Went to College before shipping as NUC

[JStelly93]

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read my inquiry.

I am 19 years of age, and I joined the Navy six months ago. I scored an ASVAB of 94, with a 256(?) in NUC field.
However, this score can not accurately vouch for my academic history, as I graduated highschool with a GPA of 2.45, and a D in freshman Algebra. This blemished history of mine prompted a three week delay in the form of an academic waiver on the signing of my NUC contract, something I am very ashamed of.

As you can see.. I've never been what you'd call an "honors" student, but I never stopped trying. Believe it or not, I secured my place in the pipeline - at least for the time being. I decided to spend my 8 month waiting period in college, with my mind set on the college's engineering program (Loved it, by the way; was #3 in my class of about 30, something I was proud of given my history) to prepare me for what the NUC pipeline had in store. My first two "quarters" (or half semesters, the college's form of academic terms), went well enough, with me struggling in math as I always have. Winter rolled by slowly.. come Spring quarter I was experiencing burn out. The quarter ended terribly.. my grades were so horrific, I didn't even bear to look at them.

Here's the problem. The officials in NUC requested my college transcripts today, and I'm making the drive tomorrow morning to get it to them. I know that I'm already on thin ice because of my grades in highschool, and now I fear that last quarter's performance will be the end of it.

To understand my concerns, I'll give a brief summary of my college performance over the last three quarters.
Fall - Prerequisites, GPA of 3.5
Winter - Engineering classes, GPA of 3.3
Spring - Didn't qualify for next tier of engineering, retaking Math course. GPA - Shameful

NUC is all that I have, and to lose this would be devastating to me. I realize that I may not seem like the ideal candidate for the NUC pipeline, but I want it more than anything. I know I've got the brains, but I lack the discipline. I joined the Navy so I could earn that discipline and use that to put my mind to work for me. Please give me some insight concerning whether or not my poor college performance will jeopardize my NUC candidacy.

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TL;DR: I fear that my college grades may get me kicked out of NUC.
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Thank you so much for your time.

[DontGoToNPTU]

Honestly I don't think it's going to be a big deal. The recruiter is going to be either too lazy to do something about it or doesn't want to lose a notch against his/ her nuke quota. Wouldn't hurt to retake the class. I wouldn't sweat it having a huge effect on your performance in the pipeline either. You take I think a grand total of 6 or 8 weeks of math in A school/ Power School and they dumb it down pretty far (be prepared to relearn fractions the NNPP way!)

Something that will set people off when you get to NPTU is this pitty thing you got going on about being ashamed of your grades. They're just grades it's not like you'll be sitting on the boat going for your ERS/ EO/ RO interview and the Engineer/ CO is gonna ask you "What did you get on your calculus exam in college?... WHAT!!?!?! You are here by denuked!". Make your mistakes, learn from them and don't repeat or dwell on them.

If you got burned out after a half of a year of college you need to find a way to get over that. Not doing your homework/ studying in college means you get a bad grade. Doing the same at NNPTC can get money and rank taken away from you and they are happy to do it down in SC.

[JStelly93]

I'm not worried much about my recruiter thinking whether or not I'm not good enough, but then again I don't really know how the system works, as he may hold more authority than I think. I'm worried that the "higher ups" in NUC may decide to snuff my candidacy because of this additional "nail in the coffin" (as I see it, if you will). On a side note, I'm taking a supplementary online math program to augment my precalculus skills. Looking forward to this fraction business, haha.

As for my burning out, I was very disappointed that I didn't qualify for the next engineering class, and I feel that was the cause. You're right, it ultimately comes down to how hard I study.

Thanks for the response. I know I can't breath too easy, but it helps.

[eaton1981]

You have nearly the exact same story as me. I had to get an academic waiver also for a D.

Don't sweat it. Sounds to me like you'd be a good student in the pipeline.

[NukeLDO]

I was an A/B student in high school.  Went to college, and had a BAC higher than my GPA...got asked not to come back (might have helped if I had gone to class occasionally).  Saw the recruiter, took the tests, and here I am 26 years later getting ready to retire.  Of course, once in the pipeline, the Navy taught me study habits that I wish I'd had and applied to college (there was also some self-preservation at work there to avoid washing out and being assigned to chip paint on an oiler in the Persian Gulf).  Long story short....the Navy has been very, very good to me and for me.
The only difference between then and now is the recruiting pool due to the economy.  They can afford to be pickier now.  The best thing you can do is be up front about it, talk the recruiter, tell him what your concerns are, and see where it goes.  He wants to put a new nuke in the pipeline.

[JStelly93]

You guys are awesome. I'll be coming back.