Any hope on getting in?

[Bri89]

I just recently heard about the NUPOC program and am thinking about applying.  I am currently a sophomore majoring in secondary math education.  I am interested in going the power school route.  However, I think my academic background will really hurt me.  I got my GED when I was 16 and started college.  Needless to say, I wasn't ready for the responsibilities and got a few F's due to dropping classes past the withdrawal dates.  I took a break from school, got married (to an enlisted submariner) and had a baby.  I'm now back in school at 23 working on pulling my GPA up.  Assuming I can pull my GPA up to at least a 3.4ish by graduation, do I have a chance?  Or is it one of those what's done is done situations?  Right now I'm taking Calculus and have an A.  I haven't taken Physics, and probably won't if there's no chance in hell of me getting in, since it's not required for my major.  Oh, and if it matters I'm at a community college now and will be either transferring to either a state school in CT for my BS or UCONN for an integrated BS/MA program.

All comments/suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,
Brianna

[Druid]

First off, congrats for going back to school. It can be very challenging with a young'n. Get thee to an officer recruiter or NROTC coordinator if the school you're transferring to has one. 3.4 GPA seems competitive, but others would know better. You'll probably have to explain your academics at some point. Missing a drop-by date as a teen and eating an "F" seems defensible if you current academics indicate that you are technically competent.

Good luck.

[HydroDave63]

I just recently heard about the NUPOC program and am thinking about applying.  I am currently a sophomore majoring in secondary math education.  I am interested in going the power school route.  However, I think my academic background will really hurt me.  I got my GED when I was 16 and started college.  Needless to say, I wasn't ready for the responsibilities and got a few F's due to dropping classes past the withdrawal dates.  I took a break from school, got married (to an enlisted submariner) and had a baby.  I'm now back in school at 23 working on pulling my GPA up.  Assuming I can pull my GPA up to at least a 3.4ish by graduation, do I have a chance?  Or is it one of those what's done is done situations?  Right now I'm taking Calculus and have an A.  I haven't taken Physics, and probably won't if there's no chance in hell of me getting in, since it's not required for my major.  Oh, and if it matters I'm at a community college now and will be either transferring to either a state school in CT for my BS or UCONN for an integrated BS/MA program.

All comments/suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,
Brianna

Please read through this thread:

http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,36063.msg170586.html#msg170586

If not NUPOC, would you still go Navy?

[Bri89]

Thank you for the replies.  Hydro, no, I am only interested in the NUPOC power school route.  I want to teach, hence my secondary mathematics education major.

[Gamecock]

No shortage of folks wanting to be an instructor.  Your poor grades early on likely make your application DOA.

Cheers,
GC

[mynukeisaknight]

Thank you for the replies.  Hydro, no, I am only interested in the NUPOC power school route.  I want to teach, hence my secondary mathematics education major.

I might be wrong about this, but you may want to consider a different field if the only reason you want to be in the Navy is NUPOC. My sailor was told that if the only reason he was joining the Navy was to be a nuke, he should reconsider enlistment, as you don't always get what you want. The Navy wants people who are flexible team players, and are willing to serve the country in more than one way.

I don't mean to offend, this is what my sailor and I were told when we spoke to a recruiter. I'm just relaying some advice.
Congrats on returning to school, btw!

[Fermi2]

I might be wrong about this, but you may want to consider a different field if the only reason you want to be in the Navy is NUPOC. My sailor was told that if the only reason he was joining the Navy was to be a nuke, he should reconsider enlistment, as you don't always get what you want. The Navy wants people who are flexible team players, and are willing to serve the country in more than one way.

I don't mean to offend, this is what my sailor and I were told when we spoke to a recruiter. I'm just relaying some advice.
Congrats on returning to school, btw!

LOL no they don't!

[spekkio]

I might be wrong about this, but you may want to consider a different field if the only reason you want to be in the Navy is NUPOC. My sailor was told that if the only reason he was joining the Navy was to be a nuke, he should reconsider enlistment, as you don't always get what you want. The Navy wants people who are flexible team players, and are willing to serve the country in more than one way.

I don't mean to offend, this is what my sailor and I were told when we spoke to a recruiter. I'm just relaying some advice.
Congrats on returning to school, btw!

Did he tell him that before getting him to sign a contract as a striker?

[HeavyD]

The recruiter's goal is to fill a monthly quota.  20 years of experience has shown that some recruiters (not all, mind you) will say ANYTHING to get you to fill a spot that is best for THEM.

Nukes don't do anything else in the navy but be Nukes, for the most part.  A very select few are Lucky enough to score a recruiter billet or the Nuke screener billet at the MEPS stations.  Other than that, what we do (did in my case), supports being a Nuke, whether at sea or on shore.

GC is our resident expert on things nuclear officer related (hint, he is a Nuke officer).  His statement carries more weight than any other person's statements on this site when it comes to officer programs.

[Bri89]

No shortage of folks wanting to be an instructor.  Your poor grades early on likely make your application DOA.

Cheers,
GC

Thank you for your honesty.

[mynukeisaknight]

Did he tell him that before getting him to sign a contract as a striker?

I'm sorry, I don't know what a striker is. He signing on as a nuke, for the record.

[Marlin]

I'm sorry, I don't know what a striker is. He signing on as a nuke, for the record.

From Wikipedia

 If an enlisted member has qualified for a rate, but has not yet become a petty officer, he is called a designated striker, and is identified by a striker's badge that displays the sailor's rating, along with his group rate marks. The serviceperson is addressed by one's group designation, if known (e.g., Fireman Jones, Constructionman Apprentice Smith); by the generic appellation 'seaman'; or by one's striker designation (Boatswain's Mate Seaman Watson, Culinary Specialist Seaman Recruit Johnson).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Navy_enlisted_rate_insignia

[Fermi2]

Hmmm I do not recall that being the definition of a striker. I thought a Striker was a non designated enlisted man who had "struck" ie put in a chit and met the requirements for training for a rating. For example when I was at MM A School we had an E-3 fleet returnee who had "struck" to be a BT. He wore 3 red stripes but did not have the rating badge because he was still in training.

BTW he didn't last long. As one would expect mixing a fleet rat striker with a bunch of out of boot camp snipes did not go well especially when he peed all over his room mates.

[MacGyver]

Hmmm I do not recall that being the definition of a striker. I thought a Striker was a non designated enlisted man who had "struck" ie put in a chit and met the requirements for training for a rating. For example when I was at MM A School we had an E-3 fleet returnee who had "struck" to be a BT. He wore 3 red stripes but did not have the rating badge because he was still in training.

BTW he didn't last long. As one would expect mixing a fleet rat striker with a bunch of out of boot camp snipes did not go well especially when he peed all over his room mates.

I was thinking the same thing.

A striker on a sub was someone that could not secure a rate before entry into the navy .  And thusly had a year or so to decide a rate to strike.  His current command paid (if you can say that) for his schooling and he then returned to that command after school.

This said sailor had to meet all requirements prior to award (i.e. asvab, prt etc.).

We had a max of 4-7 strikers per sub iirc.

Never witnessed a striker of more than E-2.

[Marlin]

    Everyone in my A school class was called a fireman and lived in snipes castle at Great Lakes Training command. We wore three red stripes with no designator we got when we put on our crows at the end of school. Qualified for the rate are the key words I believe.

[spekkio]

A striker on a sub was someone that could not secure a rate before entry into the navy .  And thusly had a year or so to decide a rate to strike.  His current command paid (if you can say that) for his schooling and he then returned to that command after school.

This said sailor had to meet all requirements prior to award (i.e. asvab, prt etc.)...

Never witnessed a striker of more than E-2.

This. Right or wrong it's what I meant.

[GLW]

GLW<------ enlisted as a non-nuke with an eye towards nuke,....

You enlist into a specific group driven by your ASVAB, the current needs of the Navy as manifested by the recruiters "push", and the candidates personal "dreams",...

A construction or aviation group sailor will not likely become a nuke because he/she will not be eligible to strike for a nuke rate,...

To move over to fireman or seaman after enlisting as construction or aviation would require intervention by a nuke recruiter at a training command and that would require the NNPP hopeful to be cognizant of that option and moxie enough to pursue it as there will be little to no encouragement within that recruit's (or apprentices') community or chain of command,...

IIRC there may have been an open call for nuke wannabes to make the attempt during boot camp once upon a time which may still occur in today's USN, somebody with a contemporary finger on the pulse of NTC will have to vouch for that,...

I do not remember any other after enlistment crossover candidates while I was in the USN but I have met and worked with two of them since I went civilian,...

They were both superlative masters of their craft, they were also both former ELT's, superlative becomes a bit redundant when referencing an ELT and therefore may not be representative of other "typical" NNPP candidates from communities other than initial enlistment types,...