Waivers

[rfmoransiny]

hi, do you think I can get into the nuke program with 3 waivers? My asvab and NAPT scores were 94 and 77

Your response is greatly appreciated, ROb

[Roll Tide]

Depends on the reason for waivers. The scores are definitely high enough to qualify.

[RCLCPO]

There are 10 general categories for waivers for the nuclear field.  Our threshold of pain for what offense requires a waiver is very low, so it is very common for any given Nuke in the program to have a waiver in their service record.  There are too many things to consider for any given waiver that are going to be specific to the individual, so there is no way to give you a specific answer to your general question.  Requiring a waiver in multiple categories is not uncommon.

If you send me your information (transcripts, what happened, when, how, why, etc.) I can give you an idea of your chances.  For your privacy, send it via my personal e-mail.

[latenuke]

I got in just recently with similar scores and 2 waivers, one being for age (im 25), so it is possible. Make sure that your contact point in the waiver process (your recruiter, or the advanced programs coordinator, or whoever you are going through) knows that you are enthusiastic about the program and have a strong desire to get in. Best of Luck.

[ldyinger]

I just go in (96 asvab) and had to have three waivers, one was law involved, one because I dropped a calc class my freshman year, and one because I have several hundred dollars debt.  I just have to make strides at taking care of debt and I keep my nuke rating.

[Auroradrun]

I just got into the Navy Nuke Program with two waivers, so, yeah, if you really want it, it is possible.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me the basic jobs of the three subdivisions in the Nuke field. I'm not sure if I want to be a Machinist's Mate, Electrician's Mate, or Electronics Technician. And I don't really want to tell them I want to do something without having any idea what they do. If anyone has any information.. that would be really helpful.

[Turtleberry]

Hello there, I am new to the forum and have found the multitude of information here to be very useful. Thank you for your service to our country and advice for those of us who are looking to serve our country 

Some background information about me, I am 20 years old, born and raised in New York. I considered joining the navy about a year ago, but decided to go back to college instead. A year later, since my college is pretty horrible, I have been stuck doing high school math for most of three years of my college experience. I lacked direction and have no idea what I want to do after college. I didn't want to continue college without getting that education part that seems to be getting more rare these days. I wanted a goal that I could work for and working for just a college degree was just too superficial given the POS classes they try to pass off as educational in my college. I worked an internship as a electrician in a department store, my first real job, I found I learned so much more in the couple of months I worked there than my years of college. Although I hold the value of education in high regard, without practical application knowledge I began to think college was just a big trivia factory for information I will never use. Which led me back to the nuke field. I began looking into the Navy again about two months ago orginally aiming for CTI, but when I heard about the nuke field and its benefits, I changed my mind pretty quickly. I scored a 98 on the ASVAB and apparently a perfect score on code breakers although I have no idea what that is, so I bypassed the NFAT. I did quite a bit of research before I contacted my recruiter although thinking back I could've done more. I signed up for AECF to get into DEP but I suppose I could've waited to sign the papers till I got my waivers done and a written nuke contract. Hopefully a fixable mistake on my part.

 My grades in college are in the 3.4 range, but the problem lies in my H.S. academics. I failed the first math class in my freshman year and got consistently poor grades pretty much throughout high school. This was partially due to my home situation, a messy almost-divorce with my parents. I learned most of high school level math in middle school, so although I passed the tests, missing homework and classwork and attendance affected my grades. I submitted a waiver package with a handwritten statement explaining my poor grades, it has been about two weeks.

I have searched the forum for pertinent information but haven't found a specific answer for my question. I need two waivers, academic and citizenship. I was born here but my parents were born in China so I had to submit some documents for their naturalization dates. It has been well over 20 years for my dad and a little under 20 for my mom. I have heard and read about financial waivers being high on the no-fly list, but generally are academic waivers something of a big disqualifier? I know it varies with each waiver but I would like to hear any stories or experiences anyone might have similar to my situation.

[Kev3399]

No promises here.....but I'm pretty sure you'll get nuke if you want it. I would be more worried about civil offences than waivers and what not.(ie jail, DUI, unpaid tickets, etc.....)

Your approach of hands on application of knowledge is dead on. I loved my job in the Navy because it was fun. You learn something new everyday and then you get to go out and play around with what you learned. I use the phrase "play around" loosely.....there are procedures, limits, and then more procedures. As I look back, I recall running drills as the best part of the job. You read and read about how the plant reacts to a certain set of circumstances and then the next day you get to see it with your own eyes.(Sometimes not as a drill  ) I'll never forget my first scram recovery. I probably looked scared on the outside, but on the inside I was smiling in awe.

As far as the academic portion.....you appear to have a good head on your shoulders. I never spent a day in college and came from a corn field with a 2.69 high school GPA. Its all about dedication and desire to succeed. Waivers are just pieces of paper. Don't consider yourself a second class citizen in the Navy because of it. You'll be surrounded by guys/gals who all have a reason to be in the Navy. (bad college experience, family issues, money issues, etc)

So in summary, if you want it.....go for it. I can't speak for the recruiting end, but you should get nuke as long as you're honest with them. They'll do the paperwork because they need you more than you need them.

I did quite a bit of research before I contacted my recruiter although thinking back I could've done more. I signed up for AECF to get into DEP but I suppose I could've waited to sign the papers till I got my waivers done and a written nuke contract. Hopefully a fixable mistake on my part.

Should be fixable if your recruiter is worth his weight. Remember, they're held to a quota. Some rates are needed more than others. Nuke is needed. Tell him you really want to be a nuke.....if he doesn't budge.....ask to speak to the regional nuke recruiter. If he still wants to be useless. Call your MEPS and ask to talk to the regional nuke recruiter. The regional nuke guy has more influence than the guy at your recruiting station.

Let me know if this answers all your questions.

[Cycoticpenguin]

TurtleBerry -

I was in a similar predicament as you when I was joining. I was disqualified for active duty due to medical reasons, but those got taken care of. I also required waivers for my terrible credit rating (I made a plan to pay my bills of before joining, so that kept me in. If you have debt, make sure you have a plan to otherwise take care of it.). Last but not least I required waivers for my TERRIBLE grades. If you have a 3.4 in college you are golden. They will probably overlook your highschool grades anyway. If they dont, you have more then proven yourself with your college scores.

As for your parents, that might be a SLIGHT issue. I have a friend who is STILL waiting on his clearance (been on t track for a year and half ). However he made frequent trips to china, married a chinese person, and kept close relations to his parents who were not citizens yet. You SHOULD be fine. I wouldnt worry that much about it though.


good luck to you! and hope to see you in the fleet

[Turtleberry]

Thanks for the replies

I dont have any debt and I am not really worried about the citizenship waiver, my parents have been here for a long time and none of us traveled outside the U.S. recently. Reading some of the other threads got me a little worried about academic waivers is all. I know it is different for every waiver so I'll just wait a bit and see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

[ddklbl]

Reading some of the other threads got me a little worried about academic waivers is all. I know it is different for every waiver so I'll just wait a bit and see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

I don't know which grades they look at specifically (high school vs college).  Most of us come in straight from HS and that is all we have.  Assuming you've taken physics and math in college and those are commensurate with your overall GPA, you've shown a positive trend in improvement.  That is truly what we care about.  Not so much that you've screwed up, but rather what you've done since then to make yourself better. 

Don't worry about it.  You'll be fine.

[93-383]

You will probably need an academic waiver for Algebra however don't let that discourage you. I needed the same waiver and they processed it before I even knew I needed it.

[mikec426]

I'm currently the Nuclear Field Coordinator for the Los Angeles recruiting district.

Any math class in high school, Algebra 1 or higher that you repeat or score lower than a "C" requires an academic waiver.  If your GPA for high school your 11th and 12th grade year is less than 2.0, it requires a waiver.  You said your college GPA was 3.4 right?  That should help your chances.  If you took college level math AND did well, that would help even more. 

For the citizenship... my experience lately is that waivers for people with parents who still have their citizenship in China are rarely getting approved.  If they are naturalized U.S. citizens, that helps, and the longer they've been naturalized, the better.

Two weeks is a standard time for these waivers to be out.  The quickest I've ever had a waiver like yours come back is 6 days.  I've had some out almost 3 months.

Did you need a financial waiver as well?  I've only ever dealt with 2 of those.  One got denied (it was bankruptcy) the other got approved (it was a small credit card balance that was over 6 months late).

Don't know if that helps.  Any more questions?  Just ask.

[JustinHEMI05]

I'm currently the Nuclear Field Coordinator for the Los Angeles recruiting district.

Any math class in high school, Algebra 1 or higher that you repeat or score lower than a "C" requires an academic waiver.  If your GPA for high school your 11th and 12th grade year is less than 2.0, it requires a waiver.  You said your college GPA was 3.4 right?  That should help your chances.  If you took college level math AND did well, that would help even more. 

For the citizenship... my experience lately is that waivers for people with parents who still have their citizenship in China are rarely getting approved.  If they are naturalized U.S. citizens, that helps, and the longer they've been naturalized, the better.

Two weeks is a standard time for these waivers to be out.  The quickest I've ever had a waiver like yours come back is 6 days.  I've had some out almost 3 months.

Did you need a financial waiver as well?  I've only ever dealt with 2 of those.  One got denied (it was bankruptcy) the other got approved (it was a small credit card balance that was over 6 months late).

Don't know if that helps.  Any more questions?  Just ask.

Why deny Chinese Parent waivers? Is it all the lead paint?  Sorry bad joke. I am bored.

Justin

[Turtleberry]

My parents weren't born here so they are naturalized citizens, they got their US citizenship like ~20 years ago. I had to provide a copy of their naturalization papers for the waiver. From what I understand it would only be a problem if they still had chinese citizenship or went back to China a lot of times to do some spy work or something =P. But that isn't the case so I am not too worried about this one.

As for the academic waiver, that was pretty much my question. I submitted one about 3 weeks ago already. I had to prepare a handwritten statement (an essay) explaining my grades for the waiver package. My recruiter told me they looked at my high school grades, with less emphasis on college, but don't quote me on that. I was just a little bit worried because the handwritten statement seemed like a big deal, but you guys eased my fears. I am waiting on just these two waivers to be processed I don't need any other waivers that I know of.

I was just curious to see if anyone had any experience with handling something like this, sorry for making my first post so huge.

[Fla Jackal]

i signed up 2 years ago originaly as an AD because i needed an academic waiver for math, in which i got a "D" in algebra 2 and my waiver was approved. i wouldn't worry to much aslong as you had some sort of reason for doing poorly. you probably have a good chance of getting your waiver aproved.

although im not sure i think it took 1 month for my waiver to go through. and on the parents citizenship thing that probably wont effect your initial enlistment but you could possibly get stuck on hold after A school waiting for your clearance to go through.

[mikec426]

My parents weren't born here so they are naturalized citizens, they got their US citizenship like ~20 years ago. I had to provide a copy of their naturalization papers for the waiver. From what I understand it would only be a problem if they still had chinese citizenship or went back to China a lot of times to do some spy work or something =P. But that isn't the case so I am not too worried about this one.

As for the academic waiver, that was pretty much my question. I submitted one about 3 weeks ago already. I had to prepare a handwritten statement (an essay) explaining my grades for the waiver package. My recruiter told me they looked at my high school grades, with less emphasis on college, but don't quote me on that. I was just a little bit worried because the handwritten statement seemed like a big deal, but you guys eased my fears. I am waiting on just these two waivers to be processed I don't need any other waivers that I know of.

I was just curious to see if anyone had any experience with handling something like this, sorry for making my first post so huge.

It's the bad grades in high school that require a waiver to be generated.  If you got straight A's in high school and then failed everything in college, no waiver required.  Any waiver that goes up requires high school transcripts and, if you have college, college transcripts.  Gives them more information to decide if you're nuke quality or not. 

[Cycoticpenguin]

I want to put this out for you...


I graduated (barely) highschool with a 2.38 gpa. Think of the fantastic waivers I had to fill out in boot camp because my recruiter neglected to fill them out with me before joining

I failed many courses (they have a thing in NC where if you miss more then 4 days of class, you get whats called a 69U, which is a failing grade. they use a 7 pt sys instead of a 10 pt sys as well), and still got in the program. I was also moderately successful during my tenure through the pipeline. Dont freak out, you should be just fine.

[Turtleberry]

One of my main reasons for enlisting are for the educational experience I couldn't get in my college. A lot of my friends don't understand my decision, they are content to sit through college and party, hopefully learn something in the 4 years. I can't see myself wasting time like that. Hands on education seems the best path for me, I just need to put the effort into it. Seems like the Navy is the best place for that judging from the servicemen and women on these boards.

Going to a monthly DEP meeting this weekend, hopefully for some good news. I'll post as soon as I get new info.

I'm glad to hear the success stories from you folks, gives me a bigger incentive to work towards improving. Maybe it's a bit early to be saying this, but I look foward to working with you. /bow

[Cycoticpenguin]

One of my main reasons for enlisting are for the educational experience I couldn't get in my college. A lot of my friends don't understand my decision, they are content to sit through college and party, hopefully learn something in the 4 years. I can't see myself wasting time like that. Hands on education seems the best path for me, I just need to put the effort into it. Seems like the Navy is the best place for that judging from the servicemen and women on these boards.

Going to a monthly DEP meeting this weekend, hopefully for some good news. I'll post as soon as I get new info.

I'm glad to hear the success stories from you folks, gives me a bigger incentive to work towards improving. Maybe it's a bit early to be saying this, but I look foward to working with you. /bow

Wise words. Make sure you remember them when it comes time to study for hours on end.

[Ops Nub]

I had 3 waiver when I joined in 1999. 1) Getting a 'D' in algebra and graduating with a 2.7 GPA 2) Smoking Pot 3) Almost hitting a police officer with my car (long story)
All that and they still let me in and look at me now, an MM1 in Guam.

Good luck.

[Turtleberry]

So, I found out I was rejected for nuke today. Academic waiver didn't go through. 

It has been like 7 weeks now so I figured I would push things along. My recruiter has been giving me the runaround for weeks telling me he would check with the office every time I spoke with him over the phone and today I went to the office personally with him. I was really hoping for nuke but I don't suppose theres anything else that can be done with a rejected waiver. I was looking forward to the enlistment bonus and auto e-3 as well as the challenge, but right now I am going to go for my first choice rating CTI. Top secret clearance for that, praying it won't be too much of a hassle. I am also looking at regular ET, EM, MM rates, as that would be my third choice if I don't get clearance for CTI either.Some guys that get denuked go to those rates right?  Hopefully it won't come to that, but if anyone has any experience or information about those rates, I assume its the same job without the nuke benefits, true or no?

Long shot would be with my original AECF contract, I don't really want to do it but my options are limited and I'm feeling pretty down right now, don't want to make a hasty decision.

This forum has been a great source in my research even though it didn't work out in the end. Thanks everyone for your help and service.

Now to find a good cti workers forum... =((((

[JustinHEMI05]

So, I found out I was rejected for nuke today. Academic waiver didn't go through. 

It has been like 7 weeks now so I figured I would push things along. My recruiter has been giving me the runaround for weeks telling me he would check with the office every time I spoke with him over the phone and today I went to the office personally with him. I was really hoping for nuke but I don't suppose theres anything else that can be done with a rejected waiver. I was looking forward to the enlistment bonus and auto e-3 as well as the challenge, but right now I am going to go for my first choice rating CTI. Top secret clearance for that, praying it won't be too much of a hassle. I am also looking at regular ET, EM, MM rates, as that would be my third choice if I don't get clearance for CTI either.Some guys that get denuked go to those rates right?  Hopefully it won't come to that, but if anyone has any experience or information about those rates, I assume its the same job without the nuke benefits, true or no?

Long shot would be with my original AECF contract, I don't really want to do it but my options are limited and I'm feeling pretty down right now, don't want to make a hasty decision.

This forum has been a great source in my research even though it didn't work out in the end. Thanks everyone for your help and service.

Now to find a good cti workers forum... =((((

Sorry to hear things didn't work out for you. Hopefully you will find something else that will be a good fit. Regarding the clearance, NavLiv or Gamecock will be the best source, but it is going to be a hassle. So make sure you have a clean past and clean credit before going that route.

Justin

[Cycoticpenguin]

May I ask what you were dq'ed for?

I had 19 waivers (academics... multiple failures, and a 2.3 ish gpa from highschool). I dont know how it works, but is there some way he can appeal it? (I got disqualified medically several times, but eventually I was admitted)

[Turtleberry]

I was dq'ed for my hs grades, my academic waiver was rejected. I didn't mention it before but I have a GED although I did have enough credits to graduate HS. I got a GED to go to college instead of waiting for my hs diploma. Multiple failures, low gpa, all that bad stuff. I had 3 years of college though so I didn't think GED would hold me back this much. Guess my essay wasn't good enough to change their mind. From what I hear, theres no appeals for rejected waivers unless it comes from higher up in command, and I don't think thats gonna happen.

I was somewhat wary because of the way my recruiter worded it when he told me I needed a waiver, but I was hoping. I probably should've seen it coming though, I gave my recruiter the benefit of the doubt.

I am taking the DLAB in two days, I have a list of questions for him too. Would it be alright to field some of them in PM to the recruiters on these boards? I'd like a second opinion in case my recruiter hasn't had his fill of double talk. It is going to be non-nuke related though because any more talk about me being a nuke is just wishful thinking. =/

Also, I do have a clean past and credit. Never missed a credit card payment, and never got arrested or recieved any traffic tickets. Never did drugs. All my immediate family members are US citizens. Anything else I missed? I am a little anxious, I really hope getting CTI will be straightfoward. I also need to get a good score on that DLAB...