more continuous" college oppotunities.

Your ESO can help out, don't be afraid to take the correspondence courses either. They can be an easy way to get the footwork done within a field of study.

By the way, I do not suggest you taking any college course while in the Nuclear Pipeline, the pace is (or was) pretty hectic.

Good luck either way - Pablo

[spekkio]

As a soon-to-be nuke that partied too much in high school, and got bored in college (and saw a bleak job outlook) I can debate at least part of that.  The degree is just that, a sheet of paper saying you stuck to something for four years.  However most colleges that have a higher standing will also have programs for co-op and internship opportunities.  I would HIGHLY suggest finding a college that strongly supports those programs if you hope to find a good job quickly after getting a degree.  Otherwise you'll end up waiting tables like my countless friends with their degrees in finance from last year.

The issue is not the college, but the individual.

Higher ranked colleges tend to have more motivated students; ergo, a higher percentage of those students go out of their way to do internships and gain some kind of work experience to set up a post-college hiring. My personal take is that a valuable college job (eg, not at McDonald's) is typically better than some internship somewhere, but like all things that can depend.

A college doesn't have to spoon-feed you an internship for you to be successful in the business world. Part of college is growing up and becoming independent...that means researching your own options and taking your own initiative to get it done.

And a degree isn't a free pass to a $50k/year+ entry level salary. Somehow our generation has been fed this flowery BS that going to college will guarantee prosperity. It's up to the individual to have the balls to go out and do it. Otherwise, you will just fall victim to the law of averages... you will graduate college, work in some menial job a high school dropout could do but requires a degree for some reason, and make about $30-35k/year.

My $.02.

I guess the real question I have is whether or not going through the Nuclear program will help with getting into a university after the 6 year contract. Say I finish my six years and start applying for colleges (I'm not really interested in going commercial nuke), will they disregard my horrible high school grades and I could possibly get into a top college, or will I be plagued forever with my high school grades?

Word from the guys who are getting out is that it's hit or miss. Some universities are like "gmo you went through the Navy nuclear pipeline?!? Well come on in!" while others are like "pffft, you must have joined the military because you're too dumb for college." The latter universities are incredibly stupid, of course, but academia has just a small history of being liberal elitist at times. There's also the issue of SAT's...I'm not sure if they expire or not. If they don't, then take them now before you forget all that 9th grade algebra. If they do, then you're going to have a bit of a challenge taking them 6 years removed from calculating the area of a trapezoid and finding the apex of a hyperbola.

My take is that you should do something because you want to do it, and not because you like the pay/think it'll make you more competitive for XXXX/whatever. If you do what you enjoy (speaking of productive things, of course), and do it well, the rest will fall into place. If you do what makes you miserable, your performance will suffer, and you won't get what you had originally hoped or wanted out of the deal.